In 1973, the first racing project of the newly formed Mugen Co. Ltd. was the MF-318. Based on the Civic EB1 Civic 1200 engine features dry sump lubrication and Keihin 35mm CV carbs to make 135 ps at 8000 rpm. It was very successful race engine in both formula car and sedan racing. The team at Mugen completely remade or modified every aspect of this engine. Boring the engine to 1300cc, the Mugen MF-318 was victorious in its very first race in the Formula FJ 1300 racing series in Japan. It went on to become the dominant engine in this series for many years to come.

Here is a very rare picture of the Mugen FJ 1200 race car. Pictured here in 1973 at the first Mugen HQ.

Our very special orange guest at this year's annual Dyno Day was the amazing Honda CR-Z MUGEN RR Concept vehicle. After months of careful planning, Mugen and King Motorsports were proud to bring Mugen's newest concept all the way to Milwaukee -- exclusively for our Dyno Day. This is the first and possibly only time that these wheels will ever be in the States.

Shipping a hand-built, one-of-a-kind concept vehicle over 6200 miles from Tokyo to Wisconsin (and back again) is no small accomplishment.

The process starts in April, months ahead of June's Dyno Day.

Moving the car out of the Mugen showroom:

In this picture, Mugen technicians charge the battery and do all the final prep:

Then the super-low hatch is eased up the ramps for transport to where it will be crated up and shipped out!

And here's what a shipping label for an entire vehicle direct from Mugen looks like! Made in Japan!

Box within a box!

6229 miles later the Mugen CR-Z RR Concept Car arrives in Wisconsin!

After two hours of uncrating!!

You just can't walk by this car without marveling at all the details....

Wanna see what's under the hood of the Mugen CR-Z RR???

Rotrex supercharged beauty!

Another view. The carbon work is just amazing! Approximately 200 hp and all the weight savings from the carbon body work should perk up the CR-Z!

Finally we moved the CR-Z into the King Motorsports showroom. We moved out all of our regular showroom cars to give the CR-Z center stage! Here it is covered the night before -- ready for its unveiling on Dyno Day June 2.

Grand unveiling the morning of Dyno Day!

YouTube user FLBFLY posted up this video walkaround of the Mugen CR-Z: RR!

Dyno Day over and a great success, the day for us to return the orange Mugen beast back to Tokyo came all too soon.

Charging up the battery one last time before we say goodbye to the CR-Z: RR! A huge thanks to our friends at Mugen for helping make this happen!

The King Motorsports International Shipping Division goes to work crating the Mugen CR-Z RR for its return trip!

Our Japanese colleagues built a very clever shipping container that clips together. Reassembling all the pieces was a bit challenging. :)

This is the Mugen CR-Z's last glimpse of North America! :)

Once the container was built, the fork lift pushed it into the back of the shipping company's truck. Sayonara!

Mugen's newest seats have arrived, and we have some beautiful detail photos!

The vitals on the new seats:

Mugen MS-R Full Bucket Seat

* Carbon fibre shell
* Belt holes for 3 inch full harness
* Lumbar support (pad insertion type)
* Deep side support
* Divided seat cushion
* Non-slip seat cushion
* Alcantera
* Shoulder grip
* MUGEN Logo (embroidered)

(see the product page for more info and to order)

Mugen MS-Z Semi Bucket Seat

* Stepless recliner
* Forward folding backrest
* Lumbar support (pad insertion type)
* Belt holes for safety harness
* High grip side support
* Alcantera
* Shoulder grip
* MUGEN Logo (embroidered)

(see the product page for more info and to order)

Here is the MUGEN MS-R seat installed in an S2000 (Check out the Mugen roll bar too). Seat details include unique shoulder stripes in Mugen gold/red/white, a large MUGEN logo in white and smaller RECARO logo. You'll find Recaro's premium materials, precision engineering and high-end features throughout.

Detail of the MS-Z carbon fibre seatback and 2nd rear-facing white embossed MUGEN logo.

The craftmanship and level of detail down to the stitching is unreal.

Detail shot of the lower seat cushions on the MS-R.

Best seat in the house! The Mugen MS-Z stepless reclining seat installed in a CR-Z.

We've partnered with Mugen for decades. Along the way we've been able to collect some very cool catalogs and images from a time period of Honda tuning that we personally love and focus on. Here are some of the pics we've posted on our Facebook page over the last year or so. Be sure to LIKE us on Facebook to see more!

Right-click and select VIEW IMAGE to see the full size versions.

Tubular artwork- rare Mugen exhaust manfold/exhaust system catalog circa 1996:

Mugen DA- awesome! Very few folks were interested in hot rodding these cars back in the day. Everyone was all about the CR-X and Civic. However the DA offered just a touch more sophistication- a great sports coupe! The parts list include the Mugen MR-5 wheels, special spoiler and steering wheel.

Mugen MR-5 2-piece wheels! Black with polished silver lip, silver Mugen spoke logo and polished center cap, rivets and lug caps.

The Mugen Civic "Ferio" 4-door. Talk about a sports sedan! Note the unusual placement of the Mugen livery under the black door trim.

Mugen EG Civic circa 1992. What a great car- B16, great gearbox, 4-wheel discs- way ahead of its time! Check out the lesser-seen NR-10 Mugen wheels with blue center caps.

Back in the day, slapping one of these on the back of your '84 CR-X was worth at least 10 HP. At least it did on ours! ;) Note the older non-italic san-serif font and lower-case "mugen power".

The first official USDM Mugen Competition Parts Catalog cover, circa 1985. Is that JDM Stig in the background?

Here is the catalog page for the body kit on the original Integra. Good to see Mugen had a sense of humor in its description of their decals: "Rumors of significant increases in horsepower resulting from the application of the Mugen Die Cut Decals should not be taken seriously ..." Right-click to view the full size image and read more.

Here's one from deep in the vault. This is a Mugen decal circa late 1970's!

Here is a shipping label from our very first shipment from Mugen as the "Sole Authorized North American Distributor." As we recall, the container itself was a work of art. It was a beautiful wooden crate that was so large and heavy three of us had to hang off the end of the forklift so it could lift the crate and not tip over! Among the contents were what would become our best sellers at the time- 86-89 Integra rear wings, CR-X and Civic exhausts and MR-5 wheels!

Here's one for you Mugen nostalgia buffs! A Mugen Genuine Parts Dealer decal, circa 1984. How many of these have you seen?

Catalog page for the MUGEN CR-X PRO.3 Del Sol (thanks Chris!)

Our 2012 Dyno Day was the most memorable yet! It was a huge success! The weather was absolutely perfect!

Held annually at our facilities in New Berlin, Wisconsin, this year's Dyno Day was on Saturday June 2.

Thank you to the hundreds of dedicated attendees who polished and primed their rides unto perfection to show, compete and connect at this year's annual King Motorsports event. We had so many cars that we overflowed beyond our own street this year! New this year we added a detailing professional and dent repair specialist to the mix. Returning talent powerhouses included the amazing tunes of Deletah, pics by NoggsPhotography, BBQ by Boy Scout Troop 93 and shirt design by Perry Wang.

We can't forget our four-wheeled guest of honor, the Mugen Concept CR-Z: RR! This orange mechanical work of art was shipped over 6000 miles from Mugen's Tokyo showroom to New Berlin, WI just for our event! It was one of the very few times a Mugen concept car will ever be seen Stateside, and we were proud to have his one-of-a-kind beast briefly under our roof.

The persistent enthusiam of the attendees make all the hard work put in by our staff worth it every year. We had 250 entries and ran 32+ cars on the Dyno.

Already planning for Dyno Day 2013!!!!

This year's pictures can be viewed on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150829609646319.396707.110076751318&type=3

Also see Rob Delimat's awesome photos that he posted on honda-tech:

http://honda-tech.com/showpost.php?p=47441827&postcount=1

And another gallery of pics on 8thCivic.com:

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/introduction-pictures/295238-king-motorsports-dyno-day-2012-project-x-pics.html

Tokyo Auto Salon 2012
19 January, 2012
Tokyo, Japan

All images courtesy Mugen Co., Ltd.

Taking center stage at the Mugen display area were the two RR CR-Z concept cars. Highly modified and supercharged, these cars are test beds for Mugen’s pursuit of speed and performance for the newest Honda vehicles, including hybrids. Also on display was Mugen Forumula Nippon race car, partially disassembled live by Mugen technicians.

CAPTIONS (top to bottom):

pic 1:
Getting ready for the big show. Mugen marketing staff preparing the stage for Mugen's Type RR CR-Z concept vehicles.

pic 2:
Still under wraps - Mugen Concept CR-Z's with Mugen's Formula Nippon Race Car in the background.

pic 3:
The post-unveiling press interviews begin. Mugen's supercharged LEA-MF6 at center stage.

pic 4:
The press frenzy starts immediately after the cars are unveiled.

pic 5:
Typical Mugen attention to detail, ensuring the lighting is correct.

pic 6:
Snapping some in-house pics.

pic 7:
Q&A with the Mugen gurus!

Pic 8:
It's a fortunate few who get this close to Mugen's Formula Nippon car.

Pic 9:
A rare look at a partially disassembled Mugen road race car.

Pic 10:
A live demonstration by Mugen's highly-skilled technicians.

FRP is an acronym for Fiber Reinforced Polymer. Some will say that it stands for Fiber Reinforced Plastic, but this is incorrect – Not all plastics are polymers. In the case of Mugen’s manufacturing process, they use a proprietary FRP composite developed in-house after much testing in the lab, wind tunnel and street.

Some of Mugen’s aero pieces are constructed from FRP exclusively; bumper covers, side sills, spoilers. But Mugen manufactures two items from both Carbon Fiber and FRP – Hoods for Fit, and S2000, and S2000 Hardtops. The reasoning is pretty straightforward, Carbon Fiber construction is the strongest, lightest material available for these parts, but it comes at a cost. FRP, on the other hand, offers a lower cost option. While not as strong or light as Carbon Fiber, FRP is still extremely strong and still lighter that most other materials. Most importantly, it can be used in the same molds as the Carbon Fiber pieces, therefore offering the same precise fit that Mugen’s Carbon Fiber parts are known for.

Here are a few common questions regarding Mugen’s FRP parts:

Q: What is the weight difference between the Carbon Fiber and FRP parts?
A: The weight difference is about 25%. For instance, the Carbon Fiber Hood for the S2000 weights 34 lbs – the FRP unit weighs X44 lbs.

Q: How well does the FRP top fit?
A: The fit is perfect, just like Mugen’s Carbon Fiber Top. The same molds are used to produce both.

Q: Does the top come with all of the mounting hardware?
A: All the necessary hardware is included, as is the Polycarbonate rear window.

Q: What is required to get FRP parts ready to paint?
A: All of Mugen’s FRP parts come primed and ready for paint. Your body shop will only need to give them a light scuffing and thorough cleaning.

Q: Should I test-fit my FRP parts first, or can I go ahead and paint them knowing that they will fit?
A: It’ll fit, period. Paint it, install it and enjoy.

Below are some technical data regarding FRP (source: American Composites manufacturers Association):

Not all plastics are composites.  In fact, the majority of plastics today are pure plastic, like toys and soda bottles.  When additional strength is needed, many types of plastics can be reinforced (usually with reinforcing fibers).  This combination of plastic and reinforcement can produce some of the strongest materials for their weight that technology has ever developed...and the most versatile.

Therefore, the definition of a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite is a combination of :
-a polymer (plastic) matrix (either a thermoplastic or thermoset resin, such as polyester, isopolyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic)
-a reinforcing agent such as glass, carbon, aramid or other reinforcing material such that there is a sufficient aspect ratio (length to thickness) to provide a discernable reinforcing function in one or more directions. 

FRP composite may also contain:

- fillers

- additives

- core materials

... that modify and enhance the final product.  The constituent elements in a composite retain their identities (they do not dissolve or merge completely into each other) while acting in concert to provide a host of benefits ideal for structural applications including:

** High Strength and Stiffness Retention - composites can be designed to provide a wide range of mechanical properties including tensile, flexural, impact and compressive strengths.  And, unlike traditional materials, composites can have their strengths oriented to meet specific design requirements of an application.

** Light Weight/Parts Consolidation - FRP composites deliver more strength per unit of weight than most metals.  In fact, FRP composites are generally 1/5th the weight of steel.  The composite can also be shaped into one complex part, often times replacing assemblies of several parts and fasteners.  The combination of these two benefits makes FRP composites a powerful material system- structures can be partially or completely pre-fabricated at the manufacturer's facility, delivered on-site and installed in hours.

** Creep (Permanent Deflection Under Long Term Loading) - The addition of the reinforcement to the polymer matrix increases the creep resistance of the properly designed FRP part.  Creep will not be a significant issue if the loads on the structure are kept below appropriate working stress levels.

** Resistance to Environmental Factors - Composites display excellent resistance to the corrosive effects of:

** Freeze-thaw: because composites are not attacked by galvanic corrosion and have low water absorption, they resist the destructive expansion of freezing water.

** Weathering and Ultra-Violet Light: FRP composite structures designed for weather exposure are normally fabricated with a surface layer containing a pigmented gel coat or have an ultraviolet (UV) inhibitor included as an additive to the composite matrix.  Both methods provide protection to the underlying material by screening out UV rays and minimizing water absorption along the fiber/resin interface.

** Chemicals and Temperature: Composites do not rust or corrode and can be formulated to provide long-term resistance to nearly every chemical and temperature environment.  Of particular benefit, is composites ability to successfully withstand the normally destructive effects of de-icing salts and/or saltwater spray of the ocean.

** Fire Performance of Composites - FRP composites can burn under certain conditions.  Composites can be designed to meet the most stringent fire regulations by the use of special resins and additives.  Properly designed and formulated composites can offer fire performance approaching that of most metals.

John Hinrichs really likes his Honda CR-Z. Apparently he also really likes Mugen.

For his fourth major Mugen modification on his CR-Z, John opted for a set of Mugen 17x7 GP wheels in Gunmetal. As with his other mods, John worked directly with King Motorsports President and CEO, Scott Zellner. Scott: "The color of the Gunmetal GP's are a perfect compliment to the Black CR-Z." John is equally happy with his purchase, "I love the way these wheels look!" After each upgrade, John usually sends a picture and a note, or stops by to show us the results, as he did recently with after the GP wheels were installed.

John's other Mugen mods are the Mugen 5-Way Sport Suspension, Mugen Carbon-Fiber Air Intake and Mugen Cat-Back Exhaust.

Here they are, 150+ photos from Andy at NoggsPhotography.

** We just got this note and review from John Hinrichs for the Mugen High Performance Air Intake System (Carbon Fiber) for CR-Z - Thanks John! **

Scott,
 
Just got back from making the holiday rounds. Driving through five states visiting friends and family (and showing off my car, of course).
 
Some of the people I visited are car guys, some just thought it was pretty, most loved the way it sounds (thanks, by the way) (Mugen Exhaust, ed.) , but everyone had something to say once the hood went up.  Even with all that's going on under the bonnet of a CR-Z, with the normal engine stuff and all the extra IMA wiring, the first thing everyone locked on to was the Mugen intake. That smooth expanse of carbon fiber had everyone interested, and I can't blame 'em, it is gorgeous. 
 
Not only does it look great, but under load the intake provides just enough extra sound to balance the tone of the Mugen exhaust.  Its obvious these two pieces were designed for each other: Subtle with a hint of badass.
 
Special thanks to Mike for doing such a great job on the install.
 
Happy Holidays! 
 
-John Hinrichs