Max Verstappen Tames Honda’s ‘The Beast’ CR-V Hybrid Racer With Over 800 HP In Miami
Honda generally likes to play things pretty safe but prior to the start of this year’s IndyCar season, it unveiled one of the craziest one-off SUVs we’ve ever laid eyes on; the CR-V Hybrid Racer also known as ‘The Beast.’
Driving the vehicle is the same hybrid powertrain as Honda’s IndyCar racer. As such, it features a 2.2-liter V6 engine supplemented by a pair of Borg Warner turbochargers, an Empel MGU hybrid motor, Skeleton supercapacitors, and an ECU from McLaren Applied Technologies. It delivers in excess of 800 hp and two-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen had the opportunity to test it out during the Miami Grand Prix weekend.
Read: Honda Put An 800-HP INDYCAR Hybrid V6 Under A CR-V Shell
While Honda Racing has frustratingly only released a 60-second clip of Verstappen’s experience with the CR-V Hybrid Racer, we get to see him hustling it around a racetrack and also ripping some lovely donuts in the hybrid SUV. Towards the end of the video, Verstappen notes that it “actually has quite a bit of grip” but compared to the Red Bull RB19 that the Dutch driver is racing this season, we’re sure it feels very, very slow.
Honda didn’t simply fit its IndyCar powertrain into a CR-V and call it a day. The one-off also features front suspension components from the Acura NSX GT-3 Evo22 race car while the rear suspension comes from the Dallara IR-18 Indy car. It also features beefed-up brakes with 380 mm calipers at the front and 355 mm calipers at the rear, all sourced from Brembo. Additionally, the lower half of the body is made from lightweight carbon composite while the top half has a chromoly steel tube chassis.
Ensuring that the CR-V can efficiently transmit all of its power to the ground are 20×10.5-inch front and 20×11-inch rear alloy wheels wrapped in Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Ultra-High Performance summer tires.
Source: CarScoops
