Honda blends race car and motorcycle into the Project 2&4

After a short teaser campaign, Honda has pulled the cloth off its wicked little Project 2&4. Honda's own answer to track roadsters like the Ariel Atom and BAC Mono, the road-legal 2&4 employs an RC213V four-cylinder competition motorcycle engine in opening up the freedom of a motorcycle with the handling and stability of a car.

Born in Honda's in-house Global Design Project competition, the Project 2&4 comes to life as a celebration of Honda's diverse, wide-reaching engine expertise. As a world engine leader, Honda supplies engines to some 28 million people per year, powering everything from yard tools to boats. The 2&4 blurs the lines between two of its most well-known engine destinations: the automobile and the motorcycle.

The lightly faired 2&4 four-wheeler is powered by a modified version of Honda's 999cc RC213V MotoGP V4 four-stroke mated to a six-speed DCT gearbox. Though the 2&4 looks like a pure track car, the engine has been tuned for public roads. It puts out 212 hp at 13,000 rpm and 87 lb-ft at 10,500 rpm. Its redline is 14,000 rpm.

Using Honda's racing heritage – specifically the 1965 RA272 – for inspiration, Honda's design team has created a raw, skeletal race car that keeps the scale needle hovering just under 893 lb (405 kg). The engine is mounted amidships within the very visible framework. Honda has dropped the off-center floating seat down to a position just inches over the ground, helping maintain the lowest possible center of gravity while giving the driver freedom and feel for the road usually reserved for motorcycles.

Whether you're a sports car enthusiast, motorcycle rider or just a general observer, it's hard to look at the 2&4 without thinking something along the lines of, "I want to slink in that seat and open that sucker up," over and over again.

The 119.7 x 71.7 x 39.2-in (3,040 x 1,820 x 995-mm) 2&4 was brought to life by a partnership between Honda's automobile design studio in Wako and motorcycle design team in Asaka. Honda will show it at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, and will hopefully expand a bit more on its performance characteristics.

Source: Honda