Autoblog UK: First drive: Honda CR-Z MUGEN

Not the most flattering write up but they do it with flare.....

by Mark Nichol
Anyone that's ever played Gran Turismo will be well aware of MUGEN; the PlayStation racing game's bias towards all things Japanese is well known, and what with MUGEN being to Honda in Japan what AMG is to Mercedes, it has a special place in the game.

In the virtual world, MUGEN's in-game tuning upgrades could transform the most innocuous Japanese turdbox into a Ferrari-chasing hypercar. The natural assumption to a British gamer was that it was doing the same thing in real life, too.

When MUGEN Euro set up in Northampton in 2007, therefore, it did so with a level of credibility and mystique that extended beyond a handful of Japanese modding scene enthusiasts.

Its first fully-fledged model, 2010's £40,000 Civic Type-R MUGEN, furthered its cause. We loved it. It was (and is) the ultimate iteration of the car on which it's based, improving it in every way to create a Honda that's part family hatchback, part road-legal touring car.

This, the CR-Z MUGEN, is the difficult follow up.

The regular CR-Z is a fine car. The hybrid coupé isn't very quick, but it houses an economical petrol-electric hybrid system in an accomplished chassis, so it's fun to drive and returns 56.5mpg and 117g/km.

The CR-Z is all about balance. It's front-wheel drive, so it falls at the first hurdle in terms of being a 'pure' (rear-wheel drive) sports car, but it has lovely steering and pedal feel, enough low down punch from the electric motor to be lively, yet nowhere near enough to mess up the driven wheels in a haze of torque steer. In short, anyone can enjoy the CR-Z, and feel like a better driver for it.

Unfortunately, MUGEN - in stark contrast to its efforts with the Civic Type-R - has come along and spoiled it.

It's not a car entirely without merit - in fact, parts of it are awesome - but at times it feels like an unfinished low-budget DIY modding project. The carbon fibre lined doors of our test car, for example, had to be virtually kicked to close properly. That wouldn't happen in an AMG.

To turn the 122bhp CR-Z into the manic machine you see above, MUGEN has stripped the 1.5-litre petrol engine and rebuilt it using better parts. The torque-enhancing 14bhp electric motor stays strapped on - but a supercharger is added to the mix, endowing the car with a hot hatch-matching 197bhp.

In addition, the chassis and bodywork are lightened, partly by using carbon fibre; the dampers are replaced with five-way adjustable items; the wheels are exchanged for forged lightweight ones with sticky tyres; the brakes are upgraded; and the track is widened.

And as you can see, it also has a body kit looks like it's been designed by someone with an extensive collection of tracksuit bottoms.

The result is an altogether more serious CR-Z with a 0-62mph sprint time down from ten seconds to around six and a half.

On the road it all starts off in exciting fashion. The Recaro bucket seats strap you in tightly, and the trio of bolt-on dashboard gauges suggest this is one mean machine.

Put your foot down and the supercharger inhales audibly, which is good. Problem is, there's very little associated acceleration; the MUGEN just doesn't feel that quick.

It becomes quickly apparent that there's been an epic and over-complicated technological struggle in order to eke out too much power from an ordinarily modest petrol engine. It's sort of like entering the Grand National with a donkey wearing a small jet pack.

Driving the MUGEN slowly isn't that much fun either - it's positively uncomfortable, in fact. A stiff clutch and over-sensitive throttle combination that makes smooth take-offs difficult, and after a while the combination of a small, noisy cabin and very tight seats make the whole thing feel fairly claustrophobic.

But there is credibility in MUGEN's work. It's capable of astonishing cornering speed, especially for a front-wheel drive car, and its steering rack is sublime, with more than a hint of Porsche in terms of its directness and unencumbered feedback. And the short shift gear lever is, as usual for a Honda-derived 'box, a delight to move through the gate.

But ultimately, laying down the £23,000 or so it will take to put one of these on your drive is like paying a dentist to make your teeth more yellow. It costs £19,000 for a CR-Z Sport, and £25,000 for a Toyota GT 86. Case closed.

If only MUGEN had been given carte blanche to rip out the CR-Z's hybrid drivetrain and put in a nice, simple, high-revving petrol engine...

Source;
http://uk.autoblog.com/2012/03/15/first-drive-honda-cr-z-mugen/

Honda Mugen CR-Z driven

-Hybrid hot hatch tested
-1.5-litre supercharged petrol engine and electric motor
-Not on sale yet - production version could cost £30k

What is it?

Honda's tuning partner Mugen has been charged with demonstrating what can be achieved with hybrid technology by turning the eco-focused CR-Z sports coupe into a proper road rocket.

What's it like to drive?

Although power output from the electric motor is unchanged, by strapping a supercharger to the 1.5-litre petrol engine, power has been boosted from the standard car's 122bhp to 197bhp.

Select sport mode and the Mugen will hit 60mph in just 6.5seconds, but it's more the integration of the supercharged engine with the electric motor that impresses.

Power delivery is most unusual for Honda: there's a distinct absence of the rather flat take-up followed by the distinct kick that its V-TEC engines are famed for.

Instead, there's so much torque - 50% more than in the standard car - from just above 1000rpm that the power is delivered almost instantly and climbs towards the 6500 rpm redline with a strong linear thrust.

Equally beguiling is the duality of the Mugen CR-Z. Put it in eco mode and it will return the low emissions output and an identical cruising fuel consumption of the standard car.

How does it handle?

Superbly, but with one enormous caveat: the only car Honda provided for us to assess was a £150,000 development mule, fitted with track-oriented suspension, super-sized brakes, weight-saving carbonfibre bonnet and doors, and a free-flowing big-bore exhaust.

Even more extreme were the ultra-sticky slick tyres, which proved brilliant on the tight bends of the Rockingham speedway's touring car circuit, but hardly practical on a slimy, rain-soaked high street.

Should I buy one?

Actually, you can't.

Mugen is waiting to see if press coverage is positive and if there is a strong enough customer demand before it commits to production.

If it goes ahead, you can expect the sticker price of the road-going Mugen to be closer to £30k, and for that you will get the bloated bumpers, front and rear side skirts, aerodynamic undertrays and large roof-mounted spoiler.

Inside it'll feature two sports seat - the rear seats will be binned to save weight - a bank of extra gauges displaying water and oil temperature, a separate gauge indicating oil pressure and a heavily weighted gearknob to aid fast shifts through the six-speed manual gearbox.

However, although power and performance will be similar to those of the car we drove, the carbonfibre components certainly won't see the light of day and chassis modifications will be far less track oriented.

Source;

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/honda-mugen-cr-z-driven/257797

Carscoop: First Photos of Honda’s Hot CR-Z Mugen, Early Tests Show better Performance than Civic Type R

Honda's sporty-looking CR-Z hybrid will finally get the performance to back its looks, as the Japanese carmaker teamed up with its tuning partner Mugen Euro to develop a high-performance version of the hybrid model. As we wrote earlier this year, the car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but until then, you can take a look at the first official photos of the car to see if they match the sketches released by Honda two months ago.

The Japanese company says development of the CR-Z Mugen is on track, with “performance figures already looking promising”. Honda revealed that early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint times around that of the European market Civic Type R (6.6 seconds). Later on, Mugen increased output by another 15 percent and reduced the chassis' weight by 50 kilograms, so that overall performance is expected to be even better than the Type R's.

The car will feature modifications to both the 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine and the Honda IMA system in order to boost power and torque. Mugen Euro didn't reveal any output figures, but referred to the fuel consumption, deeming it encouraging.

"We've retained the three driving modes from the standard car and economy ranges from 50+mpg (41.6 mpg US) in 'eco' mode to mid-30 mpg (29 mpg US) when tapping into the supercharged power in a special 'Mugen' mode," said Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro.
Engine and hybrid system aside, the CR-Z Mugen will also benefit from upgrades to the brakes and suspension, as well as from using lightweight components such as a carbon fiber bonnet and forged alloys to lower the overall mass. As the pictures show, the CR-Z Mugen sports a new body kit with upgraded front and rear bumpers, plus a rear wing and diffuser to improve aerodynamics.

For the time being, the CR-Z Mugen is treated as a pure concept study, but as Honda has shown in the recent past with the 240HP Civic Type R Mugen in 2009, there’s a good chance we may see a limited production run in the very near future.

By Dan Mihalascu

Source;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-photos-of-hondas-hot-cr-z-mugen.html

Carscoop: Euro Mugen building custom High Performance CR-Z Hybrid

One of the biggest problems most see with Honda’s CR-Z hybrid sport hatch is the lack of a performance version. That may change soon enough as Mugen’s European division is readying a “highly-tuned” version of the CR-Z that it claims will deliver “Type R-like” performance. The faster and more powerful CR-Z Mugen prototype is being developed as a joint project between Honda UK and Mugen Euro, and it will make its world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this July.

“This will be one quick hybrid,” said Martin Moll, Head of Marketing for Honda UK. “With more torque, more power and MUGEN’s experience of working with Honda cars, we’re expecting great things. It promises to show how hybrid cars can be even more exciting to drive.”

Honda said that the CR-Z MUGEN prototype will feature modifications to both the 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine and the Honda IMA system to boost power and torque, adding that these changes may also result in greater mpg and lower CO2 emissions during some conditions. Final power, torque and fuel economy figures are not yet known.

Other performance upgrades will include bespoke brakes and a tuned suspension while Mugen will also make use of lightweight components such as a carbon fibre bonnet and forged alloys to lower the overall mass.

Furthermore, Mugen will treat the CR-Z with a new body kit that includes new front and rear bumpers as well as a rear wing and diffuser to improve aerodynamics.

“We wanted to extend the performance of the CR-Z,” says Hiro Toyoda of MUGEN Euro. “It is already a fun car to drive, with an excellent chassis, but we thought that with more power and enhanced torque delivery it could be even more exciting. However, as with all MUGEN projects, we have stayed true to the Honda design and philosophy, and the electric motor is still a vital ingredient to boost performance and economy.”

Even though at this stage, the CR-Z MUGEN is being crafted as a one-off prototype with no plans for a production version, we’ll remind you that’s what Honda said when it introduced the 240HP Civic Type R Mugen in 2009 which ended up in a limited production for Europe.

Source;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/03/mugen-euro-building-high-performance.html