The car manufacturer Acura will be represented in this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb by as many as four vehicles, including an RDX crossover SUV, two TLX sedans and an NSX hybrid supercar.
The TLX GT sedan is going to be the most powerful of the four entries. It may look deceptively like its mass-issue counterpart, but comes with substantial improvements under the hood. Just to name a few, the Pikes Peak edition of the Acura TLX GT features a brand-new suspension design, tubular front chassis, and a 600hp / 370kW longitudinal engine. The vehicle has been modded by RealTime Racing and will be piloted by Peter Cunningham, an award-winning Pikes Peak participant.
Another sedan model, the Acura TLX A-Spec, hasn’t strayed as far from its production counterpart. The technicians have boosted its six-cylinder engine to 500 hp / 370 kW, installed an automatic diff lock and swapped its rear wing and splitter with better ones. The vehicle will be driven by engineer Nick Robinson, five times participant of the Race to the Clouds.
The Acura NSX supercar only comes with minimal changes and will therefore compete in the Time Attack 1 short-distance category. It is lighter than the series-produced version and packs a stronger supercharger duo, but is otherwise identical. It will be manned by James Robinson, engineer and brother of Nick Robinson, who has taken part in the same race 8 times before.
Last but not least, the Acura RDX crossover/SUV enters the competition with its stock engine performance raised from 272 to 350 hp (203 to 261 kW) and its engine control firmware modified to redistribute some of the torque towards the rear axle. It has also received a mild hybrid system to help it out with the altitude changes. The steering wheel goes to Honda’s engineer Jordan Guitar this time around, a rally enthusiast.
All Pikes Peak participants are facing a spiraling 20-kilometer (12.42-mile) long mountain track with 156 turns and changes in altitude reaching 1,400 meters (4,600 ft).
One of the crowd favorites of this year’s event is Volkswagen’s famous racing pilot Romain Dumas, who enters the competition with an extremely powerful custom-built vehicle and stand good chances of claiming the top prize.
Photo: motor1.com