Honda took a crazy electric CR-Z to Pikes Peak — and won

The normal CR-Z, a small hybrid coupe, is an unassuming car by almost any definition. (It’s fallen a little flat in that regard, considering it’s a spiritual successor to both the CR-X and the groundbreaking first-generation Insight.) But then, out of nowhere, Honda goes and swaps out the drivetrain for a high-strung all-electric situation with all-wheel drive and steering. Now you’re talking.

The jacked-up CR-Z that Honda threw together competed at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb last weekend, placing first in the Exhibition class with a time of 10:23.829. (For comparison, the fastest time for the entire event was turned in by drifting star Rhys Millen, who won in an all-electric prototype — another Pikes Peak first — with a time of 9:07.222.) It was driven by Japanese Super GT racer Tetsuya Yamano, who praised the drivetrain for letting him “corner quickly with good traction.”

Obviously, you’re not going to see anything like this in dealerships: it’s some sort of experimental electric setup paired with SH-AWD — Honda’s AWD system that can vector torque left and right as well as front and back — that’s just wrapped in a CR-Z shell designed to make workaday CR-Zs jealous.

Considering this and Millen’s win, this year’s climb feels like a major moment for electrics in racing. NASCAR couldn’t be that far behind, could it? (Yes, yes, it could.)