Category: Honda

Selling ice to the Eskimos has always been acknowledged as a tough gig, but I wonder, is it as tough selling Civic Type Rs to the Japanese? Whatever the answer may be, we can say the latter is possible as Honda UK are proudly boasting.

Honda’s Swindon plant is the only production facility to produce the eye catching three door Civic Type R and they will be sending 2010 examples to Japan. Well done them.

Customers in the UK are set to get their hands on one of the most exclusive Honda Civics ever made. MUGEN Euro have finalised development of the Civic Type R MUGEN and will be producing a limited run of up to 20 cars.

Exclusivity doesn’t come cheap, however, with driveaway pricing set at £38,599 (AU$69,100).

“Each Type R MUGEN will be an exclusive, hand-built race car for the road,” says Hiroki Toyoda, Vice President of MUGEN EURO. “When we launched the Civic Type RR saloon in Japan, we sold out of all 300 units in just six minutes. Given the interest we have already had from car enthusiasts in the UK and abroad, we hope to repeat that achievement.”

Power is boosted to 240PS courtesy of mild engine work, including new camshafts, revised air intake, uprated pistons, a custom stainless steel exhaust, and, of course, a tweaked ECU to maximise all the modifications. As well as power being up by around 20%, torque also benefits with a 10% improvement across the rev range.

But there’s more! The extra power is reigned in by a limited slip diff and revised suspension. Four-pot brakes also help bring things to a halt when required.

There’s a few cosmetic tweaks to the body kit, too, but the only thing you’ll really notice is the take no prisoners rear wing. It is massive, and, to be honest, just a wee bit daft. Although, I’m sure an engineer somewhere has created some figures to justify its existence.

The cars will be available in one colour only—Honda’s traditional Championship White and are set off nicely by forged alloy wheels, which tip the scales a smidge under 8kg.

Okay, we’ve already established that the Civic Type R MUGEN is a lot of money, but here’s the best part. Once you have signed your life away you get the opportunity to work with MUGEN Euro during your car’s production. You can have your selection of options from the Honda product brochures and you can also nominate your driving preferences to the MUGEN crew who will remap your ECU accordingly.

You can get a quick teaser of how the car drives over at Autocar.