Honda Goes Into High Speed Mode with New Supercharged CR-Z Concept

From day one, we all knew what was missing from the Honda CR-Z – feel free to say it out loud with us: Power, Power and Power. With the exception of some limited-run production models prepared by Honda's in-house tuner Mugen for Japan and Britain, the automaker has not addressed this problem.

At the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Honda is displaying yet another concept model for a faster and more focused version of the CR-Z, which it describes as, "a further exploration of the performance potential of the CR-Z Sport Hybrid", but does not say if it has any plans for production.

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Honda's Worldwide Hybrid Sales Break the 1 Million Mark after 13 Years

While not as near as successful as rivaling brand Toyota that sold its 4 millionth hybrid in May, 2012, Honda is a respectable foe in the hybrid car market with the automaker announcing today that its cumulative worldwide sales of hybrid vehicles surpassed the 1 million mark at the end of September 2012.

The Japanese carmaker reached the 1 million milestone almost 13 years after it launched its first ever production hybrid model, the Insight Mk1 in Japan in November of 1999.

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Mugen Launches Production Version of Supercharged Honda CR-Z RZ [19 Photos]

Something tells us that what Mugen has prepared is what Honda fans wanted the CR-Z to be from the beginning.

Over the past year or so, Honda's official tuning arm presented several concepts of a faster CR-Z and this is the final production model.

The car's official moniker is the 'Honda CR-Z MUGEN RZ' of which only 300 examples will be built and sold by Mugen exclusively in Japan, starting from November 26, with prices to be announced.

At the heart of the RZ lies a modified version of the stock model's IMA Hybrid powerplant that places a supercharger to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine to lift its output to 154hp (156PS) and 185Nm (136 lb-ft).

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