Mugen are to release a tuned version of the Type-R in the UK complete with an aggressive in-your-face aero kit.  Little is known about what Mugen have done to tune the car but it is unlikely they’d leave it at just a dress-up kit.  There is speculation that power will be similar to that of the JDM Civic Type-RR sedan with potentially 237bhp and 160lbft being tweaked out of the 2.0l petrol engine and driven through a six speed gearbox.

Additional rumors include no rear seats, big Brembo brakes and larger 18″ alloys to house them.

Further information

• Official Mugen Honda Civic Type-R page (in Japanese)
• 2009 Mugen Honda Civic Type-R » via Australian Car Advice

This new civic looks to be an absolute beast, but it’s a beast with a heavy price tag… £64,000* is a lot of money for an extra 60bhp and no sound deadening.

Extortionate?

Well maybe just a little considering you could buy three brand new Civic Type R’s for the same money. So what exactly are you getting for the extra £44,000 pounds? The type R-R starts off as a standard Type R but the clever folks at Honda give it a little spit and polish and add an extra R, contrary to the popular rumors the car still uses the 2.0l i-VTEC unit and not a 2.4l as expected. The car also retains its front wheel drive transmission and is not four wheel drive as was also expected.

Here’s a quick list of changes that I’ve gleamed from the article:

What you get

• Full-on race bucket seats
• Alcantara steering wheel
• Dash mounted start button
• Tweaked ECU
• VTEC cut-in reduced from 5,400rpm to 5,100rpm
• Six speed sequential gearbox
• Increased steering response
• Tweaked suspension

What they take away

• Stripped out cabin
• No stereo
• No Sound Deadening

I can’t help but suspect your could get similar results for a lot less, there are many tuners getting similar power figures from existing Type R’s without charging their clients £44k. There again sequential gearboxes aren’t cheap, likely setting you back the best part of £5k, but even taking that into account; is the Type R-R badge really worth a premium of this size?

* The price quoted is taken from the Auto Express magazine and is not mentioned in the online article, it is also not stated whether this will definately be a production model or simply a race series option. Judging by the indicated cost I’d assume the latter.

Edit: 25/04/2007:
I should have mentioned earlier that the Auto Express UK magazine states that this Civic Type R-R is produced by Honda’s Italian partner JAS Motorsport.

The online Auto Express article can be read here.