- Honda Performance Development has teased a race-ready CR-V with an 800-hp hybrid powertrain.
- The teaser shows off the SUV’s custom carbon fiber bodywork, colossal front splitter and rear diffuser, and a giant rear wing.
- Honda Performance Development has neglected to announce any official events in which this petrol-electric CR-V racer may compete.
Honda Performance Development seems determined to push the performance limits of the 10Best-winning 2023 CR-V. The racing and performance arm of the Japanese automaker has teased an 800-hp race-ready CR-V to whet enthusiasts’ appetites for high-powered four-wheel machines. Why a CR-V? We don’t know, but we theorize that family man Dominic Toretto may have commissioned this machine that practically screams “I’m a dad, but I’m still living a quarter mile at a time.”
HPD revealed few details about the vehicle itself, simply sharing that it is being developed with Auto Development Center teams and that motivation comes courtesy of a gasoline-electric powertrain that produces a staggering 800 horsepower. We assume this CR-V rolled out of the factory with the SUV’s available 204-hp hybrid powertrain. Then again, it might have had the standard 190-hp four-cylinder. Or HPD simply pulled a body in white off the assembly line before its mass-produced powerplant was ever installed. For now, HPD is keeping such information secret.
Fans of where is waldo a guest will try to spot this SUV’s production pieces in these teaser photos. From what we can see, the taillights and hatch look like stock pieces, as do the headlights and grille. Otherwise, this CR-V’s other pieces look unique. Most—if not all—of this CR-V’s body panels appear to be custom carbon fiber pieces, including the widened front and rear fenders. Aerodynamic bits dominate the front and rear. It includes a host of dive planes and a rear wing big enough to get its own representation in Congress.
HPD only provided one shot of this CR-V’s interior, but it appears that the stock interior has been completely exhausted. Meanwhile, the addition of a roll cage should provide an extra layer of safety for those sitting in this hot hybrid SUV. Look for HPD to share more about its CR-V racer when it unveils the vehicle on February 28.
