This Crazy Honda Is Everything We Love About IndyCar Racing

A rendering of Honda's 2015 Indy car "aero kit". The crazy looking car is meant to maximize downforce and take advantage of looser regulations in car design. Honda

Last month, Ferrari released a Formula One concept car covered in crazy aerodynamic adornments. More than a PR-inspired project designed to generate some buzz for the upcoming season, it appeared to be a thinly disguised critique of the sport’s mega-strict regulations. Those rules, set by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, cap aerodynamic downforce (which keeps cars planted on the asphalt at high speeds) and limit engine design. They require hybrid powertrains and careful use of fuel. What it all means is that the world’s premiere racing series isn’t solely focused on going as fast as possible, and, for better or worse (better, as far as safety goes), winning depends on a lot of things beside flat out speed.

That’s why this absurd-looking new aero kit from Honda, created for IndyCar, is so refreshing. Rule changes for the 2015 season of the top American open-wheel racing series, which starts March 29, have allowed teams to push the boundaries and try wackier designs—something we’d love to see in F1. The kit is made for the six IndyCar teams driving Honda cars. It’s made up of 200 pieces those teams can pick and choose depending on the race.

From the front, the fully kitted out car looks like something you’d use in to julienne carrots, if you hated carrots. There’s reason behind the madness: It’s all about shaping air to your advantage. Those pieces—sculpted based on wind tunnel testing—maximize the effect of the air that passes over the front wing, pressing down on the car’s nose to help it brake and steer. They channel air to other parts of the car to maximize engine cooling and increase downforce at the back of the car, to help with acceleration.

The car was developed using complicated fluid dynamics formulas and then tested in a wind tunnel to confirm anticipated performance. Honda

This extensive kit allows Honda’s racing customers to mix and match aerodynamic pieces depending on driving style, circuits, and weather conditions. On higher speed courses, downforce is less desirable, because it’s not worth increased drag that hurts the car on long straightaways. On more technical courses with lots of turns, the value of staying stuck on the ground is worth losing a bit of top speed.

Mostly, we’re glad that IndyCar is encouraging the kind of eye-catching, wonder-inducing designs, and not because they’re really ugly like last year’s Formula One cars were. That spirit of invention is a big part of what can make motorsports so exhilarating.

This year’s 16-race season starts March 29 in St. Petersburg, Florida.