Vissionary

"Uh, you mind taking it a little easier coming around that last corner?" says Sage Marie, Honda's PR flack. "The inside wheel is lifting and you're just burning up the tire."







I'm tempted to tell him it's because his car desperately needs an LSD, but I bite my lip. Marie already knows all about it, he races in his spare time. I do chill out around the skidpad corner -- after all, it's Marie's personal Honda Factory Performance Accord Coupe I'm thrashing around the Streets of Willow Springs.

Let me explain. Despite reaping the rewards of having one of the most fuel-efficient line of vehicles in these mpg-sensitive times, Honda is having problems moving a couple of special-edition vehicles. To help drum up buzz, it brought us out here and simply threw us keys to its current crop of sports cars -- the S2000 CR, Mugen Si, and HFP Accord Coupe.

Admittedly, the Accord Coupe is the oddball of the bunch. Though it has the biggest engine and most power, it's also the least sporty -- which is why I hop into it first. Another key difference, the Accord Coupe is all new and still selling like crazy, and it's easy to see why. Unlike the Accord sedan, there is no debating the Coupe's curb appeal.


In the Honda Factory Performance trim, the V-6 coupe looks even better -- lowered on stiffer springs and dressed up with a subtle four-piece lip and side-skirt kit and 19-in. wheels and high-performance summer tires.

My young colleague Kirill begs to differ, decrying it a secretary's car. Pity how youth is wasted on the young. Sure, it's a bit out of place on a racetrack and finds favor with a certain subset of the population gainfully employed in office administration, but I fail to see how that's a problem.

All I know is that I wouldn't mind rowing the coupe's close-ratio six-speed on the way to happy hour with a few of those aforementioned administrators piled into the back seat.


Of course, HFP gear or not, the Coupe is not ideally suited for hard slogs on the Streets. Sure, the revised suspension is a massive improvement. Though the re-valved dampers and stiffer springs lower the body by only 25 mm -- just under an inch -- the overall effect on handling feels much more significant. Body roll is effectively quashed, and the high-speed floaty feeling is gone as well. Approaching every corner, the HFP Coupe begs for higher and higher entry speed.



Which is shame that the LSD-less Coupe then gives up the ghost in a howling, spinning, smoking fashion. Once inertia lifts the inside front wheel, it's left spinning helplessly until momentum carries the car through the corner and sets it back down again.


The brakes also can't match the pace the suspension is willing to sustain. While they smoke and fade, they never go away completely -- though that isn't much comfort given how fast the Accord's willing chassis and powerful V-6 want to go.


While it's not bad on the track, the HFP Accord Coupe is clearly a better street car, set up more for occasional spirited blasts through the canyons and runs to Don Antonios for Taco Tuesdays.

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SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

Vissionary

The realization hits three seconds after hurtling out of the banking, foot to the floor. Two seconds after sucking in a breath and holding it through the blind chicane. One second after the staccato left-right-left roar of the rumble strips. It hits just after the full pucker left, a millisecond behind the flick of the steering wheel that shoots the Mugen Si through the corner and out the other side, millimeters away from the track's edge and the infield runoff beyond.

Whoa! This thing handles.





What M-Tec has done is hardly groundbreaking. After all, what makes this limited-edition special is simply a bundle of carefully selected aftermarket parts installed at the port and served with the same Honda warranty all Civics receive. But you can't argue with the results; one fast corner demonstrates that the Mugen Si is as big an improvement over the already stellar Civic Si as that Si is over the base model. It really is that good.

Why? Suspension and tires mostly. Underhood, there are no power modifications -- just the same sweet, 2.0L, 197-hp, 7800-rpm, petrol-burning grin generator. Sure they've added a sports muffler, but all you'll notice is how nasty good it wails. Body modifications, including the redesigned front bumper, side skirts, rear bumper with integrated diffuser, and adjustable rear wing are said to improve aerodynamics, but it's difficult to tell at any speed.



Stock Civic Sis, like many Hondas, are under-tired considering their performance potential, so hard driving often devolves into a fit of howling rubber and frenzied understeer. Not so with the BFG-shod Mugen Si; when pushed to the limit, the KDWs break away predictably and progressively with only a bit of squeal. Consequently, probing these outer limits in the Mugen is much easier and drama free than in the Si.



Additional confidence comes from the revised suspension. The tuning is light -- lower, stiffer springs and re-valved dampers -- but the results are significant. Ride is 0.6 in. lower. Front and rear bump and rebound, both have been increased between 8- and 24%.

Behind the wheel this translates to tighter turn-in and greater clarity while cornering. The rear wheels seem to follow the fronts more closely; there is no slop or wobble in quick esses, no instability in high-g sweepers, just pure carving precision and the heady feeling of being able to chuck the Mugen into every corner and pull it clean on the other side.





So what's the problem then? Why does Honda still have Mugen Si's sitting unloved on dealer lots, despite a limited run of only 1000?
The price. With an MSRP $29,500, the Mugen Si is over $8000 more than regular Si. But let's ignore for a moment the competition that can be had for roughly $30,000 and dig a bit deeper. Is the Mugen Si really that expensive? A brief search on the interwebs and finds the following:

• Four 18-in. Mugen GP wheels -- $1899.00
• Four 215/40ZR18 BF Goodrich g-Force KDW tires -- $995.96
• Mugen Exhaust (for the Civic Type R) -- $1449

And that's about it. Little else can be found on the Web that would enable building a replica Mugen Si because M-Tec doesn't part out Mugen Si parts, and your local Honda dealership isn't supposed to, either. So not only can you not build one yourself, you can't build it on the cheap.
Even if it were possible, the numbers don't make sense. Without the five-piece body kit, shift knob, Mugen name-plates, and labor to put all this stuff on -- the bill is already $4343.96. And that's not counting the limited-edition Fiji Blue Pearl paint job -- the only color available for the Mugen Si.

Of course, this doesn't automatically mean the Mugen Si is worth it. Set aside the exotic JDM hardware and limited-edition cache and reconsider how much car $30,000 buys and it's, well, a lot. More powerful, all-wheel-drive competition like the Subaru WRX and all-new Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart can be had for cheaper -- though it's debatable if the experience is any better.







The better question is why Honda, when facing such a competitive segment, didn't ship over its other limited-run Civic -- the Japanese market only, 225-hp Civic Type R.

Yes, this Mugen Si is good -- the chassis tuning is about as good as it gets for any front-drive car -- but all it seems to do is remind us about what it could have been had Honda decided to resurrect the Type R badge one more time.

Still, if you dig fast front-drivers, appreciate the myth and lore of Mugen, and want your own slice of Honda history -- for the Pete's sake, save your pennies and pick up a Mugen Si. If you don't, you can be assured that when Honda's first Mugen special-edition vehicle finally sells out, it will be the company's last.

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SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

Vissionary

With its hardtop removed and yellow stitched seats fully exposed, the light-blue S2000 CR appears particularly flamboyant. Though the CR stands for Club Racer, it looks more ripped from the pages of Import Racer, Super Street, or some other tuner 'zine.

A chunky front diffuser does nothing to offset an equally outsized wing perched atop the rump; in fact, they only accentuate the slenderness of the S2000 body. Functional though these aero additions may be, they come off as heavy-handed and inelegant.

But put the CR onto a track like the Streets of Willow and any visual awkwardness is immediately forgotten.





Down the front straight-away, the 2.2L 16-valve inline-four cylinder wails through the CR's sport-tuned muffler -- rumored to add 4 hp. Official output remains the same as the stock S2000 -- 237 hp at 7800 rpm and 162 lb-ft of torque at 6800 rpm.

Why then does this CR feel zippier? Because it's lighter, having shed items including the folding soft-top, radio, and air-conditioning system. These strategic deletions add up to weight savings of 51 lb with the aluminum hardtop on, 99 lb with it off.

Flat footing the CR through the first fast sweeper makes it clear Honda has done more than simply slim down an S2000 and bolt on some aero goodies. Turn in is breathtakingly quick for a streetcar -- on par with Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution in terms of speed and sensitivity. This is due in part to the quicker steering ratio (13.8 for the CR vs 14.9 for the stock version) and suspension modifications that include larger diameter stabilizer bars, stiffer springs, and re-valved dampers. Spin the steering wheel and there is seemingly no body roll -- perhaps due to the beefy steel reinforcement that sits in place of the folding soft-top.



Downshift into one of Streets' many tight corners with too many revs or jump on the gas too early, and the CR will quickly step sideways -- an exciting reminder of the Torsen LSD -- but it's always a short and easily controllable drift. A quick lift off the throttle and a slight counter steer get the wider, stickier Bridgestone RE70s biting again and keep the CR tracking straight and true. With these suspension and tire upgrades, drifting drama never lasts very long.

In the back bowl, where the 20-degree banking loads the springs, dampers, and spinal column with equal measure, the CR further separates itself from normal street cars. Where most cars push incessantly, the CR is neutral and balanced, and allows for the earlier throttle application out of this sweeping turn.







Brakes are unchanged, as no power has been added and weight has been removed, which is fine as they offer much needed confidence heading into the Street's blind chicane. Blasting over a slight crest, into rumble strips at near triple-digit speeds, is the very definition of the word rush -- yet everything is under control. A quick stab of the brake pedal and flick of the wheel snaps the CR around the corner. Throttle-brake-throttle for the last section of esses sends the CR zinging around the skidpad sweeper. Full throttle after the apex, and it's a tidy tail slide onto the straight toward the start/finish line.



One fast lap around Streets brings all the positive attributes of the S2000 into sharp focus and explains why the CR's mellow modifications make so much sense. Hondas have never been about big power or top speed. Likewise, the CR's emphasis is, and it has always been with the regular S2000, on maintaining momentum. Think of it as "fast in, fast out" approach, in which the goal is to keep cornering speeds as high as possible so there is not as much need to recover lost momentum on the straight-aways.

Sure, the outsized rear wing and front splitter do little to help this cause on a tight track like the Streets of Willow, but that's because the CR was designed for larger, faster tracks and the guys who like racing there.
So why isn't the S2000 CR more popular with the racing crowd? It could be the price.

At $38,000, the S2000 CR is by no means cheap, especially when roadsters like the BMW Z4 and Porsche Boxster can be had for $7000-$8000 more -- with additional power and amenities to boot.



But the main problem comes from Honda itself. The base model S2000 has built such a fine reputation and devoted following, many Honda racers find it easier to simply pick up a used S2000 to go racing. With early models available in the mid- to high teens, many racers adopt a DIY strategy and pick from the plethora of aftermarket performance parts available.

Are such budget build-ups superior to the S2000 CR? They can be for those who have the time, money, and expertise to build one right; but from a turnkey club racing perspective, not really. For the track day enthusiast or serious racer who wants to spend more time on the track and less in the garage, the Honda S2000 CR is a great choice.

__________________
SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

420Racer

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Vissionary

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SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

StevesSTi

My lesson has been learned,.....Im going to fuck them.

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Formerly StevesSRT
Previous car: '03 Stage 2 SRT-4
Previous car: '05 WRX STi
Previous car: Legend Lime '06 Mustang GT
Previous car: #1501/2000 Torred Charger R/T Daytona
Previous car: Who gives a fuck
Current Car: 08 Rallye Red Civic Si Sedan
Current motorcycle: Ninja 650R

420Racer

BTW, the redline on the Si is 8250, not 7800 as stated

im bored

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sota

nope... still like my neon better.

warman

the CR is ugly.

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Illegal Machine

Wow. That S2000 is 38K!? All of those cars fail big time.

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