The Honda CR-Z is among the coolest two-door coupes made in the past 20 years. When the production model debuted in 2010, we all dug its CR-X throwback vibes, and got excited over it potentially offering great handling, fuel economy, and performance.
Well, two out of the three were met; it ended up sporting a 1.5-liter four cylinder plus a hybrid system. As cool as all that efficiency was, I think any Honda enthusiast would agree: Honda should’ve offered a special-edition CR-Z Si with the venerable K20 2.0-liter inline-four found in its Civic Si contemporary. 197 horsepower and 139 pound-feet of torque sounds like a grand ol’ time in a lil’ 2,600-pound hatch.
However, thanks to used CR-Zs getting cheaper and cheaper, enthusiasts have a solid opportunity to make things right by picking up one up and swapping in a Honda K motor themselves. As VTEC Academy on YouTube brilliantly demonstrates:
The Setup
Don’t get me wrong: I dig the stock CR-Z’s excellent fuel economy, and it’s a hybrid with an available honest-to-goodness six-speed manual transmission. People say stock CR-Zs are fun to drive, too. But a combined 122 horsepower and 123 pound-feet of torque ain’t enough to do the plucky CR-X’s legacy proud in our modern era.
The folks behind VTEC Academy also run Hasport, an aftermarket company that specializes in engine mounts, including ones used to complete engine swaps between different Honda models — notably, K swaps. I’m pretty sure the CR-Z uses the same engine mount locations as the Fit, which has been the lucky recipient of K swappage for more than a few years.
The CR-Z makes a lot of economic sense, too. Their hybrid—or, Integrated Motor Assist—batteries eventually need replacing. It’s not a cheap proposition from the dealer parts counter: the pack ranges between $2,600 and $2,900. Though there are a lot of second-hand options out there, as well well as aftermarket and reconditioned units, they’re still around $1,500. (Then there’s the battery swap itself: It seems like a pretty easy and straightforward job, but the pack still weighs around 100 pounds. And you have to be careful working with high voltage).
The Right Candidate
There’s no doubt one could pick up a decent CR-Z with a bum battery for $4,000 or less—this leaves plenty of room in the budget for for throwing in a K20, even the more powerful K24. The owner may want to just get rid of it in favor of something more modern. Or even a fresh/new EV.
Heck, perfectly fine fare seems to range from $5,000 to $8,000, which is also a great starting point. Depending upon the battery pack’s age and mileage, you might even be able to recuperate some funds by selling that bit second-hand.
Sourcing a K20Z3 with a manual transmission and LSD seems to cost anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000—obviously a bit more than a new battery pack, but it offers a lot more performance and thrill-factor.
The Swap and Overall Improvement
As the video above demonstrates, everything bolts right up with aftermarket mounts, and even looks like it belongs there from the factory. C’mon Honda, you were so close!
However, a few special modifications are still required. Firstly, the factory AC condenser doesn’t quite fit with VTEC Academy’s K24. Then, the exhaust manifold gets in the way of the front sway bar, so doing without the bar and making up for it with stiffer front springs is necessary [Ed Note: I just want to make it clear that deleting a front sway bar and replacing it with stiff springs is a humongous compromise. -DT]. There are also a handful of modern electronic aspects to keep in mind, like programming the key, integrated control unit, and ECU to talk to each other. Otherwise, it’s not bad, and generally follows the typical Honda building blocks/Legos tradition.
As far as performance improvement goes, Brian Gillespie of VTEC Academy reports that his eighth-mile test run went from an 11.91 with the stock CR-Z to a 10.49 with the bone-stock K20 under the hood. Pretty darn impressive, and there’s still ample power to be made for anyone inclined to do an aftermarket ECU tune, header, exhaust, intake, or even a supercharger kit.
Gillespie also notes that the K20 CR-Z is an overall nicely driving car, too. Again, like it was meant to be in there. C’mon, Honda!
So Much Potential
Imagine killing several birds with one big sport compact stone: Giving the CR-Z the engine option it’s always deserved, avoiding a costly battery replacement that’ll still leave you with no more than 120ish horsepower, and all in a great-looking package. Plus, it could end up being a pretty inexpensive swap with the right chassis, aftermarket mounts, and know-how.
People say they’re very pleasant little hatchbacks to drive in general, too—this could be an awesome daily-commuter-slash-track car. It’s certainly got me daydreaming all weekend long.
[Ed Note: Just a bit of extra CR-Z fun: Some of you may recall the Honda Performance Division gang built a race-spec CR-Z demonstration car in 2010 that bumped the stock LEA-MF6 engine’s output to 200 horsepower via turbo. Cool, but it’s no K20 when it comes to ultimate power potential. –PV]
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