Is There a Way to boost the HP in a Non Type S MDX ?
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Nope. NAs are expensive to increase HP and Torque without being converted to force induction and having a turbo or supercharger installed.
To increase you would need to need to upgrade most or all of the internals of the J35 to see any power increase.
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It has mostly been turbos, superchargers, and sport hybrid powertrains for the NA 3.0L and 3.5L engines if you wanted more than +50 hp/tq. I don't think there are any ECU reflash for the current 3.5L DI engine like there was for the early/mid 2000 Port Injection 2.4L and 3.2L engines. I added a $300 Hondata reflash to my 2.3T 08 RDX and that added 26hp/33 tq and later added an ETS intercooler for another 14hp/17tq.
Best bet is something like ECU reflash and larger intercoolers for the MDX Type-S for +400 hp/tq down the road.
Best bet is something like ECU reflash and larger intercoolers for the MDX Type-S for +400 hp/tq down the road.
I’m of the understanding that Honda is squeezing about everything they can out of this motor on the scale of reasonableness. It’s older architecture - and as stated above - it’s N/A which is just a lot of effort in the form of ”bolt-ons” to get any discernible gains. I believe the motor is 280HP on Honda branded vehicles, and 290HP on Acura branded vehicles. But boy howdy, these J engines do sound good under moderate to heavy acceleration.
Roughly 20 years ago I bought a 1999 Dakota R/T. That truck was a riot and damn fun. I owned it for about 10 years. I put over $10k in bolt-ons onto the engine and a moderate remap/tune of the PCM to bring it all together. It ran a 15.1 @ 90mph stock and I got it down to 13.3 @ 102mph on its best day. Those were great days, but N/A motors are just a lot of effort and money to get reasonably little gains, but it’s a complete package too and one of those “sum of all the parts” type of thing. Sure, put a larger throttlebody on it, but if the manifold and heads aren’t optimized to handle the increased flow of that larger throttlebody (much less the injectors and PCM), you‘re not going to see much in the form of potential gains out of it.
Now that was an older pushrod engine, older software running direct injection, but with a fair amount of ”bolt-ons” and a mild tune, that thing could hang with coupes of the 90s and 00s.
Sadly, I just don’t think you’re gonna get anything discernible for your money on the 3.5L. I will say, after seeing a couple other posts here and on the TLX forums, I’m excited to see what the Type S 3.0L will get in the way of add-ons and PCM tunes. Looks like folks will keep car culture alive just a little longer on the Type S variants - I just hope the tranny holds up once people start pushing out 500hp (crank) out of the motor. I’ve still got my eye on that TLX Type S for a fun car…excited to see what PMC does with it in the coming years.
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The fwd 14-20 RLX 3.5L DI was rated at 310hp/272tq. I don't know what was different on the RLX 3.5L compared to 3rd Gen and 4th Gen 290hp versions? I thought Acura would use the RLX hp/tq for the 4th Gen MDX 3.5L since it came in at 200lbs-300lbs heavier weight compared to the 3rd Gen MDX.
Interesting for sure. Maybe they were trying to squeeze every piece of MPG they could out of the thing because they knew it was terrible already lol
Not really.
I was in Japan for 4 years working with Honda on their ECUs, specifically for the 3.5L and 3.7L V6.
They are master tuners (calibrators.) They wring as much HP and torque as possible out of those engines without sacrificing durability, emissions, and NVH.
I was in Japan for 4 years working with Honda on their ECUs, specifically for the 3.5L and 3.7L V6.
They are master tuners (calibrators.) They wring as much HP and torque as possible out of those engines without sacrificing durability, emissions, and NVH.
as the old saying goes, "the only subsitute for cubic inches is cubic dollars". Any more mfg have pretty much rung out as much HP as is reasonable and the old days of different exhaust, timing etc. to boost hp are long gone. Your already getting more than 1 HP/cubic inch displacement, which not that long ago was a major accomplishment for a normally aspirated engine.
Now one of my motorcycles is getting about 2.5 hp/cubic inch out of a NA engine. (>45 hp AT the rear wheels from 350cc). But they do that by spinning the motor to 11,000+ rpm. (HP=torque x rpm) Looking at the dyno graphs, IIRC it's down in the 1+ at 6,000rpm. similar to the MDX output/displacement
i hear that. I’m stuck at the “do I go to two cars and have the MDX and TLX-S, or do I just trade in at the end of my lease and go MDX-S?” Got a long while to think that one through…waiting for the TLX-S to get the digital gauge treatment and a couple other goodies before making that purchase.WOW, we went right off the Ranch. THX Guys. I'll wait for the Upgrade to a Type S, God Willing !!
I just wanna get back to my weekend track days and I prefer not to use my daily at a track and I feel kind funny carving up corners and straights in an SUV - although I guess that’s a thing these days..
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I've been happy with my 18 RLX Sport Hybrid (377hp/341tq) and 19 MDX Sport Hybrid (321hp/289tq). My MDX hybrid gets better mpgs and way better performance compared to my old 205hp 06 TSX Aspec with a 2.4L engine. I would 100% go for a +22 MDX Sport Hybrid OR they add the Sport Hybrid tech to the MDX Type-S down the road.
Same predicament here too. Do I keep my 17 as a daily driver and get the MDX Type S or move the 17 back as a weekend whip and cop something as a daily.
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Nah. IIRC you‘re on the younger side. Take the trade-in value, get that MDX Type S and enjoy the hell out of it.
Are you still doing that $30k worth of work that you were planning to that car? Haven’t heard about that for awhile.
That $30k is over time. Probably once i get into a better job and have a 2nd car. I am saving up to finish the ASPEC upgrades.
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Damn 30K is a lot to pour into a car that is already expensive just to buy!
Type S hybrid would probably be over 400 nags total. That would be fun.
With the used car market being what it is, the easiest way to increase HP is to sell the 3.5L MDX (you'll probably get about what you paid for it) and buy a Type S MDX. Unlike aftermarket mods, it will also preserve most of what you spend for the upgrade in increased market value of the car.
It sounds like OP doesn’t what to spend a whole lot of money. Buying a new car is not a practical option.
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