Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer unveiled

LOS ANGELES: While hybrid power units officially debut in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2024, race fans and car enthusiasts alike will be treated to a “sneak preview” of the incoming technology with the debut of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer at next month’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Florida.

The CR-V Hybrid Racer places a 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged, electrified Honda V6 INDYCAR power unit and transmission under 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid bodywork to create the “rolling laboratory” for the continued development of electrified technology by Honda and HPD.

The CR-V Hybrid Racer runs on Shell’s 100% renewable race fuel; and features world-leading Skeleton Supercapacitors and Empel MGU hybrid motor technology. The result is an electrified monster that’s able to unleash an astounding 800hp.

The Chromoly steel tube chassis of the CR-V Hybrid Racer is clothed in suitably “hybrid” bodywork designed by NAAD. From the beltline up, the Hybrid Racer used a standard production sixth-generation CR-V steel body, including the glass windshield, windows and even the sunroof.

The lower half is of carbon-composite construction, incorporating a massive front splitter and louvered, flared fenders. An equally large rear wing and butterfly half-cut doors on either side for the driver and passenger complete the bodywork.

The project car was conceived and designed by the engineers at Honda Performance Development (HPD) in California and designers from the North America Auto Design Division (NAAD) of American Honda; then built at Honda Automotive Development Center (ADC) in Ohio by the Honda of America Racing Team (HART).

“The CR-V Hybrid Racer is our ‘rolling electrified laboratory’, to investigate where the talented men and women of HPD and Honda could go with electrification, hybrid technology and 100% renewable fuels,” said David Salters, president and technical director for Honda Performance Development, the North American racing arm of American Honda and Acura.

“It epitomises Honda’s fun-to-drive ethos, showcases electrification and it just rocks our car culture roots and racing heritage! We present the CR-V Hybrid Racer – aka ‘The HPD Beast’!”

The finished Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer is clothed in a one-of-a-kind wrap, designed by Lili Melikian, senior exterior designer. The eye-catching design contains a variety of “easter eggs” including ghosted images of the powertrain and INDYCAR SERIES circuits.

“The graphics were inspired by the hybrid powertrain, radiating from Honda Hybrid Blue to Honda Racing Red to symbolize the duality of the drivetrain,” Melikian explained.

“While the ‘speed squirkles’ add a dynamic fun layer and showcase the playful side of Power of Dreams. Throughout the wrap, we have also sprinkled easter eggs like ghosted outlines of Honda-sponsored tracks and an overhead view of the engine that powers the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer.”

While under development, the project carried the appropriate code name “The Beast”, with looks reminiscent of the silhouette GT racing and Group B rally cars of the 1980s and ‘90s. But the technology under the skin is strictly 21st century.