2005 Acura Rl Sedan 4-door 3.5l Sh-awd 64k Miles on 2040-cars

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Acura Integras worked over by 3 popular tuners as SEMA custom builds

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show is a chance for aftermarket manufacturers and automakers to come together with potential customers and the media to show off their custom rides. Honda and Acura are no strangers to the event, as people have been bringing hotted-up models from both automakers to the show for years. This year, three builders are bringing their interpretations of Acura’s newest car, the 2023 Integra. Acura gave the car to Daijiro Yoshihara, Sara Choi, and Coco Zurita, and each came up with a unique build for the car. YoshiharaÂ’s car features a Spoon air filter and exhaust, BBS REV7 wheels, EVS tuning exterior components, and a host of motorsport-ready interior upgrades. ChoiÂ’s Integra features a GReddy intercooler and oil cooler, Advan wheels, a wide body kit, and Battle Craft interior parts. Zarita installed several powertrain upgrades, including an AÂ’PEXI exhaust, an HPS cold air intake, a GReddy intercooler, and HPS turbo components. The cars made their debut at The Petersen Museum on October 23 and will head to SEMA from November 1-4. From there, Acura will take them to Radwood L.A. on November 19 and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 14-16. The Integra is still relatively new, so the aftermarket doesnÂ’t offer the wealth of upgrades that older Honda Civics and other Japanese cars enjoy. Some companies have already released dedicated tunes and other car mods, so weÂ’re hopeful these SEMA rigs will help jumpstart development for the vehicle.

Acura builds 345-horsepower RDX A-Spec for SEMA

The 2019 Acura RDX is great — a return to form for the sporty compact luxury crossover. So there's no real harm in giving one the SEMA treatment, especially since it entails a real motorsport tie-in and some legitimate performance parts. As for the giant graphics, well, it's SEMA after all. Graham Rahal races for Honda in the IndyCar series, and he also has his own performance parts company — named, sensibly enough, Graham Rahal Performance — which he started in 2017. They sell some private-label bits manufactured by other companies to their spec, some off-the-shelf parts, and they do tuning and installation work on customer cars. Acura gave the job of building the SEMA RDX to Rahal. There's a fair bit going on under the hood to get the RDX to 345 horsepower from the factory 272 ponies. The 2.0-liter turbo engine gets a bunch of enhancements. The turbo, intake, exhaust manifolds, downpipe, and cat-back (a GRP design) are all aftermarket. There's a customer intercooler, too. KTuning did the ECU with a custom map. On the handling front, the RDX wears Eibach springs, StopTech brakes, HRE wheels at 21 inches, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. The RDX started life as an A-Spec model in Apex Blue Pearl, and from there GRP applied carbon fiber garnish to the mirrors, grille accents, and lower fascia. Troy Lee Designs did the exterior graphics, and inside there's more carbon fiber and a custom steering wheel (courtesy of Max Papis's MPI Innovations shop). The RDX will be on the show floor if you'd like to check out the Rahal shop's handiwork. Related Video:

Honda spinning off Acura as stand-alone division in bid to wake up brand

Every major automaker has a different way of relating between its various divisions and brands. At Volkswagen, for example, the individual brands seem to operate with a large degree of autonomy. Under the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the two units share a common chief executive, but little else. The relationship between Honda and its luxury division Acura has always been rather close, but that's all about to change.
American Honda Motor Company has always handled sales and marketing in the North American market for both the Honda and Acura divisions, but new reorganization plans call for the two units to be separated under their own direction. Leading the Acura division will be Michael Accavitti, who moves into the position from his role as Senior Vice President for Auto Operations at American Honda. The Honda division will meanwhile be taken over by the current head of Acura sales, Jeff Conrad.
Both will report to John Mendel, the current executive vice president of the Automobile Sales Division that is being rebranded as the American Honda Auto Division. Unlike rivals Lexus and Infiniti - two brands that Acura beat to the market - Honda barely markets its luxury brand outside of North America. Its overseas presence is felt only in China, though we've yet to receive word on how the reorganization might effect that market - or for that matter, any potential of expanding into others.