Aftermarket Upgrades to the RDX!

[scottRDX]

I'm really excited, yesterday I bought some aftermarket parts for the RDX.

Actually, the first thing I bought is an accessory. It's a leather covered shift knob. I bought it from Shawn at Son's Acura, and he gave me a great price on it. I think it will dress up the interior very nicely.

The one I'm really excited about though is the XCel cold air intake from
CP-E (Custom Performance Engineering) that I bought. They've been working on this for several months now and they claim to have freed up around 16 HP. Plus, the sound is nice. Here is a you tube video of a prototype:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCk2ShJ4Ss

I'm not very mechanically inclined, so I may be posting on here for some help with the install, lol.:wrench:

[nsxt2000]

This is interesting. I am going to check it out to see if and how it can apply to my NSX.

Share with us your impressions.
-Mike S.

[scottRDX]

My leather covered shift knob arrived today from Son's Acura, and I took some before and after pics for you all to see.

Leather covered shift knob and parts:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Accessories/CIMG0097.jpg

Before pic of plastic shift knob:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Accessories/CIMG0098.jpg

Halfway done, old shift knob removed (just a little nervous here):
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Accessories/CIMG0103.jpg

And new leather covered shift knob! Definately worthwile upgrade imo:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Accessories/CIMG0104.jpg

[nsxt2000]

The leather knob sets it off and it looks like a relatively easy installation.
-Mike S.

[Randy]

Good stuff Scott!

the MDX shift knobs are a popular seller and very similiar to the RDX!!

Looks great!!

I am very interested to hear your review of the CAI!!!

[scottRDX]

The leather knob sets it off and it looks like a relatively easy installation.
-Mike S.

Trust me, if I could do it, then anybody could do it, very easy install.

It looks like it will be about 2 more weeks before I get my CAI. I will keep you all posted when I get it.

[scottRDX]

The CP-E CAI arrived today! WooHoo! Thank you Paula for expiditing my order so quickly. Thanks also to my 11 year old son who is way more mechanically inclined than I am. Because of him, it only took me an hour to install it instead of probably never if he hadn't helped me, lol!

First impressions: I've only driven around a few minutes, so these are just my initial impressions. At idle, it sounds almost stock. It still sounds refined and quiet. But oh my lord can you hear the turbo when it kicks in! It almost sounds like a blow off valve only not as loud when you come off boost. WOT sounds really, really nice, not too loud, but smooth with a nice four cylinder wail. The only thing that sounds a little off is at partial boost. It's hard to describe the sound, kind of like a hollow whoosh sound. You can hear it a little in the videos. The butt dyno tells me it's definately making more horsepower. There also seems to be less turbo lag, not that there was much to begin with.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality and fit and finish of the CP-E CAI. Cheers to everyone at CP-E!

Pics of the install:

This is the kit.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall003.jpg

Stock intake.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall007.jpg

Intercooler cover removed.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall009.jpg

pic of airbox, battery, and resonator box removed. This was the hardest part of the project because the resonator is tucked away in a really tight space.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall011.jpg

[scottRDX]

Here is all the parts to the stock intake, I probably removed almost 10 lbs from the engine bay, lol!

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall014.jpg

New CAI installed before battery installed.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall015.jpg

And everything put back together, yes!

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall017.jpg

Closeup of new airfilter.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/CP-ECAIInstall019.jpg

[scottRDX]

Here are a series of videos of stock and CP-E Intakes. First of all, remember, these videos were made for the sound, not picture quality. Ok, so I'm not so good at taking videos, but you try holding a camera, manually shifting, dodging cyclers, and going around switchbacks, lol! Oh, and you might want to grab some Dramamine, you might get a little quoozey, lol.

First two are stock intake:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/th_CIMG0108.jpg (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/?action=view&current=CIMG0108.flv)

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/th_CIMG0109.jpg (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/?action=view&current=CIMG0109.flv)

Next two are CP-E CAI:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/th_CIMG0166.jpg (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/?action=view&current=CIMG0166.flv)

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/th_CIMG0170.jpg (http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd200/scottRDX/RDX%20Mods/?action=view&current=CIMG0170.flv)

[Randy]

Great vids Scott,thanks for posting them.

Your engine sounds really nice with the CAI!!!

I couldn't help but chuckle from the first video,it sounded like you laughed a little when taking the corner and the camera got away from you.Maybe next time a little commentating would be good.:D


You had alot of obstacles too,not many cars but bikes everywhere.

Nice job!!:)

[Randy]

Your DIY on the intake should have it's own section and maybe add the vids too.If you ever get bored why don't you start a DIY thread so members can see how its done and find it easily.

[scottRDX]

Your DIY on the intake should have it's own section and maybe add the vids too.If you ever get bored why don't you start a DIY thread so members can see how its done and find it easily.

Maybe you could show me how to do that. Not sure exactly what you mean. Thanks Randy.

Oh, and thanks for the nice comments. I couldn't help, but laugh at myself when I was trying to do 20 diff. things at once. Ha ha!

[Randy]

Hmm well actually,I just noticed there isn't a DIY section on the forum!!!

Maybe we should set something up!