"We wanted a car that has genuine performance available at the touch of a button, but can perform just like a standard CR-Z and offer good fuel economy when the driver wishes,” says Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro. “For that reason we’ve kept the three driving modes, so the driver can select ‘eco’ or ‘normal’ to switch to economy and low emissions for the daily drive, but press the Mugen button for the full-blown ‘weekend warrior’ settings!
In order to give a fully integrated and smooth power delivery, Mugen Euro has developed the Mugen iCF system, the Mugen acronym for Integrated Centrifugal Forced-induction, which allows all the elements of the electro-mechanical system, including the forced-induction system, IMA motor and petrol engine, to work in harmony.
"The idea was to use the significant advantage of the early torque provided by the Honda IMA electric motor, then increase the torque available from the engine progressively," says Whittamore.
The iCF, along with an electronics upgrade, allowed Mugen to very neatly map the IMA to the extra power and torque of the engine, giving a smooth, integrated and powerful driving experience."I have to say that when any of us have jumped into the Honda CR-Z Mugen it has delighted us all," says Whittamore. "It's exactly what we were looking for. And the real beauty is that it can still be driven in the way customers of the standard CR-Z would recognise."
The Honda CR-Z Mugen needed to be visually different enough to attract attention, yet subtle enough to be aesthetically pleasing. Mugen also wanted to demonstrate the high quality of its parts, offering a solution that enhances and integrates with the original CR-Z styling, in line with the Mugen philosophy of custom parts with original manufacturer standards of quality and fitment.
Additions to the exterior of the car include Mugen front and rear under spoilers, side skirts, rear wing and 17-inch lightweight forged alloy Mugen GP wheels. Carbon fibre bonnet and doors not only reduce the overall weight of the car but enhance the sporty look, while the eye-catching Brilliant Orange Metallic paint provides the finishing touch.
The interior of the car continues the sporty theme, with lightweight Recaro sport seats and Mugen accessories, including a weighted gear knob and carbon rear view mirror cover. The assist meters display and record water and oil temperatures and oil pressure. These dials are able to display these in finer detail than the OEM read-outs and allow the driver to more easily see sudden changes or fluctuations under hard driving conditions. They can also be used to warn the driver if any of the values fall outside the customisable pre-set parameters.
Mugen took advantage of the torque given by the electric motor at low rpm and built on that, boosting induction using a supercharger to provide torque after the electric motor peaked, resulting in a flatter and longer torque curve. This means that more torque is available throughout the rev range.
Although the electric motor contributes less than 20 PS to the overall power, it does this almost instantly by generating its maximum torque between 1,000 and 1,500 rpm. However, where in the standard car this causes the peak torque to occur at less than 25 percent of the engine range, with the Mugen iCF the performance does not drop off at this point - as the power/torque graph for the 'stage 1' engine shows.Early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-62mph times around that of the Civic Type R's official time of 6.6 seconds. With up to a further 15 percent increase in power to come over this 'stage 1' engine and with approximately 50kg reduced from the chassis, overall performance is on course to meet Mugen's original Type R targets.
- Engine Type: In-Line 4-Cylinder
- Bore and Stroke (mm): 73 x 89
- Compression Ratio: 10.4 : 1
- Valve Train: 16-Valve SOHC i-VTEC®
- Multi-Point Fuel Injection: Standard
- Drive-by-Wire™ Throttle System: Standard
- Hill Start Assist: 6MT
- Front-Wheel Drive: Standard
- 3-Mode Drive System (Sport/Normal/ECON): Standard
- Eco Assist™ System: Standard
- CARB Emissions Rating: AT-PZEV
- Direct Ignition System with Immobilizer: Standard
- 100K +/- Miles No Scheduled Tune-Ups: Standard
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