A turbocharged 2012 TL in Ohio
 

Perhaps this has been done other places before, but I don't shop around on other Acura websites, so I wouldn't know. However, I recently saw this company (who I recently got my Prelude tuned at) in Columbus, OH had turbo'ed a TL. All I have to show is this picture, otherwise no numbers or info has been provided.

Attachment 74439

https://www.facebook.com/SlowmotionMotorsports?fref=nf

Its the first.

Wow...

I tried to contact Slowmotion on Facebook, this build was done last year and complete custom obviously but owner didnt post dyno number nor how it was tuned. Anyways, getting a shop do this kind of build will go between 10k-12k$, that's alot of money.

So it's possible. Nice.

$10-12k is a lot of money, but it's not out of the question. I've said it once and I'll say it before, the expectation everybody should have is that it should cost $100 per 1 WHP increase. We witnessed it with the CT-E Supercharger where the builder got rougly 50-60whp for a cost of $4-5k. Others on this forum are upset that their intake, PCDs, J-pipe and exhaust upgrades aren't breaking 20-30whp. But these parts are adding up to almost $3k without installation costs.

I am a believer in Slowmotion after they tuned my seemingly untunable Prelude back into a car that has zero hiccups and runs almost just like stock. Their tuner Corey is amazing.

turbo-charging the J engine is nothing new fellas!

if some one is super serious, you can contact TonytheTiger.

youtube him, google him.

he's been turbo'ing Camry's for a while now and even turbo'd a 3G TL.

his youtubes are awesome of his turbo'd camry pulling away from GTR's and AMG's and such

Well I think the new thing is that this is an AWD layout and I'm sure that runs into the issue of more complexity because there is an additional computer that the ECU plugs into. I'm curious as to what they used to tune it, but I'm sure it was something like a MegaSquirt system where they just increase the amount of fuel being pumped in.

its for show.. no tune = no interest..

i'm sure i'd have no problem passing CA smog with that setup... ;)

$12k.... no thanks. it would be a better deal to SELL the TL, and then invest the $12k into a used CPO M3 or something else that has as much or MORE power out of the box.

i've been down the heavily modded, customized car path before.. it's fun but always winds up as a big fat headache and a lot of wasted money...

i'm older, wiser..and would rather just spend MORE up front for a faster car out of the box.

Got a answer from Slowmotion:

"Hello, this project was done for Honda R&D. We custom fabricated up pipes from the heads, custom downpipe and intake, we used a Garrett GTX Turbo, installed injectors. the software was from Honda directly, as there is no Hondata available. the car made more power than the stock transmission could handle and was the limiter on power. driveabilty was great and power was nearly instant."

^^^^^

With Honda software support, this is for real.

Anyone have ideas on how to follow up on this software? For some reason I feel it is necessary to have more ponies!

Probably reserved and only available for Honda R&D team.

No harm try contacting SlowMotion to see if they will sell you a copy of the Honda software.

Pretty sure they meant Honda came up with their own software.

the only problem with the explanation is; Honda has its own R&D company, called Honda Racing HPD. (Honda Performance Development)

which they do their own R&D.

H

Honda HPD has put out several of their OWN turbo acura's and Honda's.


slowmotion's explanation is not believable.

here's Honda's 2.8 TWIN turbo

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...07cfe9cbac.jpg

which is derived from the 3.5 V6.

also the Acura TLX GT race car is using a 3.5TT

pretty cool!

:drool:

Can anyone tell what the part number is for that engine cover i want one

Me: Cool. What kind of power broke the tranny?

Slowmotion: not really sure, honda did the actual dyno/tuning. if i had to guess id say mid 400 awhp range

Me: Thanks for taking time to answer, this was posted on the Acurazine forums and people are really curious Someone said "Honda have their own R&D team called HPD and do their own stuff and why would they want to R&D on this car"

Slowmotion: haha no problem..yea we are very close with HPD and HART and do a lot with them.

Me: If only Hondata would release a Flashpro... That would help alot of people that want to F/I on that car.

Slowmotion: yea, we've spoke with them before about it, they say they have something slowly in the works, but there just is not enough demand

Me: Do you know why they wanted to turbo a TL ? For their new TLX GT race car?

Slowmotion: Originally they wanted something to compete with audi s6 is what we were told

still doesnt make sense. I know that you're just relaying the info...but it doesnt make sense.

HPD had those turbo cars waay before the 4th GEN TL.
also, the competing with the S6 doesnt make sense either....

auto manufactures dont just slap a turbo kit on their cars to try to compete with other auto manufactures.

^^^^^

Agree.

It takes more than just a simple hp upgrade to be in the S6-level playing field.

It will need a whole lot more upgrades, such as big brakes, wide tires, beefy suspension, beefy AWD components, and maybe chassis strengthening, to compete at the S6 level.

another point to add; Honda will be releasing a four cylinder turbo in North America soon.
It's already been released in Europe.

It's all true, but there are a few bits missing. I know these guys pretty well and discussed it with the shop owner in person before they took delivery from Honda corporate and after they delivered and the car was in mid-tune back at Honda HQ. The block was destroyed when the internal wastegate failed (was stuck closed). The engine was overboosted to 18psi and threw a rod. This project was an internal Honda initiative and used extra budget dollars for the year. Fast forward a full year after the initial failure, and Honda began the process of sleeving their first v6 block in-house...the same model...the j37a4 rather than sending to ERL. I have not heard if it was completed since. However, I can say that the original purpose for the car was for it to be displayed at an auto show to show the engine's capabilities vs Audi. Honda needed the car completed in 7 weeks if I recall, and Slowmotion delivered. I don't know if the reason for the wastegate or wastegate linkage seizing was ever discovered. The car currently resides at the Marysville facility.

Thanks for the info :)

VERY interesting to see this. I will be starting work for Honda at the Marysville plant. If only I could scrounge up something about this car.

^^^^^

Will you be getting staff pricing for buying new Honda/Acura vehicles ?

Yes. I'll get the corporate Honda purchase program after working there for a month. It applies to used vehicles, so I am going to try to find myself the right '12-14 TL. Preferably a 6-speed SH-AWD, but those are definitely unicorns.

Why would it be unbelievable for Honda to outsource this project? Many car companies outsource these types of projects. Ford has an entire SVT team and a racing team, they also outsourced cars to Shelby to build cars for them. Rousch Racing and Saleen are two other companies that Ford hired to build cars for them as well.

Saleen is now SMS I believe and they do cars for Dodge/Chrysler. Just like many Eaton superchargers that are used on stock vehicles, they are outsourced from Eaton and used on many other cars. Why would it be so hard to believe that Honda went with a company that specializes in this field?

Many performance cars use Brembo and Baer brakes as OEM equipment, why didn't they build something new from the ground up for OEM?

Chevy uses Lingenfelter(I'm sure I spelled it wrong) on their Vettes as an aftermarket tuner and they even honor the warranty. There are quite a few other times this has happened with car manufactures and aftermarket companies.

^^^^^

There are Shelby Chrysler's beforehand and now Shelby Ford's, SVT Ford's, Saleen Ford's, Cosworth Ford's (Europe market), AMG MB's, etc., etc., as production vehicles with which we can buy from dealerships.

But why aren't we seeing SlowMotion Honda's anywhere ever ?!

I would guess Honda wants to use the upcoming NSX as the trickle-down design and tech for use in later performance vehicles.

^^^^^

Yes, Honda likes to develop almost everything inhouse, and is therefore highly reluctant to use external contractors unless absolutely necessary.

Due to the steep learning curve of the V6 transmissions (as evidenced by the poorly designed 2G CL/TL 5AT and the problematic torque converter on the 6AT), Honda has no choice but to contract out the 9-speed auto to ZF.

But Honda is not a newcomer to the turbo-charged engine applications, especially with huge successes with turbo-charged powerplants in open-wheel racing, ALMS, and other FIA sanctioned series.

I'm not saying slow motion will be the Shelby or anything else for Honda, but I wouldn't rule out Honda outsourcing a project either. All of those other companies had to get their foot in the door at one time as well.

I would. They like doing things themselves, in-house. :thumbsup: Sure they have suppliers like Nissin and Denso, etc, but as far as creating the overall package, I think it's usually all their work.