First, let's cover the tuning of this kit. One of the biggest issues with aftermarket forced induction is that you're usually depending upon someone of questionable skill to recalibrate the factory ECU to handle boost. And that's if you're lucky. Some kits come with piggyback computers that trick the factory ECU. In either case, usually something suffers and poor calibration tends to show up in the worst situations - like stop and go traffic, or trying to start from a stop going uphill, or during extreme hot or cold start scenarios. At some point, you're going to be reminded that the factory engineers put one to two orders of magnitude more time into their calibration work than whoever sold you the kit did into theirs. Unless its the Jackson Racing CR-Z kit. As a tuner, I'm particularly sensitive to tuning issues and I was, of course, on the lookout for anything on the CR-Z. Worst case scenario would be that I could give Doug MacMillan at Hondata a gentle ribbing if I found something. Except that I didn't. Really. Absolutely nothing. All that time spent getting this car to pass EPA and CARB testing means that it drives just like OEM, but with more power. Might there be more power if you don't have to pass those tests? Probably, but in reality, for most owners, this is a set it and forget it kit. My hat goes off to these guys for a fantastic job.

Since there were no drivability issues, I was free to focus on how the JR CR-Z responded to my commands. While I'm generally used to cars with much better power-to-weight ratios, I didn't find the CR-Z to be tedious or irritating to drive. Thanks to the generous assist of the IMA motor off the line, plus a very lightly sprung throttle pedal, it felt sprightly and responsive even before the Rotrex began to make significant boost (in sport mode, naturally in normal or econ mode the throttle response was significantly muted). And just as the factory torque curve began to drop, the boost builds and you just keep pulling to the rev limiter. It was really quite pleasant. If I had my choice, I think I'd want the supercharger geared for a couple more psi of boost, not so much for more top end, but to bring in the boost sooner in order to provide a stronger transition from electric assist to forced induction assistance. You'll notice on the dyno chart a small dip in torque between 2800 and 3200 rpm. It's minor, but you do notice it sometimes when driving. I'm pretty sure more boost would clear that right up. Additionally, because the JR kit uses a belt driven supercharger, throttle response is excellent and directly coupled to your right foot. No lag or flat spots.

In the canyons, the JR CR-Z powertrain continues to shine. Smooth predictable power means that you can modulate power to limit wheelspin from the inside tire (no LSD) when powering out of corners. Heel-toe downshifting was intuitive and simple (again, no throttle lag and Honda doesn't interfere with brake/throttle overlap - yet). The Rotrex blower makes its presence known audibly, but it speaks quietly instead of screaming in your ear. And when the canyons turned into city traffic, the JR kit was nearly transparent, except for the light breathy sound of the supercharger's recirculation valve when lifting off the throttle at low speeds. Oh and the occasional chirp of the front tires as boost builds in first gear when you give it full throttle to execute a pass. In fact, the factory tires, with 25k miles and a couple of track days, were probably the biggest impediment to speed with the JR kit. From a low speed roll, mashing the throttle in first gear would result in copious wheelspin starting at around 4500 rpm if you didn't modulate the throttle. With fresher (or simply _better_ ) tires, acceleration at low speeds would be dramatically improved. And speaking of acceleration, with 250 lbs of driver and gear, our best acceleration time to 60 mph as recorded by our Racelogic Driftbox was 6.9 seconds starting with a full 8 bars of charge. Our average time was around 7.2 seconds with 6 or 7 bars. With a better driver (I'm definitely not the fastest drag racer at TOV) and better tires, I think consistent 6.5 second 0-60 times are quite reachable. And while we didn't have space to run a full 1/4 mile, I would predict a 14.9-15.2 second elapsed time with a 92-94 mph trap speed.

By now, some of you are probably muttering to yourself, "What about fuel economy?" since this is a fuel sipping hybrid with a touch of sport. Well, I think you'll be impressed. Despite a heavy foot and extensive canyon running, our average over 500 miles was 34 mpg. Excluding the canyon runs, our 60% highway/40% city average was just over 37 mpg. And keep in mind I'm no hyper miler. I set the cruise control at 75+ mph on the highway when I could, I drove the car in sport 90% of the time, and I like to mash the gas around the city. I think that 40 mpg will be easily achievable for most people on the highway which basically means that you're not really giving up any fuel economy if you don't want to (IOW - restrain your right foot). In fact, even under our most brutal abuse in the canyons, we were hard pressed to go under 25 mpg. Of course, you are required to use 91 octane with the JR kit, but if you're looking for the extra power, that's a small price to pay in my opinion.

And if you choose to add the Jackson Racing Rotrex kit to your CR-Z, what potential does it hold for the future when an extra 50 hp no longer feels like enough? Well, the C30-74 supercharger is rated to support 300 hp, which means that, based upon my experience, it will probably handle 350+ hp if you wanted to push it that far. However, you will need to upgrade the fuel system if you want to push past the 200 hp or so that the JR kit offers. The 270cc fuel injectors and fuel pump simply won't support any more horsepower. However, if you change those, gear the supercharger up a little more and raise the rev limiter, experience says that you'll be able to obtain another 20-40 hp without much difficulty. Past that and you have to start thinking about engine durability, but at least you know the headroom is there in the kit.

So, in the end, what did I think? Well, I still don't like hybrids. And I still don't care much for the CR-Z (look for an addendum to this post to discuss my issues with the CR-Z experience in general). But in this instance, the CR-Z is now at least tolerable to me. The powertrain with the Jackson Racing kit is now by far the best part of the car. I mean, really, there is no comparison. In some ways the excellence of the powertrain really exposes the general shortcomings in the rest of the CR-Z. But at least I can rest easy knowing I didn't have to lower the boom on an icon of the Honda aftermarket. Oscar Jackson did his part to make the CR-Z a much better car. Now maybe he do something about the chassis and the forward (and rear) visibility. Oscar are you listening?