Mugen: Hirotoshi Honda's Works Honda Tuner
Mugen was founded by Hirotoshi Honda, son of Honda's founder, in 1973. The company built Formula Junior cars, Formula 1 engines, and the 240-ps Mugen RR Civic Type R — the fastest factory Civic ever.
Mugen: Hirotoshi Honda's Works Honda Tuner
Mugen was founded in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda. Unlike most JDM tuners who started as independent garages, Mugen began as a works-grade race engineering house with deep factory Honda relationships.
The Founding
Hirotoshi Honda rejected joining his father's company directly. Instead, he founded Mugen as a separate entity focused on Honda motorsport. The name means "Unlimited" in Japanese. From day one, Mugen had access to Honda engineering resources that no other tuner could touch.
The Formula Era
Mugen's racing pedigree runs deep:
- Formula Junior chassis (1970s) — Mugen built chassis for Japanese formula championships
- Formula 3000 engines (1980s) — Mugen-Honda engines became the Japanese F3000 benchmark
- Formula 1 engines (1990s) — Mugen-Honda engines powered Jordan, Ligier, and Prost F1 teams from 1992-2000, winning 4 Grand Prix
The Civic Type R Mugen RR
In 2007, Mugen released the Civic Type R Mugen RR, based on the FD2 Civic Type R. Only 300 were built, all hand-assembled at Mugen's Asaka facility.
Specifications:
- K20A making 240 PS (up from 225 PS stock)
- Revised cams, ported head, Mugen intake and exhaust
- Carbon fiber wide-body fenders (30mm wider per side)
- Recaro RS-G seats
- Mugen-tuned suspension and brakes
- Weight reduced by 65 kg
The Mugen RR remained the fastest factory front-wheel-drive Civic ever built until the FK8 Type R arrived in 2017. Original list price was 4.7 million yen. Today they trade for $70,000+ in Japan.
The Parts Catalog
Mugen's aftermarket catalog is Honda-specific:
- Engine components (cams, valve springs, headers, intakes)
- Aero packages (the Mugen lip kit is the gold standard for JDM Civic/Integra)
- Wheels (Mugen M7 and MF10 are iconic)
- Suspension (Mugen dampers and springs)
- Seats and interior (Mugen Recaro collaborations)
- Full body kits (Civic Type R Mugen, Accord Mugen, Fit Mugen)
The Works Tuner Advantage
Mugen's relationship with Honda meant that every Mugen part was developed with factory engineering data. Mugen engineers could access Honda's wind tunnel, chassis dyno, and engineering CAD files. When Mugen released a Type R cam profile, it had been signed off by the same people who validated OEM cams.
Why Mugen Matters
Mugen proved that a tuner could be as good as the factory — because Mugen was, effectively, the factory. The Mugen RR Civic Type R is the rare case where a tuner edition is more desirable than the base car 20 years later. Every Honda aftermarket part Mugen released carries the legitimacy of being built by the founder's son's company. No independent tuner could match that pedigree.