This aggressive RSX was built to
cruise.
For many of us car guys (and girls) born in
the mid to late ‘80s, the release of the film The Fast and The Furious was kind
of a big deal. The customization of Japanese made cars had been catching on for
several years, bringing with it a steadily growing industry and community own a
car when the movie was released and consequently had to hitch a ride to the
theater it we wanted to see it. As the movie ended and we followed the crowd
out of the theater, the feeling of wanting a vehicle that we could call own
reached an all-time high, especially when seeing the older moviegoers walk to
their cars. The sounds of beeping alarms and barely muffled exhausts filled the
air while we waited for our moms to pick us up. Perhaps the time spent sitting
on that curb in front of the theater gave us a little more time to process what
we had just seen and really absorb the information that had been presented to
us. This world of shiny, fast cars and the crazy action surrounding the scene,
to our adolescent minds, was so impossibly perfect yet so real at the same
time. For Jose Guadalupe Ayala, his first time watching F&F was in Italy.
He recalls the unique body styling and low slung ride height of the cars in the
film inspiring him to one day build a similar machine. As a military kid, Jose
was moving around quite often having lived in four different states, Puerto
Rica (where he was born), and Italy. When his father retired from the service,
Jose’s family settled down in Florida, where they currently reside.
In
Type-S form, this Acura car is considerably more fun
Due to how often they moved, it didn’t make
sense for Jose to buy a car until his family settled down. When that time
finally came around, he was in college working toward his bachelor’s degree.
Although he was only 19, by holding off on buying a car, Jose had plenty of
time to accumulate a sizable car fund. When he was finally in the position to
make the purchase, Jose and his father researched available parts online and
performed some basic modifications. He purchased a set of wheels, tinted the
windows, and acquired an A-Spec rear spoiler. This simple setup, along with the
excitement of finally owning his own car, was enough to keep him satisfied for
a few months. Of course, as we all know, once you start modifying after Jose
graduated college and started working as an IT tech at a resort in Orlando. By
this time he was earning a steady income, which quickly translated into more
and more parts for his beloved RSX.
2006
Acura RSX front
Jose budgeted his finances well and quickly
started purchasing the fundamental parts, starting with Buddy Club N+
coilovers. He then went through several sets of wheels in the pursuit of the
look that he desired, but now he has his ride height set exactly where he
wanted. MB Motoring Weapons was the first set of wheels that he experimented
with, purchased in more less “standard” RSX sizing. He quickly realized that
they weren’t sitting nearly as close to the fenders as he wanted, so Jose sold
the Weapons and purchased a set of Rota Grids. The Rotas fit well, and Jose
liked the way they looked; however upon realizing that the design of the wheels
was anything but authentic or original, he quickly disposed of them and bought
a set of Volk Racing TE37s in the limited edition orange. Jose hung onto his
TE37s for a couple of years before finally selling them to purchase his latest
wheel setup, a set of CCW LM5s specifically made to fit the absolute widest
wheel under stock metal RSX fenders. Measuring at an insane 10 inches wide up
front and 10.5 inches wide in the rear, these wheels literally occupy every
available inch between the fenders and the coilovers – no small feat to say the
least.
For
the Type-S, Acura tunes the engine to bring horsepower up to 201 (at 7,800 rpm)
and 140 lb-ft of torque (at a lofty 7,000 rpm)
Jose will quickly point out that this car
is not meant for any sort of performance-oriented driving, stressing that it is
his car and he has the freedom to do with it as he pleases. Disregarding the
fact that this may be considered a paradox to other people, Jose decided he
wanted a K20Z1 from an RSX Type S in his base model. Although he may not have
technically needed the higher power output to cruise around the streets of
Kissimmee and Orlando, Jose knew what he wanted and made sure that he got it.
He started by sourcing a low-mileage engine and transmission (which ended up
taking three months of searching) and got straight to work, pulling the
original engine out and replacing it with the help of his friends and father.
During the swap, several select parts were added to the fresh K20 to support
the possible addition of a turbocharger in the future, after all driving feel
is one of the most important aspects of car ownership and modification.
