‘Shrinking violet’ and ‘FK8 Honda Civic Type R’ are phrases rarely seen in the same sentence, but Japanese tuner Mugen – which was founded back in 1973 by Soichiro Honda’s son Hirotoshi – clearly reckons that some folk want a bit more, well, visual impact.
If that sentence in this context fills you with dread, feel free to shield thine eyes for a moment, because Mugen’s tuned Type R is not for the faint-hearted.
Check out the aero addendums for starters. There’s an XXL carbon rear wing, a new roof spoiler, an extremely busy rear diffuser, lower side sills, a new front lip and even carbon wing mirror covers. Oh, and then there’s the new bonnet which can even be had in full carbon fibre (with even more vents) for the equivalent of RM43,778 in Japan. Ouch.
Mugen hasn’t confirmed what prices might be like in the rest of the world, but to give you more of a flavour, the aforementioned rear wing alone would set you back the equivalent of RM39,400 in Japanese Yen. It’s not cheap.
What else can we tell you about the full kit? Well, there’s a twin-exit sports exhaust system, 20-inch forged aluminium wheels and uprated brake pads, but the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot is left well alone and produces the standard 316bhp and 400Nm of torque. That’s fine by us.
On the inside, Mugen is offering brilliantly branded bucket seats, a quick-shift kit for the gearbox and a range of multicoloured leather or carbon fibre gear knobs. Mmmm, tasteful.
What do we think, Internet? Acceptably hardcore-looking hot hatch, or an unprovoked assault on the eyes?
