RACER’s Marshall Pruett has spent the last year tracking developments with IndyCar’s next generation car and even now the story is less about a big reveal than a slow, careful unwrapping. The new chassis, due in 2028 after a one year delay, will finally replace the DW12 that arrived in 2012 and has been steadily weighed down by safety kit and hybrid hardware. The goal is deceptively simple on paper: lose weight, add power, keep drivers safe and make the racing better on every type of circuit IndyCar visits. In practice, that means Dallara, IndyCar and the manufacturers have been buried in simulation work, design tweaks and endless meetings over what the car should be allowed to do.
The headline number is weight. After more than a decade of additions from aero updates to the aeroscreen and, most recently, the hybrid unit, the current car ballooned from around 1565 pounds to as much as 1785. The 2028 machine, internally dubbed IR28, is being asked to shed roughly 85 to 100 pounds, putting minimum weight back in the 1685 to 1705 pound window without ripping away any of the safety advances that kept drivers walking away from big hits. That has the engineers hunting grams across the whole package, from the survival cell to the transmission casing and even the bits that bolt the suspension in place. Less mass is not just about lap time; it also means less energy to manage in an accident, so safety and performance sit on the same line of the spreadsheet for once.
Power is getting a bump too. The long talked about 2.4 litre twin turbo V6 is finally locked in as the new base engine, replacing the 2.2 litre V6 that has been in service since 2012 and survived an earlier attempt to phase it out. The bigger motor is being designed around a beefed up hybrid system that doubles the electrical punch compared with today’s unit, which only recently joined the grid after a lengthy gestation. Energy storage still sits in a stack of supercapacitors perched above the motor generator unit in the bellhousing, but the 2028 architecture opens up space to pack in more capacity and extend both the duration and impact of the hybrid shove. It should feel less like a brief party trick and more like a proper tool in the driver’s arsenal.
Pruett’s reporting has underlined how much of this has become a timing exercise. Originally the new car was due in 2027, yet the series quietly pushed the date back a year once it became clear the engine regulations and hybrid specifications would not be ready in time. Chevrolet and Honda made it plain that they needed roughly eighteen months from final rules to a pool of fifty or more engines each, tested, validated and ready to supply half the grid apiece. By mid 2025, that timeline spilled into 2027 and the only realistic move was to circle 2028 on the calendar instead. The chassis work was broadly on schedule; the powertrain paperwork was not.
Under the skin the IR28 is being set up to race better, not just look different. The aero package is being shaped to reduce the dirty air “bubble” behind each car and give teams a wider tuning window without drowning them in extra winglets. IndyCar is promising fewer discrete aero bits than the current car yet more scope to adjust balance and drag for ovals, short tracks, roads and streets. The hybrid and gearbox are also targets for tidy weight savings, with engineers talking about pulling twenty pounds or more out of the transmission alone while keeping it a six speed unit capable of handling higher torque loads. Even the brake hardware is under review with PFC and Dallara as they juggle performance, cost and longevity.
None of this happens in isolation. Pruett’s pieces make it clear that cost containment has been in the room as often as downforce maps and CFD plots. Teams already staring at fresh hybrid bills are not keen on another runaway spending spiral with the new car, so IndyCar has been trying to lock down suppliers Dallara for the chassis, Xtrac for the gearbox, PFC for brakes and give them guardrails on pricing and parts lifespans. At the same time there is pressure from fans and some in the paddock to find an engine formula that sounds and feels suitably dramatic in an era of synthetic fuels and hybridisation. The 2.4 litre V6 may not be a screaming V10, but paired with a stronger hybrid boost and less mass, it should move the performance needle without tearing up everything that makes IndyCar what it is.
The final picture is still missing pieces. Details on styling, exact power figures and how much of the new tech might be tested in anger before 2028 remain to be nailed down. What Pruett’s year long watch has revealed, though, is the shape of IndyCar’s compromise: evolution rather than revolution, a lighter and more aggressive car that still leans on familiar partners and a hybrid system that finally feels fully integrated rather than bolted on. If the series can keep the promises it is making now, the long goodbye to the DW12 might end with a machine that looks modern, races harder and proves that IndyCar can move on without losing itself.