Spoon Creates a Racing Acura RL

Every tuner out there has heard of Spoon. Let us see what they did to this Acura.

- In the world of Honda tuning, Spoon Sports has earned a reputation for making genuine improvements on the base product. Not an easy thing if you take into account Honda already builds its engines to high standards. Think of the B18 and K20 units that push out well in excess of 100 hp per liter. How can you possibly improve on this without compromising longevity and usability? We have all heard stories of people bolting on pod filters and large bore exhausts to their Integras and S2000s in the pursuit of power gains and then achieving the exact opposite. You certainly cannot disrupt the fine-tuning and precise balance between intake and exhaust on high-compression naturally aspirated engines. And it is precisely this way of thinking that has pushed Spoon to further fine-tune these powerplants, rather than "disturb" their natural balance. We met with Tatsuru Ichishima, president of Spoon Sports, at a tuner track day at Fuji Speedway to chat more about his company and in particular its latest and strangest project, which debuted at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in December. Spoon has an S2000 hard-top racer that competes in Super Taikyu and provides valuable feedback that can then be applied to parts offered in the consumer market. But the latest project has little to do with the kind of cars Spoon customarily deals with. Forget low-slung lightweight racers, Spoon has taken it upon itself to transform Acuras flagship luxury sedan, the RL, into a stripped-out endurance racer. Strange yes, but only until you begin to examine the fundamentals. The RL is the first production car in the world to feature a technology straight from WRC cars, the torque vectoring all-wheel-drive system Honda calls Super Handling-All Wheel Drive. Essentially an advanced, computer-controlled four-wheel-drive system, SH-AWD apportions varying levels of torque to each of the four wheels to accomplish any kind of handling characteristic that may be required. Spoon has embraced this project, completely stripping out the interior to shave an almost unbelievable 990 pounds from the RL, which now tips the scales at 2866 pounds. The alloy J35A engine has been rebuilt by Spoon to finer tolerances and mated to a Spoon exhaust system and manifolds. It is all controlled by a special ECU and produces a maximum output of 320 hp. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill started off great for the Spoon team, but a few hours into the race the RL hit some debris out on the track, which caused pretty much irreparable damage to the electrical system. In true Japanese spirit, the RL was sent back out to finish the race, which it did in 54th place. Not a great debut for the luxury racer, but Spoon is trying to get back on track and compete in this years Nurburgring 24 Hour Rennen in June, a sometimes wet race that could be perfect for that SH-AWD.

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