Honda CR-Z Mugen: All you Need to Know about Honda’s Hottest Hybrid Yet

We’ve already shared initial information and a video on the Mugen-fettled CR-Z that Honda is about to launch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but today, the Japanese carmaker came out with all the juicy details, as well as more photos of the sporty hybrid concept.

According to company’s European division, the CR-Z Mugen sets out to prove that hybrid cars can be exciting to drive, with the one-off special producing “Civic Type R-like performance” while also remaining true to the original, eco-friendly character of the run-of-the-mill CR-Z.

Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro explains the philosophy behind the creation of the CR-Z Mugen:

“We wanted a car that has genuine performance available at the touch of a button, but can perform just like a standard CR-Z and offer good fuel economy when the driver wishes. For that reason, we’ve kept the three driving modes, so the driver can select “eco” or “normal” to switch to economy and low emissions for daily driving, but press the Mugen button for the full-blown weekend-warrior settings”.

The CR-Z Mugen keeps the regular model’s IMA electric motor and the 1.5-litre gasoline engine, the latter being rebuilt with upgraded and strengthened internal components. And then there’s of course the addition of the Mugen iCF system, which stands for Integrated Centrifugal Forced-induction and works with the electric motor-engine combination.

As a result, the Mugen edition delivers a 50%+ increase in power and torque over the standard model, with maximum output reaching 200-horsepower and peak torque 215 Nm (158.6 lb-ft).

With a “mid-tune engine”, as Mugen’s engineers put it, the hot CR-Z’s 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) is close to the Civic Type R’s time of 6.6 seconds. With the final “stage 1” specs, and a 50 kg reduction in weight from the chassis, it is expected to be even faster (final figures are not yet available).

And all this comes without sacrificing fuel economy; despite the remapped IMA system, the CR-Z Mugen still delivers an average consumption of less than 5.6 litres/100 km (42mpg US or 50.4mpg UK) in “eco” mode, to less than 8.0 litres/100 km (29.4mpg US or 35.3mpg UK) in “Mugen” mode.

Even though the electric motor delivers less than 20-horses, it does so instantly by generating maximum torque between 1,000-1,500 rpm which, in contrast to the normal car, does not drop off after this point.

However, increasing power alone isn’t enough if you want to create a sports car. Thus, Mugen’s engineers widened the car’s front and rear tracks and fitted stiffer 5-step adjustable dampers and a limited slip differential to maximize traction. The CR-Z Mugen stops courtesy of larger brake discs and 4-pot calipers.

The team also took care of the CR-Z’s looks with Mugen front and rear under spoilers, sides skirts and a rear wing, carbon fibre bonnet and doors as well as 17-inch forged alloy Mugen GP wheels.

In the interior, there are Recaro sports seats, a different gear knob and a carbon rear view mirror cover, but your attention will be instantly drawn by the addition of three gauges that display water and oil temperature and pressure.

During the presentation, Honda’s people were asked some interesting questions, which you can read below:

1. Will there be any further production?

At this time this car is a one-off and there are no plans in place for further production. However the feedback we receive today, and over the coming weeks/months may suggest there is a commercially viable market for it.

2. How much did the car cost?

This particular car was built as a one-off and the development and build costs are naturally very high. In terms of actual figures we are not likely to disclose but it is safe to say that it is well into six figures.

3. How much would (any) future cars cost?

Again, there are no plans in place therefore there is no figure. But any future price would reflect the actual build specification. Part of the feedback we would expect to receive would undoubtedly give an indication of what the market would expect or be willing to pay.

4. What’s next?

For this car there is the public debut at Rockingham; beyond that it will be entirely up to HUK how they propose to use the car. For Mugen we will continue to develop both the car and particularly thepowertrain as it is the beginning of the road for us in that regard and as we find out more about the limitations and potential etc we can make decisions on how to deal with them.

The statements that this car makes is that:

• It is possible to have your cake and eat it.

• The principle economic and ecological reasons for buying a hybrid car can be retained without giving up all the fun.

• Hybrid cars can be “tuned”

• The future of tuned cars can not only embrace but also exploit the new technologies of hybrid cars.