The Honda tuning specialist will bring sportier versions of the Type R and the HR-V to the show in January, but so far we can only see one of the two.
MUGEN
Honda fans who want a little more decoration on their subcompact crossover will want to check out the two modified vehicles that Japanese tuner Mugen will bring to the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon next month.
We don’t know the details of the gussied-up Honda Civic Type R that Mugen will bring to Tokyo just yet, since that reveal is being saved for the show. But Mugen has been showing images of the customized ZR-V (similar to the HR-V in North America) that will be at the SEMA-like show in Japan.
MUGEN
The Mugen ZR-V is called the “ZR-V e:HEV Mugen Custom Concept,” and it has been updated with a modified front fascia, larger side skirts, and an unusual tailgate-mounted spoiler that sits next to the Honda badge. Mugen also added black design decals around the bottom of the crossover, black side mirror caps, small pieces of black cladding at the rear bottom corners, and custom wheels. These changes are supposed to represent what Mugen calls “Emotional Urban Sports” (according to Google Translate).
a bit sillySince Mugen’s theme for the Tokyo Auto Salon is “Mugen Power 2023,” it will also bring two race vehicles from the All Japan Super Formula Championship. Mugen will also be displaying the telemetry system it uses for these races, which enable “a new way to watch motorsports,” the company said.
The images Mugen has released of its customized ZR-V show a blue Honda badge and the company’s e:HEV logo, which means that the tuner did its work on a ZR-V with a hybrid powertrain. Despite that, Mugen decided that a quad exhaust system was appropriate. Whether changes like this actually make an HR-V look more appealing is a matter of some debate. When Mugen tricked out an HR-V in 2021, Top Gear wondered if the “disparity between bark and bite [was].”The Tokyo Auto Salon takes place between January 13 and 15 at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, near Tokyo.
