I'm sitting in the Columbus airport waiting to take off (the flight to Atlanta was delayed) but I just spent the day driving the 2008 S2000 CR (and base model) and Mugen Si at Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately I can't say anything about the '08 S2000s at this point but unless I misunderstood, the Mugen Si is fair game.

I didn't have time to take the Mugen Si on the street loop, but out on track it felt quite good. As you'd expect, it felt like a more focused version of the base sedan. On fresh tires and brakes, balance around mid-Ohio was excellent, with some mild understeer rearing its head in the usual places. Later on, I drove the car again and apparently the BF Goodrich KDWs were pretty much spent because I fought a much greater degree of understeer on the first lap out (of course, I jumped out of an S2000 CR into it...). For the second lap I adjusted my strategy and it felt better. It's still easier to make it understeer than to effect rotation, but this just made my decision that much more difficult.

The forged Mugen 18" wheels are gorgeous - I could easily sense the reduction in weight vs stock - both in terms of acceleration and feel. The body kit actually looks pretty good on the car (though you'd better get used to being revved on or generally harassed). The suspension seems like it gives up very little in terms of ride comfort, but it drops the car nicely and firms it up a fair amount. The only interior distinction is the shift knob and the Mugen badge - otherwise it's standard issue. I was a little disappointed to learn that Navi will not be offered on the Mugen, as I'm big a fan of the PC Card reader that's included with the stereo system on the Navi cars. The only modification that could possibly have an impact on power is Mugen's stainless exhaust system. Their engineers stated it was good for around 6hp on an engine dyno. It sounded very good to my ears, but then again, so does the stock system. No pricing was given, but we were told it would be 30ish or a little less.

Last edited by Jeff on July 23, 2007 21:53