Tag Archives: Honda

Mugen CR-Z GT

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Jon Sibal posted these pictures of the Mugen CR-Z GT testing at Twin Ring Motegi. The car is slated to compete in the GT300 class of the Japanese Grand Touring Championship. The people who saw the car in person said the engine was relatively quiet, so it’s probably turbocharged. Honda has already stated that the CR-Z GT has a racing hybrid system. Honda likes to put their racing campaigns that use possibly risky drive train technology under the Mugen name in case they’re not as successful as they hoped it would be. The same thing happened with the Mugen Shinden electric motorcycle. Head over to Jon Sibal’s Blog to see the rest of the pictures. The CR-Z won’t be the only hybrid in the GT300 class. Toyota is also campaigning a Prius hybrid race car.

VTEC Club vs. AE86 Club – Best Motoring

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This is an exciting older Best Motoring video that pits the crew’s favorite tuner cars from the VTEC camp against the AE86 camp. Representing the VTEC cars, they brought out the Techno Pro Spirits DC2 Integra, Spoon EG Civic and Power House Amuse S2000. The two 4AG powered AE86’s are from Arvou and Crystal Body Yokohama. Of course Keiichi Tsuchiya shows up in a car that represents both camps. He got his hands on the Hot Staff AE86 powered by an F20C engine from an S2000. At the time, they were the first tuners to complete this swap. There must have been a lot of bragging rights on the line because the boys push pretty hard in the rain.


Source: YouTube user dc2rSpoon

Top Fuel Honda S2000

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Yokohama did this interview with Hirano-san, the owner of the Top Fuel Honda Tuning Workshop in Japan, as a promotion for this year’s World Time Attack Challenge. Top Fuel was invited to bring their turbo S2000 that held the Tsukuba RWD time attack record for 3 years to compete this year. Hirano-san decided to completely rebuild the car to bring it to the WTAC. The video isn’t so much about the details of the car, but Hirano-san’s philosophy towards running his shop. He explains what the difference between a race car and a tuning car. It’s pretty interesting to hear what he believes to be proper etiquette for how tuning shops should interact with their customers. Top Fuel’s successful 28 year history shows that it’s working.


Source: Yokohama Advan on YouTube

Best Motoring Eco Car Track Battle

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Here’s another point in the discussion of making green cars fun vs. making fun cars green. Best Motoring put together this track battle around a rain-soaked Tsukuba circuit after Honda released the CR-Z in Japan. The two main cars to pay attention to are the Tec-Arts Eco AE86 and the Modulo Sports CR-Z. The Tec-Arts Eco AE86 has been modified to improve its gas mileage. The alternator and the starter were updated to modern units and the power steering was converted from hydraulic to electric assist all in the name of reducing parasitic drag on the engine. Reflective window tint was also installed to reduce the need of the air conditioning. The Modulo Sports CR-Z is a factory trim package that was available only in Japan. It comes with sport springs, dampers, brake pads and Advan Neova AD08 tires. Watch the video to see how they did. The race starts at 3:30 after the introduction of the cars.


Source: YouTube user GmoneyGripNY

HKS Honda CR-Z Green Monster

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The whole premise of the RX-8 EV conversion project is that we’re taking a fun sports car and converting the drive train to something that performs better and is environmentally responsible. That way we have an engaging car with zero tailpipe emissions. What if we approached that goal from the other direction? What if we took an environmentally responsible car and did everything we could to make it fun? That’s what HKS have done with their Green Monster Honda CR-Z project. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a subtitled version of this video. This is what I’ve been able to gather by watching the whole series of videos about the project. HKS supercharged the 1.5 liter engine while retaining the factory Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). They decided to go with a supercharger because the factory ECU cuts off the engine at stops and that wouldn’t allow a turbocharger to cycle hot oil out of its bearings. HKS went all out and made forged engine internals to pump the CR-Z’s output to a staggering 320 horsepower. It’s also got an Endless big brake kit, HKS Hipermax coilovers and 235 section Advan Neova AD08 tires. Tanaguchi’s time attack around Tsukuba with the car starts at 3:10 in the video. What do you guys think of this approach to building a fun green car? Can any car be fun with enough performance upgrades or is it better to start with something that has a sports car soul?


Source: YouTube user tritondsgn