HONDA becomes sole supplier of powerplants for the IRL in 06

[vertGST]

Honda Performance Development president Robert Clarke said in October that the IndyCar Series manufacturer was prepared to supply engines for the entire Indianapolis 500 field.
The two-time defending manufacturer champion will be put to the test with the 90th running of the 500-Mile Race on May 28.

Indy Racing League president and chief operating officer Brian Barnhart and Clarke announced that the IndyCar Series will field only Honda Racing Indy V-8 engines beginning with the 2006 season.

Barnhart pointed to Honda’s renewed commitment to the IndyCar Series and decisions made individually by IndyCar Series teams to switch to Honda as the primary reasons for the single-engine program. Barnhart also said the announcement allows Toyota to pursue its motorsports goals, accelerates by a year the Honda agreement, and generates cost savings for teams.

“Providing engines for the entire IndyCar field is a dramatically different role for Honda from that as one competitor in a multi-manufacturer championship,” Clarke said. “It is an opportunity that provides numerous new challenges, not only for HPD, but for several departments at American Honda as well.

Certainly, manufacturing and preparing sufficient primary and backup engines for all 33 starters at the Indianapolis 500 will be a major effort, and it is vitally important, given our new circumstances, that we treat and care for all IndyCar competitors equally. We are confident of meeting this need and look forward to working with the IRL to grow the IndyCar Series in the seasons to come.”

Honda debuted in the IndyCar Series in 2003 and has compiled an enviable record of achievements in concert with its drivers and teams, including the 2004 and 2005 Manufacturers’ championship; a pair of Indianapolis 500 triumphs (Buddy Rice in 2004 and Dan Wheldon in 2005); two Drivers’ Championships (Tony Kanaan in 2004 and Wheldon in 2005); three Bombardier Rookie of the Year awards (Wheldon in 2003, Kosuke Matsuura in 2004 and Danica Patrick in 2005); and a total of 28 IndyCar Series race victories.

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Specifications

Engine Type Normally aspirated, fuel-injected, aluminum alloy cylinder block V-8

Displacement 3.0 liters (183.1 cubic inches)

Valve Train Dual overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder

Crankshaft Alloy steel, five main bearing caps

Pistons Forged aluminum alloy

Connecting Rods Machined alloy steel

Engine Management Motorola

Ignition System CDI

Lubrication Dry sump

Cooling Single water pump

 

[dsmmyth]

I doubt they'll be distributing any souls.

But man, that's impressive. Is that their first V8 build? I haven't seen one up until now.

 

[vertGST]

My mistake on the spelling. The IRL has been using their engines since the 2003 season along with Chevy and Toyota. Chevy pulled out at the end of the 2005 season and Penske and Target Chip Ganassi racing would have been the only ones using the Toyota powerplant this season. Both engines are pretty reliable compared to the Chevy engine in the past 2 seasons but the Honda engine puts out a little more power than the Toyota did. These engines put out between 675-700 hp. If you think about it that twice the power of a corvette in a car that weighs half as much. The two remaining teams that were using Toyota decided to switch over to Honda. Honda has also renewed their contract to supply engines to the IRL till at least the 2009 season. The IRL is also switching from full methanol to 10% ethanol and 90% methanol this season and will be running full ethanol in the 2007 season. I can talk about this on and on but we'll see if this thread gains any interest first. As you can probably tell i love Indy Racing.

 

[Defiant]

Eh, it ain't no Offy.