Honda’s Mugen Motorsports performance tuning arm has released the first official pictures of the company’s stripped-out Civic Type-R hot hatch.
It looks pretty impressive – how has Mugen tweaked the Type R?
Details are still sketchy, but let’s start with the visual changes. There’s a deeper and wider front spoiler (sans fog lights), a new grille, a vented bonnet, plus vents just behind the front wheels.
At the back the Civic’s triangular exhausts have been replaced by two huge bazooka tailpipes, which fit beneath a more angular rear bumper, and there’s also a double-decker wing to make rear visibilty even worse. Various bits of the body addendum are thought to be made from carbonfibre.
What about inside and under that vented bonnet?
Inside you won’t find any rear seats, but there will be a pair of hip-hugging Recaro buckets up front, along with bits of carbon trim. The 2.0-litre VTEC engine is expected to get a tweak to 240bhp, and there are also new wheels and brakes.
Prices for the Mugen tweaked Civic will be north of £35k when sales start at the end of 2009, but with just a few dozen coming to the UK each year Honda expects demand to outstrip supply.
But if you can’t cough up the cash for a full-blown Civic, then Mugen plans to offer different kits to match the wodge in your wallet. So you could opt for a new set of wheels and tyres while you save for the engine upgrade and decide how hardcore you want to go.
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