A supercharged Mugen version of the Honda CR-Z is finally about to be unleashed. The beefed-up version of the sporty hybrid follows the storming one-off which appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this year.
Honda tuning division Mugen has worked its magic on the 1.5-litre engine, adding a centrifugal forced air induction system and remapping the ECU.
Power will be increased to 178bhp, which is 50 per cent more than the standard car. This will give a 0-60mph time of 6.1 seconds and a top speed over 130mph.
Mugen has also delivered a series of tweaks to improve the handling. A Honda insider has confirmed a price of £23,000 - the current range-topping CR-Z costs £20,800. A Honda insider said: "We have deliberately tried to keep the price down. There is no point in doing a £30,000 CR-Z."
The model will be rolled out across Britain's eight Mugen dealers in February before going on sale across the entire Honda network in the summer.
For an alternative review of the latest Honda CR-Z Hatchback visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk
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A factory supercharger conversion for £2200, amazing value.
It shames the pricing point of the FT86.
People in the small Japanese sports car market should probably opt for this. It's very hard to justify an additional £5k for 20hp and RWD (In the case of the Toyota GT86)
So, instead of the CR-Z remaining a stylish, if slow, greenwash product with poorer fuel economy than a diesel hatch, the Mugen supercharger conversion makes it a fast coupé with the added complexity of an electrical drivetrain that will only be active for a very small percentage of the time.
And the fuel economy and emissions will suffer for it.
not everyone gives a crap about "green" mr snappy.. some people want a decent performing, modern car with above average looks, and MPG doesnt even come in to the equation.
i like it, but then i also like the GT86 so am clearly in the minority that car manufacturers are finally taking note of after the last 10 or so years of 'warm' hatches, silly city cars and hybrids!
This looks like an interesting prospect for the money and as 'beachland' says, it makes the GT86 look pricey.