Auto Car | King Motorsports Mugen Honda S2000 | The number of Formula 1 engine builders selling tuner parts to the public can be counted on one hand, and just two of those sell parts in the U.S.: Ferrari and Mugen. In other words, for those who worship at the altar of Honda performance, Mugen fabricates the kneepads.
King Motorsports, the official U.S. importer of Mugen products, bolted together this S2000 for the 2003 SEMA show in just more than a month. Unlike most thrown-together SEMA cars, however, this one actually works. Excitement accompanies every entry into the cockpit.
Tear ass down the block, and you think to yourself, "Wow, this car is really fast." But that's just the soundtrack. The S2000 begs you to rev the snot out of it, and those tricky Mugen engineers figured out how to make 8000 rpm sound more like 10,000. In other words, it sounds like you're driving an F1 car, which ain't a bad thing. During even typical low-rpm driving, between the Mugen intake and exhaust, the 2.2-liter sounds like there's a really pissed swarm of feminist wasps trapped under your right foot. It's a feature that doesn't get old.
That intake is a gorgeous carbon-fiber unit that draws fresh air from the car's snout, while giving you an excuse to get a Mugen hood (bulged to clear the intake) and bumper (fresh air duct built right in). The stainless-steel header is, of course, sculpture, and saves 10 pounds. The terminus of the bettered breathing system is an SS exhaust, which features stainless tubing and titanium cans, and weighs a full 25 pounds less than the stock system.
Despite such sexy hardware, on the dyno the car showed no improvement over the last stock S2000 we tested. In fact, it recorded less horsepower until 6600 rpm than the last stocker we tested and less torque than the stocker until 6500 rpm. At 6700 rpm, it begins to match the output of the stock car, and eventually peaks out at 148 lb-ft of torque, or two better than stock, and the same 210 hp. While not impossible, it seems unlikely that Mugen would sell products that don't make power. The other possibility is that the press car we tested back in the March 2004 issue was a ringer. It did make 10 more hp than advertised, and Honda has been known to have, ahem, healthy vehicles in its test fleet.
According to Scott Zellner from King Motorsports, the specially designed bumper and hood don't just look good, they help guide air into the intake for a ram air effect at speed, which doesn't show up on the dyno. But it may have at the track. The car did run four-tenths of a second quicker than stock in the quarter mile, running 14.0 sec. at 101.3 mph. This was also surely due to the extra person's worth of weight that was removed from the car by using the Mugen parts.
Rather than strip the S2000 to a shell to shave mass, Mugen used its extensive F1 experience to produce a body kit in gorgeously conceived and executed carbon fiber. The vented hood-which, incidentally, costs $2,600-looks like it was lifted from a LeMans car. As most people will paint the rear SS bumper,hiding the beautifully laid carbon weave, Mugen made sure to include a little integral anodized titanium Mugen badge so people know you paid a lot of money. The schnoz also features an aerodynamic undertray and a magnetic attraction to curbs and cement parking blocks. It's impossible to drive this car and not ding up its front end.
King also stuck on a CF wing from Mugen, pulled out the convertible top to save 60 pounds and replaced it with a $4,900 carbon hardtop. Guffaw if you must at the price, the visual appeal of the two-seater is undeniable. It looks different, serious and expensive all at the same time. Park it at a strip mall, and dozens meander over to ogle. Pull past the Honda boyz on the freeway and watch them drool inside their fartcan buzz boxes. We're not sure if the minion's attraction to the car is because of its salmon trout paint scheme or in spite of it, and we don't care. It's a head-turner.
It's also a back-breaker. Before you drive this car you must fold yourself into it. You start by placing one hand on the center console, one on the rocker sill, and swinging both legs in front of you. Then you use one hand to lift your balls out of the way, and the other to slowly lower yourself into the very narrow Mugen fiberglass bucket seats, which grab your ass like a vice. Once in, there's no moving. You've become part of the car.
Although fantastic for hard driving, those seats are the S2000's Achilles' heel. They have the padding thickness of a Maxi Pad, so your spine basically becomes part of the car's suspension. It's like commuting in a shifter cart. And if your waist is larger than a 34, forget it. Take the bus.
Still, there are few better things than putting on this car and hitting the mountains. Sitting low, locked and loaded, you engage the streetable Mugen Stage 1 clutch, which consists of a heavier-duty pressure plate, and the car is quickly at speed. Toggle the pedals, positioned perfectly, to select second gear coming into a sweeper. Dip into the brakes, and trail the middle pedal just a bit to transfer more bite to the front tires. Off the brakes, give the car more steering angle, and feed in the F22's eager noise. Progressively add throttle, easy now, and plant the pedal past the apex, which the S2000 seems attracted to by magnetic force. Unwind the wheel, letting VTEC work its magic, and the car tracks out, all four contact patches singing backup. It's like the S2000 doesn't know the word "understeer," but never supplies enough oversteer to bite you. Turn after turn. Pass after pass. For an hour. A grin flashes at you in the rearview mirror.
The stretches of road on which the accompanying pictures were taken are an inspiring combination of smooth, fast, open sweepers, blind crests and tight hairpins. As happens when the driving experience is good, really good, the Mugen S2000 disappears, leaving the driver, road and physics to dance.
Our testing numbers back up the car's handling prowess. Equipped with Bridgestone Potenza S03s, 215mm wide in front and 245-mm in the rear on staggered, forged 17-inch wheels, the S2000 pulled .99 g on the skidpad, and ran 73 mph through the slalom. Impressive, considering most cars that run similar numbers are using R-compound tires.
Mugen teamed up with Showa, which is known for its OEM and racing motorcycle suspensions, to design the NZ coil-overs. Compression and rebound are adjusted simultaneously and they're full-body adjustable to supposedly ensure travel is not compromised at lower ride heights. The Mugen coil-overs, however, did not like what Los Angeles city streets had to give them. Like a stock S2000, this one doesn't like bumps, especially when the suspension is loaded during a turn. It's livable, but only for the hardcore.
Although the whole package is not a reasonable daily driver for most, the extremely willing F22C, combined with highly tuned Mugen footwork, make this car a truly stellar smooth, winding-road companion. In terms of absolute numbers, however, we find it interesting the Mugen S2000 performed near identically to the NISMO R-tune 350Z we tested last month. Despite being another "swipe your credit card down the middle of the catalog" tuner special, the Z proved far more livable day to day.
If you think livable is for soccer moms, bust out the Mugen catalog. You'll find every part on the car in it, including the supercool hardtop and those ridiculous seats. Total tally? More than $25,000. Salmon trout paint scheme not included.
Source : www.modified.com
King Motorsports, the official U.S. importer of Mugen products, bolted together this S2000 for the 2003 SEMA show in just more than a month. Unlike most thrown-together SEMA cars, however, this one actually works. Excitement accompanies every entry into the cockpit.
Tear ass down the block, and you think to yourself, "Wow, this car is really fast." But that's just the soundtrack. The S2000 begs you to rev the snot out of it, and those tricky Mugen engineers figured out how to make 8000 rpm sound more like 10,000. In other words, it sounds like you're driving an F1 car, which ain't a bad thing. During even typical low-rpm driving, between the Mugen intake and exhaust, the 2.2-liter sounds like there's a really pissed swarm of feminist wasps trapped under your right foot. It's a feature that doesn't get old.
That intake is a gorgeous carbon-fiber unit that draws fresh air from the car's snout, while giving you an excuse to get a Mugen hood (bulged to clear the intake) and bumper (fresh air duct built right in). The stainless-steel header is, of course, sculpture, and saves 10 pounds. The terminus of the bettered breathing system is an SS exhaust, which features stainless tubing and titanium cans, and weighs a full 25 pounds less than the stock system.
Despite such sexy hardware, on the dyno the car showed no improvement over the last stock S2000 we tested. In fact, it recorded less horsepower until 6600 rpm than the last stocker we tested and less torque than the stocker until 6500 rpm. At 6700 rpm, it begins to match the output of the stock car, and eventually peaks out at 148 lb-ft of torque, or two better than stock, and the same 210 hp. While not impossible, it seems unlikely that Mugen would sell products that don't make power. The other possibility is that the press car we tested back in the March 2004 issue was a ringer. It did make 10 more hp than advertised, and Honda has been known to have, ahem, healthy vehicles in its test fleet.
According to Scott Zellner from King Motorsports, the specially designed bumper and hood don't just look good, they help guide air into the intake for a ram air effect at speed, which doesn't show up on the dyno. But it may have at the track. The car did run four-tenths of a second quicker than stock in the quarter mile, running 14.0 sec. at 101.3 mph. This was also surely due to the extra person's worth of weight that was removed from the car by using the Mugen parts.
Rather than strip the S2000 to a shell to shave mass, Mugen used its extensive F1 experience to produce a body kit in gorgeously conceived and executed carbon fiber. The vented hood-which, incidentally, costs $2,600-looks like it was lifted from a LeMans car. As most people will paint the rear SS bumper,hiding the beautifully laid carbon weave, Mugen made sure to include a little integral anodized titanium Mugen badge so people know you paid a lot of money. The schnoz also features an aerodynamic undertray and a magnetic attraction to curbs and cement parking blocks. It's impossible to drive this car and not ding up its front end.
King also stuck on a CF wing from Mugen, pulled out the convertible top to save 60 pounds and replaced it with a $4,900 carbon hardtop. Guffaw if you must at the price, the visual appeal of the two-seater is undeniable. It looks different, serious and expensive all at the same time. Park it at a strip mall, and dozens meander over to ogle. Pull past the Honda boyz on the freeway and watch them drool inside their fartcan buzz boxes. We're not sure if the minion's attraction to the car is because of its salmon trout paint scheme or in spite of it, and we don't care. It's a head-turner.
It's also a back-breaker. Before you drive this car you must fold yourself into it. You start by placing one hand on the center console, one on the rocker sill, and swinging both legs in front of you. Then you use one hand to lift your balls out of the way, and the other to slowly lower yourself into the very narrow Mugen fiberglass bucket seats, which grab your ass like a vice. Once in, there's no moving. You've become part of the car.
Although fantastic for hard driving, those seats are the S2000's Achilles' heel. They have the padding thickness of a Maxi Pad, so your spine basically becomes part of the car's suspension. It's like commuting in a shifter cart. And if your waist is larger than a 34, forget it. Take the bus.
Still, there are few better things than putting on this car and hitting the mountains. Sitting low, locked and loaded, you engage the streetable Mugen Stage 1 clutch, which consists of a heavier-duty pressure plate, and the car is quickly at speed. Toggle the pedals, positioned perfectly, to select second gear coming into a sweeper. Dip into the brakes, and trail the middle pedal just a bit to transfer more bite to the front tires. Off the brakes, give the car more steering angle, and feed in the F22's eager noise. Progressively add throttle, easy now, and plant the pedal past the apex, which the S2000 seems attracted to by magnetic force. Unwind the wheel, letting VTEC work its magic, and the car tracks out, all four contact patches singing backup. It's like the S2000 doesn't know the word "understeer," but never supplies enough oversteer to bite you. Turn after turn. Pass after pass. For an hour. A grin flashes at you in the rearview mirror.
The stretches of road on which the accompanying pictures were taken are an inspiring combination of smooth, fast, open sweepers, blind crests and tight hairpins. As happens when the driving experience is good, really good, the Mugen S2000 disappears, leaving the driver, road and physics to dance.
Our testing numbers back up the car's handling prowess. Equipped with Bridgestone Potenza S03s, 215mm wide in front and 245-mm in the rear on staggered, forged 17-inch wheels, the S2000 pulled .99 g on the skidpad, and ran 73 mph through the slalom. Impressive, considering most cars that run similar numbers are using R-compound tires.
Mugen teamed up with Showa, which is known for its OEM and racing motorcycle suspensions, to design the NZ coil-overs. Compression and rebound are adjusted simultaneously and they're full-body adjustable to supposedly ensure travel is not compromised at lower ride heights. The Mugen coil-overs, however, did not like what Los Angeles city streets had to give them. Like a stock S2000, this one doesn't like bumps, especially when the suspension is loaded during a turn. It's livable, but only for the hardcore.
Although the whole package is not a reasonable daily driver for most, the extremely willing F22C, combined with highly tuned Mugen footwork, make this car a truly stellar smooth, winding-road companion. In terms of absolute numbers, however, we find it interesting the Mugen S2000 performed near identically to the NISMO R-tune 350Z we tested last month. Despite being another "swipe your credit card down the middle of the catalog" tuner special, the Z proved far more livable day to day.
If you think livable is for soccer moms, bust out the Mugen catalog. You'll find every part on the car in it, including the supercool hardtop and those ridiculous seats. Total tally? More than $25,000. Salmon trout paint scheme not included.
Source : www.modified.com
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