Honda’s First HRC Performance Parts Arrive in March 2027
Honda Racing Corporation USA will put its first retail HRC Performance Parts on sale in March 2027, turning a program previewed two years earlier into an official accessories business for Honda and Acura owners. The initial production lineup covers the Honda Civic Type R, Acura Integra Type S, Honda Passport and Honda Pilot.
Honda announced the program on October 22, ahead of its public launch at the 2026 SEMA Show in Las Vegas from November 3 through November 6. The first products are forged-aluminum wheels and a tuned cat-back exhaust. Adjustable coilovers, a large Brembo brake kit and a short-throw shifter will appear at SEMA as prototypes, not confirmed March retail products.
What will actually be sold in March
According to the official Honda Racing announcement, the parts will be sold exclusively through Honda and Acura automobile dealerships across the United States and through the Honda DreamShop online store. Honda has not released prices, labor estimates, warranty terms or a complete dealer-installation policy.
The March date follows final performance and durability testing. Honda says evaluation included running at Germany’s Nürburgring, but the announcement does not publish lap times, instrumented comparisons or independent test results. The performance claims below therefore come from Honda and its development partners rather than a Chiefs Review hands-on test.
A lighter 19-inch wheel for Honda and Acura hot hatches
The headline road-car component is a 19-by-10-inch forged-aluminum wheel for the 2023-and-newer Civic Type R and 2024-and-newer Integra Type S. Honda developed it with Italian supplier 2elle-engineering, which also supplies wheels for the Acura ARX-06 racing program.
Each wheel weighs 20.8 pounds, 5.5 pounds less than the corresponding factory wheel, according to Honda. The rim is also half an inch wider and uses a 55 mm offset. Reducing unsprung mass can help suspension response because the wheel, tire and part of the suspension move with road irregularities, although the real-world effect will depend on the tire, alignment and total setup.
The thin-spoke design is offered in a signature gray finish modeled on the ARX race wheel. A bronze option references the Honda RA272, the company’s first Formula 1 race winner. That heritage angle is consistent with HRC’s effort to connect its road-car accessories to its racing identity; Chiefs Review recently examined Honda’s accounting of its 500th Formula 1 race.
Passport and Pilot get an off-road wheel
HRC’s first off-road-focused wheel measures 18 by 8 inches and fits the 2026-and-newer Passport and 2023-and-newer Pilot. It was developed with Titan 7, a supplier connected to HRC’s Pikes Peak and production-based racing projects.
Honda says the wheel is forged from 6061 aluminum under 10,000 tons of pressure and raises load capacity by 100 kilograms compared with the factory wheel. The published offset is 40 mm. Machine Black and Techna Bronze finishes will be available, each with “Honda Racing” machined into the wheel face.
The release does not list the wheel’s weight, retail tire packages or whether every trim and brake configuration has identical fitment. Owners should therefore confirm compatibility by vehicle identification number and model configuration when ordering rather than relying only on model year.
The exhaust targets sound, flow and clearance
Honda partnered with Borla on a stainless-steel cat-back exhaust for the 2026-and-newer Passport and 2023-and-newer Pilot. It uses corrosion-resistant 304 stainless steel, factory hanger locations and HRC-branded exhaust tips.
Honda claims the system can increase exhaust flow by as much as 6 percent and add up to 1.9 inches of ground clearance. Borla’s “Polyphonic Harmonizer” technology is intended to emphasize the sound of the 3.5-liter V6, while an anti-drone design is meant to keep highway cruising comfortable. Honda did not announce a horsepower or torque increase, so the flow figure should not be treated as a confirmed power gain.
The ground-clearance claim makes the exhaust more than a sound accessory for trail use, but Honda has not yet published measurement points or before-and-after underbody diagrams. Shoppers will need the final installation documents to see exactly where the clearance is gained.
SEMA prototypes are a preview, not a price list
HRC will also display adjustable coilovers with camber plates, a Brembo brake package with six-piston calipers and a short-throw shifter at SEMA. Honda calls these future-part prototypes. Their presence at the show does not establish production approval, fitment, pricing or a sale date.
That distinction matters because concept accessories can change substantially before retail release. HRC still needs to complete durability, emissions, noise, safety and vehicle-integration work appropriate to each component. The forged wheels and Passport/Pilot exhaust are the products Honda identifies for the initial lineup.
Why Honda is building a factory-backed parts business
Honda first announced its intent to enter the consumer performance-parts market at SEMA in 2024. The new catalog gives HRC a path to sell engineering and brand credibility beyond complete race cars and competition support. It also lets Honda keep more enthusiast spending inside its dealership and online ecosystem.
The strategy resembles other automakers’ expansion into factory-backed upgrades, where tested fitment and a dealer channel can matter as much as headline specifications. Ford, for example, recently detailed a dealer-installed Bronco ORV package that bundles suspension, wheels, tires and protection hardware. HRC’s first wave is narrower and is priced item by item rather than as a confirmed vehicle package—though Honda has not yet disclosed those prices.
For shoppers, the key unanswered questions are cost, installation requirements, warranty coverage and whether production quantities will be limited. Those details will determine whether HRC’s parts compete mainly with premium aftermarket brands or become realistic upgrades for a broader group of Honda and Acura owners.
The March 2027 launch is the firm milestone. Until Honda publishes prices and installation documentation, the most concrete information is the fitment list and technical data above: two forged-wheel programs and one cat-back exhaust, with additional chassis and braking ideas still in prototype form.
Sources and image credit
- Honda Racing: HRC Performance Parts launch announcement, October 22, 2026.
- Featured image: Acura Integra Type S at the Nürburgring, supplied by American Honda Motor Co. with the announcement for editorial use. The image is part of Honda’s press set and does not identify every production component described in this article.