Timeless Luxury Performance

Anyone who’s known me for a while understands that I love cars and builds that are unusual, different and just plain weird. Anyone customizing an AMC Marlin, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 or Chevy Laguna are the types I’m in search for. There is a reason you don’t see many of these at your local car show or publicized on the national stage. These typically fall into 4 categories, there’s not many left, parts are impossible to find, the aftermarket doesn’t support it and are just hard to build. Enter in Jonah’s 2004 Acura TL, a luxury vehicle stuck in a transitional time from the early 2000’s that does not possess many of the modern amenities and isn’t quite old enough to be considered a classic collectable car. A timeless design paired with bulletproof Honda engineering and a luxury interior makes this the perfect platform to build something completely unique and not break the bank while doing it.

The 2004 TL 6-Speed Base platform that Jonah chose isn’t your average boring luxury automatic grocery getter, no boys and girls, this is the undercover enthusiast version. Don’t be fooled by the “base,” moniker that comes along with this TL, the 3.2-liter SOHC 24-valve aluminum V-6 made 258 horsepower at 6200 rpm and 238 pound-feet of torque. With the competition of the Infiniti G35, Cadillac CTS, Lexus IS300, and of course, the BMW, the TL was the only front wheel drive performance luxury 4 door from the era. However with the six-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip differential, Brembo four-piston front calipers matched with a motor that only made 20 less horsepower than the NSX from the same era, you got a luxury vehicle that could keep up with sports cars of the era…that was 16 years ago…and before Jonah got his hands on it…

When I first laid eyes on Jonah’s creation I was struck by the overall looks of the 16 year old design. Not surprising, as I once owned a 2002 RSX Type-S, and similar to the TL had a timeless design with the hard lines that made both cars look like weapons. To enhance the exterior design Jonah mixed and matched Type S and A-Spec body panels to create a one off body kit the Honda factory would be proud of. To add an even more sporty look Jonah custom built a front and rear splitter with an integrated diffuser, both of which have been requested by multiple TL owners to replicate for their car…this is part where we stop the music and tell you which of the 4 categories the TL falls under, and I can’t emphasize this enough, THERE IS NO AFTERMARKET SUPPORT FOR THIS CAR…Now that you know that, most of the parts on the TL are bespoke that Jonah either created from scratch or had to engineer to fit on the vehicle. The once Anthracite Metallic color has been covered in a Gloss Cloudy Blue Avery Dennison wrap, that Jonah installed himself after watching a few YouTube videos. In pictures the TL looks white however when seen in the sunlight and against the orange accent colors brings out the blue. Jonah chose orange as an accent color because, “I remembered from my art classes that orange and blue were complementary colors,” further solidifying Jonah put many hours of thought into the build. The black and carbon fiber accents on the handles, canards, side markers, front grill, and rear trunk all come together to perfectly complement the original Honda design. Last but not least the rear low profile spoiler adds to the flow of the car giving it a custom touch without ruining the design with a huge wing.

That was the show, and for an unfortunate few ***cough*** Subaru boys, Jonah has the go to back it up. If Jonah had basic bolt-on power adders this would be a clean mild street build but thankfully he contracted the performance bug and decided to take this TL to the next level. Rather than go the turbo route that seems to be all the craze, and rightfully so, Jonah decided a centrifugal supercharger was the way to go. The Rotrex supercharger is mated to the stock internal J32A3 and takes up the room where the A/C compressor once was. The new filter has been rerouted because, being an engineer, Jonah noticed it was pulling hot air coming off the pre-cats (the terminology is covered in the podcast) and flipped it therefore lowering intake air temps. The Stage 1 kit design and support came from Andy at Gerzy Bear Performance in Ohio and runs on 9psi. The AEM 340 fuel pump mounted in the OEM sending unit keeps enough fuel pumping through the motor at boost. The motor has been fully detailed, accented perfectly with the orange and black paint and was featured on a recent episode of Jonah’s YouTube channel. Jonah upgraded to a smaller radiator cooling off the high intake temperatures the TL was experiencing giving it the most dense air to feed the boosted motor. The transmission is completely stock minus the Spec Stage 3 clutch upgrade to handle all of the additional horsepower. The tune was done by Derek Robinson with Innovative Motorworks with the Hondata Flash Pro and keeps everything happy. All of this equates to somewhere around 420hp to the wheels and will be backed up next year with a few dyno pulls.

Jonah’s previous “stance life” allowed him to nail the ride height on the car. He’s sitting on Tein Street Advanced coilovers with the wheel and tires sitting right below rolled and slightly pulled fenders. The factory front Brembo brakes looks great behind the ESR RF 15 18x9.5 +22 wheels wrapped in Hankook RS4s 265/35/18 rubber that match the body accents perfectly. Jonah said he would like to go lower and also wants to track the car a little more. I’m certain he will find the right height for both form and function.

The interior is almost completely stock minus the short shifter and gauges to ensure all the air/fuel and boost stays at a safe level. However, Jonah has plans to upgrade everything to match the performance and exterior upgrades. Corbeu RRX seats are on order to keep him planted in his seat when he takes the car to the track and in true home built fashion he sourced a full black interior swap from a junk yard. The back seats will be taken out and a custom one off rear seat delete will be fabricated by Jonah. He will keep the performance theme and not add any additional weight to the car with a big sound system.

If you can believe it, the TL has over 170K miles however doesn’t look or perform like an older vehicle. When we took a test ride you could tell the build was well thought out. There were no weird creaks and rattles that you typically see in a higher mileage car. When Jonah gets into the boost the wastegate closes and the whine of the supercharger puts you back into your seat in a linear fashion. The supercharger allows for the power to be felt all the way through the powerband and doesn’t change when the VTEC kicks in. Even on a wet day the car was well mannered in the lower gears with the typical torque steer associated with higher horsepower front wheel drive cars. Coilovers matched with 35 series rubber I expected a harsher ride, however Jonah nailed the ride quality and is what you expect out of a luxury car.

The beautiful styling from the factory mixed with tasteful upgrades make this one of the most unique and copied TL’s out there. Upgrades Jonah has planned are porting and polishing a Type-S manifold, by himself of course, and an injector swap to feed more fuel and air to the motor and push the duty cycle to the 6800rpm range. Jonah is shooting for the 500hp range and feels comfortable attaining this mark by upgrading to an E85 system with some additional tuning on stock internals. Upgrades on the exhaust and a smaller supercharger pulley to pump up to boost will allow the TL to breath deeper and exhale faster.

It was refreshing talking with Jonah, at 26 years old he is using his schooling and profession by applying it in his 7-1/2’ tall garage. The next generation of true car builders are still out there creating unique vehicles with their hands instead of throwing parts at it from a catalog. Jonah said that he prefers to work with smaller companies because they bring more unique and interesting parts to the market. I am excited to see the next round of upgrades that he has planned for the car! You can follow his build on his YouTube Channel JSant033, he also has great taste in R&B music a personal favorite of mine. You can find him on instagram @base6mt or @jonah.santiago, Jonah Santiago on Facebook or mobbing around the Pittsburgh, PA area. If you have additional questions for Jonah hit him up on social media or email the podcast radridespodcast@gmail.com.