When Type R Is Not Enough...

What do you do if you want more than Honda’s run of the mill hot hatch offerings? You get yourself a Mugen… 

- Dan Sherwood

Originally specialising in tuning the humble 1200cc Honda Civic engine,Mugen has since grown to include products for many of the hottest Honda models of the last 30 years. However, the main place where Mugen has always excelled is at the track, being heavily involved in all forms of motorsport from Formula 3000 to JGTC, Group N rallying, Motocross, WTCC, ETCC and even Formula 1, to name but a few.

Although Mugen has only ever worked with Honda products, unlike brands such as Nismo, AMG and TRD, which are tuning arms of their various automotive manufacturers, Mugen has never been directly affiliated with Honda Motor Company and remains to this day a standalone tuning firm.

As Japanese tuning fans, we probably know Mugen best for its range of bodykits and aftermarket tuning products, rather than its Formula One heritage, but, however you may have heard of the company, the reputation of quality is one that has always been at the forefront of the Japanese brand.

With such unquestionable credentials, and its historical link with Honda, it is of little wonder that, when the Japanese manufacturer wanted to build special limited edition models of their Civic Type R, there was only one place to go.

The first production Civic to be born out of the collaboration between Honda and Mugen was the Honda Civic Mugen RR.

Based on the Japanesemarket FD2 chassis, 300 Milano red examples of the RR were built and went on sale in Japan in September 2007. So popular were they that all 300 sold out in just six minutes, even with a price tag of almost double that of a regular Type R.

‘For me, the Double R is the ultimate representation of what the Type R brand is all about,’ says Dean Sami, the Japanese car importer who has bought along his gleaming red FD2 for the shoot. ‘It’s just so extreme for a production car. It really is a hardcore piece of kit and looks great, too.’