Honda Mugen CR-Z RR Study: New Photos

Here's a new set of photos of the Honda CR-Z Mugen RR competition study that made its debut alongside the more production ready CR-Z Mugen Concept at the beginning of July in the Moving Motor Show area at Goodwood Festival of Speed.

While the CR-Z Mugen was designed and built by "MUGEN EURO" based in the UK, the more hardcore RR model is the work of the firm's Japanese division.

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Video: Honda’s CR-Z Mugen Special Driven by Fifth Gear

A few weeks ago at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Honda unveiled a concept study of the hybrid CR-Z prepared by Mugen’s European division.

The fettled CR-Z retained the regular model’s mechanical hardware including the IMA electric motor and the 1.5-liter gasoline engine, but the upgraded internals and the addition of a supercharger increased its performance by more than 50% over the normal model, to 200+ horsepower and 215 Nm (158.6 lb/ft).

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Mugen Attempts to Make the Honda Fit Shuttle Look Cool and Sporty

When the people over at Honda’s tuning partner Mugen aren’t working on more interesting and unique projects like the Civic Type R and even the CR-Z, they are usually kept busy with the brand’s more mundane vehicles such as the newly introduced Fit Shuttle.

The Japan market only Fit Shuttle is a slightly taller, longer and more practical version of the Fit (also marketed as the Jazz in certain countries) which itself is a tall five-door subcompact model.

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Race-Prepped Honda Mugen CR-Z RR Concept Ready for Track Action

The almost production ready Honda Mugen CR-Z Concept wasn’t the only product from the Japanese automaker’s in-house tuning company to debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Along with the street-legal CR-Z Concept Mugen also brought along a competition version bearing the ‘RR’ moniker. The conceptual Mugen CR-Z RR sports a more dynamic aero package comprising of bespoke parts such as the wider front and rear bumpers with air-vents, side skirts, a rear diffuser and larger rear wing.

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Honda CR-Z Mugen: All you Need to Know about Honda’s Hottest Hybrid Yet

We’ve already shared initial information and a video on the Mugen-fettled CR-Z that Honda is about to launch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but today, the Japanese carmaker came out with all the juicy details, as well as more photos of the sporty hybrid concept.

According to company’s European division, the CR-Z Mugen sets out to prove that hybrid cars can be exciting to drive, with the one-off special producing “Civic Type R-like performance” while also remaining true to the original, eco-friendly character of the run-of-the-mill CR-Z.

Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro explains the philosophy behind the creation of the CR-Z Mugen:

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Mugen’s Supercharged Honda CR-Z Hybrid Prototype Debuts on Film

With development of the new Honda CR-Z Mugen concept nearing its end, the Japanese automaker decided it’s time to release the first video of the supercharged hybrid model on the road before its world premiere at the 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

The prototype CR-Z is the collaborative work of Honda UK and its in-house tuning shop Mugen Euro. The hotted-up hybrid sports car feature modifications to the 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine with the addition of a supercharger as well as to the Honda IMA system.

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First Photos of Honda’s Hot CR-Z Mugen, Early Tests Show better Performance than Civic Type R

Honda's sporty-looking CR-Z hybrid will finally get the performance to back its looks, as the Japanese carmaker teamed up with its tuning partner Mugen Euro to develop a high-performance version of the hybrid model. As we wrote earlier this year, the car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but until then, you can take a look at the first official photos of the car to see if they match the sketches released by Honda two months ago.

The Japanese company says development of the CR-Z Mugen is on track, with “performance figures already looking promising”. Honda revealed that early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint times around that of the European market Civic Type R (6.6 seconds). Later on, Mugen increased output by another 15 percent and reduced the chassis' weight by 50 kilograms, so that overall performance is expected to be even better than the Type R's.

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Limited Edition Ariel Atom Tuned by Mugen Packs 270 Horsepower

At the 2011 Autosport International Show in Birmingham, UK, Ariel unveiled the latest iteration of its “no screen, no roof, no doors” Atom, the Mugen-flavored limited edition it first hinted at back in December. Only ten units will be built, each featuring a special livery with a red chassis, white bodywork and red graphics showing the number of the car, to mark 10 years of production and 1,000 Atoms manufactured.

The highlight of the bare-essentials sports car is a Mugen-tuned 2.0-liter Honda K20Z naturally aspirated engine, delivering an impressive 270HP at 8,600 rpm and 255 Nm (188 lb-ft) of torque at 6,000 rpm.

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Limited Edition Ariel Atom Tuned by Mugen Packs 270 Horsepower

At the 2011 Autosport International Show in Birmingham, UK, Ariel unveiled the latest iteration of its “no screen, no roof, no doors” Atom, the Mugen-flavored limited edition it first hinted at back in December. Only ten units will be built, each featuring a special livery with a red chassis, white bodywork and red graphics showing the number of the car, to mark 10 years of production and 1,000 Atoms manufactured.

The highlight of the bare-essentials sports car is a Mugen-tuned 2.0-liter Honda K20Z naturally aspirated engine, delivering an impressive 270HP at 8,600 rpm and 255 Nm (188 lb-ft) of torque at 6,000 rpm.

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