Acura TL Aero Kit - Wrenchin'

Honda Tuning has taken heat in the past for our decidedly body kit-unfriendly stance. What can we say? We're race fans and performance geeks. While racecars generally rely on aero tweaks to achieve better traction, the truth is a lot of what's available to the public is junk. Don't believe us? Look at the kit companies that have gone the way of the dodo in the last few years; they didn't get there by offering quality product.

The most egregious of sins is the use of double-sided tape to secure parts. Whoever thought of that should be shot. Shoddy mounting techniques aside, we take umbrage with other practices of body kit makers, namely that the kits are mass-produced with little regard for a good fit. Hopefully companies like RonJon Sport Design will force the market to change its ways (see sidebar on page 81).

Behold our gratuitous "before"...        read full caption Behold our gratuitous "before" shot. The TL has been lowered a tad with a set of Eibach springs, but save that and the 19-inch RonJon Inspyre silver metallic alloy rims and Hankook rubber at all four corners, the exterior remains unchanged.	We'll begin at the front bumper....        read full caption We'll begin at the front bumper. One of the unique qualities of the RSD kit is the mesh in all the openings is removable, secured with screws and not epoxy-the way many other companies do it. Every opening has mesh, not just the front ones.	To pull off the bumper, Nguyen...        read full caption To pull off the bumper, Nguyen first has to remove this upper front cover and the surrounding plastic panels from under the hood. It's held in with a handful of clips, which reminds us: if you plan on doing this upgrade or something similar, you should invest in a panel popper to remove the plethora of clips that need to come out for the install.
Along the outer edges of the...        read full caption Along the outer edges of the front wheel wells is another set of clips that come out.	Like almost every Honda front...        read full caption Like almost every Honda front clip we've ever taken off, there is a single screw in each well at the uppermost corner of the bumper. Nguyen unscrews them both.	We like that the O.E. grille...        read full caption We like that the O.E. grille can be reused with the RonJon kit. Most of the factory trim is unsnapped from the stock front clip with minimal effort.

For this second part of Serenity Sound Performance's TL project, proprietor Thai Nguyen picked up a RonJon kit for the third-gen luxury sedan. The setup includes polyurethane front and rear bumpers and side skirts, some sheet-metal mesh for the openings, and unique hardware that works in conjunction with the O.E. mounting hardware and allows a certain level of adjustability to dial in the perfect fit. All of the parts come unfolded in what looks like a refrigerator box.

More importantly is how these parts fit, which amazed us. The seams look flawless, every piece feels solid, and even the design of the kit plays entirely off the natural lines of the TL. This is good stuff.

RonJon
Sport Design
The brainchild of 26-year-old graphic designer Rondy Marji, RonJon Sport Design engineers all of its products exclusively for Hondas and Acuras. Marji named the business after his son and got the idea to start a wheel/aero company after previous experiences doing commercial art for some super-luxury brands in the wheel biz. In return for services rendered by these wheel sellers, Marji would typically get a set of wheels as part of his payment, but disappointingly none of the wheels ever fit his '01 CL Type-S well. The lug centric rollers would cause vibrations, the weird offsets would rub, in some applications luxo rims wouldn't clear big brakes-Marji was having no luck at all.

"They really don't care about fitment, they just care about chrome and selling quantities."

To accommodate the bumper's...        read full caption To accommodate the bumper's unique mounting system, Nguyen has to remove the bumper spacers on either side of the nose.	Under the bumper, two more...        read full caption Under the bumper, two more clips are popped out.	The only part of the front...        read full caption The only part of the front grille that doesn't unsnap is the Acura badge in the center, which is secured with a couple of screws from behind.
Here's part of the reason...        read full caption Here's part of the reason RonJon's kits fit so remarkably well: in critical areas the mounting hardware has actually been embedded into the polyurethane.	At this point the front end...        read full caption At this point the front end is ready to come off. Nquyen carefully tugs at the piece until it's totally free. It is recommended that installers get help for this part, not because the bumper is heavy but because the finish can be easily scratched or damaged.	Once the bumper is in place...        read full caption Once the bumper is in place Nguyen can secure it with the included thumbscrews. The screws also adjust the depth of the panel.