The American press has been a little dismissive of the Honda CR-Z, but the Japanese manufacturer is still working overtime to promote the sensitive, new-age sports coupe.

While the media attending the car's global debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit were not overawed by either the car's output or its fuel efficiency -- 91kW of power, 174Nm of torque and 5.0L/100km fuel consumption in combined-cycle testing -- the key to the hybrid's appeal will be its sporty dynamics, says Honda.

To that end, the company's British arm has set up a minisite with an embedded QuickTime video file, which outlines the development goals of the CR-Z, a car that is said by Honda to blend the sportiness of the original CR-X with the same ballpark fuel efficiency of the Civic Hybrid and the upcoming Insight hatch.

Terukazu Torikai (pictured), Chief Engineer, Chassis Dynamics for the CR-Z, appears in the video, along with CR-Z project leader, Norio Tomobe. Neither man speaks a word of English, but the video is beautifully produced -- with subtitles -- in the bespoke 'eye candy' style.

Leaving aside that it's self-serving, the video does offer some interesting nuggets of information. For instance, the chassis engineer states that the CR-Z was benchmarked against such cars as the MINI Cooper, Volkswagen Scirocco and even the Lotus Elise for handling.

While we're always wary of such claims made by car companies for their new models, everything revealed in the video suggests the Honda is in good company -- provided the claims stand up to reality.

You can view or download the video from the site, but be aware that it may take some time to download the file.

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