Honda Project 2&4 concept to get MotoGP engine

This Autocar image shows how Honda's 'Project 2 & 4' could look

Detuned racing motor should give Frankfurt track car concept around 220bhp

Honda has confirmed that its Project 2&4 Frankfurt motor show concept will get a detuned version of the company's MotoGP racing engine - giving it a potential output of around 220bhp.

The show car is the winner of a global design competition between all of Honda’s studios. It was created by the Japanese firm’s motorcycle design studio in Asaka and its car studio in Wako and is said to reflect Honda’s efforts to “create a more exciting user experience”.

The powerplant for the car had been widely expected to be a V4 motorcycle engine. Now Honda has issued a single piece of technical data, confirming that Project 2&4 will be powered by "RC213V, modified for public road use". The unit in question is a 1000cc V4 that produces in excess of 235bhp in race trim. Even when detuned for road use, it could easily produce 220bhp.

The choice of transmission could be more of an issue. The MotoGP bike has a seamless shift transmission - but Honda would need to incorporate a reverse gear to make it suitable for even a track day car. Honda's Goldwing does have a reverse gear driven off the electric starter motor, though, and this could also be a solution for Project 2&4.

Honda has stated that Project 2&4 will have a “cabinless design”. The top-down teaser image suggests that the engine will 
sit on one side of a central 
spine - and a driver cockpit could be located on the other.

The teaser sketch also reveals references in the livery to Honda’s 1960s Formula 1 cars - a possible tribute to 
the firm’s first F1 victory, 
which came 50 years ago 
this October. There’s also a front air intake that could 
feed the engine.

Based on the teaser sketch, the car is almost certainly a single-seater. Honda says it will provide “the freedom of a motorcycle and the manoeuvrability of a car” - another hint that it will have an open cockpit but a car-based chassis with four wheels.

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