Here's How Honda's IndyCar Tech Gets Into Your Civic

The 100th Indianapolis 500 was a big deal. It marked the first win for driver Felix Roseqvist, a new record set for most laps around the track by driver Helio Castroneves, and resulted in the closest-ever finish in the race’s history. But aside from Felix walking away with the trophy, there was another winner: Honda.

Honda has provided engines and technology to IndyCar for decades, being one of the only two manufacturers to do so. And despite the racing wing of Honda seemingly having nothing to do with the Passports and Civics we see on the road, a lot of what makes those IndyCars perform so well does actually trickle down into Honda’s passenger cars.

Before the race, we sat down with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) president David Salters and vice president Kelvin Fu to discuss the process.

HRC President David Salters (left), HRC VP Kelvin Fu (right)

Photo by: Honda

The first thing to know about how different technologies are distributed across Honda's brands is the Honda Technical Forum. Each year, the different branches of Honda—yes, even HondaJet—all meet up to discuss what they have been up to, and the potential applications for different pieces of tech. David Salters explains:

'So last year, it was hybrid, and people were picking up on things that we've learned here in terms of energy management, in terms of how to use the hybrid, et cetera.'

The focus on hybridization for the Honda brands is important. Despite the $9 billion misstep in the brand’s EV investment, Honda has been an early and fast adopter of hybrid technologies, something that shows up in the engines they supply to IndyCar.

For example, Honda’s IndyCars use supercapacitors, a technology that, while common on modern race cars, has yet to hit the consumer side the same way. According to HRC US Vice President Kelvin Fu, talking about these technologies to different wings of Honda, as well as consumers, is a great way to gauge interest from all parties.

'It makes people think. I think people are always going, 'Oh, supercompacitors. That was interesting.' They want to learn more about it, whether it shows up next year, 2 years, 5 years.'

Felix Rosenqvist Winning The 2026 Indy 500

Photo by: Honda

The biggest similarity between Honda’s racing cars and what we see on the road is the software. "Remember, a racing car is a software-defined vehicle," says Salters. He talks about how Honda can go in and change and create its own code to alter certain parts of the hybrid system, something that is key in high-performance applications like the Indianapolis 500.

'But how we deal with energy, simulation, all that sort of stuff. It's all been run on a software-defined vehicle. There have been software-defined vehicles for 30 years. So, that's where some of the learning comes from.'

Finally, Honda Racing uses tools like simulators and wind tunnels to test out different technologies, including the aforementioned hybrid system, for the best results. Fu says there is no direct path to a piece of code in the engine of an IndyCar ending up in a Civic, but Honda’s different segments working together and sharing technology enables faster adaptability.

'I'm sure there have been technologies and knowledge has passed back and forth. Hopefully, it's just inviting itself at the production side.'

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Salters says the key is having knowledge "passed back and forth" from different engineers, as well as from those in the big office in Japan. And while we do not know how long it takes for certain pieces of technology to go from the racing to production side, maybe we’ll see the same type of high-performance hybrid system in the next Type R.

Probably not, but we can only hope.

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