As most of you will probably know, Mugen is a small company of 180 people that make racing engines for Honda cars. The company is owned by the Honda family (it was founded by Soichiro’s son) but is independent of Honda motors. They made F1 engines and Formula Nippon engines, and they now prepare race NSXs, F3 cars and others. They also make and sell aftermarket bits.

So Mugen and Honda have decided that it would be interesting to set their race engineers onto a Euro Type R. In essence, they approached the car as if it were a race car, and performed all their computer analysis to come up with their perfect engine and suspension. Sadly, none of the parts that were computed as perfect were available, so they just went ahead and made them from scratch. They then added some proper race-engineering thought, and came up with this carThe front struts were a start-again job. The anti-roll bar was fine, and the rear retains the basic twist beam but with new home-grown springs, dampers and bushes. Talking to Colin (the project manager), in a slightly over-excited way, was an utter pleasure - we gassed on for ages about how stiffer is not better, and the different ways you can overcome the issues that the twist beam comes with. Mugen’s objective was to make a car no stiffer than the standard car (possibly even softer) but with vastly improved wheel control via some very cunning computer designed springs and dampers. The car sits just 10mm lower, but only because that is best. Furthermore, the unsprung weight was reduced from about 17Kg to 12Kg - allowing the wheel to move with the bumps more freely without moving the car. So in theory more gripEvery 5kg lost is like gaining an extra horsepower for free, so Mugen went about finding free horsepower. In the end the GRP panels, the funky Recaros, the removal of the rear seats and the composite rear bulkhead lost 105kg and the power to weight went up 24%. Mugen considered a roll cage and body stiffeners, but the shell was considered stiff enough and the extra weight would have undone their hard work, better control aAgain, Honda UK were keen to have a known brand poking out from behind the spokes. “Brembo” written there never did any harm. But, as usual (getting the picture here?) Mugen knew they could do a bit better with a monoblock design. So they made them. At the rear, they decided that just Mugen pads would be finend an improved ridewhen you put all that together in your head, you come up with a picture of what the car is going to be like. A bit faster (but not much faster, certainly not competitive), and typical “tuned” car hard ride, slightly better brakes and generally a slightly ruined version of what I reckon is a fantastic, enthusiasts car.

So I was just a little luke warm about the whole project. It would be nice to see the PR people again, I imagined I’d get 30 minutes of marketing drivel followed by a minor headache from a bouncy, noisy, over-priced car. I packed my Ibuprofen and went to NorthamptonStart it up as normal, and it’s still situation normal - docile and smooth, but with a slightly deeper exhaust note. Set off and scrape the chin on a small ramp. Pootle out of the car park and up to the T junction. Screech! Just moving your foot near the brake pedal is enough to make the car chirp to a halt. The brakes are clearly something else, and something I made a mental note to try out later.what it reminded me of, but it’s a but like a fast-road 911. It’s astonishing. Firm, yet nicely damped. Which made it comfortable. So now, I have to put my hand up a little, and concede that twist beam, with the right components, in the right style of car, can work. And work well.

And the steering… Where the standard R is lively, this thing is rampant. Just think a direction change, and it starts it before you even send the signal from your brain to your hands. But there’s no tramlining, no wriggling, in fact nothing nasty at all. Just perfect steering - again like a Boxster or Cayman. The weighting is good too, but maybe a tiny bit light (I still reckon hydraulic is the only proper way). But just a few hundred yards up the road and it is all going against expectations - it’s a CTR but miles, no, many many miles better.

And then, of course, you have to do it. Moving off from stationary you’ll notice that in the lower “gutless” part of the rev range this car just flies forwards. It seems to leap effortlessly to a point quite a bit further ahead than you expected. And, at the moment you have been waiting for, the VTEC arrives and you fly. But this is something else. The scream is louder, purer and even more addictive than standard. It’s like a cross between a modern Ferrari and a 4 cylinder superbike. The step up in torque hits you in the back and in a flash you grab another gear and you get the same precision-Beelzebub howl of engineering perfection. This car is seriously fastBy this time, you will be putting aside your pre-conceived ideas about the car. Just in time to notice that you really are in an exotic Porsche, on steroids. Not a bouncy CTR with a mind of it’s own. Because the bumps and movements in the road do not phase this car at all. The ride seems to get even better and you can carve precise lines in and out of corners. No bump-steer, no white-lining, nothing. Almost like it’s RWD. It’s like nothing I have driven before - and that includes so many Porsches and other fancy metal. The 350Z is a wallowy mess and the M3 a distressed sofa by comparison. The grip levels at speed were better than me, but at low speed you could see that it only let go well after you expected it, and with a gentle hint of reassuring understeer. Lift off and it tightened without drama.

So you are now Jason Plato, and you decide to get brave and use the brakes. Can I please recommend that you take care, or at least use the five point harness. The brakes are like.. Well I’m running out of superlatives. The brakes are like no car I have previously driven. Just eye-popping.

The net result? Down a country road this is the most fun you will ever have in a car, if you derive pleasure from driving. I just had the biggest grin ever when I got out. And Honda realised this - they were taking photos of each driver as they came back - and everyone was doing it. If you like posing then you will be better off in a 370Z, if you like playing pub top-trumps with 0-60 times and horsepower then you will need a turbo car with saggy throttle response. But if you are a true petrol-head, one who wants the most exhilarating, race-car experience with a car that is shaper and better and faster than you will ever be, then this is the car for you. And if you really are a true petrol head, then you will pay the price, whatever that is.

This evening, thinking back on it, the only vehicle I know like this car is a modern CBR600. And people buy those purely for fun. Except in this fo, and you have to just keep doing it. Over and over again. Like a regular CTR but so much more, and so much more fun,

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