Honda and Mugen develop widebody twin-turbo V6 CR-Z... for racing [w/video]

by Jonathan Ramsey at www.autoblog.com
Honda has announced that it's working with M-TEC and Team Mugen on a CR-Z GT that will campaign in the GT300 category of Japan's Super GT championship. The racing hybrid uses a 2.8-liter, twin turbo V6 paired with a specially developed hybrid system, and it will enter its first race at this month's SUGO GT round on July 28-29.

The CR-Z GT will race in the same class as the Subaru BRZ GT300 and Toyota Prius GT300. That latter car also uses a specially designed hybrid system with a larger battery from the Prius Alpha and a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6.

The Honda CR-Z GT was recenly tested at Twin Ring Motegi, scroll down to watch the video and check out the official press release.
Honda Announces Support to the Racing Activities of Team Mugen in the GT300 Class of SUPER GT Series Start of test runs for the MUGEN CR-Z GT equipped with Honda racing hybrid system

TOKYO, Japan, July 4, 2012 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has announced its intent to provide technical support to Team Mugen, operated by M-TEC Co., Ltd., for its competition with the MUGEN CR-Z GT in the GT300 class of SUPER GT Series. Honda will supply a 2.8-liter V6 twin-turbo engine and the racing hybrid system developed exclusively for this Team Mugen racing machine and will start actual test runs.

Team Mugen's first race with the MUGEN CR-Z GT featuring the Honda racing hybrid system will be the 2012 SUPER GT Series Round 4 SUGO GT 300km Race held on July 28-29, 2012.

Source;
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/05/honda-and-mugen-develop-widebody-twin-turbo-v6-cr-z-for-racin/#continued

Carscoop: First Photos of Honda’s Hot CR-Z Mugen, Early Tests Show better Performance than Civic Type R

Honda's sporty-looking CR-Z hybrid will finally get the performance to back its looks, as the Japanese carmaker teamed up with its tuning partner Mugen Euro to develop a high-performance version of the hybrid model. As we wrote earlier this year, the car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, but until then, you can take a look at the first official photos of the car to see if they match the sketches released by Honda two months ago.

The Japanese company says development of the CR-Z Mugen is on track, with “performance figures already looking promising”. Honda revealed that early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and a mid-tune engine have given 0-60 mph (96 km/h) sprint times around that of the European market Civic Type R (6.6 seconds). Later on, Mugen increased output by another 15 percent and reduced the chassis' weight by 50 kilograms, so that overall performance is expected to be even better than the Type R's.

The car will feature modifications to both the 1.5-liter i-VTEC petrol engine and the Honda IMA system in order to boost power and torque. Mugen Euro didn't reveal any output figures, but referred to the fuel consumption, deeming it encouraging.

"We've retained the three driving modes from the standard car and economy ranges from 50+mpg (41.6 mpg US) in 'eco' mode to mid-30 mpg (29 mpg US) when tapping into the supercharged power in a special 'Mugen' mode," said Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro.
Engine and hybrid system aside, the CR-Z Mugen will also benefit from upgrades to the brakes and suspension, as well as from using lightweight components such as a carbon fiber bonnet and forged alloys to lower the overall mass. As the pictures show, the CR-Z Mugen sports a new body kit with upgraded front and rear bumpers, plus a rear wing and diffuser to improve aerodynamics.

For the time being, the CR-Z Mugen is treated as a pure concept study, but as Honda has shown in the recent past with the 240HP Civic Type R Mugen in 2009, there’s a good chance we may see a limited production run in the very near future.

By Dan Mihalascu

Source;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-photos-of-hondas-hot-cr-z-mugen.html