Honda is Turning a CR-V Into an 800 HP Hybrid Racer

CR-Very big rear wing. Photo: Honda

If you were to make an all-new race car out of one of Honda’s cars, what would you go for as the starting point? Something like the new Accord would be a bold choice, but not too far from real-world touring cars and GT racers commonplace on tracks around the world. What about the CR-V Hybrid?

It’s definitely an odd choice, but the hybrid SUV is also the obvious choice for Honda’s next 800 hp hybrid race car, apparently. The car is being assembled by the brightest and best at Honda’s Performance Development workshop and its Auto Development Center.

Details of the custom racer are thin on the ground, but Honda confirmed it’s building a track monster with some 800 electrified horsepower, and released the teaser video below to give you a glimpse of what this bonkers machine could look like.

It’s Coming! Honda Prepares to Unleash the CR-V Hybrid Racer Project Car

From the pictures shared by Honda, this doesn’t look like a half-assed attempt at transforming the CR-V into a fully-fledged racer. There looks to be some enormous carbon fiber wheel arches bolted on, as well as a great big splitter at the rear to create downforce.

There are further aerodynamic tweaks up front, and the car has been fitted with a steering wheel that wouldn’t look out of place on a Formula 1 racer. Oh, and there’s that absolutely enormous rear wing, and more carbon fiber than you can shake a stick at.

A full reveal of the CR-V racer is coming on February 28th, when we should get to see this hybrid, SUV race car in the flesh for the first time. And while it sounds like a crazy machine, it obviously wouldn’t be the first race-ready SUV to hit American shores.

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CR-Very serious about racing. Photo: Honda

Ford, for example, has created its own performance-minded Mustang Mach-E, and even announced ambitions for a similarly specced Lightning pickup truck. Lexus also built an SUV designed for the race track. To do this, the Japanese marque took its base Lexus RZ 450 and prepped it for a racing series that nobody was asking for.

Does all this mean that the performance SUV could be the hot hatch of 2023? Maybe. After all, hot hatches have been losing favor in the U.S. in recent years as drives opt for something bigger and bulkier.