1995 Honda CRX ESi review from UK and Ireland

Nothing.

I was smitten by the original CRX back in the eightes which in its time was quite an original concept - a small affordable 2+2 sports coupe of which ford and vauxhall took another decade to catch on with the puma and rather humble tigra offerings.

So back in the early 90's just when I could finally afford the crx, honda decided to remove the rear seats and cut the roof off!! I remember the press comments well at the time "bit of a noddy car" "toy town looks" to name some, but after testing the car for real I knew Honda had got it right. So as a young free and single chap I opted for a Milano Red ESi and what a car it was, but before long I was no longer YFS and with kids on the way the Car had to go.

So now more than a decade on I wanted another small sports car and a convertible if possible. Honda dropped the CRX in 1997 but the car was still very much in my affection. So having scoured the adds for many months I am now once again aquinted with another CRX this time with the Thunderbird style electric roof - move over mercedes and peugeot Honda beat you by over ten years.

Testimony to Honda engineering my 9 year old example drives just like my new car did over ten years ago.

The car still looks like a new model in fact. The bumper lines are tight and flush to the wings for example, something BMW haven't even achieved on the 3 series yet.

I am 6'4" in height, but there is plenty of space for me in the driving position, you sit low to the ground, but I have no difficulty getting in or out and my wife who is 5'2" is also able to find an excellent driving position too.

The handling of the car is excellent. Yes there is a bit of scuttle shake more noticeable with the roof off, but this doesn't hinder turn in or grip witch is very good indeed. You have to really push hard to loose grip and on public roads that would be a bit reckless.

The electric roof is a hoot. To see peoples faces when you press the button and the boot lid raises as if James Bond is about to fire some missiles on his enemies is a blast. The mechanicals of the roof motors do rob some space from the boot compare to the manual roof version, but is still large enough for weekend luggage or a set of golf clubs.

I have owned the manual roof version earlier there are pros and cons to each. I would imagine the manual roof being a little tricky to remove for a single person of slight stature and build, but it could be argued that the operation to remove the roof and store in the boot can be done twice as quick manually, but with the electric roof you don't move from your seat so who cares.

Gear changes on the car are done with a flick of the wrist and as the dash has a raised center console like many rear wheel drive sports cars (the crx is FWD) you seem to never move you hand from the stick so stirring the VTEC engine is not as much of a chore as some people would have you believe.

Once the youth / max power guys and gals have removed this car from their wish list this car is destined to be a future classic. The name CRX already is, and I'm sure even if honda rebaged a sinclair C5 with a CRX badge it would sell in big numbers!!

You could argue that the principle of the crx has been reincarnated in the lotus elise and VX220 albeit with the benefit of going on the atkins diet, both of which I admire a lot. It's a shame then that these euro designs can only accommodate a typical japanese person ie 5'8" max yet the japanese design accommodates 6 footers with ease. I guess there are no tall chappies at Lotus!!

I have not listed any faults or problems with my car as genuinely there aren't any, no rust, no oil leaks, no paint defects, just 100% driving pleasure.

My weekday car is a modern turbo diesel saloon which is probably faster in a straight line then the CRX and certainly has more grunt and is almost twice as economical, but this car in know way stirs the soul like my 10 year old "banger" can and never will.