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Bank holiday Sunday was quite a memorable day to me.
Chris and I along with admin/mods of Civinfo and CTRO got invited by Avondale Honda/Mugen to take out and give feedback on the Mugen FN2 concept.
I will heartedly admit that I thought this was going to be just like a normal FN2 with generic handling and breathing mods. In actual fact it couldn't be further from the truth!
Before I had even seen the car in the flesh I expected it to look a bit OTT, this FN2 is a classic case of 'The pictures do not do it justice' Everything from the wheels to the large rear wing blend in very nicely. The rear of the car is stripped out and that was a weight loss of some 100 plus kg along with GRP panels and various other interior removals. The two front seats are now recaro bucket seats with five point harnesses to boot. These seats are excellent, the driving position is great and you certainly feel at one with the car.
To the right of the dash are three gauges informing you of oil temp etc.
Even the display has a 'Mugen' emblem which I thought was a nice touch.
Now that you have a basic feeling of what the car looks like, on to the drive..
Honda had a pre-planned route, I was solitary driving this so I figured I would go out driving on my own little route, rather than having to look at a route card at every turning, I am fairly familiar with the area so combined it with a bit of twisty b-road and dual carriageway driving.
Immediately when you push the engine start you get a good feeling inside, the car sounds very nice indeed, one thing I did notice straight away when driving sedately along is that it is not a crashy or bumpy ride. I was amazed at how comfy it was in actual fact.
The rear beam remains the same (oh no I hear you say) but with mugen springs and dampers which seems to be a 100% improvement on my experience with the classic FN2, the front shocks and springs are also Mugen.
As I joined the dual carriageway I noticed straight away that this car was very torquey, the engine sung beautifully and pulled very hard indeed, in any gear you wanted to be in, the car is running 240bhp thanks to uprated cams (Mugen), pistons, a bespoke ECU, the intake is Mugen and that along with the RBC inlet manifold works wonders. I kid you not this car is probably one of the fastest and effortless point to point FWD cars I have ever had the pleasure of driving. There were two issues, there was a bit of exhaust resonance between 70-80mph but Colin of Mugen UK mentioned this was going to be resolved when Mugen Japan fly over in September for yet more tweaks to the car.
One thing I was thankful for were the 5 point harnesses, I hit the brake pedal fairly hard, and I almost went through the windscreen, the brakes were immense, Mugen monoblock calirpers and pads seem to work pretty damn good!
On to the b-road and as I have previously mentioned, the car out handles and performs any other car I have driven, yes I would say it is better than some of the cars I have owned, including UK EP3 CTR, DC5 Integra and JDM EP3 CTR. I would go as far as saying the handling is close to that of my AWD EVO VI. One thing the car gave me was pure confidence, you can throw it in to any corner you like and it will navigate you round, Chris mentioned he has under steer - i personally never experienced this. the car was running on Advan A048's which are a great tyre.
Before I knew it my time with this car was over, I only wish I could have driven it longer, all day in fact! I even had to put petrol in it, the attendant got out and took pics on her phone! Chris was quite lucky in that he got to drive it along to Silverstone from the dealership, as a pilot in another car seeing the FN2 behind me () it looked menacing, the front end is very aggressive and on full chat it sounds like a touring car.
In essence - I loved the thing, would I buy one? I would indeed - if this were to go on sale I have little doubt it would be the king of Hot hatches, a pure example of engineering excellence.
I even raised a smile
Well done Honda/Mugen :smt023
Some other pics..
Chris talking to Colin the Mugen rep post drive.
Chris and I along with admin/mods of Civinfo and CTRO got invited by Avondale Honda/Mugen to take out and give feedback on the Mugen FN2 concept.
I will heartedly admit that I thought this was going to be just like a normal FN2 with generic handling and breathing mods. In actual fact it couldn't be further from the truth!
Before I had even seen the car in the flesh I expected it to look a bit OTT, this FN2 is a classic case of 'The pictures do not do it justice' Everything from the wheels to the large rear wing blend in very nicely. The rear of the car is stripped out and that was a weight loss of some 100 plus kg along with GRP panels and various other interior removals. The two front seats are now recaro bucket seats with five point harnesses to boot. These seats are excellent, the driving position is great and you certainly feel at one with the car.
To the right of the dash are three gauges informing you of oil temp etc.
Even the display has a 'Mugen' emblem which I thought was a nice touch.
Now that you have a basic feeling of what the car looks like, on to the drive..
Honda had a pre-planned route, I was solitary driving this so I figured I would go out driving on my own little route, rather than having to look at a route card at every turning, I am fairly familiar with the area so combined it with a bit of twisty b-road and dual carriageway driving.
Immediately when you push the engine start you get a good feeling inside, the car sounds very nice indeed, one thing I did notice straight away when driving sedately along is that it is not a crashy or bumpy ride. I was amazed at how comfy it was in actual fact.
The rear beam remains the same (oh no I hear you say) but with mugen springs and dampers which seems to be a 100% improvement on my experience with the classic FN2, the front shocks and springs are also Mugen.
As I joined the dual carriageway I noticed straight away that this car was very torquey, the engine sung beautifully and pulled very hard indeed, in any gear you wanted to be in, the car is running 240bhp thanks to uprated cams (Mugen), pistons, a bespoke ECU, the intake is Mugen and that along with the RBC inlet manifold works wonders. I kid you not this car is probably one of the fastest and effortless point to point FWD cars I have ever had the pleasure of driving. There were two issues, there was a bit of exhaust resonance between 70-80mph but Colin of Mugen UK mentioned this was going to be resolved when Mugen Japan fly over in September for yet more tweaks to the car.
One thing I was thankful for were the 5 point harnesses, I hit the brake pedal fairly hard, and I almost went through the windscreen, the brakes were immense, Mugen monoblock calirpers and pads seem to work pretty damn good!
On to the b-road and as I have previously mentioned, the car out handles and performs any other car I have driven, yes I would say it is better than some of the cars I have owned, including UK EP3 CTR, DC5 Integra and JDM EP3 CTR. I would go as far as saying the handling is close to that of my AWD EVO VI. One thing the car gave me was pure confidence, you can throw it in to any corner you like and it will navigate you round, Chris mentioned he has under steer - i personally never experienced this. the car was running on Advan A048's which are a great tyre.
Before I knew it my time with this car was over, I only wish I could have driven it longer, all day in fact! I even had to put petrol in it, the attendant got out and took pics on her phone! Chris was quite lucky in that he got to drive it along to Silverstone from the dealership, as a pilot in another car seeing the FN2 behind me () it looked menacing, the front end is very aggressive and on full chat it sounds like a touring car.
In essence - I loved the thing, would I buy one? I would indeed - if this were to go on sale I have little doubt it would be the king of Hot hatches, a pure example of engineering excellence.
I even raised a smile
Well done Honda/Mugen :smt023
Some other pics..
Chris talking to Colin the Mugen rep post drive.