2008 Honda Civic Mugen Si Sedan

Mugen, which means “without limits,”is Honda’s tuner of choice and has been since 1973. Although Hondas with Mugen goodies have been sold in the homeland for a quarter-century, the 2008 Civic Si sedan is the first such vehicle officially exported to the U.S.


Basically, it’s an Si with a body kit, sport exhaust, and revised suspension. It looks like an import tuner’s dream: a huge, bigbore exhaust tip; sexy GP 18-inch forged aluminum wheels; side skirts; an aggressive air dam; and an A380-sized rear wing. It is beautifully done, which isn’t often the case when import tuners modify cars. Inside, the only difference from a stock Si is a Mugen aluminum shift knob.

The Civic Si’s 197-hp, 2.0-liter inline-four remains a stock virgin, save for the sport exhaust that reduces back pressure aft of the catalytic converter. This seems a lost opportunity, because tuner kids know that Mugen’s real expertise is in giving Honda engines more suds. On the chassis front, Mugen lowered the suspension 0.6 inch, added forged wheels shod with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 215/40ZR-18s, and increased spring and shock rates.

Anyone expecting extra performance will be disappointed. At the track, the Mugen Si sedan went from 0 to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds, 0.1 second slower than the last Si coupe. Put that down to the sedan’s weighing 81 more pounds than the coupe, at 2941 pounds. The super-revvy engine gets wearing, but we liked the exhaust note.


On the skidpad, overall grip was a slightly disappointing 0.88 g, lower than the coupe’s 0.91 g. The best feature of the Mugen Si is the suspension, which trades little in ride quality for sharper steering, crisper turn-in, and better body control.

Honda is shipping only 1000 Mugen Si sedans a year here, so the car will be exclusive. The price will ensure that, too: $30,135, a premium of $8190 over a base Si sedan. Most Honda tuners will think they can do a similar job for less money—and the merely rational will buy a Mitsu Evo or Subaru STI.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door Sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $30,135 (base price: $30,135)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 122 cu in,1998cc
Power (SAE net): 197 bhp @ 7800 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 139 lb-ft @ 6100 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 106.3 in Length: 177.8 in Width: 55.9 in Height: 69.0 in
Curb weight: 2941 lb

TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.6 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 7.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.2 sec @ 93 mph
Top speed (redline limited): 130 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 166 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city driving: 21 mpg

2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Sedan

Although the Impreza WRX is ever the lovable bad boy who attracts the cheerleaders’ adoration, it is the practical Impreza 2.5i sedan and hatchback that do the heavy lifting in Subaru’s showrooms. For 2008, the Impreza has undergone a makeover—for starters, it’s 4.5 inches longer—although its driveline is little changed.

The familiar 170-hp flat-four propels this latest Subie to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds—0.3 second quicker than its forebear, 0.2 quicker than a Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, 0.1 quicker than a Honda Civic LX. The engine is satisfyingly quieter at idle—4 dBA, in fact—but is slightly louder at WOT and at 70-mph cruise. The boxer’s raspy growl remains endearing, but if the company intends to finagle its way into the wallets of luxury-car buyers in the next decade—as Ikuo Mori, CEO of parent company Fuji Heavy Industries, claims—then it must slash the Impreza’s NVH levels to those of, say, the Nissan Altima 2.5S.

With its generic new skin, the Impreza is no longer instantly identifiable as a Subaru. Onlookers asked if it might be a Suzuki or a Kia. Also new is the control-arm rear suspension that was expected to improve handling. It has not. Grip has fallen from the 2007 model’s 0.80 g to 0.78 g. You don’t notice it on the road, however, where the Impreza, with its 3.7-inch-longer wheelbase, still takes an eager, confident set in turns. Body roll is noticeable but never seems to impinge on path control, and there’s less squat at launch. Overall, the ride-and-handling trade-off is just about perfect.

What the new control arms have delivered, however, is a slightly larger trunk with a lower floor. Combine that with rear seats that now fold in a 60/40 split, and the Impreza is more useful at Whole Foods.

The steering is linear and informative, with zero kickback and strong self-centering. The car tracks like a vehicle twice its size. Nicely weighted at speed, the steering is nonetheless a titch heavy in parking lots. The shifter is light and positive, as gratifying as any competitor’s, and the pedals are heel-and-toeable.

With two more inches of front shoulder room, the cockpit is far more welcoming and airy, and visibility is fantastic, aided by the “portholes” in the C-pillars. Although all the interior surfaces are base plastic or vinyl, they’re nicely grained and pleasing to the touch. The switchgear is silky, the three rotary HVAC controls are the quintessence of thoughtful ergonomics, and the radio is perched at the top of the center stack. The mouse-fur front seats are grippy, and the back seat is spacious for two adults, although the seat cushion is so low that your knees are above your beltline.

2.5i sedan carried a sticker of $17,640 (add $500 for the five-door), which, of course, includes Subaru’s all-wheel drive with a viscous limited-slip center diff—a lot of car for the money. In the hardscrabble world of econoboxes, the Impreza remains mighty imprezzive.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $17,640 (base price: $17,640)

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 150 cu in, 2457cc
Power (SAE net): 170 bhp @ 6000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 170 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 103.1 in Length: 180.3 in Width: 68.5 in Height: 58.1 in
Curb weight: 3050 lb

TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.6 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.1 sec
Street start, 5-60 mph: 8.9 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.9 sec @ 87 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 130 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 179 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.78 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city driving: 20 mpg

2008 Lexus IS F

Short Take Road Tests

Why the letter “F” in the new V-8–powered, 416-horsepower Lexus IS F? Simple: Toyota’s luxury brand and the letter F have a long history. In the mid-1980s, the Lexus luxury division was then just a classified notepad document codenamed “Circle F.” The first Lexus LS400 of 1989 was known internally as the “F1” or “Flagship.” And the stylized Fs on the 2008 IS F are drawn, it’s said, to mimic a few hairpin turns of Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji test track.

This first F (there’ll be more Lexus models with the F treatment soon, most likely) is a V-8–powered sledgehammer that rockets to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds—fleeter by 0.1 second than the new M3—has a 172-mph speed governor, and generates 0.92 g on the skidpad. It also keeps us grinning through hard track laps, even though the frequent fill-ups of premium were inhaled by street driving at the rate of 16 mpg. We’ll have to wait until March, 2008, when the IS F goes on sale at an expected price around $59,000 to see how many buyers are interested in a wicked-performing Lexus.

Developed in cooperation with Yamaha, the IS F’s engine, or the 2UR-GSE as Toyota calls the 416-hp variant of the 389-hp 5.0-liter V-8 found in the LS600h hybrid, sans hybrid gear, is peakier, actually losing 17 pound-feet of torque on the operating table as the changes pushed the horsepower and torque peak higher up the revs. Solid lifters and titanium intake valves with 10 percent more lift reside in new higher-flow cylinder heads. At full throttle above 3400 rpm, a barn door in the box snaps open with vacuum released from a small reservoir, and the unleashed induction noise is raw and thrilling.














Interior Comfort

Polished paddles put your fingers in charge when you wish it. And they’ll be busy, the swift-revving engine and ratio-stuffed, eight-speed automatic gearbox bringing forth the redline cutoff with annoying frequency. With all that engine fettling, the warning beep reminding you to upshift at 6400 rpm and the cut-out at 6800 rpm feel a bit low. The new 414-hp BMW M3’s engine screams all the way to 8400 rpm.

Despite the bling of braided-aluminum trim on the doors and shifter console, temperance rules indoors. Blue-lit gauges and blue seat stitching, alloy pedals, a digital gear-position display, and the subtle F logo on the wheel are the differentiators that drivers see. The base car’s rear bench is divided in the IS F into two non-folding buckets with a ski pass-through.


At leisure speeds, the air is hushed, Lexus-like, with just a distant snort from the engine and the extra thrum of the fat summer Michelins disturbing the peace. Given the low profile of the rubber mounted to the 19-inch forged aluminum rims, the ride is tightly controlled but commendably mellow. The ride-and-handling balance is perhaps the IS F’s biggest achievement. It makes allowances for road fissures and drops the body into holes with cushioned lurches.
















Driving Dynamics

It also permits the 3800-pound car some restrained roll through the esses but not enough to wither confidence. The IS F’s steering rack accurately puts tires where they’re needed and provides talk-back, albeit faint, on how things are holding. And hold they do, with excellent grip.

The all-important sport button also perks up throttle response and relaxes the stability-control system to allow some controlled tail-out action. Lexus also allows you to shut the system completely off, but the shutdown can only be called for while at full stop. Brembo-sourced front calipers on broad cross-drilled rotors deliver solid braking but with a soft pedal.

The muted interior, the slightly watery controls, the heavy price tag; the IS F is at core a Lexus with extra muscle, not as raw as the BMW M3 or Mercedes C63 AMG. The next steps for F may decide if the performance sub-brand thrives or is only a brief experiment.


Specs

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 4-door sedan

ESTIMATED PRICE AS TESTED: $60,000 (estimated base price: $59,000)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 303 cu in, 4969cc
Power (SAE net): 416 bhp @ 6600 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 371 lb-ft @ 5200 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manumatic shifting

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 107.5 in
Length: 183.5 in
Width: 71.5 in
Height: 55.7 in
Curb weight: 3800 lb

TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 4.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 9.8 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 24.7 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 4.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 12.7 sec @ 114 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 172 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 159 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.92 g