Power Pages: Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is one of the most popular cars in the United States today. With outrageous sales numbers and millions of cars on the road, the car in its various guises is so plentiful, it has all but become a standard fixture of the American landscape. Everyone seemingly drives an Accord--as everyone should--for its comfortable and utilitarian interior, outstanding service record and plenty of smooth power available on tap. Admittedly, the car has always been and will always be designed as a family car--but it's a family car with guts, and an F1-inspired racing heritage (through the use of Honda's proprietary VTEC controls). Turning this LEV-rated grocery getter into a fast grocery getter is the next logical step for the people with tuning on their minds.

The Engine
One would think that 3 liters of displacement in a V6 configuration coupled with VTEC-nology would be a Honda owner's dream (think Acura NSX), but that isn't always the case? While the engine is impressive enough, the Honda factory baffles it with silencers, dampers and resonators to keep the car quiet enough for the average non-performance enthusiast. Add this to 3,000-plus lb of chassis, glass and interior amenities, and it's easy to lose sight of the potential of the powerplant. The engine puts down a factory-rated 200 hp and, since it's a V6 engine, torque numbers are equally impressive at 195 lb-ft coming in at 4700 rpm, almost exactly in the middle of the powerband. Number nerds and car information enthusiasts should note that the engine, with an 86mm bore and an 86mm stroke, is a perfect square, with a compression ratio of 9.4 to 1.

Performance Components
Motivating the car to higher performance levels is simply a matter of removing the elements in the intake and exhaust system that promote ride comfort and inhibit engine efficiency. Removing the factory intake resonator will add a throatier sound and allow better airflow into the engine. Likewise, stepping up to larger diameter exhaust piping and a free-flowing muffler will have the same effect for the exhaust gas part of the engine equation.

Our intake comes courtesy of AEM. The world-famous Cold-Air Intake is constructed of T6061 mandrel-bent aluminum and is available in several color configurations. The length of the tubing used is application specific and optimized for the V6 engine, as is the diameter used. To ensure a perfect and long-lasting fit, AEM uses TIG-welded fittings and brackets to secure the intake in place, giving the final product a showroom fit and finish. The filter element utilizes a fine-cotton material that helps filter out unwanted particles and comes pre-oiled from the AEM production plant. Like most of AEM's products, the intake is CARB exempt, eliminating any chances of smog and emissions woes in the future.

GReddy's Evolution exhaust system is designed from the ground up with performance and streetability in mind. Made of SUS stainless steel, the muffler has an offset tip to counter the low ground clearance that is the standard for street-tuned daily-driven vehicles. The piping is engineered to an exact diameter to ensure maximum flow of the spent exhaust gases, and then painted with a high-temperature coating to keep the unit impervious to the elements that attack the undercarriage. Sound levels and emissions are kept within industry standard, garnering CARB exemption and 50-state legal performance. GReddy also offers a dual-muffler option for the V6 Accord that allows a second pipe and muffler to be added to the Y-pipe configuration. This allows for even higher levels of exhaust flow and adds an aggressive look to the mid-sized coupe.

Dyno Testing
Most import performance enthusiasts are loath to drive around on stock wheels, even if they are the nicer-than-steel factory alloys. So, with real world tuning in mind for our grocery getter, we acquired a set of Racing Hart RH Evolution C2 wheels from DAZZ Motorsports before doing any testing. Doing this allowed us to show what one of the many real-life Accords would put down on XS Engineering's Dynojet. With the wheels in place and the car strapped for safety, we spun the rollers of XS Engineering's Dynojet to the tune of 159.1 hp, with torque checking in at 151.9 lb-ft.

Since the exhaust system is a dual configuration, we assumed installation would be a little more difficult, but it wasn't. Thanks to GReddy's expert planning, the system was just as easy to install in the single configuration as it was to add on the dual-muffler option. With the unit in place in less than two shakes of a lamb's tail, we fired up the car and listened to its newfound rumble. Nothing scary, but the exhaust note was a sure sign of the V6 engine that lay underneath the hood. Spinning the wheels on the dyno netted us an astounding 169.9 peak horsepower, with torque jumping up to 164.4 lb-ft. Overlaying the graphs, we can see the entire powerband shifted upwards, with the smallest overall gain being 5 hp and the largest gains in the 10- to 12-hp range. Similarly, the torque curve shifted upward dramatically, especially in the lower ranges of the rpm band, with gains as high as 15 lb-ft. Initial torque was also smoothed out with a steady and flat increasing curve within the 3800 to 4200 rpm range, maintaining a steady shift above the stock levels until the 6400-redline mark.

Next in line was the cold-air intake. AEM's clear instructions made sure the installation was relatively straightforward. All the parts fit perfectly and the new intake helped to add some pizzazz to the otherwise drab engine bay. Putting the car back on the rollers of XS Engineering's Dynojet showed the intake netting us an additional 6 hp, bringing the peak number up to 175.9 hp at the wheels. The power curve shifted upwards 3 to 4 hp in the low to mid-low range--the perfect point for street-driven cars that welcome the extra passing and accelerating power. The high end, running off the VTEC cam lobe, was where the intake really shined. Where the previous dyno graphs showed a sharp drop off in power after 5700 rpm, the AEM intake helped to stabilize the drop and keep power up from 5400 through the 6400 redline mark. There was a slight increase in torque throughout the powerband, but peak numbers weren't affected.

Conclusion
With just two quick bolt-on goodies, we were able to extract almost 17 extra horses from our V6 Accord, with an additional 13 lb-ft of torque to boot. Thanks to Honda engineering, the 3.0-liter V6 VTEC motor does exceptionally well on its own. With a little tweaking, though, you can one-up the Honda engineers and turn your two-door grocery-getter into a true import jet-setter.