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Written by Dan Carney
Honda sought to recapture some of the glory of itsmotorcycling and open-wheel-racing heritage at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, introducing theProject 2&4, a tiny go-kart of a concept vehicle that marries the company"sMotoGP powerplant with a four-wheeled conveyance. Hence, two and four wheels ofthe project"s name. Unfortunately, despite the company"s desire to exploit itspowerful heritage with this concept, it said no more about the car during itsintroduction than was listed in the press release and company officials on theFrankfurt show stand declined to elaborate further. What Honda"s release does say is that the Project 2&4gets its motive force from a 999-cm V4 lifted from the company"s RC213V MotoGPbike. In this application it is tuned for 215 hp (160 kW) at 13,000 rpm, with118 N m (87 lb ft) torque at 10,500 rpm, and power goes to the rear wheels through asix-speed dual-clutch transmission. Redline is 14,000 rpm. Curb weight is 405 kg (893 lb), and the little concept is just ashade over 3 m (9.8 ft) long and 1.8 m (5.9 ft) wide. The driver"s seat is mounted onthe left side of the car"s central spine. The car is finished in traditionalJapanese racing white, with a rising sun atop the nose trailed by a red stripe,in homage to the RA272, Honda"s first Formula One race winner. Though Honda declined to provide many details, Yogi Berranoted that "You can observe a lot just by watching," and that is the case withthe Project 2&4. The frame appears to be made of a combination of aluminumcastings and extrusions and it creates a central section with the driver"s seatoutside the frame rails. This leaves plenty of elbow room for the driver and improvesingress and egress over the contortions normally needed when sliding into orout of an open-wheel formula car with its cockpit contained within the frame. Unlike the earlier Honda project Side-By-Side, which saw amotorcycle engine mounted alongside the driver"s seat, the Project 2&4"sengine and transaxle mount longitudinally behind the driver in conventionalformula car fashion. A carbon fiber driver"s seat is cantilevered on the car"sleft side, where a formula car"s sidepod would normally be, and a beauty coverappears to conceal a lot of nothing on the right side, suggesting we could seethe Project 2&4 with a passenger"s seat mounted in the future. The problem with production of such a design is that, evenfor racing rather than road use, the complete lack of side impact protection islikely to make the Project 2&4 nonviable. An extra large dead pedal with alarge lip on the outside is the sole means of containing the driver"s left footin the car. Simpson racing belts hold the driver in the seat, and aTilton Engineering pedal array operate the throttle and dual master cylinderbrake arrangement. A flat-panel video display ahead of the steering wheelprovides a video game-like array of race information, with a large analogtachometer in the center flanked by fuel level, water temperature, oil pressureand temperature, lap counter, lap timer, and a track-position indicator. In lieu of conventional rear-view mirrors, the display showsa video image from the rear-facing camera mounted on the trailing edge of theengine intake airbox and roll hoop. The car wears Ohlins upside-down multi-adjustable aluminumbodied dampers at all four corners and 17-inch Bridgestone Potenza streettires. The brakes are unbranded, but it sat adjacent to the RC213V-S, thecompany"s new street-legal version of its MotoGP racer, and that had Brembosmounted conspicuously to its Ohlins forks. Production, even for track-only use, may not be in thefuture for the Project 2&4, but Honda has released its most advancedracebike for sale to the public, so maybe in that spirit the 2&4 will reachenthusiasts" hands one day too.
Date: 29-Sep-2015 11:27 EDT
More of this article on the SAE International website
ID: 1363
Honda sought to recapture some of the glory of itsmotorcycling and open-wheel-racing heritage at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, introducing theProject 2&4, a tiny go-kart of a concept vehicle that marries the company"sMotoGP powerplant with a four-wheeled conveyance. Hence, two and four wheels ofthe project"s name. Unfortunately, despite the company"s desire to exploit itspowerful heritage with this concept, it said no more about the car during itsintroduction than was listed in the press release and company officials on theFrankfurt show stand declined to elaborate further. What Honda"s release does say is that the Project 2&4gets its motive force from a 999-cm V4 lifted from the company"s RC213V MotoGPbike. In this application it is tuned for 215 hp (160 kW) at 13,000 rpm, with118 N m (87 lb ft) torque at 10,500 rpm, and power goes to the rear wheels through asix-speed dual-clutch transmission. Redline is 14,000 rpm. Curb weight is 405 kg (893 lb), and the little concept is just ashade over 3 m (9.8 ft) long and 1.8 m (5.9 ft) wide. The driver"s seat is mounted onthe left side of the car"s central spine. The car is finished in traditionalJapanese racing white, with a rising sun atop the nose trailed by a red stripe,in homage to the RA272, Honda"s first Formula One race winner. Though Honda declined to provide many details, Yogi Berranoted that "You can observe a lot just by watching," and that is the case withthe Project 2&4. The frame appears to be made of a combination of aluminumcastings and extrusions and it creates a central section with the driver"s seatoutside the frame rails. This leaves plenty of elbow room for the driver and improvesingress and egress over the contortions normally needed when sliding into orout of an open-wheel formula car with its cockpit contained within the frame. Unlike the earlier Honda project Side-By-Side, which saw amotorcycle engine mounted alongside the driver"s seat, the Project 2&4"sengine and transaxle mount longitudinally behind the driver in conventionalformula car fashion. A carbon fiber driver"s seat is cantilevered on the car"sleft side, where a formula car"s sidepod would normally be, and a beauty coverappears to conceal a lot of nothing on the right side, suggesting we could seethe Project 2&4 with a passenger"s seat mounted in the future. The problem with production of such a design is that, evenfor racing rather than road use, the complete lack of side impact protection islikely to make the Project 2&4 nonviable. An extra large dead pedal with alarge lip on the outside is the sole means of containing the driver"s left footin the car. Simpson racing belts hold the driver in the seat, and aTilton Engineering pedal array operate the throttle and dual master cylinderbrake arrangement. A flat-panel video display ahead of the steering wheelprovides a video game-like array of race information, with a large analogtachometer in the center flanked by fuel level, water temperature, oil pressureand temperature, lap counter, lap timer, and a track-position indicator. In lieu of conventional rear-view mirrors, the display showsa video image from the rear-facing camera mounted on the trailing edge of theengine intake airbox and roll hoop. The car wears Ohlins upside-down multi-adjustable aluminumbodied dampers at all four corners and 17-inch Bridgestone Potenza streettires. The brakes are unbranded, but it sat adjacent to the RC213V-S, thecompany"s new street-legal version of its MotoGP racer, and that had Brembosmounted conspicuously to its Ohlins forks. Production, even for track-only use, may not be in thefuture for the Project 2&4, but Honda has released its most advancedracebike for sale to the public, so maybe in that spirit the 2&4 will reachenthusiasts" hands one day too.
Date: 29-Sep-2015 11:27 EDT
More of this article on the SAE International website
ID: 1363
