How Acura Turned a Minivan into an IMSA Prototype
While the Daytona Prototype international class in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship may not look much like a typical production vehicle with all its winglets, air intakes and shark fins, these rocket ships have more in common with some street cars than one might think.
That’s because when you look under the engine cowling, Acura’s ARX-05 prototype bears a pretty close resemblance to what you’d find under the hood of some of Honda and Acura’s street cars.
Yes, even the ones hauling four kids and a golden retriever to soccer practice.
The ARX-05 is powered by a 3.5-liter twin turbocharged V-6, which is based on the engine you’d find in an Acura TLX, Honda Accord, Ridgeline, or even an Odyssey. While tuned to put out more than 600 horsepower, the blocks for the AR35TT (the name of the modified engine) come directly from the production line at the Anna, Ohio engine plant, where it’s built right alongside those that end up shuttling kids to their piano lessons.
Hagerty’s Bozi Tatarevic did a deep dive on the AR35TT’s production car roots, so head over there to read up on how Honda Performance Development turned a minivan into race-winning sportscar.
