Ok after visiting their old location in Santa Ana, I got in touch with the landlord. They moved in June '01 to Lake Forest, CA
which is just minutes away from Irvine.

And luckily the phone # provided by the landlord was good.
I talked to Troy Sumitomo, the guy who owns 5 Axis Models/Max Designs... or if you watched Hi Rev Tuner on Speedvision, its the same person. http://www.hirevtuners.com/site/pres...D=59&PreID=110

So I told him who I was representing and about this board, etc.
What Troy said was that the rights to the CLS kit is owned by Honda Accessories of Torrance, CA. After telling him how popular the SEMA kit from VEGAS '00 was, how after seeing this car many of us were PUMPED and excited about getting the CL
and that the TL has a kit from Honda, but the CL doesn't not even have aftermarket support from Comptech/Wings West, he's going speak to Honda Accessories today and ask why a CL kit isn't being made!!

He also told me the RSX design was done by him and of course the rights are owned by Honda Access. In the upcoming shows, you will see a Civic kit :o from Max Designs.

So kids, I told him that I'd be in contact real soon to find out about their meeting. And hopefully he can bring us some good news!
Unfortunately, they dont have much of a working website.

 

good work

 

I've never seen this famed SEMA kit - anyone have pics??

 

Good job.... keep us posted.....

 

Thats tite....
Did he give you a time frame?

 

Do a search..

 

DAMN...always forget about that search tool...stupid,stupid,stupid........tks for the friendly reminder!

 

kavetrax...you rock dude!!!
wow, i'm gonna start scrapin pennies together now!!

 

excellent job on the recon mission kvit

 

madd props to you bro!

 

Guys, all that guy said was he'll 'ask honda accessories why they're not making the sema cl kit'... i dont know whether thats good enough to start celebrating. Be optimistic but dont hold ur breathe.

The way i see it - the company that designed that sema kit should be coming after US if they wanted to sell their kit. I'm still troubled as to why they havent offered that to the public. Cos, after all, why would any company put in time and effort and money into something to show off to the public than NOT offer it.

It just seems like bad business or am i missing something here ??

 

And if they're NOW gonna start offering it all of the sudden then they have got to be the stupidest businessmen i've ever met.

To me, it just seems like they dont wanna mass produce it for whatever the reason and want to tease us with it

 

I think the bigger problem is the stagnant sales of the CL. If you were Acura would you invest money in a kit for a car whose sales are barely treading water?

 

But acura DIDNT invest money in it, a private company did.

Which brings up the ? as to WHY they would even bother to build ONE and then not mass produce it. And i'm sure even to custom build that one costed tens and thousands of dollars.

Plus CL barely treading on water has nothing to do with THIS SPECIFIC kit cos its only for this gen CL. Meaning if a next-gen CL was to come, they would have to go back to the drawing boards and start from scratch.

 

I agree ... Why didn't they come out w/ the kit 3 years ago when they introduced it at SEMA & when they knew it was a big hit. They would have made a big killing then, but now it would be bad biz. due to CL's selling slump. Troy is gonna ask why Hond. Acc. didn't make the kit, not like he's the president of the company. Don't jump for joy yet...

 

If you read closely, I said that Honda Accessories owns the rights to the kit. So 5 Axis Models just can't sell it to anyone without consultation from Big H., i.e. their hands are tied.

What can you do when Big H doesn't know the true PULSE of the 2nd gen CL community like we do?

And the burning million dollar question will be answered soon.

You guys are missing the boat, what if the kit reignites more CLS sales? And slumping CL sales could be one phenomenon, but yet CL owners are asking for Honda accessories to MAKE accessories.

Honestly, I don't think we can assume anything, because big H may not even know that they have a hidden dragon in their hands.

 

I love you Kavex!
thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you! thank you!

 

All i can say is...If the sema kit finally comes out, this dred will be in line ASAP. New found luv for my all ready luved CLS.

thx KavexTrax you the man!

 

I doubt it will be mass produced since it hasn't been do so already. If I remember correctly, this wasnt a simple under body kit, but instead replaced entire stock body pieces. They're probably thinking that offering this product made out of a high quality material will be too costly for many CL owners to consider. Remember that members on this board who would spend lots of money to customize a kit for their cars are the minority. Even though, it would be nice to have the kit come out.

 

Yeah I think you're right.. they'll sell less than 15 of those kits probaly... I don't tihnk there's enough people out there with a luxury car that are gonna put more money into a body kit... but I know if it was made I'd be 1st in line w/ cash ready for thatk it... it's just so clean!

 

well if its a complete bumper and side skirt replacement i dont mind paying $2000 for that...

sidemarker

 

i hope this kit becomes available, i would pay 2g's for it in a heart beat.

 

oh i'm sick of hearing this.....crap the car does need a little flare to it and a bodykit would attract buyers and bump sales. It can't cost that much to make. How much could it be for Acura to make 1000 kits and see how they sell?

 

1,000 kits? that'd be like burning money... what do you do with 1000 kits tha DON'T sell? try to pawn them off as cool looking park benches? I don't tihnk any company in their right mind would make a kit for a car that isn't selling...

 

Kvit, where in Lake Forest? I work there!

 

sweet.... its kinda hard to say how many people would actually buy it tho.... esp considering how poorly the car is selling

 

A while back I remmember it's not worth while for a kit maker to make a kit if they didn't sell atleast hundreds or thousands per month.

We're the minority (CL enthusiasts willing to spend 1K+ for kit). Most CL owners I see leave their rides stock, not even aftermarket wheels.

Isn't the TL sold in Japan under the Inspire name, that's one reason for its kit existence. more potential customers. The Japs would even put kits on their minivans, ect...

CL is sold only in U.S. Even if 50% of members here bought a SEMA kit, that wouldn't prob. be enough customers for the Honda Acc. to consider ...

Why JTAutostyle made a CL kit: The big mouth kit came from the same ugly mode/design as from their previous kits for all their other cars, it was not specifically designed for the CL.

 

the kit was engineered to be a one-off. production means more R&D time with regards to the kits effect on vehicle operations, driveability and many other warranty issues.

 

To make a true kit to be effective (more downforce, less drag) w/o any wind tunnel testing, one should TRY to stay w/ original car's bumper design. All cars are tested by the manufacturer at high speeds for stability, drag, ect...

Therefore, make car lower to the ground, lower front spoiler to make less air entering the front creating a vacumm (expansion tunnel) creating low pressure under the car = neg. lift or downforce.

When U buy those fugly bumper replacement kit (JTAutoSport for example), it would prob. mess up your aerodynamics.


Basics_On_GroundEffects_&_Cars

 

and now consider this dilemma...

making the front piece more effective = less air entering it = downforce etc. this also entails less air cooling of an already ailing transmission coolings system. could it be that the SEMA kit aggravates an already sensitive transmission issue?

 

True less volume of air enters under the car, but the expansion tunnel effects causes the air to travel at higher velocity (like water in a hose moves faster when U make the opening smaller).

I am no thermal expert, but faster air does cool/dissipates heat pretty good

 

very interesting...

but i wonder if the air is moving faster because u're trying force the same volume through a smaller hole or if u're actually exchanging a greater volume of air. u mentioned that less air would be entering under the car but that it leaves faster. u think that the speed of air egress could somehow compensate for fact that the lesser volume of air would heat up faster? did this make sense?

 

Let's say U take your transmission cooler/heat sink is 1 sq. ft by 2" thick, U put it horizontally at the top of a 6" deep stream w/ water flowing at 5mph. The 4" of water flow below the heat sink is not hitting it nor dissipating heat (wasted water flow).

Now, U do the same w/ a stream that's 4" deep & water flowing at 15mph. I very sure every part of the heat sink will get wet like the previous scenario above, but it will disipate heat much better.
Now there's only 2" of water flow below the heat sink, but that irrellivant.

Just my lamen interpretations of things, I could very well be wrong

 

feel so enlightened...

i was thinking that the part of the stream not hitting the rad will still have some effect in cooling the part of the stream that DOES hit the rad. but the way u presented the scenario i suppose the effect is negligible.

uhm..nut what happens when the stream isn't moving and u're trapped in commuter traffic?

 

would a simple add-on electric fan onto the tranny rad do the trick?

 

any news????

 

I'm being invited to check the SEMA car out next week at their shop! And a meeting to talk about options for this kit. I am PUMPED!

So definitely, very positive news!!!!!!!!



{triple fist pump}

Will keep you guys posted.

 

excellent!!

 

no no more like this


EGGGXXXEELLENT!

 

doesn't $2,000 sound a bit much? i prolly wouldn't pay more then $1300..i still gotta pay someone to put it on...