So, I purchased a sweet 2002 Acura RL from a dealership not to long ago. I love how smooth the ride is. I love the stereo. I love the leather interior. I love how the steering wheel moves out when I put the key in.

That being said I've been in love with going fast my whole life.
And seeing as how I'm stuck with this car for the next five years, I'll be looking into some modifications to say the least.

To dial back. I'm an automotive student currently half way through his degree. I'm a teenage male. (19) My last car was a 1985 VW Scirocco (one of two registered owners in the state!). Despite having more rust than paint, the car ran very well, and pretty damn fast (until about 70 xD) Until I figured out how to drift and blew out the clutch, transmission, fuel pump, clutch Struts, drivers side wheel bearings, clutch, and eventually the oil pump, which lead to several more problems until last month...when I bought my current beauty, tentatively dubbed "Alice"

So I'll start simple and work my way to the more difficult questions, but first!
A. I will not consider Nitrous. Yes. I know it isn't flammable. Sure, if I only run a small dry shot, and only at the local drag strip the car should be fine. But I don't trust myself, and I don't trust the engine at 134K miles, at least not without some serious performance upgrades.
B. Forced induction is (for the moment) out of the question...ermm...well....out of the pocketbook?
C. Colorado Springs, Colorado does NOT HAVE EMISSIONS.

Now, on to the questions!
1.The exhaust silencer is variable right? Anyway to get it to stay all the way open?, removal isn't out of the question as long as the ECM doesn't go nuts.
2. Is there a good place to find performance engine parts for the C35A1 Engine?
3. Is there a header back exhaust kit available anywhere, anyhow, to include universal fit?
4. Any ECM tuning options, programmers, chips, etc? My search has proved...well...nothing conclusive? I'm not very versed on tuning in that respect.
5. Any performance part recommendations? Tax returns are on the way!
6. Speed is important, but Safety is a must as well, and looks are never a bad thing to improve. Better brakes, Better rotors, different systems, sweet audio etc are all welcome.
7. Any dash install kits for 02' RL? I haven't been able to find one, and I've never fabricated anything for a stereo before.


Yes, I know the car is luxury Esque. I know it's fat. I know it's designed for smoothness and comfort, but I can't live with it the way it is. Comfort and luxury is nice and there isn't anything wrong with it I suppose. I love the car and I want to build it in my image. Unfortunately, I know very little about Japanese cars, even less concerning EFI, and well...computer controlled anything.

I'll ask more questions as they come, and I am open to suggestions and discussion. (what a first post eh!?)

 

1) Yes it's variable. It maintains the proper amount of back pressure.

2) Nope

3) None that I know of

4) None that I know of

5) Legend Type II parts (C32A5)

 

looks like you're stuck

 

Pretty much no mods for this car honestly. Nothing as far as tuning, exhaust nothing. I ve herd headers for a legend will bolt to the block, but i dont know about clearance issues and not sure about this. You can put a Legend type 2 intake manifold on the CA35, but you need to block off the location for the IACV. I believe Remus made an axle back exhaust but i think it was 500 dollars, which is ridiculous.

Brakes, you could do stainless steel lines. OLD_HATCH has fitted the 2nd gen RL calipers to his. Doesnt look that bad but you need a bracket made for it to work, and probably bigger rimes.

You could look into suspension mods. Coilovers( Ksports for a tsx i think) work. There is a thread for this on here. You can also use Koni red shocks to lower the car(what i have). Again its all in the suspension thread.

beatsonic usa makes a dash kit, but it is expensive (200+). It does look factory though. I bought one of their kits for my RL(96) and love it.

Hope this helped!

 

I want to say I'm disappointed, but I knew there would be a great deal of fabrication involved. I'm excited to start researching! My first project is going to be the exhaust silencer. I bet there is a way to get that thing to stay open!

From what I know about it so far, it's computer controlled. When the pedal is pushed so far down it opens up so much...right? So would a PCM piggyback that fools the ECU into thinking the throttle is engaged more than it is work? I found something that works on that basic principle. Might be worth a look, but I'd like to get some second opinions first.
Venom 400 PCM
If that doesn't work, I'm going to detach the thing over the weekend and see if I can't find a more...mechanical...solution.

 

Why do you want to keep it open all the time? A certain amount of back-pressure needs to be maintained at different RPMs.

 

Well it opens up when the pedal is pushed to the floor anyway right? So keeping it open shouldn't make the engine work improperly. I was also told OBX headers fit, has anyone made the swap? what kind of hardships with the swap did you experience, and more importantly what kind of gains did you see?