Honda reveals its first V8, but it’s not for cars
You’ll have to buy a boat to experience Honda’s new 260kW V8Honda has finally done it. After sparking false hope with engines developed for Formula 1 and IndyCars, the Japanese car-maker has launched its first production V8, a 260kW 5.0-litre powerplant.
The catch? To experience the thrill of the all-new V8’s VTEC-aided 6000rpm redline, you’re going to have to buy a boat.
Yep, it’s an outboard engine, made for ploughing through the water rather than eating up the curves on your favourite stretch of road.
Overnight, Honda dropped the sheets from its all-new flagship outboard engine, called the BF350. No details are available on where or how it is made, and whether it will one day make its way under the bonnet of a road car.
The BF350 made its debut at the 2023 Genoa Boat Show, one of Europe’s premier boating calendar events.
Similar to Yamaha’s 4.4-litre boat engine that was adapted for Swedish car-maker Volvo to use as a transverse V8 in the XC90 luxury SUV, Honda has squeezed the BF350’s engine banks closer together to form a narrow 60-degree vee that helps it package better when two or more engines are stacked on the blunt end of a boat.
The VTEC (Variable Timing and Lift Electronic Control) technology used in Honda’s new V8 was developed for Honda’s smaller four- and six-cylinder engines as a way of boosting high-end performance by changing the engine’s camshaft profiles and valve lift.
The outboard engine is also fitted with Honda’s BLAST (Boosted Low Speed Torque) ignition advance system to produce more power at low revs.
The new BF350 could also spawn engines at other performance levels, with Honda yet to fill the gap between its former range-topper, a 186kW/250hp 3.6-litre V6 outboard engine based on a stroked-out version of the road-going 3.5-litre L35, and the next natural step in the outboard engine market, a 223kW/300hp model.
The new 260kW/350hp Honda V8 will compete against the likes of Mercury, which has a 5.7-litre V10 outboard engine in the same performance band, and Suzuki, which has a 4.6-litre V6 with an eyebrow-raising 12.0:1 compression ratio.
Could a road-going version of the BF350 one day power a next-generation Honda sports car such as a reborn Honda NSX? Not likely, with the Japanese car-maker sinking hopes of land-based petrol-heads by strongly hinting that the future of its performance cars is likely to be battery-powered.
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