Autoblog: Honda to spool up turbos, workforce with F1 tech

by Noah Joseph of www.autoblog.com

Honda has had a longer and more tumultuous relationship with Formula One than just about any other automaker. It had only been building cars for four years before it entered F1 in 1964 as the first Japanese team in the series, winning its first race the following season but shuttering the program a few years later. Honda came back to power the likes of Williams and McLaren to several World Championships in the '80s and '90s, but things took a downturn when it started a partnership and ultimately took over British American Racing. After pouring untold billions into the effort, the economy tanked, and Honda ultimately sold the team, which subsequently claimed the championship – under new ownership and Mercedes power. Now Honda is gearing up to return in 2015 with a new turbocharged V6 hybrid powertrain it's supplying initially to McLaren, which in turn is switching back to Honda from nearly two decades with Mercedes.

So why return to F1 now? That's precisely what Autoblog asked Honda's Global President and Chief Executive Takanobu Ito (pictured above with McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh) while visiting his office in Tokyo. While he wouldn't reveal specifics (like when his company's new engine would be available to other teams, as it most certainly will in the long run), Ito-san was clearly happy to discuss the motivation behind the move and the value he feels it brings to the company and its products.

Ito pointed toward the proliferation of motors within Honda's powertrains as a development he hopes to take to road from track

Aside from the recovery of the economic collapse that prompted Honda's withdrawal from the series (much as it did for Toyota and BMW), Ito says the prime consideration for the company's return to the series was the motivation it brings to his employees. After spending a few days in Japan ahead of this week's Tokyo Motor Show, it's all the more evident to this writer how central a role honor and pride of work play in Japanese culture, and competing at the top level of motorsports is something which Ito feels will drive his company and the people behind it to excel.

Another prime consideration Ito cited was the shift in focus on the part of the FIA under Jean Todt's leadership to make F1 more technologically relevant to manufacturers. A hybrid six-cylinder engine is of course more closely associated to most mass-production engines than a high-revving V12, V10 or even V8 engine – configurations which Honda has historically avoided. In particular, Ito pointed toward the proliferation of electric motors within Honda's powertrains as a development which he hopes to take to road from track.

While avoiding specifics, Ito implied that Honda could use electric motors to combat turbo lag by spooling up the turbocharger electrically and capturing the power generated upon winding down to help spool it back up again when needed. So while motivation itself may be Honda's prime motivation in getting back into the pinnacle series of motor racing, there may be more direct and tangible benefits yet to come.

Source;
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/22/honda-f1-tech-electric-turbos-ito/

Honda buoyed by progress with IndyCar twin-turbo engine

by Mark Glendenning of www.autosport.com

Honda says that it is satisfied with the progress being made on its twin-turbo IndyCar engine after track-testing the unit for the first time at Fontana on Tuesday.

Simon Pagenaud ran between 50 and 60 laps in a spare Sam Schmidt car fitted with the new-spec Honda engine, reportedly posting speeds in the 211mph range.

Unofficial times put the quickest outright lap of the test, set by Helio Castroneves, at just over 218mph, but HPD technical director Roger Griffiths told AUTOSPORT that Honda was not focusing on outright pace from the engine that it will race next year.

"It was a successful test," Griffiths said. "We had a test plan, we ran through it, did what we needed to do, and are happy with the result. It was a good day.

"We didn't go out to try and go fast; we didn't go out to try to set a record number of laps. We had a specific test programme and a specific list of items that we wanted to focus on, and that's what we did."

Honda currently races a single-turbo configuration of its V6 IndyCar engine, but was working on a change to the twin-turbo layout for 2014 even before such a switch was mandated by the series.

Source;
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110166

Updated: McLaren and Honda discuss road car collaboration

The relationship between the British sports car manufacturer and Japanese automotive giant looks set to go much deeper than a Formula 1 engine deal

McLaren and Honda are considering ways to extend their Formula 1 tie-up into road cars, McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed.

Earlier this year, Honda announced that it would return to F1 as an engine supplier to McLaren Racing in 2015. The two companies enjoyed a fruitful partnership in F1 between 1988 and the end of 1992, winning four drivers’ championships and four constructors’ crowns during that spell.

Whitmarsh described the new deal as a “multi-year” one, and his comments suggest that there is scope for a much deeper co-operation that could spread into McLaren’s automotive division.

“It’s a pure Formula 1 contract, but we’ve already been looking at automotive technology and we’re sharing that very openly,” said Whitmarsh at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. “Our road car strategy at the moment has no other automotive partner and 
Honda would be a good place 
to collaborate.”

Whitmarsh said the results of any Honda involvement in future McLaren road cars wouldn’t be seen for some years. The company is currently working on the third model in its contemporary range, the Porsche 911-
rivalling P13, but Honda hasn’t had any input into that car.

“If you look at our product range, 12C is running and will run for a few more years. P1 has just been launched and P13, which is the follow-up car, is relatively developed, so actually it is something that you would see in quite a few years to come,” he said.

A deeper relationship between McLaren and Honda would most likely be a bilateral technical arrangement, with both sides reaping the benefits for their road car projects.

“Nothing’s fixed, but we’re open to that and so are they,” said Whitmarsh.

It has also been reported that a McLaren 12C is being used in Acura's benchmarking tests for the new NSX in America.

A subsequent statement issued jointly by Honda and McLaren stressed that the immediate focus was on Formula 1: “On 16 May 2013, Honda announced its decision to participate in Formula 1 from the 2015 season, under a joint project with McLaren. This has led to a full, open and productive working relationship with McLaren. As Martin Whitmarsh has stated, many ideas have been discussed between McLaren and Honda colleagues.

"However, we both know how challenging it is to win in Formula 1, and we need to be 100 per cent committed to that task. Therefore, at this stage, all our focus is towards the development of the 2015 Formula 1 car and powertrain, and there are no plans for collaboration on other projects at this moment.”

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/updated-mclaren-and-honda-discuss-road-car-collaboration

Honda to build engine for McLaren’s Porsche 911 competitor…or so we’d like to think

Looking at the neighbor kid’s mistreated Civic or your grandpa’s Accord, you might not guess that Honda is one of the world’s foremost engine manufacturers. But it is.

Aside from its car engine division, Honda produces all kinds of small displacement engines powering anything from its motorcycles to its power generators – and beyond.

In fact, if you think far enough back to what now seems like ancient history, the 1980s and ‘90s, Honda used to be apart of one of the winningest Formula 1 teams of its time: McLaren-Honda. With drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel, Honda’s engines propelled the team’s cars to 44 Gran Prix wins from 1988 to 1991.

Recently, Honda announced it would again team with McLaren for the 2015 season producing the new turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 engines required by Formula 1 for 2014.

Additionally, McLaren has said it’ll be producing an entry-level Porsche 911 competitor beneath he MP4-12C. Could this mean that McLaren will soon have a Honda-powered road-going sports car? Motor Trend seems to think so.

The idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Sure, we’re not millionaires in the market for a McLaren but taking our present budget-minded selves into consideration, we’re a bit concerned with a McLaren sports car’s potential reliability – especially compared to the meticulously-built 911.

Not to say that McLaren designers don’t put the time in, but as a small, independent brand, it’s R&D isn’t on the same level as Porsche’s. Add a Honda motor under the hood, however, and you’ve got our penny-pinching attention.

There’s some credence to the theory from a financial standpoint, too. Formula 1 changed the engine requirements so that the innovation going into Formula 1 cars could trickle down into the consumer market. The money spent on R&D on a new-fangled motor could greatly be offset if it were to hit a production car, albeit de-tuned.

Source;

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/honda-to-build-engine-for-mclarens-porsche-911-competitoror-so-wed-like-to-think/

Honda to return to F1 in 2015 as McLaren engine supplier

(L-R) The 2006 Honda RA106, 1988 McLaren Honda MP4/4 and 1965 Honda RA272 Formula One cars are displayed at the company headquarters in Tokyo May 16, 2013.

By Yoko Kubota


TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda is returning to Formula One racing in 2015, after a seven-year hiatus, as McLaren's engine partner, the Japanese carmaker said on Thursday.

The link-up between Honda and McLaren, the second most successful team in the sport after Ferrari in terms of race wins and drivers' titles, will revive one of the greatest Formula One partnerships which was marked by multiple championships with the late Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost between 1988 and 1992.

Honda, who will replace Mercedes as McLaren's engine partner, withdrew from the sport in late 2008 in the middle of a global financial crisis after years of hardly ever winning.

The company said Formula One's new engine regulations would allow it to apply racing technology to its road cars.

"As the direction of Formula One's new technologies and the direction that Honda aims at for development matches, the young engineers who will be responsible for Honda in the future started to voice their desire to take part in the challenge," Honda Motor Co Chief Executive Takanobu Ito told a news conference.

"More so than in the past, we can expect feedback from the race cars to common road cars and vice versa."
Formula One is introducing a new V6 1.6-litre engine aided by high-power turbo technology with energy recovery systems from next season.

Ito gave two examples of technologies that could be applied from race cars to road cars - regenerative energy from the turbo, which changes the turbo's rotational energy to electricity, and downsizing the turbo.
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's Chief Executive, said crossover technologies would help the team.

"I think Formula One has been absolutely slow to adapt and to change to the new challenges which are relevant to the needs of society... Downsizing turbo charging, heavier hybrid content, these are areas (in which) I know Honda will excel," he said.

LEARNING FROM ITS LESSONS

In recent years, Honda has been criticized for lacking the daring zeal it once had as an innovator. Ito hopes participation in the sport could change that view.

"We want to be an interesting and exciting company," said Ito, who is known for designing the all-aluminum chassis of the NSX sports car released in 1991.

Honda first announced its intention to participate in Formula One in 1962, a year before it started to sell four-wheelers.

It debuted in the sport in 1964 at the German Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring, and its first grand prix win came a year later at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City. It withdrew after the 1968 season.

Honda returned to the sport in 1983 as an engine provider and departed again in 1992. Its partnership with McLaren in 1988 led to the most dominant team Formula One has seen, with McLaren's Senna and Prost winning 15 of the 16 races.

In 2000, Honda made a comeback as an engine supplier and joint developer of the chassis for BAR which, in 2006, became the Honda team. During the eight years until its withdrawal in 2008, Honda were triumphant once, when Briton Jenson Button won in 2006 in Hungary.

"My frank view is that it was very difficult to manage the entire operations, not just the engine," Ito said, reflecting on the unsuccessful period.


"We should be modest and learn what we can from having managed a team. But we believe our engine technology will never lose."

Button, who moved to McLaren at the end of 2009, said he was "thrilled and excited" about Honda's return, adding in a statement: "McLaren-Honda: I know how much passion, success and pride are encapsulated within just those two words."

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Clare Fallon)

Source;
http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCABRE94F0DA20130516?sp=true