Acura RLX Tuning

"Thanks for reading my RLX tuning guide."

Originally shipped with the 310bhp  3.5 L Earth Dreams J35Y4 V6 engine the RLX was firmly aimed at the executive and family drivers who enjoy driving and don't want to compromise. A RLX sport hybrid was introduced in 2013.

We take a peek at RLX tuning and point out the optimum modifications. Acura RLXs offer good returns when tuned and with the right uprated parts you can greatly improve your driving opportunities.

The powercell hybrid capabilities boost power output to a heady 277hp adn 341lb-ft of torque.

The double wishbone front suspension was well setup and thought out adn the rear uses a multi link suspension setup with all wheel steer making the car feel and handle like a much smaller model.

The RLX is popular among our members for tuning projects Plan ahead and research RLX tuning to spare yourself making the usual disastrous errors we hear people complain about.

Handling modifications are high on most peoples lists for the RLX. We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 30-35mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Our aim in RLX engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Engine Tuning.

These mods tuning parts are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you begin.

Getting the right motorsport parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

Please watch our introduction Video tutorial to car tuning. Be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Modifying to Stage 1:

 Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels, Remap, Sports exhaust, Panel air filter.

Modifying to Stage 2:

 Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam.

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Engine balancing.

Your aims when tuning the engine should be a wide torque range. You don't want all the power to be at the top end of the rev range unless you are creating a competition car.

In this article we shall give an overview and introduction to the best mods for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance upgrade.Fast road cams offer one of the biggest performance gains for your money as far as a single modified mods goes on a NASP engine.

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. We'd also caution you not to go with a competition cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.Don't forget to pay attention to the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

If you find you suffer from flat spots and surges after your modified kits you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine. A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Induction kits will only help to add power if the air intake is restricted! Adding an induction kit to most standard engines will see NO POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction. Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for RLX engines you should settle for a performance panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Sports exhausts can help balance the flow of gases through the engine. But if the exhaust is too large, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the exhaust flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Getting a professionally polished and ported head with larger valves can fully release the engines power. A good triple plate fast road performance clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never cut corners or expect a standard clutch to cope. Turbo engines are just begging to be flashed. You will see massive power gains on most modern turbo engined cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and massive modifications for your money.

We've also come across some owners toying with twincharged applications and making some seriously high power hikes.

The most impressive power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. It is generally simpler to bolt on a supercharger than it is to install a turbo. Turbos provide boost in exponential proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

Superchargers will give a boost which is correlating to engine speed so is simpler. Alternatively you could add water injection to reduce the risk of knock.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include reducing your unsprung weight and better brake cooling. The drawback to large alloys on your RLX is that you're altering your effective final drive ratio so this will have a negative effect on performance.

For this reason we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss RLX options in more detail with our RLX owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Acura tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below. We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Acura. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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