Monday 28th November 2011

Mugen CR-Z is coming - and it'll cost £23k

Hot CR-Z hybrid coupe will easily undercut GT 86 when it goes on sale in February

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Honda looks set to push the concept of the sporty Hybrid still further by putting a Mugen-tweaked version of its CR-Z hybrid coupe into production - and it'll be on sale in the UK by February next year.

Most intriguingly of all (especially for those wincing at the £28k estimated price of the new Toyota GT 86) is the news that the Mugen CR-Z will be given a sticker price of 'less than £24k' when it hits showrooms.

As with the development version of the Mugen CR-Z that we drove at Rockingham in the summer, the production version of the fast CR-Z will get a 158lb ft, 200hp version of the 1.5-litre four-pot used in the 'normal' car, albeit with a supercharger.

Performance should be pretty spritely, then, and Honda reckons on a 0-62mph sprint of 6.1secs for the car, which should give it a healthy (straight line) performance edge over the identically horsepowered Toyota GT 86.

The one thing we don't know is just how many Mugen CR-Zs will be made...

[WCZ]

Clarkson drove this on his latest dvd, he seemed fairly impressed!

could look decent in the right colour scheme.

where's the exhaust?

[melvster]

That looks sick lad!!!!!

[alexpa]

Quality. Specs please. At last something from Honda I 'want' to buy from their range.

P.S. A replacement DC2 would be nice also, or is this it?

[DazBock]

Nice - silly black bonnet though!

[StottyZr]

Want!

The price seems reasonable, and they sound amazing!

[Riggers]

alexpa said:

Quality. Specs please. At last something from Honda I 'want' to buy from their range.

P.S. A replacement DC2 would be nice also, or is this it?

Full specs (of prototype) at the end of article linked below

Driven: Mugen CR-Z

[stew-S160]

I do like this a lot. But I'd take the Toybaru simply because they will be RWD.

[Codswallop]

The specs make the car seem like it could be a giggle to drive. The body add-ons are rather naff though. If they can offer just the performance upgrades minus the bodykit (for a grand or so less), that could be splendid.

[anonymous-user]

Isn't the new Corsa VXR around this price?
I still expect to see more of those than these sadly. This car looks great though.

[Frimley111R]

Fat little bugger isn't it? (visually I mean)

[michaelfenton]

Autocar's review mistakenly said this car was RWD, how I wish they were right! They've fixed it now in the article...

[900T-R]

Not bad. Not bad at all. Going from my time with the base car, they could well be on to something.

First time a Mugen derivative would be priced competitively in the UK market, too...

[Riggers]

PSBuckshot said:

Isn't the new Corsa VXR around this price?
I still expect to see more of those than these sadly. This car looks great though.

The Nurburgring edition is; the ordinary VXR is £18,900...

[Mr Gear]

Can I be the first to say "why don't they stick a V8 in it? Where do they get the electricity from? COAL. That's where. Also something about wind turbines."

I think that covers it.

[Crow555]

Mr Gear said:

Can I be the first to say "why don't they stick a V8 in it? Where do they get the electricity from? COAL. That's where. Also something about wind turbines."

I think that covers it.

At the risk of getting a whoosh parrot, it's a hybrid, not an EV. Or have I missed your point?

[Mr Gear]

Crow555 said:

At the risk of getting a whoosh parrot, it's a hybrid, not an EV. Or have I missed your point?

I can hear the flapping of parrot wings as I type this.

[Crow555]

Mr Gear said:

Crow555 said:

At the risk of getting a whoosh parrot, it's a hybrid, not an EV. Or have I missed your point?

I can hear the flapping of parrot wings as I type this.

[JohnoVR6]

WCZ said:

where's the exhaust?

It's the item that looks like a prolapsed anus, beneath the right rear fog.

Drove the standard CR-Z a few times and it’s a fantastic little thing in my opinion, and quite the looker in standard form. This one though, is a little too far down the aftermarket tuner road for my liking...Nice car, silly additions.

[900T-R]

The hybrid system in one of these is no more than a KERS-lite anyway. Provides a useful little kick to get things going and saves maybe a dozen grams of CO2 per kilometre in the NEDC test compared to cars with a similar bhp/size/weight - no more fuel-efficient in reality though.

Not that it matters - it's cool, aimed at the likes of us, affordable and a bit different. Not a bad little commuter.

[johnhenry]

isnt this the crx that appeared on 5th gear and was slated for chronic understeer??