Autoblog

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The Honda Civic Mugen RR (based on the new JDM Honda Civic Type R) is limited to a total production run of 300 cars. Japanese track fiends with ¥4.7million to spend on a spiffy, street-legal time attack weapon are its target audience -- and a receptive one at that. On September 14th at 9:00 AM local time in Japan, reservations for Mugen's ultimate Type R officially began being taken. By 9:10 AM, according to the Japanese enthusiast site, Carview, the 300th reservation was placed. However you want to parse the numbers (we're sure additional reservations were taken, in case some prospective buyers bail out), one thing's certain: all 300 cars are spoken for well in advance of the expected January delivery date.

Those lucky enough to secure the Mugen RR receive a lighter, more powerful and track-tuned Civic Type R that in the right hands is capable of lapping Japan's Tsukuba circuit in 1:06:38. At least that's what the folks at Mugen were able to wring out of it. We're sure some of the car's buyers will be looking to top that number as soon as they have a chance. With this thing, life is a driving game, and Time Attack mode is always on.

[Source: Carview]

Our obsession of all things automotive extends far beyond the latest and greatest that comprises the majority of what you read. That's one of the reasons we've brought back the Reader Ride, so we can showcase what the majority of us roll on a daily basis. Today's ride is exactly the kind of thing we're into; a rather staid means of transport that is well loved by its owner. Flickr member thefultonhow through up three shots of his '92 Infiniti G20, along with a detailed description of life with his 'G,' and after reading his story, we couldn't help but feature it.

Purchased new by his mother back in 1992, the G20 survived the rigors of daily driving at the hands his mom, and also provided of means of learning for both his brother and Mr. Fultonhow. After 169,000 miles of dutiful service, the stock mill decided to liberate a rod while his brother was behind the wheel, and after a series of attempts at selling the G20, he decided to perform a heart transplant in his grandfather's garage. The only catch: he'd never done anything like it before.

Armed with a factory shop manual, endless patience and nearly a month of his life, he replaced the spent motor with a JDM SR20DE, mated to the stock five-speed manual. After a series of fits and starts, the SR finally came to life and after 4,000 miles everything seems to be going strong.

He's kept the upgrades to a minimum in an effort to stay within the bounds of the H-stock autocross class, with plans to install an aftermarket stereo, some new wheels and some R-compound tires mounted on the stock rollers for competition.

We're love this kind of stuff, so make the jump to see a few more pics and learn how to submit your own ride to our Flickr pool.

We're a mere five days away from relaunching our Reader Ride feature, and by the looks of it so far, we're off to a cracking start. We've amassed over 30 new members in our Flickr pool, with many accompanying their pics with a detailed explanation of where the car is from, its history and what mods have been performed -- others, not so much. There are several rides floating around the pool that are begging to be chosen (we're talking to the owners of the Audi S2, 911 Targa, and VW Corrado, specifically), but will remain unloved until we get at least one descriptive sentence.

As for the the RR format, we've decided to highlight three vehicles per week, posting one on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a vote at the end of the month that allows you to pick your favorite from the group. We think it will work, and we've got faith that the submissions will continue to flow in.

That said, if you haven't done so already, follow the directions after the jump to throw your own ride into our Flickr pool. All we need are three photos and a brief description of the car, and you're whip is almost guaranteed its 15-minutes of fame -- or infamy.

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It was rumored yesterday, and it's real today. Come September 13, Japanese enthusiasts will be able to order up the hottest Civic Type R yet. The already-impressive R gets the full once-over from Mugen, and the result is the Honda Civic Mugen RR. Designed to be perhaps the ultimate front-engined/front-wheel-drive performance car, the Mugen RR sheds an additional 10kg (22 lbs) off the standard Civic Type R's weight, coming in at 2733 lbs. In addition to the weight loss, the freer-breathing Mugen RR picks up 15 horsepower over the regular Type R. It's rated at 240 horses at 8,000 rpm and 160 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm.

Complementing the added power and and decreased weight are a new bodykit, upgraded brakes all around, a retuned suspension, new wheels and tires, and logo-emblazoned Recaro sport buckets. Availability is limited to 300 cars, all in the Milan Red finish shown, and the pricing in Japan has been set at ¥4,777,500 ($38,750 USD).

Mugen's official website has a video of the car lapping Japan's Tsukuba circuit in 1:06:68, which is worth a look if you're interested in seeing it in action.

[Source: MUGEN via Carview]

Damn! This is the first time we've been late in our Reader Ride duties, as you should've seen this post sometime on Monday, and we're beatin' ourselves up over it, really. Then again, it was pretty clear as soon as this week's RR of the Week poll began that the 1966 Porsche 912 would be in the winner's circle, and so it is. Said Porsche received 786 votes (42%), or more than double the car that got my vote, a 1986 Chrysler 5th Avenue on steroids that garnered 344 votes (19%). The remaining three cars were very close in the voting, with the autocrossing 1999 Honda Civic EX Coupe getting 262 votes (14%), the 1988 Jeep Cherokee named "Blowby" attracting 239 votes (13%), and finally the Final 500 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora receiving 220 votes (12%).

The first ever Autoblog Reader Ride of the Week has been chosen, and the convincing victory goes to the 1989 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo featured on Friday. No doubt the car's transplanted 2-liter 4G63 motor making an estimated 400 horsepower helped it secure 42 percent of the 1,010 votes that were cast. The battle for the remaining spots was much more contested, with the stock 2002 Lincoln LSE earning second place by garnering 22 percent of the vote, the swank two-tone Volvo attracting 20 percent and the creatively subversive Telstar Logistics Fleet Vehicle capturing 17 percent of readers' hearts. We tried to choose vehicles throughout the week that were markedly different in appearance, capability and purpose, thereby making the field as diverse as possible. Still, seems like performance has again proven itself to be the biggest draw.



Thanks to everyone who has submitted their ride so far to our Autoblog RR of the Day Flickr pool. As of Sunday evening the pool contains 175 photos submitted by 101 group members. If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and each weekend we let you vote to crown a Rig of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.

Welcome to the inaugural Autoblog Reader Ride of the Day post, henceforth to be known as the RR of the Day. Let us kick things off by first saying thank you to everyone who visited our Flickr group and uploaded pics of their ride. It's apparent even now this is going to be the most fun post of the day to produce, and we will be choosing a RR to feature on Autoblog every single weekday. After reviewing the first batch of rides, we only have one request: more details about your ride, please!

On to the first car to featured as our RR of the Day, a Volvo 240 wagon that's dressed to the hilt in a two-tone paint job. Really, all of us at one point has thought about owning a Volvo of this kind, myself included. They have the utility of a Knight Rider lunchbox with the shape to match. It's owner, known only by the Flickr handle expedi2nt, purchased his Volvo for $750. He's truly transformed it into something that looks to be at least worth $850, maybe $950 for someone whose favorite color is blue. Meanwhile, he's also pushed the odometer to 324,251 miles, which is like fresh off the lot for a Volvo from this era. Check out a pair of additional pics after the jump.

Keep in mind, we're looking for all types of vehicles to feature on Autoblog's RR of the Day. Kicking it off with an aged Volvo just goes to show that we're not only looking for BMWs, Porsches and Ferraris (although we'd like to see a lot of those, too!).

If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and crown a Rig of the Week on Sundays. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.