Honda tests 100 percent ethanol IRL engine at Daytona

Honda's certainly been at the center of the green-car universe these days with their recent annoucements of a 2009 fuel cell vehicle, 2009 50-state clean diesel, flex-fuel engines for Brazil, variable displacement motorcycle engines and Advanced VTEC. Adding to the list, Crash.net reports a successful debut test of the 100 percent ethanol engines for the 2007 Indy Racing League season.

On Tuesday, during the IRL's first compatibility test of the Daytona International Speedway, Tony Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr. piloted Honda's new 3.5 liter ethanol-only V8 power plant. Both drivers reported little trouble adjusting to the new package while manipulating Daytona's motorcycle road course. Kanaan said "it ran perfect," while Hornish told reporters "we've already reached speeds of 190 mph, and we're not really pushing it."

Honda engineers were also pleased with the test results. Honda Performance Development (HPD) technical leader Roger Griffiths said that the drivers and cars ran the entire day without any significant mechanical issues and that they would use the newly gathered data to make fuel-mapping adjustments for the new fuel.

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[Source: Crash.net]

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