The Honda Indy V8 is a 3-litre and 3.5-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 racing engine, developed and produced by

Honda Performance Development Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD) is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations center for Honda's American motorsports programs and is ...

in partnership with

Ilmor Engineering Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...

for

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

br>Honda Newsroom
The V8 was a highly successful

engine from

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

to 2011 season before being replaced by Honda Indy V6 for the following season. Honda Indy V8 was unveiled at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show and assembled at HPD power assembly plant in Santa Clarita, California, USA and Ilmor Engineering Inc. in Plymouth, Michigan, USA.

1st generation (2003–2004)

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

debuted

as engine supplier in

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

after a

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

successful era. Developed by

(HPD) with technical support from

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...

and designated as HI3R, engine's capacity was 3.5-liter. HPD and Ilmor provide trackside support and engine rebuilding services to teams. Honda supplied

Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti U ...

Team Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winn ...

Fernández Racing Fernández Racing was a Mexican motor racing team that competed in the American Le Mans Series, Champ Car, the IRL IndyCar Series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The team was co-founded by Adrian Fernández and Tom Anderson in 2001. Open wheel ...

and

Access Motorsports Access Motorsports was an American auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series from 2003-2004. Founded by 1999 Indy Racing League champion Greg Ray after failing to find a ride for the 2003 IndyCar Series, 2003 season, the team debuted ...

teams. Honda's 2003 stats were 3 pole positions, 6 fastest laps and 2 wins. A revised engine named HI4R was used in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

until new regulations came into effect at the

2004 Indianapolis 500 The 88th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was part of the 2004 IndyCar Series season and the ninth Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. Buddy Rice won the pole ...

Applications

Dallara IR-03 The Dallara IR-03, and its evolution, the Dallara IR-05/07, is an open-wheel formula racing car developed and produced by Italian manufacturer Dallara Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo D ...

G-Force GF09 The G-Force GF09 is a racing car developed and produced by American manufacturer Élan Motorsport Technologies for Panoz, with original work having been performed by G-Force Technologies prior to its purchase by Panoz, for use in the IndyCar Serie ...

2nd generation (2004–2006)

Honda designed a new engine to address the 2004 IRL rule change which required reduced displacement. Developed once again by

and designated as HI4R-A, its capacity was 3.0-liter and debuted at the

. With subsequent evolutions named HI5R and HI6R, Honda was clearly dominant engine, scoring 33 poles, 35 fastest laps, 41 wins totally in three seasons including 3

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

s. Since

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

and

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

left

after 2005 season,

won exclusive tender

engine supplier for

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

to 2011 seasons.

Applications

* Panoz GF09B * Panoz PZ09C

3rd generation (2007–2011)

This family was designed as a replacement for the HI6R but enlarged to better accommodate variable valve timing and Active Fuel Management while still generating good performance. ''HI7R-HI11Rs capacity reverted to 3.5-liters respectively since 2007 season. HI7R-HI11R engine was developed and assembled by

in Santa Clarita, California, USA (

's current headquarters) but remained under support from

for partial design R&D, trackside support, engine arrangement, tune-up and engine maintenance. ''HI7R-HI11R'' engine supplied for all

teams. ''HI7R-HI11R'' was a highly successful engine as it was the only one in competition with 86 pole positions, fastest laps, and wins respectively including

2008 Nikon Indy 300 The 2008 Nikon Indy 300 was the 19th and final race of the 2008 IndyCar Series season. It was held on 26 October 2008 on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Queensland, Australia. It was the first time the race was held for the Indy Racing ...

exhibition race and 5

s. Due to the

chassis and engine development freeze beginning in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

kept the Honda Indy V8 3rd generation model until 2011 season for cost reasons. The combustion of the Honda Indy V8 was a four-stroke piston Otto cycle.

Year 2011 final specifications

*Engine type: Naturally-aspirated, fuel-injected, aluminum-alloy, 90-degree V-8 engine *Displacement: *Valve train: Dual overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder, finger-follower actuated coil spring/valve assembly *Crankshaft: Steel alloy, five main bearings *Pistons: Billet aluminum-alloy *Connecting rods: Machined steel-alloy *Engine management: McLaren Electronics

Engine Control Unit An engine control unit (ECU), also commonly called an engine control module (ECM), is a type of electronic control unit that controls a series of actuators on an internal combustion engine to ensure optimal engine performance. It does this by re ...

(ECU) with engine strategies by Honda Performance Development (previously Motorola in 2003–2010) *Ignition system: Digital inductive *Injection system: Single-injector per cylinder, fed by an engine-driven mechanical fuel pump (electronic indirect ported multi-point) *Lubrication: Combined pressure and scavenge system featuring an oil pressure stage, multi-stage oil scavenge with an oil/air separator. Most cars utilize either an oil bypass or an oil thermostat for precise engine temperature control *Cooling: Single mechanical water pump feeding a single-sided cooling system *Transmission:

Xtrac Xtrac Limited, also known as Xtrac Transmission Technology, is a British engineering company founded in 1984 by the former Hewland engineer Mike Endean to make 4WD systems and gearboxes for rallycross and later rally and racing cars. Endean, tog ...

''#P295'' 6-speed

sequential manual gearbox A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox, or a sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly for motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift time Shift time refers ...

(2003–2007), paddle-shift (2008–2011) *Fuel: 100% fuel-grade ethanol by ''

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...

'' *Weight:

Applications

* Dallara IR-05

Honors

On 10 February 2012, Honda Indy V8 was honored as "North American Race Engine of the Year" by ''Race Engine Magazine''.

References

External links

Honda Performance Development official websiteIndyCar Series official website
{{Honda automotive engine timeline (2000-present) Engines by model Honda engines IndyCar Series V8 engines