OA5599

Last week , after ordering set of hood dampers for a S2000 , I spoke to Ming , who owns IXIZ Concept , about the possibility of engineering a set of hood dampers for the RDX . He agreed to give it a try and I've been sending hood and hinge measurements and bolt sizes over the weekend . This is his site

http://www.ixizconcept.com/index.html

There are a few obstacles to overcome :
first is the hood weight with the inter-cooler ducting .

second is the tight space between the hood and fender for the hood damper .

third a piece of plastic engine dress -up has to be removed in the hood margin for placement of the hood dampers . its a insignificant piece and I can't really tell its gone . pics attached

OA5599

I put a set on my STI 3 years ago, and its a solid product.
With the large - type scoop , the STi hood is close to the RDX in hood weight
it works flawlessly . a few pictures attached

Some features of IXIZ hood dampers are as the hood opens to full height , the last few inches are damped or slowed down with special valving .
Its not as abrupt as some hood dampers .

the hood will open further than the stock hood prop's 47% , possibly up to approximately 73%

Ming uses Stainless Steel hardware .

No pricing of course , it may be impossible to engineer it but we'll know soon

he needs 40 people interested to to do a run .

he's not a vendor here , but he is on some other car sites '
he's well regarded

I get the prototype set if it gets produced, and thats it .

anyway, if you're remotely interested in the idea - POST.

CreoUCLA

I had a set on my STI back in 2004, and I'd be interested if he can make it work. Getting 40 people committed may be an obstacle, though...

dcmodels

In your third picture, I see what appears to be a top shock-strut brace, I am assuming on your STI.

I would be a lot more interested in a strut brace for the RDX. Can it be done for the RDX? I suppose anything is possible with enough effort, but can it be done for a practicle price?

With respect to the hood damper (for RDX), would it still be possible to use the upper 'shop' hood (stock) strut support position? That is, there are two positions that can be used for the stock hood support rod: a lower and an upper one. The upper one holds the hood open almost verticle, which is nice when working on the engine and not just checking oil.

OA5599

that is a strut bar on the STi and I've been looking for a strut bar for the RDX too.

I just now pulled the plastic cap that covers the Strut top nuts on the RDX and i was pretty impressed.
It looks like it has a factory stamped steel brace connecting both strut towers . i didn't pull the windshield garnish , but it looks promising that a factory brace is doing the same thing as an after-market strut bar (see pic)

when i was down in the garage - the RDX and STi happened to be side by side , so i took this pic. . The RDX is in the second hood position and the STi is full up with the IXIZ hood dampers.


The hood dampers are very low and don't seem to get in the way like the factory prop does.

if your'e doing intercooler / turbo work , just one bolt off per side of the hood dampers and you could prop the RDX hood into the upper position

CreoUCLA

On modern cars with the strut towers connected to the firewall, you don't really benefit much (if at all) from a strut tower brace anyway.

More worthwhile are lower arm/subframe braces to improve turn-in/handling. I've had the Cusco lower arm bars on my previous Subarus (http://z1auto.com/Images/gdbundercarcuscoarmbarv2.jpg), and have this installed on my S4;

goixiz

Good morning guys/gals
Im ming from ixizconcept and i just want to try answering any questions you guys have.

The opening angle is determined by the damper and it has a limited ratio due to the mounting locations. I will only make a "NO DRILL" option thats the difference between any of my designed components over anyother.

Anything can be designed and made but the limit is usually cost.