Acura ILX Endurance Racer

Developed and prepared by Team Honda Research-West, a competition version of the new 2013 Acura ILX will be unveiled the 2012 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, prior to making its competition debut at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race.

A pair of E1 class Acura ILX sedans, prepared to NASA U.S. Touring Car specs, will be entered for the traditional 25-hour endurance race that annually concludes the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) season at the challenging three-mile Thunderhill road course north of Sacramento, California.

Team Honda Research-West (THR-W) is primarily made up of Torrance, California-based associates from Honda R&D Americas, Inc., who work after-hours to showcase Honda and Acura products on the track. The team received a pair of new Acura ILX "body in white" bare chassis earlier this year from Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC, the exclusive global production source for the model. Additionally, a pair of "donor" cars from American Honda Motor Co., Inc. was used to provide suspension, powertrain, interior and electronic components.

Once the chassis and donor cars were delivered to the THR-W workshop, an extensive build program commenced that included the use of as many OEM components as possible, to retain serviceability and test outright durability of Acura's newest sedan. In preparing the cars for the grueling Thunderhill event, THR-W members focused their efforts less on performance modifications and more on reducing vehicle weight, to achieve the performance targets set by the team.

http://www.netcarshow.com/acura/2013-ilx_endurance_racer/