We all like being seen in nice cars. Like a tailored suit, they convey something positive about our person, however relevant. As we wind down Hollywood's Sunset Blvd. in a Mugen-modified TSX, everyone turns to look. Some even gawk, in a town where Lamborghinis are par for the course. The large wheels and racer stance apparently appeal to the automotive magpie in all of us. We collect stares and more than one dare from drivers of M-badged Teutons.
The factory-delivered Acura TSX is a perfectly pleasant vehicle, and therein lies its biggest flaw. In a world where enthusiasts buy only a small fraction of all cars sold, unless it says EVO or STi on the trunk, most four-door vehicles are made for and marketed to the convenience-seeking masses, to whom "comfy" is a synonym for "nice." Grandma Paule would be happy in the back seat of a stock TSX.
Flog the living snot out of one and it just won't return all that you hoped for, and with the promise offered by fully independent suspension and the i-VTEC K24 engine, you know that it could. Fortunately, Mugen from Japan and Comptec USA, perhaps the two premier Honda/Acura tuners in existence, offer a host of products to sharpen the TSX's teeth. In this article, we drive examples modified by both companies to see just what can be done with Acura's little sedan that should.
Hauling around a luxury car's load of leather and electronics, the TSX's tachometer needs to be reading red to make straight pieces of road exciting. Which we do voluntarily to hear the tone pinging through the Mugen titanium cans.
We head into the canyons and let the small lobes on the 2.4-liter's camshafts take a breather as we pound through sweeper after switchback in a sedan that shrinks with every turn. Mugen's suspension de-emphasizes the TSX's front-wheel-drive layout, which is always a good thing, and its limits are high enough to second-guess exploring them on the street.
It might have something to do with the lipstick-red paint, but the Comptech TSX has its own gravity, too, and the slight whine from the supercharger turns the heads of those in the know.
We return to the same stretch of riverbed, excited by the promise of tire-tearing power. Here, the Comptech TSX finds its limits sooner than the Mugen car, and scrubs speed with mild and manageable understeer. The blower's braying echoes off canyon walls, and we return to cruise the night.
Mugen PowertrainHonda is an anomaly in that its engines, often best in class and with the greatest specific output and lowest emissions, can still be coaxed to produce more power.
Mugen, Honda engines and Formula One all belong in the same sentence, meaning Mugen probably starts modifying new mills before we know they exist. Mugen delivers the kind of OEM fit and finish you'd expect from a company that produces F1 engines, and the company's TSX carbon-fiber cold-air box is functional, sexy and 5 pounds lighter than stock.
King Motorsports, the sole authorized U.S. distributor for Mugen, also sells the stainless-steel Comptech header that their techs installed on this car. Mugen's exhaust system-one that's 30 pounds lighter than the stock system-uses stainless-steel piping, a large center resonator and twin titanium mufflers to provide optimal exhaust flow and the signature Mugen sound. It's all business but not intrusive. Attached to the sweet six-speed transmission is Mugen's short shifter and billet shift knob.