Honda will be heading to the 2025 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show and has made sure to bring some of its more-interesting toys to dazzle enthusiasts. With the industry embracing off-roading more than street performance these days, Honda’s stars shall be the Passport TrailSport HRC Concept and Civic Type R HRC Rally XP.
HRC stands for “Honda Racing Corporation” and is highly reminiscent of the TRD or “Toyota Racing Development.” Both entities have roots in track-based motorsports (especially motorcycles for Honda) and have gradually moved toward focusing on off-road endeavors.
This is particularly evident with the Honda Passport HRC Concept, which features a surplus of parts to make it ideal for “off-road terrain and overlanding exploration.” Whether you’re worried about lighting, off-road performance, or simply protecting your vehicle during an excursion, HRC apparently has you covered and Honda would very much like you to consider its aftermarket components.
From Honda:
Trail-ready performance and protection modifications include: redesigned lower front and rear bumpers to improve approach and departure angles, extended aluminum skid plates and additional underbody protection to safeguard critical components, including the center bearing, prop shaft and rear drive unit. It also features new front and rear dampers, a one-off exhaust system and a 60mm suspension lift combined with a one-inch increase in tire diameter for improved ground clearance. There are also wider rock sliders that can act as side steps and a swing-out full-size spare tire carrier, among many other changes.
Additional utility features are extensive, with lighting being a key focus of the concept. It features upgraded fog lights, side camp lights, rooftop light bar, ditch lights and rear chase lights, all run by a custom multi-zone lighting control system. HRC developed a low-profile roof rack equipped with a side canopy to highlight the vehicle’s overlanding capabilities. The concept includes an 8,000lb winch and integrated rear air compressor.
That all sounds rather useful. The upgraded parts also look rather handsome, with HRC going the extra mile to make the interior a bit more flashy with some blue Alcantara inserts and some accessory mounting panels. While we cannot say which components will become available to the public, odds are good HRC would like to sell anything deemed profitable. Honda likewise suggested this concept suggests a potential direction the model could take — presumably as some advanced off-road trim.
It’s not quite the Honda Passport you’ll find at your local dealer, which attempts to mix characteristics that make for an ideal family hauler with those that yield a sublime off-road vehicle. This is hardly a new concept within the industry but the execution is often muddled. The old adage that a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none frequently holds true. But Honda has done a pretty good job with the SUV. It’s absolutely massive inside and smartly implements a collaboration of traditional equipment and electronic trickery to get the job done.
Toyota’s 4Runner was often held up as the gold standard for passenger vehicles with serious off-road chops. This was due to it maintaining a lot of tried-and-true hardware that kept it rugged. However, the current 4Runner has pivoted slightly as Toyota attempts to make it more refined. Honda’s Passport arguably went the opposite route, starting as a more passenger-friendly experience that the automaker has attempted to make more rugged in even its base format.
To get the most out of the 4Runner, one has to option your way into making it a 4×4 vehicle with all the relevant goodies. This is likewise true of the Passport. But the base still model comes with all-wheel drive and a 3.5-liter J35Y8 V6 we would imagine fans of the now-abandoned Toyota 4.0-liter 1GR-FE V6 would probably rather take over the new 2.4-liter T24A-FTS turbo I4.
Does that make it the better off-roader out of the two? No. However, it does give Honda the kind of credibility to showcase something like the Honda Passport HRC Concept without getting laughed at.
Honda seems committed and the HRC Passport is hardly the only vehicle the brand is showcasing at SEMA.
Also in attendance will be the Honda Baja Passport Race Truck scheduled to run the Baja 1000 next month. It’s about as hardcore as it gets and mainly exists to prove that HRC has what it takes to compete in some of the most intense off-road motorsports in our hemisphere.
Having already come in 2nd place in Baja 500, its absolutely mental suspension and twin-turbocharged V6 are being prepped to run in Mexico.
Honda is likewise sending some models that are not so dirt obsessed. This includes the Civic Type R Super GT Racecar that competes in Japan’s Autobacs Super GT Series and the Civic Type R TCR Racecar that runs the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge held in North America.
Similarly present shall be the Civic Type R HRC Rally XP designed to compete within events organized by the American Rally Association (ARA), specifically the two-wheel-drive class.
Rather than being a purpose-built racer that simply carries the Civic name, Rally XP cars are actually built from what starts out as a stock vehicle. After adding the requisite safety components (bars, harnesses, seats, etc.) that allow for it to compete, Honda looked into the HRC parts bin to affix brakes sized for rally wheels, camber/caster plates, an oil cooler kit, upsized intercooler, radiator with reverse cooling flow hoses, clutch plate differential, rally suspension components, and TCR hood vents.
The car likewise comes with a few show-off prototype components, including a custom exhaust system, motorsport-worthy shifter, and a carbon fiber brake lever. While seeing Honda expressing an eagerness to build rally cars has gotten your author very excited about the future, ARA events don’t have the same strict homologation rules as FIA/WRC. But any trickle-down parts or support from HRC and Honda for rallying will undoubtedly be appreciated.
Rounding out Honda’s showcase is the Acura ARX-06 IMSA GTP Prototype, which will just be there to prove that Honda remains competitive in Endurance Racing. However, the company also brought the Acura Integra Type S HRC Prototype which was supposed to have taken development lessons from the brand’s endurance racer.
Truth be told, the only parts that Honda said were directly inspired by the ARX-06 were the wheels. But that doesn’t make the HRC Integra bland. The car effectively serves as a canvas upon which to test track-focused hardware that’s still in development.
That means the car gets some of the latest and greatest components that may eventually become available to the general public. Thus far the car has been focused on testing aerodynamics, weight reduction, and suspension components. While most of those items will presumably be done via HRC’s aftermarket options, there’s always a chance Acura could add a few to subsequent incarnations of the Type S.
“For over 30 years, HRC US has been winning races and championships both on- and off-road, and now we’re excited to be applying that racing expertise to the development of our new line of HRC performance parts,” Jon Ikeda, senior vice president of HRC, said of the vehicle showcase. “Our HRC team is dedicated to engineering functional components that truly enhance vehicle performance and the driving experience for Honda and Acura enthusiasts on the road, the track and the trail.”
[Images: Honda]
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