IMI Magazine

£50K for some Mugen magic

What's the Japanese word for 'infinite' or 'unlimited'? The answer is mugen, which is also the name of a performance component and tuning firm with an impressive 37-year pedigree in developing car and bike race engines for its parent company Honda (see panel).

For the last three years, Mugen Euro - its European division - has been quietly getting on with its work in an anonymous industrial unit in Northampton, developing vehicles costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Its name and reputation were known to those in motorsport but remained unrecognisable to the wider motoring public.

But as of this year, all that is to change. The launch of a Mugen-developed special edition of the Honda Civic Type R signals the start of the company's expansion into the mainstream. And for 20 enthusiasts it's the chance to own a little piece of motoring history. "There's never been a Mugen road car engine available in the UK before," explained Colin Whittamore, general manager at Mugen Euro. "Only one vehicle is so far finished, which we've been using for development work and testing. Parts for the others started arriving from Japan in February."

300 sales in six minutes
So why launch Mugen in the UK now and why this car? "We have been competing in global motorsport at the highest level, so we have credibility. Our history speaks for itself. But in the UK and Europe we have nothing with the general public and we want that," Whittamore explained. It was also clear there was demand. In Japan, when Mugen opened the order books on the Type RR, a special edition based on the Japanese market Civic Type R, it sold all 300 examples in only six minutes.

The UK vehicle won't win a quarter-mile drag race, but that wasn't the brief. The idea was to create the fastest front-wheel drive naturally aspirated road car, and rekindle interest in the Civic Type R.

"This project came from a desire by Honda UK to do certain things with its brand and with the Civic Type R. It's a few years old and other cars have come along since it was launched. So it made sense for Mugen to take one and see what we could do," said Whittamore.

After a few minutes of fun knocking around some outrageous ideas, reality set in. While many of its projects are rebuilt every time they're used, that clearly wasn't possible on a road car for the public. The result is a fantastic story for British engineering; a completed Championship White version of the Civic Type R is taken from the Honda production line in Swindon, shipped to Northampton and taken apart. The transformation is a 10-day job. "That's why we're only doing 20 cars. That's six months' work right there," joked Whittamore.

Potential customers can register their interest in owning one at www.typermugen.co.uk. Even at £38,599 - £15k more than the Championship White - it's not likely they will be hanging around. For the money customers get a premium motorsport upgrade. The engine is completely rebuilt with higher quality components - boosting power from 200bhp to 240bhp - and will spend up to 90 minutes being put through its paces on Mugen's world-class dyno before being fitted under the bonnet.

£50K to tick every box
Suspension, brakes, wheels and the gearshifter are all uprated; externally, the vehicle is defined by new bumpers and rear wing; there is an individually numbered plaque near the gearstick; and everything down to the wheel nuts is Mugen branded. Options include a track pack with Recaro race seats and harness, a gauge cluster near the A-pillar, ultra-sticky Yokohama race tyres and a choice of motorsport clutches. Tick every box and you could spend close to £50k.

That's an awful lot of money for what, after all, is a Civic Type R, but the reality is that a Mugen-tuned race version normally sells for around £150k. So consider it a bargain!

"Some will just want the car for road use, and will probably never take it anywhere near its limits. Others will never use it on a public road except to drive it to track events," said Whittamore.

Honda UK seems more than happy with the result. Head of marketing Tom Gardner commented: "This car is more like a junior league GT3 car than an extreme hot hatch. It will appeal to those drivers who love the purity of sound, and the instantaneous response of a normally-aspirated engine rather than the crude kick of a mass-produced turbo car."

If it's a success, Mugen Euro vice-president Hiro Toyoda said it won't be the last Honda road car or bike to wear a Mugen badge. "It marks the start of the brand because there's the likelihood of other projects in the future, which Honda UK is keen to support. We are fully prepared to go the next step," he explained. MIM

Mugen's background

• Mugen was launched in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the only son of Soichiro Honda who founded the car company. Hirotoshi is still involved today, though he is semi-retired.
• Mugen is based 20 miles from central Tokyo, close to other Honda facilities such as the R&D centre.
• In 1989 it began development of a Formula One engine, a 3.5-litre V10, which was first used in a race in the 1992 season with the Footwork team.
• Mugen also supplied engines to Lotus, Tyrell, Ligier and Prost. Its last contract was with Jordan, from 1998-2000, though it continued to act as an engineering advisor to Honda until its exit from F1 in 2008.
• Other motorsports which have used Mugen engines include F3, F3000, Le Man Series and the World Touring Car Championship.

Richard Yarrow