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Honda stuffed an 800-HP IndyCar powertrain into the family-friendly CR-V

Honda CR-V's IndyCar engine: The result may be the most absurd, fastest, and track-ready SUV ever

Joel Patel
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Honda is a diverse company with a wide range of products that includes planes, boat engines, and motorcycles. The Japanese brand is best known for its reliable and well-built cars that, for the most part, are boring — except for the Civic Type R. Take the Honda CR-V, for example. It’s a class-leading SUV, but you’re not going to buy it for its thrilling performance. Leave it to Honda and some hysterical engineers without a budget to make a drool-worthy CR-V. All it took was for Honda to cram an 800-horsepower, hybrid powertrain from an IndyCar and create a deranged design. Honda describes the CR-V Hybrid Racer in the best way, calling it a “rolling electrified laboratory.”

Before we get into the CR-V Hybrid Racer, we’re going to try to rationalize its existence. IndyCar is introducing some new rules for the 2024 season. Honda, which first got into IndyCar in 1994, is getting ready for the upcoming 2024 season, where IndyCars will have to be electrified. To strum up some interest in the next era of IndyCar racing, Honda has come out with the CR-V Hybrid Racer, which the automaker is calling a “sneak preview.”

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Front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from the passenger's side parked in front of a statute at night.
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Front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from driver's side parked in the middle of the road at night in front of tall bui
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Rear end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the road in front of tall buildings.
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Side profile of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in front of white stairs at night.
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Front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from the passenger's side at night in front of a statute.
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Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer rear end angle front passenger's side parked in the middle of the road at night.
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Front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the street at night in front of tall buildings.
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Side profile of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the road in front of glass windows.
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Rear end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from the passenger's side parked in front of a statute at night.
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Front-end profile of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from he driver's side parked in front of white stairs at night.
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Close up of the front end of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in front of white stairs at night.
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Close up of front end of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the road at night in front of buildings.
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Close up of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the road at night.
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That explains why the CR-V Hybrid Racer looks like a chiseled Arnold Schwarzenegger and the regular CR-V is more Danny DeVito. Underneath the cartoonish exterior with the enormous wing, gigantic diffuser, wide fenders, and titanic front splitter, the CR-V Hybrid Racer features a tube-frame chassis. Then, there’s the twin-turbo 2.2-liter V6 engine that features a hybrid system. The engine is mated to an XTRAC 6-speed sequential transmission. Both of these components come directly from an Indy Car racer. The V6 engine also runs on 100% renewable race fuel that was developed by Shell for the 2023 IndyCar season.

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Unlike the electrified IndyCars that are coming for the 2024 season, the CR-V Hybrid Racer has electrified power that comes from Skeleton Supercapacitors and an Empel MGU hybrid motor unit. It’s a unique hybrid system for the racy SUV.

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Front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer from passenger's side with clamshell open.
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Overhead front end angle of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the street at night.
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Overhead shot of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the street.
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Overhead shot of the front end of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the steet at night.
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Overhead shot of the rear end of the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the street at night.
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Close up of engine bay in the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer parked in the middle of the street.
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honda cr v gets indycar engine hpd hybrid racer
HPD Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer Image used with permission by copyright holder
Close up view of the steering wheel and dashboard in the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer.
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Close up of center console in the Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer.
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honda cr v gets indycar engine hpd hybrid racer
HPD Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer Image used with permission by copyright holder
honda cr v gets indycar engine hpd hybrid racer
HPD Honda CR-V Hybrid Racer Image used with permission by copyright holder

Honda also sourced the CR-V Hybrid Racer’s rear suspension and brakes from an IndyCar. The front brakes and suspension are from an Acura NSX GT-3 Evo22. With Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 summer tires that measure 305/35 at the back, the SUV shouldn’t have a problem putting its power down.

As much as we would love to see a high-performance CR-V – this would make for a rad CR-V Type R – the CR-V Hybrid Racer isn’t that. It’s a one-off science experiment where the nerds are car people. It’s an incredible engineering exercise that could evolve over the future. The CR-V Hybrid Racer will make its debut at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida. The electrified SUV will also be at other IndyCar events where Honda will use it for on-track demonstrations.

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Joel Patel
Joel Patel
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joel Patel is a former contributor for The Manual. His work has also been featured on Autoweek, Digital Trends, Autoblog…
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