Cars For Speed

Rami Serry

(born 28 February 1980)
is an Egyptian racing driver. His career suffered a temporary setback when he was wrongly accused of manslaughter after several onlookers were killed in an accident during an illegal offtrack race in 2005.

Early years :
--------------------

Serry was born in Cairo. From a very young age, he showed signs of extraordinary driving skills and quickly gained respect in the world of motor sport. After studying in the United States in 1998 he returned to Egypt in 2001 to pursue his goal of becoming the Egyptian Autocross champion. With limited choices in racing events around the country, Serry stuck to the Egyptian Autocross and quickly impressed the audience with his extreme driving style, which gained him many fans and admirers around the country.

Street-racing accident :

-------------------------------------

However, his fame turned against him in 2005 when an illegal street race^[1] took place on the main airport road in Cairo. One of the drivers lost control of his car and crashed into the crowd, injuring 12 and killing 6. The next day Serry was arrested at his home in Heliopolis as a suspect in the lethal accident, his name having been given to the police by a few witnesses who alleged that he was driving the silver BMW involved. Serry was charged with racing in the illegal race and when it was proven that he had not done so, was then charged with organizing it.

After spending 34 days in prison, Serry was able to prove his innocence^[2] and was interviewed on the TV show Al-Qahira Al-Youm with Amr Adib. He received direct apologies from many high-ranking officials around the country for being falsely accused. Serry's fame rocketed after his vindication and he became a household name around the country.

Later career :

---------------------

After his release Serry was determined to build a race track in Egypt to prevent similar accidents. After many unsuccessful attempts to achieve this, he concluded that the country was not yet ready for motorsport, and moved to Bahrain, considered to be the home of motorsport in the Middle East, where he became editor of Arabia Motors, a popular motoring magazine in the Gulf. For two years Serry worked and raced in Bahrain, gaining valuable experience. He participated for a full season in Formula BMW at the Bahrain International Circuit [1] and also in drift challenges around the Gulf, extending his fame to other areas of the Middle East. Serry then moved back to Egypt to start his own magazine [2] and TV show. Since his arrival he has ventured out into numerous pursuits which included experiments in BioGeometry [3] with Dr. Ibrahim Karim. They both teamed up to introduce the technology to both the automobile and motorsport industries. After promising results, Serry was offered a chance to speak about his experiences and the new technology at the infamous TED [4] event which took place at the American University in Cairo [5] under the name of TEDxCairo [6]. Rami currently works for LINKonLINE [7] in a senior marketing position.

Maybe you’ve heard of Mugen, the Japanese tuning outfit that specializes in making street-legal Hondas hotter when it’s not building race car engines. Founded in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, son of Soichiro, Mugen (the name means ‘infinite’ or ‘unlimited’ in Japanese) has earned a solid reputation in its homeland. From 1991 to 2000, for example, Mugen built and prepped engines for a number of Formula One teams, including Tyrell, Prost, Ligier and Jordan. Despite such achievements, the Mugen name isn’t yet as well known as, for example, Mercedes-Benz’s go-fast division AMG.

With the recent confirmation that Mugen’s European division, based in Northampton, England, is to build a limited run of super-quick, ultra-exclusive and hyper-expensive Civic Type Rs (with Honda’s full approval), it seems that the brand is seeking a little long-overdue recognition outside Japan.

Moving into uncharted territory, Mugen was cautious. Although it had earlier sold every one of 300 Civic Type RR sedans it built for the Japanese market in a six-minute online frenzy, Mugen dipped its toe in British waters with a ‘concept’. This was exhibited at shows and loaned to key media outlets over period of several months, and the reaction carefully gauged. The Mugen men must have liked what they heard and read, because the decision to build a run of “up to 20? duplicates during 2010 was announced in late October.

Based on the 2.0-liter, 198-hp Civic Type R three-door hatchback built in Honda’s British factory, Mugen’s engine modifications up the already impressive max power figure by 20 percent.
It’s a classic tuner job; high-compression pistons, new cams, free breathing induction system, totally new stainless steel exhaust system, and a Mugen ECU that permits a 500 rpm increase over the standard Honda H20A engine’s 8000-rpm ceiling

While the engine is at the heart of the Civic Type R Mugen, there’s more to it than what’s under the hood. A large wing hangs from its tail (no, it doesn’t block rearward vision), there are vents in the bonnet, and the front guards are Mugen-specific.
Customers will have the option of keeping the standard Type R interior or paying extra for the same fit-out as the red ‘concept’ car. This comprises a pair of Recaro racing seats (which were damned uncomfortable for more than an hour of freeway driving), three extra gauges (coolant and oil temp, oil pressure) and…no rear seat. Ditching the Honda’s folding rear bench accounts for most of the 230-lb weight reduction Mugen claims.
There’s plenty more tech stuff, too. As well as the limited-slipper mentioned earlier, Mugen also fits a short-throw shift kit. Honda’s manual transmissions are probably the best on the planet for speed and precision, and the kit just makes an already excellent shift even better.
Uprated brakes — larger front discs, clamped by beefier Mugen-specified calipers — deliver reliable and fade-free stopping power. Chassis improvements include new springs and shock absorbers, plus lightweight forged alloy wheels.
Like the regular Civic hatch on which it’s based, the Type R has a simple, semi-independent torsion-beam rear suspension. Although less technically sophisticated than the multi-link rear-end under Civic sedans, it works pretty well.
In fact, with the Mugen’s horsepower, it’s the car’s front end that tends to get the driver’s attention. When accelerating hard out of corners — especially those with bumps or uneven camber — the steering tugs distractingly this way and that. Mostly the Civic Type R Mugen’s tail quietly and faithfully tags along for the ride.
It’s quick, no question, but it’s also a damned busy car to drive hard. But somehow the sonic stimulation, razor sharp engine response, manic steering and firm suspension gel into a memorable (if not totally coherent) experience.

Dynamic quibbles aren’t the Honda Civic Type R Mugen’s biggest problem. The price of the car — even taking into account its exclusivity — is enough to make your checkbook cross its legs. At 38,599 British pounds (about $64,000 at current exchange rates) Mugen may manage to remain obscure a little longer…

Checking the comparative power and torque charts, it’s obvious that the Mugen magic is all in the high-rev cam profile of the i-VTEC-equipped four. Up to the 5500 rpm point where the switchover from mild to wild cam profiles occurs, there’s not that much difference between the lines. The next 3000 rpm are a different story. The Mugen engine’s torque output turns north, power naturally following. It’s telling that the modified engine delivers its 237-hp maximum at 8300 rpm, 500 rpm higher than the standard Honda engine’s peak and 300 rpm past its cutout. If this is beginning to sound like a racing engine, you’re on the right track.
We drove the red ‘concept’ car (the limited-edition run will all be painted white, Honda’s long-time racing color) on some of Britain’s best roads in south-west Wales. From the moment it fires and settles into a quick warm-up idle at almost 2000 rpm, the Mugen-modded engine is a real treat. It’s perfectly tractable when driven sedately, idling evenly and pulling without glitch through the first sectors of the tachometer arc. But it’s the top 3000 rpm you remember.
Despite the limited-slip differential that’s part of the Mugen package, the engine’s top-end is so crazily eager that the car’s sticky Yokohamas can barely cope with the rush of power. In lower gears the rate of increase in revs is madly quick, making the shift-light a useful tool. Yet it’s a beautifully precise engine, with exhilaratingly exact throttle response. Sounds great, too, with an almost race-engine hardness to its note