Honda’s brief was simple. Create the world’s first fun-to-drive hybrid. The Honda CR-Z is the result and, if successful, it could be the perfect car for enthusiasts with a conscience. Developed using the Insight’s underpinnings, the CR-Z benefits from a complete redesign that hints at the sporty CR-X of the 80s and early nineties. Under the skin the Insight’s 1.3-litre has been dropped for a larger 112bhp 1.5-litre that is boosted by Honda’s IMA hybrid system.

Total power thanks to the electric motor’s assistance is boosted to 122bhp. This helps haul the little Honda to 62mph in 9.9 seconds and onto 124mph – figures that are a long way off from ever being considered ‘quick’, but Honda has completely revised the Insight’s suspension, tuning it for handling. Read on to see if the Honda achieves its aim of being fun to drive and find out if it becomes our favourite guilt-free sports car.