Honda CR-Z Mugen RR - it's the Japanese version

Honda CR-Z Mugen RR - no power details forthcoming

Mugen in Japan has emulated Mugen UK by producing the Honda CR-Z Mugen RR, a tarted and titivated CR-Z Hybrid.

We’ve reported quite a bit on Mugen UK’s efforts to sprinkle fairy dust on the Honda CR-Z Hybrid to turn it in to the sort of hybrid that would appeal to a keen driver. And now it’s the turn of Mugen in Japan who have also built a supposedly one-off CR-Z – the Honda CR-Z Mugen RR.

The Euro Mugen CR-Z – which was on show at Goodwood last month – was eventually fettled to deliver 197bhp by bolting on a supercharger. Those who drove it – and they were few and far between – concluded that it was all a bit frantic with more fuss than rush. But it did go a lot better than the quite asthmatic CR-Z Hybrid.

So what has Mugen in Japan done differently to their UK counterparts to make the CR-Z Mugen RR more appealing? Haven’t got a clue. Really, Honda has sent us a press release telling us that:

“MUGEN of Japan has built a CR-Z MUGEN RR design concept to demonstrate MUGEN’s capabilities in terms of function, style, performance and agility.”

But they have singularly failed to tell us anything fundamental about the Mugen CR-Z. Yes, they tell us that the Mugen CR-Z has lots of bespoke prototype parts and that Mugen has used carbon fibre for some of them including bonnet, doors and hatch. Sounds good.

They also tell us the Japanese Mugen CR-Z has a full-length carbon fibre underbody and race developed suspension (whatever that means). Sounds like a cracking car in the making.

But it’s not just the outside of the CR-Z that Mugen has titivated. They’ve covered the seats in Mugen-branded colour-coded leather and Alcantara to go with the Valencia Orange Pearl paint job. The Info screen can record chassis and engine data and has SatNav and audio. It all sounds properly pleasant.

But that’s it.They describe all the cosmetic tweaks and give us nothing of substance. Has Mugen in Japan bolted on a supercharger, or is this just a cosmetic job? We have no idea. None. All we know is that Mugen in Japan has painted a CR-Z orange and tarted it up a bit with carbon fibre.

Oh, goodie.