Acura RLX Tuning

"Tuning guide to the best Acura RLX modifications."

The RLX originally shipped with a 310bhp  3.5 L Earth Dreams J35Y4 V6 engine.

The RLX model was firmly aimed at the executive and family drivers who enjoy driving and don't want to compromise. A RLX sport hybrid was introduced in 2013.

We review RLX tuning and highlight the best upgrades. Acura RLXs have loads of potential and with the ultimate tuning upgrades you can substantially improve your driving experience.

The powercell hybrid capabilities boost power output to a heady 277hp adn 341lb-ft of torque.

The double wishbone front suspension was well setup and thought out adn the rear uses a multi link suspension setup with all wheel steer making the car feel and handle like a much smaller model.

The RLX is a good car modification project to execute. We see DIY mechanics wasting money on their RLX doing the wrong mods and then having to start over. Follow our tips to avoid wasting your money

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

Our aim in engine tuning should be to increase peak bhp at the top end.

Following our tips for modding your RLX you will create a practical scorching car that will potentially out perform bigger cars.

Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.

Engine Tuning.

Typically these tuning modifications are usually fitted by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you start.

Getting the correct grade of performance upgrade kits for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Please watch TorqueCars Video tutorial on car tuning. And be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Guide to the Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

  1. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    If the intake or exhaust are restricted in any way this will have an impact on your cars performance, so use an induction kit/filter upgrade and better flowing exhaust whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction.

  2. Mods that Improve Handling

    Braking, Suspension and general alignment of the suspension components is vital for any tuning project even before you start increasing power.

  3. Fit Stronger Parts

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  4. ECU Tunes & Remapping

    While some cars can be easily remapped, others may require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project as it fully releases the power from all of your mods and upgrades. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  5. More Power Needs More Fuel & Air

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise. Fuel to Air ratio is vital so upgrade the fuel pump & injectors. Also you can look to perform head mods (flowing and porting), bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades to improve fuel.

Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Remap, Panel air filter, Alloy wheels.

Stage 2 mods: high flow fuel injector, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 mods: Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam.

You need to keep as much low end torque as possible and aim to get a long power band rather than a narrow top end power spike.

In this article we shall give your a good starting base to the best mods for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance upgrade.One of the biggest mechanical tuning parts you can do to your NASP engine is to fit a fast road cam .

It improves the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a remap. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to pay attention to the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Frequently power losses, and erratic idling after tuning upgrades are done can usually be traced to fuel delivery or timing issues.Improved injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

If have increased your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Contrary to popular belief there is often a small power gain obtained by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you boost the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Derestricting the air flow into the engine is a primary goal of car tuners so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and usually rob you of power.

Sports exhausts equal out the flow of air through the engine. But if the exhaust is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of your flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Head work including a gas flow and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. In nearly all cases of RLX tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our guide on clutches for more information. The best mods we recommend for your RLX are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Remaps offer impressive power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a remap on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharging applications and making some seriously high power figures.

Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. Turbos are often harder to add than a supercharger. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it more challenging to map.

The nice directly proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them more straightforward to map. Alternatively you could fit water injection to cut down knock.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for loads of people first priority in your RLX tuning project.

Good suspension tweaks that often enhance handling for the RLX include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe out on the front wheels.

We suggest that you fit motorsport suspension and lower the car by 25mm - 40 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Because alloys are lighter they improve performance and they can help to cool the brake disks. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tyres) for your car, a good directional tread pattern tyre can really enhance your cars handling. The drawback to large alloys on your RLX is that you're changing your effective final drive ratio so this will have a detrimental effect on performance.

Because of this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have with bigger wheels with no problems.

There is a more updated version of this Acura RLX Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss RLX options in more detail with our RLX owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Acura tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered.

We really do love seeing our visitors car projects and which mods work best for them, this site is very much a community effort, and we remind our visitors of our non profit non commercial approach to running this site.

All of your comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually revised, tweaked and updated.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

PLEASE HELP: I NEED YOUR DONATIONS TO COVER THE COSTS OF RUNNING THIS SITE AND KEEP IT RUNNING. I do not charge you to access this website and it saves most TorqueCars readers $100's each year - but we are NON PROFIT and not even covering our costs. To keep us running PLEASE Donate here

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.

Feedback - What do You Think?

Please use our forums if you wish to ask a tuning question, and please note we do not sell parts or services, we are just an online magazine.

Help us improve, leave a suggestion or tip

Your Constructive comments on this article, I really want to improve this article with your help and suggestions.


Please watch this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel.



Member Benefits

Join our forum today and benefit from over 300,000 posts on tuning styling and friendly car banter.

You will also have full access to the modifed car gallery, project car updates and exclusive member only areas.

(All car owners of all ages and from all countries are welcome).