Honda Civic Type R news - Mugen Type R: it’s alive, it’s expensive - 2009

Good news: Honda has confirmed the Civic Type R Mugen will go into limited production in the UK.

Bad news: it'll cost you - ready for this? - £38,599.

Yes, that's about £12,000 more than the Ford Focus RS, which packs a mighty 300bhp to the Mugen's 237bhp.

But Honda says you shouldn't think of the Mugen Civic as a normal hot hatch, but instead a Mugen-prepped race car for the road. A full racing Type R, they say, would cost around £165,000, so the road-going Civic represents a veritable bargain, especially as Mugen will build and tailor your Type R to your exacting specifications. 

Watch the Mugen Civic hit the track

So what do you get for your large wodge of cash? Well, a limited-slip diff, mono-block racing callipers, lightweight forged alloys wheels, custom springs and dampers, and a bigger rear wing, to name but a few of the new shiny bits.

That 237bhp - from the same 2.0-litre naturally aspirated VTEC engine - is 20 per cent up on the standard Civic Type R, with torque boosted by 10 per cent thanks to new pistons, camshafts, ECU and a modified intake system.

Worth £38,599? Have a read of Tom Ford's review of the concept - and Piers Ward's test drive of the pre-production version - and you might start to think so. Exclusivity, too, will help: Mugen will build just 20 Type Rs, all in Honda F1-style Championship White.

Or would you prefer a Focus RS with change left over for a Fiat 500 Abarth?