Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Honda Extends Grassroots Racing Efforts

2010 SEMA: Honda CR-Z show car live photos
2010 SEMA: Honda CR-Z show car live photos
Honda Performance Development is taking its racing in many different directions.
Widely known for its work preparing the sole engine for the IZOD IndyCar Series and also for its LM P1 and LM P2 championship winning American Le Mans Series prototype engines, HPD is now bringing its expertise to other venues.
With the recent introduction of its production CR-Z hybrid sports coupe, Honda emphasized the fun-to-drive nature of the car together with its green hybrid capabilities and fuel economy.
Now the manufacturer is taking an HPD-prepped CR-Z to a racetrack in early December and will contest the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in northern California with factory drivers Simon Pagenaud, Peter Cunningham, various HPD engineers and a couple of lucky media members.  There will be a total of eight drivers for the endurance contest.
The CR-Z racer debuted at the SEMA show the first week of November, but still has a way to go before ready for the approximately 2100 miles of this 25-hour contest.  At this point, with about 6-700 miles of testing undertaken at Willow Springs Raceway, HPD has an entity that looks pretty viable but whose capabilities in this type of long race are, well, unknown.  Testing will continue before the car heads north to Thunderhill.
The CR-Z racer has a turbocharged inline 4-cylinder 1.5-liter engine producing an estimated 175 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of torque.  Turbocharger comes from BorgWarner.  The Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system for the racecar includes a nickel cobalt magnesium battery of 173 volts and a ‘push to pass’ system initially introduced on the Indy cars.  The IMA adds another [estimated]  25 horsepower and 65 pound-feet of torque to the engine. 
The engine uses an HPD-produced ECU and dash display; there is an HPD limited slip differential and HPD performance clutch.  HPD have ‘circuit tuned’ the springs, dampers and antiroll bars for racing purposes.  For aerodynamic efficiency, HPD produced a front splitter, rear diffuser and rear wing.
HPD also announced build kits and rebuilds parts for karting, specifically for the CR125 ‘Spec Honda’ class engine.  Reaching out to grassroots racers – it also builds a Formula F engine based on the 1.5-liter Fit mill for SCCA regional and national formula car events – HPD is expanding its Honda Racing Line program to the karting level.
According to HPD general manager Marc Sours, racers will be able to purchase a CR125 engine kit from which to assemble a complete engine.  This will include a six-speed transmission for the appropriate engine model and ‘top end’ parts are coming to market for 1999-2002 engines, the most popular of the genre.  All engines will be SKUSA, Spec Honda compliant and can be raced in 2011.
The karting program has its official launch at the 2010 SKUSA SuperNationals on 17-21 November in Las Vegas, where HPD/Honda will sponsor the Spec Honda S2 class and show a Spec Honda CR125 engine as a display piece.

No comments:

Post a Comment