New car news

23 June 2009 - 11:00

Mugen Civic Type R is here

Here's the Brit-bound Type R hatch, and it looks every bit as mental as we'd hoped.

Check out that giant rear wing and those mortar-like exhausts. The Type R has always been a pretty mad thing - hell, the standard Civic is crazy enough - but this takes things to a whole new level.

As we thought, power will be around 178kW from a tuned-up version of the Type R's naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engine.

OK, that's still well short of Focus RS territory, but the Mugen Type R is much closer in spirit to the stripped-out Megane R26.R - the rear seats have been removed while the front seats have been replaced by full Recaro buckets. Expect plenty of carbon fibre trim, too.

Tougher brakes, stiffer springs and stickier tyres mean improved handling... and the very real possibility of fusing all your vertebrae together over a bumpy road.

We don't know exactly how many Mugen Type Rs will reach Aus, but don't expect it to top 50 or so

Just one question: how the hell do you see out the back? 

Now watch Clarkson drive Honda's blistering manga rocketship from hell: