Settling The Score - 2003 Acura RSX Type S

With the turbo now mounted in a much more convenient location, effort was made to ensure the induction system remained as efficient as possible. A GReddy front-mount intercooler is used, and custom piping was made to keep the tract as short as possible from the GT35R turbo to the custom intake manifold. The stock intake manifold was cut and velocity stacks were TIG-welded on before the manifold received a custom aluminum plenum.

Feeding fuel to the beast is an Aeromotive 800lb/hr fuel pump, which slurps out of a Summit Racing 15-gallon fuel cell. After running through an AEM fuel rail, VP Racing 109-octane is sprayed out of torrential RC Engineering 1200cc/min fuel injectors. Brought to Hondata and tuned personally by Doug MacMillan of Hondata, with help from Shawn Church of Church Automotive, this K-series beast blasted the dyno to the tune of 612 hp and 510 lb-ft. of torque to the wheels with the aid of methanol injection.

Not too shabby, but 612 wheel hp is a lot for any stock front-wheel drive platform to handle. Blacktrax fit the stock RSX Type-S transmission with a set of shot-peened and micro-polished gears, which are all stock except for the taller 6th gear, which is from the Acura TSX. This gear was chosen for its theoretically higher top speed and higher freeway gas mileage. Abusing those gears is a Blacktrax Stage 5 copper clutch kit and ACT lightweight flywheel, which sends the power to a Quaife limited-slip differential. Fully upgraded, the drivetrain is setup to deliver with zero give, making the Falken Azenis tires the only thing that could go up in smoke.

With this much power available, every hole in traffic becomes a drag strip and every open road just another excuse to tempt death. Radford rightfully dumped the stock suspension system, which was setup for comfortable cruising. In went a set of HKS Hipermax II coilovers and Hotchkis swaybars, which seek to provide greater control and sharper reflexes. The brakes are still stock, fit with Powerslot rotors and Axxis brake pads. They do a fine job of stopping the car from 130mph at least once, but Radford is looking into a possible big brake upgrade from Wilwood or Baer.

Still street-legal and driven quite often by Radford, this Acura can normally be found prowling the streets of Northern California sans vinyl. That's a "photoshoot only" item. Beyond the beautiful 18x8 AME Circular RS wheels and Andy's Autosport carbon-fiber hood, you'd never know what this car was packing based on the exterior. Red Recaro racing seats and Autometer air/fuel ratio, water temperature and boost gauges are visible from the outside, but these are not obvious telltale signs of 612 wheel hp. In fact, without the decals, you might think that this RSX was equipped with a mere 200 crank horsepower; it's quite common to see cars with carbon hoods and larger wheels nowadays. It's not until the car does a 5th gear burnout on the highway that you take a step back and mutter, "Oh shit."

Having ventured into an expensive and uncharted world of custom forced induction, Radford has succeeded in his main goal-embarrassing the Ford Focus and Dodge SRT-4 owners that have challenged him in the past. It just so happens that he's wrapped it all up in a package so simple and stealthy, he'll be able to surprise almost every other car on the road as well. You may be thinking that this much work is overkill just to take out a random SRT-4, but you know what, those early challenges were just the beginning. No amount of competition can distract Radford away from smiling when boost hits. 612 wheel hp will do that to ya.

By Joey Leh

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