What is it?

The Civic Mugen 200 is a limited edition version of the Type R. This is not the fire-breathing 237bhp £38,500 Civic Mugen, but a Type R with an LSD and a few cosmetic tweaks and touches. Honda isn’t saying as much, but it has much in common with the recently discontinued Championship White. ONly 200 will be produced and it costs £24,370. 

Technical highlights?

Nothing much to report really. There are unique wheels, badges and bodywork, but the 198bhp engine is unchanged and the diff is familiar from the Championship White, too. 

What’s it like to drive?

As long as the revs are in the right place (i.e. above 5700rpm), the Mugen is very effective at pulling you out of corners and putting a smile on your face. It adds much needed mechanical feel and grip to the Civic Type R experience, but offers nothing new.

The diff is interesting though – it’s quite aggressively set-up which means you need to be quick and early winding off the steering lock when coming out of corners or you find the wheels trying to pull you in the wrong direction. There’s also quite a lot of spring and jounce in the ride, which doesn’t make for settled progress on bumpy roads.

As ever you need to wring the Civic’s neck to get the best from it. Throttle response is sharp, which gives you the hope that mid-range pull would be good, but it labours its way through the mid-range to much to be satisfying.

How does it compare?

Not that well compared to the latest and greatest hot hatches. It’s not as habitable as a Golf GTI, nor as amusing as a Focus RS and lacks the all-round sophistication and mechanical ability of the Renaultsport Megane 250.

Anything else I need to know?

You can now buy Mugen bits for your standard Civic Type R. Eight Honda dealers around the UK will now be stocking parts including forged aluminium wheels, performance brake pads, quick shift gearbox kits, sports suspension and body styling packs.

We put three Civic Type R's head to head

VIDEO: the track special 237bhp Mugen tackles Bedford's West Circuit