Honda revealed its Ridgeline Baja Race Truck, a purpose built racing machine that marks Honda’s return to off-road truck racing, while also providing an early glimpse at the styling direction for the all-new 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup that will hit dealer showrooms in the first half of next year.
The Honda Ridgeline Baja Race Truck, in red, white and black Honda Racing livery, will compete in this year’s running of the SCORE Baja 1000. The tube-frame unlimited class off-road truck is powered by a twin-turbocharged V6 developed by Honda’s U.S. motorsports engineering arm, Honda Performance Development (HPD), and features a body designed by Honda R&D Americas’ Los Angeles Design Studio with inspiration taken from the next-generation Ridgeline truck, also being designed and developed by Honda R&D in North America. Key design cues drawn from the highly anticipated 2017 Honda Ridgeline can be seen in the front fascia, hood, roof, bed and side profile.
The Ridgeline Baja race truck is being developed by HPD in partnership with the Proctor Racing Group. It will be powered by HPD’s HR35TT race engine, a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 producing upwards of 550 horsepower and using the same block, cylinder heads and crankshaft as the production engine that will power the all-new Ridgeline. Additional custom elements of the powertrain include an HPD designed intake plenum and custom engine ECU programming.
The 2015 Baja 1000 will be the maiden voyage for the new vehicle and team led by team owner/driver Jeff Proctor.
Original published at "gearheads4life" website.
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