Car Throttle

We've thought all along that what the Honda CR-Z needs is an injection of excitement. The aftermarket, like usual, is happy to oblige. Mugen is a Honda tuner that has close official ties with the manufacturer though. From the very beginning it seemed intent on offering a solution for enthusiasts that turned the car into an exciting drive. Very soon after the CR-Z production debut there was word of a sportier Mugen-tuned model coming. That effort came to fruition at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. There was two models, in fact - a Mugen CR-Z Concept and a CR-Z RR. The RR is racing-focused and more extreme than the aforementioned Mugen CR-Z Concept. There wasn't any word about production of either

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is held in England every July, and while full-scale automotive launches don't take place at the event, many tuners come and announce their latest wares. Mugen is a Honda tuner, and has been showing off its CR-Z Concept for a while. The CR-Z has been a big disappointment to enthusiasts, mainly in the performance arena given its hybrid drivetrain. Mugen aims to tap into the car's potential and in doing so, to change its character completely. That's the CR-Z Concept's goal. But the CR-Z Concept isn't the only introduction by Mugen at the show though. The company has also announced a more track-focused concept called the CR-Z RR. Mugen calls the CR-Z RR Concept a "study model" that is

The Honda CR-Z has been panned by many reviewers and enthusiasts as a missed opportunity. The CR-Z has left performance out of the equation, instead of being an affordable and fun successor to the CR-X. Since its introduction we've heard rumblings about a sport-tuned by Honda tuner Mugen. Last month, Mugen made it an official with the announcement of a Mugen CR-Z concept headed for a debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July. The changes focus primarily on boosting power from the 1.5-liter four-cylinder combined with an electric motor. Now with forced induction, the combined setup makes 197 horsepower and 191 pound feet of torque. Those numbers are up dramatically from the standard car's 122 hp. Along with a drop of 110 pounds

The Honda CR-Z held a lot of promise when it was first shown to enthusiasts, but sadly hasn't quite lived up to that. Clearly Honda was aiming to catch some of the CR-X's allure but it hasn't quite panned out that way. Its slow hybrid drivetrain doesn't do it any favors. We wouldn't be surprised if Honda tried to make it more performance oriented in the future. Until then though, Honda tuner Mugen is happy to oblige. In October 2009, we first reported on news about a Mugen-tuned version of the Honda CR-Z. Over a year later, the first pictures of the car are surfacing. Even now though it apparently is just a concept car, although we don't see it being that way

Honda just introduced the CR-Z at this year's North American International Auto Show. Needless to say, many were disappointed. Instead of a successor to the much-loved CR-X like it name implies, the CR-Z is more of a successor to the Insight. Could help be on the way in the form of a Type-R model? The main issue with the CR-Z (for enthusiasts anyway) lies in its specifications list. The CR-Z is a hybrid, with a 102 horsepower 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, along with an electric motor that provides an additional 20 hp. That adds up to only 122 hp. AutoExpress reports that those figures are about to change for the better. The new CR-Z Type-R would use a version of the 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the Civic Type-R,

One of the highlights of the recent Tokyo Auto Show (pretty much a home market Japanese-only show this year) was the Honda CR-Z Concept. The car first appeared at the 2007 show, but the model introduced at the show this year was supposedly a nearly 100% preview of the production model. That has proven to be correct now, as a brochure for the production Honda CR-Z has leaked, giving us a good bit of information. See, it looks nearly identical to the "concept" - and that is a good thing. The CR-Z promises to be the best looking Honda in a long time. The CR-Z is somewhat of a successor to the original CRX (and also somewhat, the Insight), an extremely efficient and fun to drive vehicle that

Toyota has set its sights on producing some exciting new vehicles that will help it to connect with enthusiasts. Vehicles from Toyota have been criticized as appliances that don't provide much in the way of excitement. For Lexus, the LF-A was introduced after a long development process, and the FT-86 Concept is destined for production at the Toyota division. Rival Honda has made waves with the CR-Z Concept that is in the works for production. Japan's Best Car magazine has Toyota planning a competitor by reviving a recent sports model - the MR2, but this time called the MR-S. The MR2 was seen as an affordable mid-engined sports car, but it didn't do very well in the United States in the years leading up to its demise.