The cars at the 2026 Indianapolis 500 will hit speeds approaching 240 mph on a straightaway. They'll do it with a 2.2-liter engine, six cylinders, and a hybrid system that didn't exist in IndyCar three years ago. They'll also do it with a chassis that has been on track since 2018, the same one for every team in the field.
This is the engineering reality of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24. Here's the deep dive on what's actually under the bodywork of every car on the grid.
The 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6
Every car in the 2026 IndyCar Series runs the same engine architecture: a 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 supplied by either Honda or Chevrolet. The two manufacturers have split the grid for years, with Honda powering Andretti Global, Chip Ganassi Racing, Meyer Shank, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and Dale Coyne for 2026. Chevrolet supplies Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, Ed Carpenter Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, and Juncos Hollinger Racing.
The engines themselves are tightly regulated. Cylinder bore is capped at 95mm. Stroke is unrestricted. Maximum RPM is 12,000, with a 12,200 RPM overtake limit. They use direct fuel injection, two Borg-Warner turbochargers per engine, drive-by-wire throttle, and a series-spec McLaren Electronics Engine Control Unit. Each engine weighs about 248 pounds, less than half of what most production V6s weigh.
Horsepower output varies based on track type and is controlled by IndyCar through turbocharger boost levels. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other superspeedways, boost is set at 1.3 bar (about 19 psi), producing roughly 575 horsepower from the base engine. On 1.5-mile ovals like Texas, boost climbs to 1.4 bar for 625 hp. On road and street courses, boost goes higher (1.5 to 1.6 bar) for 675 hp. Push-to-pass on road courses kicks the boost to 1.65 bar.
Those base numbers are before hybrid power gets added.
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The hybrid system
IndyCar introduced its hybrid powertrain at Mid-Ohio in July 2024. The 110th Indy 500 will be the second running of the race with hybrids on the grid. The first was 2025, where Alex Palou became the first hybrid-era winner.
The hybrid system pairs the existing 2.2-liter V6 with an Energy Recovery System (ERS) and Energy Storage System (ESS). It captures energy under braking and stores it in a small battery pack mounted in the bellhousing between the engine and gearbox. The driver can deploy that stored energy on demand for an additional 60 horsepower.