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FN2 Mugen Civic Driven

Chris.

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Dotty and I were invited along to Avondale Honda in Northampton to test drive the Mugen Civic R. It is no secret that I am not much of an FN2 lover, so it shouldn't surprise you that I was not expecting this Mugen Concept car to be much better. I think the FN2 is overweight, and is more of a quick arm chair than a Type R. The CW edition is an improvement but the car is still dull and feels heavy on the road. That however is my opinion and an argument/discussion for another thread. I only include this info because even before I had driven the Mugen car I had this view of it and that is quite important as you will see.

The styling will divide opinion. I do like the look of the FN2, just not the back end. When I first saw the Mugen I thought it had been driven through Halfords however it is stunning in the flesh. Pictures do not do this car justice. Interior is pretty standard ish apart from the Recaro Buckets, harness and Mugen Assist Meters showing oil temp, water temp and oil pressure. The rear seats have been ripped out to save weight and apart from that you will find what you find in any normal FN2.

I was first to drive this and I had forum member Kirsty as my co driver with the pre planned 30 minute route card on her lap. I strapped myself in and left the dealership onto the dual carriage way. The first thing that struck me was the ride. I was expecting it to be the usual stiffer is better however it rides more comfortable than the standard car, even dare I say it, better than my DC5 on Eibach springs. I came to the roundabout and stepped on the brakes and I was glad that I made the harness tight as they are superb. I used to have AP discs on my car with some Mintex pads and they are arguably the best road/entry level track setup you can have on the DC5 but they are no patch on the Mugen items on this Civic. They are superb and supply brutal stopping power with zero fade. My only gripe is that in town traffic they can be quite tricky as I found out when I drove it to Silverstone. They are very on/off and there is little travel before they are on 100%. Whether this is due to the brakes in my DC5 being quite poor at the moment or whether they are a racing type on/off affair is something I can't answer.

Once I noticed that the oil pressure and temperature were up I gave it the beans. Boy does this thing shift, it's probably the quickest FWD car I have driven. It is more rapid than what my DC5 was when it was running 245 bhp. Bear in mind that the Mugen Civic has had a lot of weight stripped out and you can tell. The power delivery is smooth and linear all the way to the red line and it is a joy listening to the sound of the thing. I think Kirsty will confirm, I had an ear to ear smile, something I have not had when in a road car for a long time.

The test route took us over some country roads and I caned the car very hard. At one point I thought I was hedge bound as the speed I was travelling is a speed I would not have took some corners at in my DC5 but the feedback was so good and the car felt so planted it seemed rude not too and it just gripped. I still cannot believe the pace of the car, it is amazing. It is without a doubt the fastest point to point FWD car I have driven and I think that it would give some very expensive cars a run for the money in the bends. It is devastating and it does it with such ease it beggars belief, it is so so composed it is untrue. I am still gob smacked by the pace. I have test driven some fast metal and every time I get back into my DC5 it felt as if I was going from a road car into a race car. When I got back into my DC5 it felt very ordinary and quite boring as much as that pains me to say. This Mugen feels as if it has 300bhp and not 240bhp and it has the cornering ability and grip to manage the power which turns it into a lethal machine.

As I said at the start, my mind was made up before I got in the car, it was almost as if I wanted not to like it so it has done a good job into convincing me. Kirsty will confess, I was almost laughing when I was pushing on.

My only gripes with the car are that it has a nasty exhaust resonance at 75 which Mugen need to fix if it goes into production, the car understeers on sharp corners as I found out on a roundabout but it is entirely manageable, the brakes are very very keen and the exhaust design at the tail is quite laughable. Basically as you can see in pictures you have these large alu styled exhaust tips in the bumper but they are a trap, the actual exhaust tip is sat behind and is quite thin. Finally, the steering can feel quite numb at times but unles you use hydraulic power steering this will always be the case.

I guess the question is if I would buy one or not, and as I told the dealership boss, yes, without a shadow of a doubt. I don't think I would pay more than £25000 for one as above that you start looking at some serious 4WD machinery and I guess the cars main competition is the R26R which is less IIRC.

To sum up:

:twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted::twisted: x 100000000
 
Sounds like it was a surprising car then! Can only imagine the FD2 version must be pretty epic too.

Good write up Chris a good day out I guess!
 
Sounds like it was a surprising car then! Can only imagine the FD2 version must be pretty epic too.

Good write up Chris a good day out I guess!

Cheers.

Colin from Mugen informed me that this is quicker than the Mugen FD2.
 
Hi Chris, thanks for the review; like the others I have read it is well written and pretty much positive all round.
I know you were fairly sceptical before you went out, but from your reaction when you got back I had a feeling you quite liked it (where's the emoticon for "big understatement"?).
Anyway, thanks to the 3 of you for making the trip, and thanks for the valuable feedback, glad you enjoyed yourself.
 
Good write up Chris.

I think if Mugen/Honda can price this competitively against the other sizzling hot hatches in the market (Focus RS and Megane R26R) then it would be a definite contender.

I hope they will put this into production. As mentioned above, other manufacturers are making hardcore version of their sporty hatches and it has been widely reported that there is a lot of demand for these if not a waiting list, so their is definitely a market.

I think a lot of people felt cheated when Honda first released the FN2 because it appeared to cater for the masses rather than following the Type R ethos. This maybe why sales of the FN2 are not quite as prominent as what sales for the EP3 were. Ok there are obviously other factors such as the recent recession, but if you speak to a lot of Type R owners, they would stick with the EP3 over the FN2 because it's more like a Type R should be. Those of us who have driven the JDM offerings of Type R's will take this a step further.

I can only see this as a step in the right direction.

People concerned about their carbon footprints have been given their options, now it's time for those of us who wish to embrace the wonder of the internal combustion engine (in it's purist NA format I may add) our options. I think the Mugen FN2 is one of those options.
 
Hi Chris, thanks for the review; like the others I have read it is well written and pretty much positive all round.
I know you were fairly sceptical before you went out, but from your reaction when you got back I had a feeling you quite liked it (where's the emoticon for "big understatement"?).
Anyway, thanks to the 3 of you for making the trip, and thanks for the valuable feedback, glad you enjoyed yourself.

No problems at all, thanks for the invite and the chance to drive it. As you say, I am one of a select few who has driven this car and that is a nice feeling. :D
 
As you say, I am one of a select few who has driven this car and that is a nice feeling. :D
It was worth it just to see the faces of you guys as you got out of it after your runs - I really must get round to driving it myself one of these days!
 
It was worth it just to see the faces of you guys as you got out of it after your runs - I really must get round to driving it myself one of these days!

:eek: you've not driven it?! It'd be the first thing I'd done when it arrived in the country!
 
You are right Chris, it needs to be well prices to compete with the R26.R as that is the best hot hatch out at the minuet in my honest opinion.

This FN2 may be just right, not so stupidly stripped out like the Megane but not so full of fat that the weight does it an injustice like the latest Focus RS.

From both your review and Stuarts this could be an epic savoir for Honda and there Type R followers.
 
You are right Chris, it needs to be well prices to compete with the R26.R as that is the best hot hatch out at the minuet in my honest opinion.

This FN2 may be just right, not so stupidly stripped out like the Megane but not so full of fat that the weight does it an injustice like the latest Focus RS.

From both your review and Stuarts this could be an epic savoir for Honda and there Type R followers.

I have not driven the R26R, only the "normal" version which is quite rapid in it's own right. However the engine felt soulless and my DC5 felt better when I got back into it. I may try the R26R for a comparison.

I wouldn't buy French though. :p
 
I have not driven the R26R, only the "normal" version which is quite rapid in it's own right. However the engine felt soulless and my DC5 felt better when I got back into it. I may try the R26R for a comparison.

I wouldn't buy French though. :p

No, that is the other problem the R26.R like all Renault sports is French an like all French cars after a while of ownership things start to get on your nerves, rattles her damage there and then you have thier customer service!

You can’t beat Honda customer service I have found!
 
Have you not driven it?

No, not yet.
I thought about driving it at the Top Gear track but the TG guys were having so much fun it seemed such a shame to spoil it for them and we ran out of time (strict noise regulations there).
I did have 3/4 of a lap as a passenger with EVO, but then they threw a red flag and stopped the session. However, I got an idea of what the car could do in expert hands.
 
En route to Silverstone.

2009-08-30_11-25-24_300820091367.jpg
 
Is it true this has the K20A from the FD2 instead of the K20Z4?

No, it has the normal UK engine with the RBC inlet manifold, Mugen high compression pistons and Mugen cams. ECU is a bespoke Mugen item as well.
 
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