** We just got this note and review from John Hinrichs for the Mugen High Performance Air Intake System (Carbon Fiber) for CR-Z - Thanks John! **

Scott,
 
Just got back from making the holiday rounds. Driving through five states visiting friends and family (and showing off my car, of course).
 
Some of the people I visited are car guys, some just thought it was pretty, most loved the way it sounds (thanks, by the way) (Mugen Exhaust, ed.) , but everyone had something to say once the hood went up.  Even with all that's going on under the bonnet of a CR-Z, with the normal engine stuff and all the extra IMA wiring, the first thing everyone locked on to was the Mugen intake. That smooth expanse of carbon fiber had everyone interested, and I can't blame 'em, it is gorgeous. 
 
Not only does it look great, but under load the intake provides just enough extra sound to balance the tone of the Mugen exhaust.  Its obvious these two pieces were designed for each other: Subtle with a hint of badass.
 
Special thanks to Mike for doing such a great job on the install.
 
Happy Holidays! 
 
-John Hinrichs

** Long-time King supporter Dewi sent this product review in... Thanks Dewi! **

My family are Honda/Mugen nuts and we import all of our Mugen goodies from King Motorsports to Scotland, so when we found out we were having a baby girl we started our DB8 (4 door Integra Type R) project as our family car.  It came as no surprise we wanted the right JDM parts to finish it off. This consisted of a baby Recaro in grey to match the car and whilst trawling King’s website we came across a black Mugen fleece blanket, so we ordered it up for car and stroller duties. 

The blanket is lightweight but warm, also very easy to keep clean if any spillages occur and our daughter loves the softness of the fleece. When it’s all tucked in, it keeps her very warm and she sleeps well without irritation.  We like to call her the ‘Mugen Slug’ so from a happy mum and dad we rate this product 5 stars for Mugen pervyness and 5 stars for performance and functionality.  Thank you very much King Motorsport for supplying us with this awesome quality product.

** This was sent in by Perry W... Thanks Perry! **

Gotta send a big thanks to Scott and the guys at King for their help picking out new rims for my 2002 Civic Si hatchback (EP3).

Because the 02-03 model Si has a 4x100 bolt pattern, wheel options are limited. Scott pointed me to Volk and Enkei -- but ultimately I had my heart set on the rarity and heritage of the forged Mugen rims.

My ideal Mugen rim (for my bolt pattern) was long out of stock: the Mugen MF-8. Those would have been awesome. But just as ideal would be the MF-8's big brother: the Mugen MF-10 (10 spokes instead of 8, with a deeper "webbing" where the spokes converge around the center). King has limited number of these -- in stock and on sale -- so I snatched a set up.

But there was a catch. In order to mount these beautiful new rims, I would have to convert my Si from a 4-lug bolt pattern to a 5-lug bolt pattern (the MF-10s are a 5x114 bolt pattern). More on this later.

First let's talk about these magestic MF-10s.

The set of MF-10s arrived a few days later from King: 16"x7" +43, in bronze, complete with valve stems and black center caps. They look terrific and have a semi-machined lip that reminds me of the fine workmanship that goes into the Mugen shift knobs. The spokes of the MF-10 have a matte texture that offset the lip. These rims are a work of art and perfection. You can fall into a JDM-induced trance staring into the rich bronze color.  I love these rims so much I even recorded The World's First Mugen MF-10 Unboxing Video for YouTube.

I couldn't wait to get these on my car. But I would have to. I had to do that 5-lug conversion, all by myself. In my garage. I live roughly 2000 miles from King's shop. So driving out there wasn't an option. I don't really trust any of the shops out here yet. So it was up to me.

At this point I should stop to say that I have absolutely ZERO experience with suspensions. I think I might have rotated tires once. The most technical thing I ever did to the exterior was install side skirts, a wing, a short-ram air intake. Easy stuff.

I kept replaying the two comments Scott had given me:

The encouraging: "Just do a 5-lug conversion. It's not that bad."

Then the more ominous: "There's definitely a lot involved for the conversion. It's not for the faint of heart."

So I started by planning. I bought myself a shop manual, read every forum thread I could find about the 5-lug swap. I bought a bunch of tools, a breaker bar, fluids, ball joint puller etc. I was stocking up and studying nearly every night!

The 5-lug came from a donor car in Tennessee -- a 2003 RSX Type-S (DC5). The DC5 shares many of the same parts as my EP3, so the swap is possible and has been done by many EP3 owners. Because the donor car was a Type-S (not the base model), I had the benefit of getting much larger front calipers & rotors as a bonus. But that bonus was offset by the need for new axles (to fit the larger Type-S splines).

Here's a picture of the donor RSX parts before they were shipped to me:

Assembling all my tools and parts took about 3 weeks. Lots of mail order, and help from Big Mike and Jude. Jude's advice was something about using beer and copious amounts of swearing. That turned out to be good advice.

The actual install happened over 2 weeks, nights and weekends... I lost half a week when I realized the ball joint puller I had purchased was inadequate for the job. And had to hire a mobile mechanic to help me with a stuck axle (lesson learned: get a "BFH," bigger floor jack, bigger jack stands).

Picture of the work in progress. You can see the original 4-lug assemblies still on the car. On the floor is the new 5-lug, a fresh socket set, and an old rim (bronze C8).

A picture of the stock EP3 front rotor next to the larger RSX Type-S replacement:

New replacement axles from an RSX Type-S:

My tires are dismounted from my C8's and re-mounted to the MF-10 set! The de-throned old rims shrink back in shame.

Conversion is complete now, and my shiny MF-10s finally mounted on the car. Look closely to see my smiling face in the reflections!!

** We just got this note and review from John Hinrichs - Thanks John! **

This afternoon I was able to take my CR-Z out for its first fun drive since I picked it up from KMS.  I've driven 30 minutes home, eaten dinner, made myself comfortable on my couch and there is still a big goofy grin on my face.  As much as i love the car itself, I have to give credit for this persistent smile to the Mugen suspension and exhaust you installed.

The factory suspension on the CR-Z was skewed to the comfort side.  Nice for running up and down the interstate, but when it came to corners the car would roll to the outside before it set into the turn.  With the Mugen system the car just turns in. 

Before I set off, I set all four shocks to 5 (full hard).  On the way to my choice bit of road, an area of backroads just south of Friess Lake, I rode over miles of lumpy concrete highways, chewed up blacktop side roads, and more than a few potholes.  The Mugen suspension let me know exactly what kind of surface I was on, but it was never harsh or abrupt. 

The roads I set out to drive are not the newest.  A patched, narrow, blacktop ring of roads that wind around and over the wooded hills of the area -- including a beautifully tight little switchback (which is a rare thing in southeastern Wisconsin).  The car just devoured it, staying flat and collected throughout.  Even in places where the corners were pieced together and uneven, the tires were held down tight, following the rough pavement without any hint of the skittishness that comes with a tire bouncing over the bumps I knew were there.

After driving the 7 mile loop once in each direction, I pulled over to set the shocks to full soft.  Five minutes later I was driving the loop for a third time just to listen to my car.  The stock exhaust note isn't non-existent, and the Mugen system isn't overly loud (I don't get complaints from the neighbors when I get called out to work at 2am like i do with my CRX), it just dials up the bass a couple notches.  In the last few weeks of commuting it has never been intrusive or droning.  I didn't even have to adjust the volume on the stereo.  But on these roads, full throttle from 4k to 6k RPM, the sound echoing off the trees was incredible.  It makes me want to find a tunnel just to listen.

Oh, and in regular highway driving I'm up 2 MPG since the new exhaust was installed.  Win/win.

Thanks for everything,
John Hinrichs

** Many thanks to Brain Dopp for sending this in! **

Hey guys, I just wanted to say thank you for all of your help and support.  Here are some recent photos of the car and all of the parts at work at Road America and Autobahn Country Club!

Upon its release in 1997, I knew that I had to own a 5th generation Prelude.  From the factory, the car was a lot of fun but as I started attending track days, I quickly began to realize the potential of the car.  Having been a long-time fan of sports car racing, I already knew the King Motorsports name and upon many recommendations and days on the race track with King prepared cars, I knew who I was going to trust with my car.

The very first modification I made was the Mugen Header and Exhaust combination.  It really cleaned up the mid-range power making the car transition into VTEC more smoothly than ever.  The additional power and torque not only helped straight-a-way speeds, but also exit speed out of corners.  Construction of any Mugen part is un-surpassed, so there were more parts to be ordered from King.  To keep things cool under such conditions, a Mugen fan switch and Mugen radiator cap were added.  Next was a Honda Prelude Type-S (JDM) airbox to further build mid-range power.  Another little tweak was a machined and lightened flywheel that was recommended and done by King.  To make my driving experience even better, a set of Mugen sport driving pedals were added.

Over the last few years, most of my work has been focused on the suspension.  Working with King, I added a set of Koni Sport dampers with SPS3 race valving along with Koni coilover sleeves.  To accompany the Koni dampers, are Swift Racing Springs at each corner.  To balance out the handling further, a Progress adjustable rear anti-roll bar was installed.  Another easy way to make the car corner better is to reduce weight.  I added an Odyssey 680 MJT battery (30lbs savings!) a carbon hood and some other miscellaneous weight savings equaling a loss of nearly 100lbs!  To slow things down at the end of the straights, I added a rebuilt set of NSX calipers along with Legend rotors which are 28mm thick.  To maximize the clamping power of the brakes, I use Hawk Blue racing pads at the track and Hawk HPS pads on the street.  To increase feel and reliability, Techna-Fit brake lines were installed at all four corners.

And there is much more to come ranging from more suspension tweaks to additional power from an H23 VTEC!


Engine Performance Modifications:
- Mugen Header
- Mugen Exhaust
- King Motorsports custom race pipe
- Mugen Fan Switch
- Mugen Radiator Cap
- Honda JDM Type-S AirBox/intake
- King Motorsports Lightened Flywheel
- Exedy Stage II Clutch

Exterior Modifications:
- Honda OEM Body Kit
- Honda JDM Fog Lights
- King Motorsports Exhaust Heat Shield
- VIS Carbon Hood

Interior Modifications:
- Mugen Sport Driving Pedals
- Honda JDM Si-R carpet
- Honda OEM Carbon Trim
- Honda JDM Type-S Carbon Bezel
- Honda/Acura OEM RSX Shift Knob

Suspension/Wheel Modifications:
- Koni Sport SPS3 Race valved dampers and coilover sleeves
- Swift Racing Springs 10k front/12k rear
- Spoon Strut Tower Bars f/r
- Progress Technology Rear Swaybar
- Energy Suspension Bushings
- SSR Integral Wheels 17 x 7
- Dunlop Direzza Sport Star Spec Tires 215x45x17

Other Modifications:
- NSX Brake Upgrade w/Legend Rotors
- Techna-Fit Stainless Brake Lines
- Hawk HPS/Blue Brake Pads
- Ate Super Blue Brake Fluid
- Odyssey 680 MJT battery (15.5 lbs!)

** Thanks to Brian Lang for sending this in! **

Just wanted to share some photos of my TSX -- now Accord Euro -- thanks to you guys.

The car looks amazing in person. I'm planning on getting some CCW LM 20's for it but right now I'm dropped on Tein springs and Axis Mod's 19x8 +35. I installed bolt on/off CF panels on the bottom corners of the front bumper but it barely scrapes if driven right.