Honda teases its next off road racer set for the 2015 Baja 1000.

Honda is tweaking its twin-turbo HR35TT engine to compete in off-road racing.

The automaker is only teasing at this point with a brief news release and two close-up photos that don’t reveal much, other than the turbo is missing from its usual position on the integrated exhaust manifold. We can also see some type of tack-welded header pipe, possibly offering a clue that the turbos will be mounted high and up front.

Honda teases is next off road racer set for the 2015 Baja 1000

Honda says it will have a factory race team at the Baja 1000 in November with “an unlimited off-road race vehicle.” Besides revealing that the HR35TT, which is built by Honda Performance Development, would power the car, the only other components mentioned were an Albins ST6 sequential transmission, Fox racing shocks and General Grabber tires. Last time Honda raced in the dirt was 2012 when a Pilot competed in Class 6 with HPD power. It finished about 10 hours behind the overall winner but did win its division at the Baja 500.

Honda HR35TT Twin-Turbo V6 engine.

EngineLabs took note of the HR35TT when HPD announced it was building the V6 for use in the Daytona Prototype class run in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship. Derived from Honda’s J35 production platform, the HR35TT features a steel crankshaft, dry-sump oiling, direct fuel injection and HPD/McLaren engine management. Other variants of the Honda V6 race platform have competed in SuperGT and Pikes Peak.

Looking at the photos, one can assume the vehicle will be front engine. The most popular unlimited class in SCORE racing is Trophy Truck, which has variety of front- and mid-engine designs. We know Honda is gearing up for introducing the next-generation Ridgeline pickup. A strong showing in Baja with a Ridgeline-bodied off-road racer would certainly impress potential shoppers. But the Trophy Truck class doesn’t allow boosted engines. Another possibility is Class 6 where the Pilot ran. This is an unlimited class for production vehicles and limited to six cylinders. The EcoBoost engines are in the class, so it looks to be a perfect fit.