It’s not going to be much of a surprise after the enthusiastic response to the prototype Mugen Civic Type R, but the decision has been made to put the tuned and lightweight hot hatch into production.

Mugen Civic Type R

SPECIFICATIONS
Engine 4-cylinder 1998cc
Power 237bhp
Torque 156lb ft
Top Speed 140mph+ (est)
0-60mph 7.0 seconds (est)

British tuners Mugen Euro will now get to work on producing the very limited run of Mugen Civics. There will be just twenty cars available, each one being hand-built here in the UK with engineers installing the new pistons, intake, camshaft, airbox, ECU and exhaust that make up the more powerful 240PS i-VTEC engine.

The Mugen Civic Type R is a serious machine and is considerably more focused than the standard Type R. As well as the tuned engine the Mugen will benefit from a limited slip differential to improve traction, custom springs and dampers, forged alloy wheels that weigh only 7.85 kilograms each, and a set of upgraded brake discs clamped by four-piston racing calipers. The final feature is a set of trackday-spec Yokohama tyres that should make for phenomenal grip in the dry, but hopefully not at the expense of wet weather handling.

“Each Type R MUGEN will be an exclusive, hand-built race car for the road. 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.” Hiroki Toyoda, Vice President Mugen Euro

Despite the prototype being bright red, all of the production cars will be painted in Championship White, Honda’s preferred racing colour. This will extend to the new rear wing and carbon composite front and rear skirts while a custom grille sporting the Mugen badge will feature at the front.

So the spec is good and the performance will doubtless be fantastic, but what’s the price of this level of tuning and exclusivity? A slightly shocking £38,599, although you’ll be pleased to know that this is the on-the-road price and includes road tax, plates and registration fees.

However, if you think that’s expensive then you should know that with all of the development costs that have gone into the Mugen Civic each one will actually cost an eye-watering £190,000 to build, landing Mugen with a £150,000 loss for every example sold. That’s not quate as crazy as it sounds, as all of the publicity that Mugen Europe has received with this car will bring in a lot of extra interest for their range of aftermarket tuning products.

Mugen Civic Type R