Honda Officially Transforms It’s Timid SUV Into An Insane 1,300-HP Trophy Truck
The Honda Passporthas always been the quiet one in the family. The Civic gets modified, the Type R gets worshipped, and the CR-V sells by the truckload. Meanwhile, the Passport sits politely in the corner catering to a few Honda enthusiasts.
Well, Honda has apparently had enough of that. Its racing division has taken the Passport name, added enough power to embarrass several supercars at once, and built something designed to cross the Mexican desert at deeply irresponsible speeds.
Honda’s Passport Baja Spec Packs Over 1,300 Horsepower
Meet the Honda Passport Baja Spec, a purpose-built race truck developed by Honda Racing Corporation USA and Mason Motorsports. It will become the first hybrid Trophy Truck to compete in the top class of the SCORE World Desert Championship.
Mounted behind the cab is a 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 derived from the Acura ARX-06 endurance racer. Honda then paired it with a bespoke 800-volt hybrid system to produce more than 1,300 horsepower. That is more power than the gigantic naturally aspirated 9.0-liter V8 engines used by today’s leading Trophy Trucks.
Yes, Honda has replaced seven liters of displacement with turbochargers, electricity, and frightening amounts of engineering. Somewhere, an old-school V8 builder just threw a carburetor across the workshop.
Power reaches all four wheels through a five-speed Masomatic transmission and a complicated AWD system using dual rear driveshafts, spiral bevel gears, a front differential, and portal gearsets. In simpler terms, every wheel receives enough torque to dig its own tunnel through Baja.
Two-time Baja 1000 winner Bryce Menzies will drive the truck, and Honda is not arriving merely to collect a participation trophy. HRC says it is targeting an overall Baja 1000 victory.
Honda Is Sending Formula 1 Technology Into The Desert
The hybrid system uses Formula 1-style pouch cells inside a carbon-fiber battery case developed and manufactured by HRC US. The truck also features brake-by-wire on both axles, adaptive traction control, and AI-managed power deployment.
That means software will constantly adjust how the Passport delivers its 1,300-plus hp based on the driver, terrain, and race conditions. The real Passport politely suggests a coffee break. This one uses artificial intelligence to decide how violently it should attack a cactus.
Its carbon-fiber body was designed using computational fluid dynamics, with deep side channels, high-mounted exhausts, and airflow tunnels directing cooling air toward the rear. Beneath that vaguely Passport-shaped shell sits a custom Gen 2 AWD chassis from Mason Motorsports, long-travel suspension, dual FOX Racing shocks at every corner, and Toyo tires.
There is also a 145-gallon carbon-Kevlar fuel cell mounted near the middle of the cab to maintain consistent weight distribution as fuel disappears. If you are worried about its gas mileage, Trophy Truck racing may not be the hobby for you.
The Passport Baja Spec will appear publicly at the 2026 SEMA Show before making its competition debut at the 2027 Baja 500 in June. It then has a date with the Baja 1000, where Honda will chase another victory to add to its 22 overall wins and 17 class victories.
The regular Passport may still struggle for attention in dealership parking lots, but its 1,300-hp desert-racing cousin certainly will not.
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