Mugen Motorsports facts for kids
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Trade name
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Mugen Motorsports |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Genre | Car tuning |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Asaka, Saitama, Japan |
M-TEC Company, Ltd. is a Japanese company known as Mugen Motorsports (無限). It was started in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, who is the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. The name Mugen means "without limit" or "unlimited." This is why you often see the word "power" added after it, meaning "unlimited power."
Mugen is a special company that tunes engines and makes parts for cars. They create original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts like body kits and sports exhausts for Honda cars. Even though Hirotoshi Honda is the son of the Honda founder, Mugen has never been owned by Honda Motor Company. However, Hirotoshi Honda has been the biggest owner of Honda since his father passed away in 1991.
Mugen also tunes and races Honda cars in the Super GT championship. They also sell special parts to car fans who want to improve their own cars. Mugen helped win the Formula 3000 championship in 1990 and 1991. This led to Mugen being involved in Formula One racing from 1992 to 2000. Until 2005, they were the only company that supplied engines for Formula Nippon races.
Contents
Mugen's Journey in Racing
Mugen has a long and exciting history in racing. Hirotoshi Honda started building his own racing car in his father's garage before he finished college in 1965. Masao Kimura, the co-founder, was a very successful racer himself. He won over 50 races in Honda sports cars and single-seater cars. He worked for Honda's research and development team before helping Hirotoshi Honda start Mugen.
In 1973, Mugen began by making special parts for motocross bikes. As Honda started making more types of vehicles, Mugen also expanded its products. The company became very good at tuning Honda engines. They started with the 1200cc Honda Civic engine. Now, they design and build both two-stroke and four-stroke engines, even making many of the main parts themselves.
Mugen eventually wants to build its own road cars. Their first step was creating body kits for the Honda Ballade CR-X in 1984. Since then, they have made many body kits for Honda cars. A big moment was the Mugen NSX prototype car in 1992.
After some changes in 2003, Mugen was reorganized in early 2004 and became M-TEC. The new company still uses the Mugen name and has its main office in Asaka, Saitama, near Tokyo. M-TEC kept all of Mugen's staff and is led by Shin Nagaosa, who used to be a manager at Mugen and helped with their NSX racing program.
Mugen's Racing Achievements
Single-Seater Racing
Mugen has slowly grown its involvement in all levels of racing, working closely with Honda. In 1986, Formula 3000 races started in Japan. Mugen teamed up with Honda to build an F3000 engine. This engine was used in the 1987 season by 14 teams. The next year, Mugen-powered cars took four of the top five spots in the Japanese F3000 championship. In 1989, Mugen entered European F3000 races with their MF308 engine. They won the championship with Jean Alesi driving. In the same year, the company made its own test 3.5-liter V8 Formula One engine, called MF350.
In 1988, Mugen also started tuning Honda engines for Formula Three races. They won the Japanese series with Akihiko Nakaya. By 1990, they expanded to Europe. That year, Mugen won its first Formula Three championships in Europe. They won the French title with Éric Hélary and the British title with Mika Häkkinen. Rubens Barrichello won the British title again in 1991 with a Mugen engine.
When European F3000 became a series where all teams used the same type of car in 1996, the Japanese series made Mugen the only engine supplier for their championship, which was renamed Formula Nippon. M-TEC stopped supplying engines for this series in 2006.
Mugen still has great success in Formula Three with its 2.0-liter Honda engines. They have won 9 titles in Asia (8 in Japan) since 1988. They also won 19 titles in Europe (15 in Britain) and 13 in Latin America. As of 2017, Mugen Formula engines are still used and win races in European hillclimb championships.
Formula One Racing
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| First entry | 1992 South African Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 147 |
| Chassis | Footwork, Lotus, Ligier, Prost, Jordan |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships |
0 |
| Race victories | 4 |
| Podiums | 16 |
| Points | 182 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
In 1991, Mugen prepared Honda V10 engines for the Tyrrell team. The next year, these engines were renamed Mugen MF351H and used by the Footwork team. Even though Honda left Formula One at the end of 1992, Mugen continued to work with Footwork in 1993.
At the end of 1993, Mugen moved to Team Lotus. Their engine, called MF351HC, didn't get to show its full power because the team had money problems. In 1994, Mugen engines (and Lotus) did not score any championship points.
After Lotus closed, Mugen joined the Ligier team in 1995. Their new 3.0-liter engine was called MF301H. The 1995 season was good, with the team scoring points in nine races and getting two podium finishes. They ended up 5th in the Constructors Championship. The next year, Mugen achieved its first Formula One victory at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix with Olivier Panis driving for Ligier.
In 1997, the Ligier team was taken over by Alain Prost and renamed Prost Grand Prix. They used Mugen MF301HB engines. The Prost team got two podium finishes that season and ended 6th in the Constructors Championship.
Mugen then partnered with Jordan Grand Prix for two years, starting in 1998. They made the MF301HC engine for Jordan. The first half of 1998 was tough, but things changed at the Spa-Francorchamps race. Jordan drivers Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher finished first and second, giving Jordan its first Formula One win!
In 1999, Jordan and Mugen had even more success. Heinz-Harald Frentzen won two races and even competed for the championship. After Honda returned to Formula One in 2000 with another team, Mugen left Formula One.
Sportscar Racing
In 1998, Mugen built four NSX cars for racing. These cars were fast but sometimes broke down. The Nakajima NSX got the car's first win at Fuji. This led to three more wins, and the Mugen/Dome team finished second in the championship. In 1999, Honda cars won three more races, with the Mugen/Dome team winning the first race in Suzuka. In 2000, the Mugen/Dome team won the championship with Ryo Michigami.
In 2001, Mugen focused on the JGTC series again. The NSX won two races. Mugen also announced a new 4.0-liter V8 engine, called MF408S, for the main prototype class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series. Mugen wanted this engine to be powerful, small, and reliable.
2002 was a great year for Mugen in racing. The Mugen-prepared NSXs won five races, and the Mugen/Dome team won two races, earning them the Team's championship title. The MF408S engine made its first appearance in a Panoz car at the 2002 Sebring 12 Hours race.
In 2004, M-TEC decided to race in the GT300 class. Their goal was to help train young Japanese drivers for faster GT500 speeds. They wanted to find promising drivers early and help them become future champions. M-TEC won the GT300 series by just one point, which was a bonus for their dedicated team.
M-TEC also wants to expand into the United States. King Motorsports is currently the official dealer for Mugen parts in the US. The team director, Junichi Kumakura, believes racing the NSX in the United States is a great way to promote the company there. They hope to compete at famous races like Sebring and Daytona.
Mugen MF408S Engine Details
- Engine Type: 90-degree V8, naturally aspirated (no turbo or supercharger)
- Size: 4,000 cubic centimeters (4.0 liters)
- Max Power: Over 611 horsepower at 9,500 revolutions per minute (rpm)
- Max Torque: Over 520 Newton meters (384 lb-ft) at 7,500 rpm
- Weight: 131 kilograms (about 289 pounds)
Motorcycle Racing
Isle of Man TT Races
Mugen has become very strong in electric motorcycle racing at the Isle of Man TT Races. Since they started racing in the TT Zero class, the average speed of their Mugen Shinden bikes has greatly increased. In 2012, it was 102.215 miles per hour (164.500 km/h). By 2019, it reached 121.91 miles per hour (196.200 km/h). Mugen has won five TT Zero races with its Shinden bikes by 2019.
- 2012: John McGuinness finished second on the Mugen Shinden Ni.
- 2013: Mugen was second again, with McGuinness repeating his result.
- 2014: Mugen got its first win with John McGuinness. His teammate Bruce Anstey finished second.
- 2015: McGuinness and Anstey took the top two spots again.
- 2016: Bruce Anstey won for Mugen.
- 2017: Anstey and Guy Martin finished first and second on Mugen bikes.
- 2018: Michael Rutter won and broke the 120 mph barrier, setting a new lap record of 121.824 mph (196.057 km/h). Lee Johnston finished third.
- 2019: Mugen won for the sixth time in a row with Michael Rutter, who increased the lap record to 121.91 mph (196.200 km/h). John McGuinness completed a 1-2 finish for the team.
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Mugen's Special Vehicles
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M-Tec has also built special concept cars based on Honda vehicles. They use their own high-performance parts. Some of these models, like the Mugen Civic RR, are sold in Japan.
Mugen also sells individual parts for newer cars, such as the 2017-2021 Civic Type-R (FK8) and the 2016-2021 Civic Hatchback (FK7). These parts include aerodynamic body pieces like front lips, rear diffusers, and wings. Mugen parts are very popular for older Honda cars too. People in countries like the U.S. often buy these parts because they don't get Mugen-produced cars directly.
Some Mugen Vehicles
- Honda City Turbo I and II
- 1984 Mugen Honda CR-X
- 1991-1996 Mugen Honda Beat
- 1992-1995 Honda Civic SiR I and II Mugen (hatchback and sedan)
- 1996-2001 Honda Integra Type-R Mugen
- 1994-1997 Acura/Honda Integra Mugen
- 1997 Mugen CRX Del Sol
- 2000 Honda Prelude
- Dc5 Honda Integra
- 1996-2000 Honda Civic SiR Mugen (hatchback, coupe, and sedan)
- 2004 Honda Fit Dynamite
- 2005 Honda Legend Max
- 2006 Honda Fit Spec.D
- 2006 Honda Civic Dominator
- The Road to Racing Concept (based on Honda Civic) (2007)
- Open-Top Pure Sports Concept (based on Honda S2000) (2007)
- Mugen Courage LC70 (Japan Le Mans Challenge LMP-1) (2007)
- Mugen S2000 (2008)
- Honda Fit F154SC (2008)
- Mugen RR Experimental Spec. (based on Honda Civic Type R) (2008)
- Honda Civic 5D MUGEN (2008)
- Honda NSX Mugen RR (2009)
- Honda Civic Mugen RR Advanced Concept (2009)
- Honda Accord Mugen 24sc (2009)
- Honda Odyssey Mugen (2009)
- Honda Insight ZE2 (Mugen Zero-Lift) (2010)
- Honda CR-Z: RR Concept (2012)
- Honda CBR1000RR
- Honda City ZX 2009
Cars You Could Buy
Mugen has also made special versions of cars that were sold to the public:
- 2008 Civic Mugen Si (sold in North America)
- 2007 Civic Mugen RR (sold in Japan)
- CR-Z Mugen
- Accord Mugen
Images for kids
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JS43 of the type driven by Olivier Panis at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, on display.
See also
In Spanish: Mugen Motorsports para niños
- Honda in motorsport
- Red Bull Powertrains, a company that took over Honda's F1 engines after Honda left the sport again.
