Honda CR-Z Mugen breaks cover

Eco motoring's just got sexier. Or less unsexy. Either way - meet the Mugen-tuned Honda CR-Z in the picture above.

It's a one-off prototype from Honda's go-to tuners, Mugen. And we dearly hope it gets put into production.

Its superchargerising and spanner work with the IMA hybrid system means power from the 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine's boosted from 113bhp to nearly 200bhp and 181lb ft of torque. And it's lighter, too: Mugen detached 50kg from the chassis, replaced the bonnet with a carbon-fibre one and bolted on lightweight Mugen alloys.

The reckoning? Honda claims it reaches 60 in a similar time to the Civic Type R (6.6 seconds - RIP) but can still manage more than 50mpg in eco mode. It does drop to mid-30mpg when you deploy full-fat Mugen mode, but we'll let it off.

We've thoroughly enjoyed the bog-standard CR-Z on long-term loan to Top Gear HQ, firm ride aside. Can you think of a potentially cooler factory hybrid, TopGear.commers?

Source: http://www.topgear.com/