Honda Finally Built a V-8 Engine

• Honda has built a new V-8 outboard engine for boats called the BF350.

• It's a 5.0-liter V-8 that makes 350 horsepower at 5500 rpm.

• It's intended for boats 25 feet and longer; pricing isn't yet available but the BF350 will go on sale next year.

Well, it finally happened: Honda built a V-8. Unfortunately, it won't be showing up in a Ridgeline or a Pilot or an exceptionally boisterous Civic. No, the BF350 is an outboard engine, so if you want to rock Honda V-8 power, you'll need a boat—and not a small one. Intended for boats 25 feet and longer, the BF350 makes an easy 350 horsepower at 5500 rpm. We'd guess that's the least amount of power it'll ever make, since that rating is on bunker-fuel 86 octane and the full throttle range extends to 6000 rpm. (Outboard manufacturers are allowed a 10 percent fudge factor on rated horsepower to account for production variances, which leads to some hilariously underrated motors like the Mercury 200 ProXS—a 4.6-liter V-8 that's rated at 200 horsepower.)

Honda's new V-8 will please Fox-body Mustang fans with its 302 cubic-inch displacement and rowdy Civic stans with its VTEC variable valve timing and lift (there's a single cam running those 32 valves). The engine also includes the extremely cool-sounding BLAST system, which stands for Boosted Low Speed Torque and advances ignition timing when the throttle is rapidly opened. That throttle-by-wire system enables cruise control that holds speed regardless of load or sea conditions, and the BF350 is compatible with joystick controls that allow multi-engine boats to basically sidle up to a dock sideways. Honda says the BF350's 30-degree offset crankshaft is built to the same specifications as the crank in the Acura NSX.