The Art of Aftermarket: Mugen Motorsports
Ever since the beginning of time, people have always wanted to go faster and break records. And when they break those records, what else would they do but go even faster than that? The fastest car in the world, as of now, is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
It can reach a top speed of 431 km/h (267 mph) but at a not so modest price of $2,700,000.
However, many automotive manufacturers know that people are very enthusiastic about cars, but usually don’t have enough money to run out and spend almost $3 million on the Veyron. That’s why manufacturers establish a portion of their company, or
an affiliation with another company, to provide affordable, powerful, and useful aftermarket parts to enthusiasts.
First off, let’s start with arguably the most popular and reliable brand in the world. Honda is very closely associated with Mugen Motorsports. Mugen was founded back in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, who is the son of the Honda Motor Company founder, Soichiro
Honda. Even though there are family connections, Mugen has never been owned by Honda to this day.
Mugen means “without limit” or “unlimited,” which is why a Mugen emblem or decal is usually followed by “power”. Mugen Power essentially means “unlimited power.” The company races and tunes Honda cars in the Super GT. They won the Formula 3000 in both 1990
and 1992, which led them to participate in Formula One racing from 1992 to 2000. Until 2005, Mugen was also the sole supplier of the Formula One Nippon engines.
From 1992 until 2000, Mugen has teamed up with other teams in Formula 1. In 1992 and 1993, Mugen teamed up with Footwork but failed to win any championships. In 1994, Mugen worked with Lotus, but, again, failed to win. They teamed up with Ligier in 1995
and 1996 and managed to win one championship in 1996. They worked with Prost in 1997, again failing to win. From 1998 to 2000, Mugen and Jordan teamed up to win one championship in 1998 and two in 1999.
The company has a very long heritage of racing. Hirotoshi started the company when he built his own racing car in his father’s house. Masao Kimura helped Hirotoshi establish Mugen, since he had more than 50 wins in Honda cars and also worked for Honda R&D,
the then Honda Racing Service before Mugen.
Mugen’s main focus is tuning Honda engines. They started tuning the 1200 cc engine in the 1984 Honda CR-X and have progressed to building their own engines. They build most of the components themselves, including the block, crankshafts, valves, and pistons.
Mugen Motorsports now produce their very own special engine that they use specially in Mugen modified Hondas. The engine is named the “Mugen MF408S”. It is a V8 engine with a displacement of 4,000 cc. it is rated at about 600 horsepower at 9,500 RPM with
383 pounds per foot torque at 7,500 RPM. It is electronically fuel injected with a carbon fiber clutch plate. It is also lighter than a normal V8 because of lightweight, yet sturdy, parts, at a mere 131 kg.
Mugen’s long term goal is to build their own road cars. They are already well on their way, producing body kits for Honda cars and, now, modifying stock Honda cars to the Mugen version.
In 2004, Mugen was reconstructed and established itself as M-TEC. Although they decided to retain the Mugen trademark and their headquarters, M-TEC is a separate entity from Mugen. M-TEC also retained the same employees and is controlled by former Mugen
board member, Shin Nagaosa.
Mugen Motorsports has made many different types of vehicles. They started back in 1984 with the Mugen Honda CR-X and, most recently, the Honda NSX Mugen RR, Honda Civic Mugen RR Advanced Concept and Honda Accord Mugen 24 sc, all in 2009.
Mugen is currently in production of the Mugen Civic Si, Mugen Civic RR, and Mugen CR-Z.
They provide every single thing imaginable to upgrade in a Honda or Acura, including brakes, cooling systems, tuning, electronics, engines, exhaust, body panels and add-ons, fabrication, forced induction, fuel, interior, suspension, servicing, transmission,
and wheels.
Although Mugen offers products and complete vehicles that are a bit pricey, you can rest assured that you are getting a good deal that will last a lifetime and fulfill your need for speed.
Take a look at the next article for possibly the best of aftermarket parts, Nismo. This includes the E-Type, S-Tune, R-Tune, S1 and the legendary Z-tune.
Take a look!
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