The Honda Civic Type-R is one of the most uncompromising, hardcore hot hatches money can buy, so imagine what happens when Honda's motorsport wing, Mugen feeds 20 examples a diet of high-octane steroids. The result is something rather special.

There's no mistaking a Type-R Mugen. All 20 are finished in Mugen's iconic Championship White, with a tarmac-scrapping front bumper, side skirts, rear diffuser with huge exhausts and a massive wing. Unlike many big-winged cars, Honda says the Mugen kit offers an aerodynamic advantage.

Existing Type-R owners can get the look without the performance increase as the bumpers, rear wing, front grille, wheels and brakes are available through dealers.

It sits on 17-inch five-spoke alloys which save 7.85kg per corner, giving massive handling benefits, while race-spec four-piston callipers offer awesome stopping power. The suspension is firm - too firm for the worst of British roads - and is completely revised with custom springs and dampers plus a limited-slip diff.

This makes a real difference on the road. There's not a hint of bodyroll, and the steering feels far more direct; this must be what the Civic touring car feels like. There's colossal grip offered from the Michelin Pilot Sport tyres, and it resists understeer very well.

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The Type-R-logo’d bucket seats do a great job of holding the occupants in place, but aren’t so restrictive to make covering long distances a pain. The seats don’t adjust low enough for some drivers, and the steering wheel doesn’t move high enough for others.

For the ultimate in race car feel, Mugen offers a Track Pack, which removes the rear seat bench and fits blanking plates to save weight. A trio of gauges are added, alongside a data-logging system and sticky road-legal track tyres.

For many the Civic Type-R, and particularly the Mugen, is all about the engine. There’s a sense of drama with the quick-revving engine capable of reaching a stratospheric 8,600rpm, which comes alive around 6,000rpm, when most other powerplants are running out of puff – you need to wring out every last rev before it feels like a genuinely fast car.

The standard Type-R engine has seen a thorough workover, with new camshafts, a modified intake and Mugen airbox, custom exhaust and a remap, while revised pistons lower the compression ratio. The result is a 20 per cent power boost to 240bhp and a 10 per cent increase in torque across the rev range.

That means an improvement of the standard car’s 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 146mph; the Mugen’s low production volumes means no official figures exist. We’d expect it to reach 62mph around half a second sooner than standard, while top speed should be nearer to 150mph.

The Mugen’s £38,599 price is huge; hot hatch aficionados will love it, others won’t understand it. But any petrolhead should be glad someone, somewhere is building cars like this.