Speak the words turbo and Honda together and you are likely to get a wide range of reactions that vary from the complimentary and supportive, to the negative or often time degrading. But no matter what your feelings about a forced induction Honda may be, the Japanese automaker seems to be hitching it’s wagon to the turbocharged arena, with their Earth Dreams engines and now the HR35TT.
The prototype engine will power a Riley Third Generation chassis from Starworks Motorsport garage for 12 hours of Sebring in the upcoming Tudor United Sportscar Championship. The team previously relied on the HR28TT in a LMP2 car, another turbo Honda V6 from Honda Performance Development (HPD) in the 2012 WEC series.
Based on the J35 production engine, the V6 powerplant features steel crankshaft and rods, powered by direct fuel injection and the HPD /’ McLaren engine management. Honda seems to be chasing Ford’s 3.5 Ecoboost engine in the Daytona prototype race series, while other participants such as BMW and GM are sticking to a naturally aspirated route.
“We have had numerous conversations over the past two years about building a Daytona Prototype motor and we’re thrilled to see it come to fruition,” says Peter Baron, owner of the Starworks team.
Other variants of the HPD V6 race engine have competed in Japan’s Autobacs SuperGT Championship, the One Lap of America competitive rally and Pikes Peak International Hillclimb.
Honda also races a 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 in the IndyCar series, and recently released a HR22T sportscar version of that platform for use in LMP1 cars. All these engines have shown that Honda looks to get serious in the performance arena, and who can forget about the Earth Dreams motors, that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
With the application of variable valve motion technology such as Honda’s unique VTEC along with direct injection turbocharging with highly-fluidized combustion and a thorough reduction in engine friction, this engine achieves class-leading output and environmental performance, while downsizing engine displacement.
The next-gen VTEC TURBO engine will truly be one of Honda’s greatest engineered motors with performance and fuel economy in mind true to Honda’s form. Available in 2.0, 1.5 as well as a 1.0L variation, the VTEC TURBO will be offered with a variety of options and add-ons from intercooling and different boost levels.
