Tuning company Mugen will launch this hot version of Honda’s CR-Z at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.
The CR-Z Mugen – developed in conjunction with Honda UK - will feature revisions to both the 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine and car’s IMA hybrid system. The firm claims the mods will increase power and torque to deliver “Type R-like performance”, although it has not released any figures.
See official sketches of the Mugen-tuned CR-Z
The hardcore hybrid will also get larger brakes and revised suspension, plus a carbonfibre bonnet, new alloy wheels and a rear spoiler.
Honda UK’s marketing boss Martin Moll said, “This will be one quick hybrid. It promises to show how hybrid cars can be even more exciting to drive.”
The car that will be shown at Goodwood is being developed by Mugen Euro, the Northampton-based subsidiary of the Japanese tuning house.
It’s ostensibly a prototype, although Honda UK’s involvement - and the fact that even Honda sources acknowledge that the CR-Z needs a higher-performance variant - point to production plans.
Honda is already working on its own Type R version of the CR-Z in Japan. But it will probably use the firm’s next-gen IMA system, due to appear first in the US-market Civic hybrid in 2012.
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