Nation Of Go

Honda Research & Development has a vast facility in northern Ohio that’s used to test vehicle dynamics and reliability. Besides testing its own vehicles, Honda also offers the facility to other manufacturers, so you may see things there that aren’t yet meant for public consumption. Your phone’s camera will be taped over before you go in. And anything your cameraman shoots is reviewed before you can leave. With all the secrecy, you can be forgiven if you haven’t heard a lot about Team Honda Research.

We got permission to come in and meet THR’s James Robinson and Justin Chiodo, who told us that it isn’t exactly a factory racing effort. Like the rest of the team, they’re Honda engineers who work on research and development by day and use nights, weekends and vacations to go racing. They have a garage on site where the team prepares vehicles for competition. And Honda supports them with vehicles and parts, as long as they race on their own time. When you have as much GO as these two, any help doing what you love is a pretty good deal.







THR competes in SCCA Road Racing, the Rally America series and even has its own Formula Drift entry. Formula Drift rules allow rear-wheel drive cars or all-wheel-drive cars converted to rear-wheel drive. The more obvious choice may have been an already-sporty S2000, but Team Honda Research did the unexpected. They converted a modest Honda Element into a tire-shredding beast. At its heart is a V-6 Acura engine with twin turbochargers that’s good for 550 hp.

The night before our visit, James and Justin were up until the wee hours rebuilding the engine’s bottom end. They needed to replace the Element’s crankshaft due to what James suspected were incorrectly sized main bearings when it was rebuilt. As he says, “Hondas just don’t wear out.” It must be true, because the “new” crankshaft was actually the original crank that had been replaced in the rebuild. Since it was still perfectly good, they were able to reassemble everything in time to give us a drift demonstration. Apparently working through the night doesn’t faze them one bit.



We can tell you that there is a road course at the research and development facility, but keeping in mind that Honda doesn’t publish such details, just how long it is and how many turns it has will be left to your imagination. At the road course, we mounted cameras to a THR rally car fitted with street tires and Justin led James around the track. Drizzling rain kept the course wet, so there was none of the traditional noise and billowing tire smoke you expect in drifting. James explained that drifting in the rain is actually a lot trickier than on dry pavement, but you wouldn’t know it by how effortless he made it all look.



Lap after lap, James put the Element exactly where he wanted it. He would slide right up to the camera car and then drift out to within inches of the pavement’s end. That kind of control is important in drift competition, but it’s crucial when it could affect your job.

You see, there is a strict rule for driving on any of the test courses at the Honda facility – you don’t go off track. “Nobody really pushes more than eight or nine tenths,” James explained, “because we’re not allowed to have offs.” When asked what happens if you end up in the grass, he said he didn’t know. But his reaction more clearly read as, “I really don’t want to know.” The word “inquisition” may or may not have come up.

Despite the rain, the footage looked incredible. And thanks to the constant drizzle, the Element’s KDW tires were hardly worse for the wear. We look forward to seeing Team Honda Research in upcoming drift competitions to get the full show – noise, tire smoke and all.