It was the end of the 2003 season, and Hot Import Nights had its final show of the year at the Miami Beach Convention Center. We all expected the usual Hot Import Nights end of season show, but we were definitely caught off guard. As all the locals rolled in expecting to see the usual cars all over again, two black Honda spectacles rolled in through the rear bay doors sporting “The Lonestar State” license plates. Now that only means two things, either you’ve watched “Spaceballs” too many times, or your from the state of Texas, where “Everything is bigger.” Jesse Walker’s 2002′ Acura RSX Type-S rolled in just ahead of Leo Ferdian’s 2002 Honda S2000, when the entire convention center stopped what they were doing to watch these black beauties roll in.
Walker had called us a few days prior to leaving to Miami, so we were somewhat prepared for his arrival with the guys from www.jspek.com where we had seen pics of the cars before they had arrived at the convention center. As Leo and Jesse set up their cars, it seemed like they had a never ending display set up, showing up even some of the locals, and these guys were all the way from Texas! This was the first time we had met Jesse Walker, and his RSX-S and boy did he leave a first impression.
Honestly, I wish I could write this entire article without a single word, because words do not even begin to describe the cleanliness of Jesse Walkers RSX-S. I had been telling Neil Tjin about this car since I had first seen it in December 2003, and he just couldn’t believe the way I was going on about this car. When Gene Tjin made his way out to Texas to shoot the car, he called me and was totally speechless, a feeling I was all too familiar with.
Since 2003 Walker’s RSX-S has undergone some major changes, starting with the most obvious, the full color change to custom Gold Micro Pearl paint. Walker’s decision to paint the car was difficult, he knew that he had to find the perfect paint shop to make his car shine. After consulting with Dwayne at F+F Autobody, Walker had made his decision and was ready for paint. The Gold Micro Pearl paint covers all exterior modifications including the genuine Mugen front aero bumper, matching Mugen side skirts, and a JDM Type-R rear lip. Walker decided to shed some unwanted weight by adding a ViS carbon fiber hood that was also color matched to the car. All reminiscence of Acura emblems were ridded and replaced with OEM Honda badges that keep the theme alive with a set of JDM Type-R headlights and Type-R window visors. Completing the exterior modification list are a set of carbon fiber Signal Auto side view mirrors that aid in the aerodynamics department and a JDM rear wiper eliminator plug for added excitement.
Upon entrance into this golden spectacle, a matching set of Mugen SP1 bucket seats greet you with open arms, these seats are held in place with a set of red Mugen seat brackets that give these seats a little flare to accentuate the interior. While everything else is being held in place, a set of bright green Takata racing harnesses do their job of making sure the driver is secured in the proper racing position, these Takata racing harnesses are completed by a set of memory gel shoulder pads for that extra comfort when Walker takes his car to its limits. Once Walker is strapped in the proper racing position, he takes control of the vehicle via a suede Mugen steering wheel attached to an aluminum Mugen steering wheel boss that give the driver controls an aggressive look. Footwork is taken care of courtesy a set of Mugen pedals to rid of any slippery occurrences. Lurking just behind the Mugen steering wheel is a genuine JDM Type-R cluster that goes along with the rest of the rare JDM Type-R goodies that were scattered across the interior of Walker’s RSX. JDM Type-R carpet was installed to match the bright red JDM Type-R door panels and JDM window switches that sit just north of the JDM Type-R door sills, the stock leather rear seat was discarded and replaced by a JDM Type-R rear seat. Even the smallest details were not overlooked by Walker, to the naked or untrained eye these small accessories may go undetected but Walker knew exactly what he was doing when he put this interior together. The stock emergency brake handle was exiled and replaced with a JDM Type-R unit that find their home in a JDM Type-R center console that includes cup holders and shift boot. Just above the party below, are a set of JDM Type-R sun visors which are a rare find and a JDM Type-R coin holder for those Texas toll roads.
Finishing off the interior accessories are a JDM Type-R road flare and a titanium ARC shift knob that ensures grip while shifting hard. This is the perfect example of a perfectly executed interior.
Now lets get into what keeps this thing up in the air and rolling. Now don’t expect Walker to slack on the suspension department boys and girls, everything hiding behind his set of black forged 18×8.5 Volk EvoIV’s is up to par with the rest of the vehicle, lets take a look at what Walker’s suspension has to offer. Starting off with the most important part of the suspension, Walker chose to hire JiC Magic’s suspension with their FLTA2 coilovers with fully adjustable shocks to take care of the ride quality when switching from the track to the street and vice versa. Body flex on this RSX is only when Walker is pointing to the bathroom when he is trying to show off. A Comptech rear coaxial adjustable sway bar sits down below accompanied by SPC aluminum rear control arms and a Jfab rear lower tie bar for a sick rear lower suspension set up that we all like to gawk at. Sitting just above these lower suspension goodies is a J’s Racing C pillar brace and a polished Mugen rear strut bar that is matched to the Mugen front upper strut bar that is placed in the engine bay to take care of things up front along side a Mugen front sway bar and a Carbing front sub brace that make sure everything is stiff. When Walker is dogging out his car at high speeds, he relies on a set of 13′ inch Wilwood brakes complete with four piston calipers and stainless steel lines to get his RSX to a halt quick, fast, and in a hurry.
Under the hood of Walker’s 2002 Acura RSX Type-S is where his vehicle really shines. Forget about the massive brakes, and the insane JDM interior, and lets focus for a moment on Walker’s sick turbo set up that he and www.one-fab.com put together to get this RSX moving. Let’s begin near the firewall where a Precision GT3561 S cover turbo peeks out attached to a custom one-fab.com top mount turbo manifold with polished equal length runners that is attached to a custom three inch one-fab.com down pipe that is met halfway by a three inch Knife exhaust that gets rid of all burned fuels to the rear of the vehicle. A Tial waste gate helps to harness boost along side a Tial blow off valve that banishes excess boost when Walker is shifting through gears. The massive GT3561 turbo pushes hot air through one-fab.com polished aluminum intercooler piping all the way down to the custom front mount intercooler where the hot air is chilled and advanced through the custom charge pipe and into the throttle body. With all this air being forced into Walker’s Type-S engine, he knew that he would have to upgrade his fuel system, 850cc injectors are attached to an AEM fuel rail, a Top Fuel Power Neo helps keep fuels up to par while a fully tunable Hondata K-Pro engine management system controls engine dynamics. Walker knew he had air and fuel ready to go but those two are worthless without some good spark to get the flames going. Walker called upon Nology to help out in that area, Nology supplied Walker’s K20A2 with a set of plug wires to ensure the maximum amount of spark is transferred from each coil pack to the combustion chambers. Screaming out in the center of the engine bay sits a JDM Type-R cylinder head cover that is mated to a Nology carbon spark plug wire cover, and a Mugen oil cap for the perfect accessories. Mugen motor mounts and a J’s Racing engine tourque dampener where put in charge of making sure this turbo charged engine stays where it is supposed to be. UR pulleys were added to ensure everything is spinning properly along side a UR flywheel to get the revs moving quickly.
Jesse Walker’s RSX-S puts everyone else’s RSX in second place, this car truly is a spectacle that words cannot describe. Although we did our best to describe this vehicle to you, if you do get a chance to check this thing out, please do. We will bet the bank that you too will understand what we are talking about, and don’t forget to bring a napkin to wipe of the drool on your chin, not Tjin.
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