Honda have revealed the first official pictures of the MUGEN tuned version of their CR-Z hybrid.

The car is powered by the same 1.5L petrol engine as the standard car but it has been supercharged to produce 197bhp. Early tests with a prototype have already seen 0-60mph times of around six seconds, which is the same as a Civic Type-R.

Performance figures are set to increase futher with the modification of the CR-Z’s electric motor.

Chassis and suspension tweaks will also improve handling and allow the car to cope with the increase in performance which MUGEN say looks set to meet their original targets.

“Early fuel consumption tests have also been encouraging,” says Colin Whittamore from MUGEN Euro. “We’ve retained the three driving modes from the standard car and economy ranges from 50+mpg in ‘eco’ mode to mid-30 mpg when tapping into the supercharged power in a special ‘MUGEN’ mode.”

Visual changes include a carbon fibre bonnet, large rear spoiler, aggressive new bodykit, gold alloy wheels and new dials on the dashboard.

For now, this MUGEN version remains a one-off and there is no word on production as yet but bosses in Japan are rumoured to be keen on a having a performace version of the CR-Z in the model line-up.

The final version of the car will be unvelied to the public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

Source: Honda