Acura TLX GT Race Car: First Drive

What is Acura?

You know it as a more expensive division of Honda, which probably makes you think of an Accord, which leads you to imagine a Toyota Camry, which in turn reminds you of a grocery store.

But Honda isn’t a grocery store. Honda was birthed from racing, and while its current product lineup may not suggest it, these traits should be felt in every single car it makes.

I recently drove the new all-wheel-drive Acura TLX sedan up to Gingerman raceway in western Michigan: It doesn’t try to tear your nipple off with its claws, but then it doesn’t sing “Kumbaya” and float like its swathed in bubble wrap. It’s somewhere in between Lexus-luxury and BMW-bravado — and that’s perhaps why it’s hard for some to identify with the Acura brand.

I enjoyed driving the TLX a lot. It feels sensible and grown up, with a subtle edge for those times when you revert to being a teenage idiot. The sensible part may not be everyone’s cup of chai — especially against the mighty Germans — but while its emotionless styling does leave you feeling chilly, it drives with refinement and an underlying nod to the brand’s performance heritage.

Plus there’s a TLX out there with more bite than any German rocket can handle, just in case you want more.

The car you see above is the Acura TLX GT. It’s a race car that’s based on the production TLX — and it competes against Ferraris and McLarens and Lamborghinis and Porsches and Audis and Bentleys. It began its life as a $31,000 sedan and now it’s taking on supercars, some of which retail for closer to $300,000.

And it’s already won a race.

Naturally you can’t buy this car — sorry if you felt teased (although if Acura did sell it to race teams expect a cost of around $450,000) — and it’s also not street legal. It was designed to run in the GT category of the Pirelli World Challenge, America’s premier sports car series for sprint events. It is the only non-FIA GT3 car in the field, meaning it isn’t eligible to compete in other FIA-sanctioned races around the world. But by not being FIA homologated, it can retain the brand’s all-wheel-drive system — something that’s important from a marketing perspective and illegal for GT3-homologated machines.

I drove the production AWD TLX up to Gingerman so I could drive the TLX GT race car. I’ve been on the same track at the same time as the TLX GT before, like during its first ever race last year at Mid Ohio (I was in an older Corvette) and more recently at COTA when I drove an Audi R8 GT3. During these times I’ve watched the RealTime Racing team improve their Acura tenfold, with Peter Cunningham and Ryan Eversley at the wheel. A recent restrictor change has allowed the team to be more competitive, and Eversley is laying a stellar 5th in points.

That’s mighty impressive for a new machine taking on a bunch of established supercar-makers. But what’s it like to drive?

Click play to watch some on-board action

We were only given two sessions, each consisting of just three laps (one out, one timed, and one in lap). That’s barely enough to scratch the surface; fortunately I’d driven the track before and have experience with machines of similar performance.

My initial take was that it understeers quite a bit, but the all-wheel-drive offsets that by delivering incredible low-speed punch out of the turns. The steering is eerily light and the throttle pedal hits the floor with just the slightest of grazes, reminding you that this car demands to be driven wide open.

It’s hard to explain to those who haven’t driven a purpose-built race car worth almost half a million bucks how different it feels compared to a production car, but here’s a form of reference for you to stew on:

In 2012 I did a comparison test at Gingerman for Automobile Magazine using a 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and a 2013 Shelby Mustang GT500. The 662-horsepower ‘Stang lapped the track in 1 minute 45.21 seconds, while the 580-horsepower Camaro managed it in an even more impressive 1 minute 44.53 seconds.

After just two timed laps in the TLX GT, I lapped the exact same track in the low 1 minute 30 second range, and there were several seconds I could have shaved off if I would have had more time to figure out the car. That’s nearly 15 seconds faster, despite having less horsepower. Or, in other words, the TLX GT would pass the GT500 and ZL1 every seven laps.

Acura says the TLX GT boasts around 600 horsepower from its massaged 3.5-liter twin turbo V-6 engine, but it has a restrictor that probably limits it to around 550 in what race series call the “Balance of Performance” among all manufacturers. Weight is governed too; in the case of the Audi R8 LMS Ultra, to around 2,700 lbs. Acura hasn’t stated what its weight limit is, but figure the all-wheel-drive system weighs a healthy chunk (Audi runs rear-drive only).

Still, that’s an exceptional power-to-weight ratio and it’s rewarded with a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds. But what’s most impressive about this car — and all race cars in this class — is the cornering grip. Pirelli P Zero racing slicks are used along with a carbon-fiber front splitter, some winglets and a giant rear wing. Six-piston front brakes and 4-piston rears ensure you can brake a good 50 yards later than any high-end production car, and the relative lack of roll from the suspension keeps it glued to the road.

Does it feel like the production TLX?

Not at all, but then it wouldn’t, would it? It may be based on that car, and share many of the same components, but the TLX GT is an entirely different animal. It doesn’t feel like a Ferrari or any high-end production car, either. All top race machines that are based on street-legal cars feel as alien as writing with your wrong hand. Just watch the on-board video above: everything is so raw and tactile — and noisy.

One of the few areas where the TLX GT is completely different from the production model is in the gearbox. Gone is the standard automatic, replaced by a 6-speed sequential operated via steering wheel-mounted paddles. This box was built by Xtrac and originally designed for Dakar competition, so needless to say it’s bulletproof. And every time you click the paddle it does sound (and feel) like shooting a rifle; it’s also quicker and more direct than any production gearbox on the market, by a healthy margin too.

In all, the car is spectacular — as you’d expect from a custom-built race car. Most importantly, along with the new Acura NSX arriving in showrooms soon, it reminds us of Honda/Acura’s performance legacy. The brand is back in Formula One with McLaren, the same combination made famous by Prost and Senna. It races cars (and bikes) all across the world, in many different series. It was originally a company formed by Soichiro Honda that sold cars to the public to help fund its racing endeavors.

And that’s what Acura should be. The more machines it creates like the wildly awesome TLX GT race car, the more the average consumer will understand that as well. Make a street legal TLX GT to rival the BMW M3 and they won’t just understand, they might even convert.