The story behind this 2003 Acura RSX Type-S begins like so many others: with a challenge and a little bit of friendly competition. You see, Peter Radford, a loyal San Jose, Calif. citizen, has but one true love, and its name is RSX.
As the resident DJ back in high school, Radford could be found spinnin' and mixin' at virtually every school rally or sanctioned event. It was merely a coincidence that being the school DJ came with one very important benefit, skipping class without punishment. Packing, unpacking and setting up sensitive audio equipment was a task deemed so important, not even the California public education system dared intrude on its time. Radford's equipment helper, chosen solely for his ability to move 200lb. speakers with ease, was the proud owner of a not quite pavement-scorching Ford Focus and held hatred in his heart for Radford's then-stock RSX.
When Radford mentioned that he was considering turbocharging his Type-S, the help replied with a flurry of nasty comments, all geared towards forced induction doubt. Radford, not one to forget that the privilege of skipping class was gained only because he was the DJ, made up his mind right then and there. A GReddy turbocharger kit was ordered and the Acura laid down a respectable and reliable 250 wheel hp. No further comments were to be heard from Radford's Focus fanatic.
Addicted to boost, Radford took the car out and abused it day in and day out. Lining up against a modified Dodge SRT-4 one fateful night, Radford finally lost in the contest of speed. Fiddling with his boost controller for the rematch, Radford sent a full 16psi of boost through his stock K20, still losing the race to the hopped up "Neon." Showing telltale signs of permanent damage, the RSX's engine let loose about a week later. It was at this point that Radford had a decision to make: put a stock K20 into the RSX, rebuild the original engine or get truly serious. The aftermath of his decision was something nobody saw coming.
A K24A4 engine out of a Honda Accord was dropped off at Blacktrax Performance of Milpitas, Calif. Jei Chang, co-owner of Blacktrax, listened to Radford's power demands and drew up a plan of attack. The K24 block was sent to AEBS of San Diego, Calif., to be machined and sleeved using AEBS products. Upon return to Blacktrax, Chang fitted the K24 with a custom forged steel crankshaft, custom forged Carrillo connecting rods, Carrillo rod bolts and forged 8.8:1 compression slugs from CP Pistons. The engine features a shorter stroke versus a stock K24, resulting in a final displacement of 2.2L. A custom-baffled oil pan was fabricated for the engine and a modified K20 oil pump was installed for greater flow.
The K24 cylinder head was tossed out and replaced with a K20 head, creating a modern K-series variant of the venerable Frankenstein Honda recipe. The K20 head was given a Blacktrax Stage 3 porting job, handled personally by Chang. Before installation, the head received a final flurry of Supertech valves, valve springs and titanium retainers.
Enough about the engine, right? The key to squeezing more than 600 wheel hp out of a K-series engine is boost, and Radford uses lots of it. On most RSX turbo kits, the snail is mounted close to the exhaust ports, sandwiched against the firewall. Looking for more space and a more efficient induction plumbing setup, Blacktrax made the decision to mount the Garrett GT35R turbo in the center of the engine bay, next to the motor. This required the fabrication of a custom exhaust manifold, handled in-house by Aki Maseba of Blacktrax using parts from Burns Stainless. The thermal-wrapped manifold places the turbo in its unique location and provides an outlet for the HKS GT II external wastegate. Blacktrax Performance also custom fabricated a 3-inch stainless-steel downpipe, which houses an electronic user-selectable ECS dump and feeds into a GReddy Evo muffler.