From the spacious yet budget-conscious BR-V to the range-topping CR-V, the HR-V occupies the middle ground in Honda’s SUV lineup. Honda’s Goldilocks model is receiving a spruced-up treatment in the form of two new Mugen kits.
Including parts such as new Yamaha-developed performance dampers, Type S brake pads for more spirited drives, a new exhaust system, new sets of wheels, and last but not least, two different body kits.
The first kit comes with new paint-matched lips and side skirts, a new black grille, rear spoiler, and black Mugen side striping. The second kit comes with a set of black skirts and lips, and a dash of red across the rear bumper, contrasted by a paint-matched front grille, and more subtle Mugen decals, with the logo simply being on the corner of the rear doors, with interior additions being minimal in the form of floor and luggage mats, Mugen scuff plates, and window visors. The Japanese marque is offering two new styles of 18-inch wheels to match the kits.
While these aesthetic enhancements look promising, we’re not seeing much in terms of performance, aside from the engine now enjoying Mugen oil. The hybrid system and engine still make the same combined 129 hp and 253 Nm of torque, despite the new exhaust system, and with 129 hp on tap, the dual exhaust outlets feel more visual drama than performance necessity. Credit where credit is due, though. At least those are real exhaust tips, unlike others, where they were put on just for show.
However, these enhancements don’t come cheap, as based on current conversions, these Mugen enhancements for the HR-V (or Vezel as it’s known in its home country) come at around a little under P260,500 for the body kit, under P75,400, or P92,125, depending on your wheels of choice, and the interior and exterior accoutrements coming in at approximately P42,300. And as far as the performance parts: P55,000 for the dampers, around P21,000 for the brake pads, in the ballpark of P8,000 for the air filter, and the new exhaust in the range of P71,200.
Add all of that up, and an HR-V fully kitted in Mugen parts comes in at P625,595, and that’s already on top of the crossover’s price range of P1,450,000 for the base S model, all the way to P1,799,000 for the top-of-the-line RS version. Against similarly priced crossovers like the Corolla Cross and select higher-spec variants of the Yaris Cross and GAC Emzoom, that’s a hefty price tag.
With performance-leaning SUVs such as the RAV4 GR Sport drawing global attention, the Mugen HR-V is unlikely to be a direct rival. Instead, it positions itself as a more expressive take on a practical city crossover, one aimed at buyers who want added flair rather than outright pace. And what better way for the HR-V to express that than to “run about” the streets of Manila when the day comes that we see these kits come to the Philippines.
