About a year after the introduction of the 2015 Acura TLX GT racecar, Acura->ke10 got its first win in the Pirelli World Challenge series, and the luxury->ke505 automaker has equally lofty expectations for its newest racecar set to commence competition in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) series. Introduced at the New York Auto Show->ke226, the Acura ILX Endurance Racer is based on the updated 2016 Acura ILX, and it has all of the racing goodies needed to compete in one of the top semi-pro racing series in the U.S.

Acura has its sights set on winning at NASA’s flagship race, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. This race is run at the three-mile Thunderhill Raceway Park in California, and it is the longest endurance race in America.

Continue reading to learn more about the 2015 Acura ILX NASA Endurance Racer.

Exterior

In keeping with the spirit of the 2016 Acura ILX, Acura left the exterior of the ILX->ke4141 Endurance Racer pretty much the same as the production car. For racing purposes, though, some obvious changes were made, including the front splitter, stubby racing mirrors on the doors, the rear wing and the air jacks, but the coolest addition is the auxiliary LED lighting tacked onto the hood for night driving.

Interior

As expected from any racecar, the 2016 Acura ILX Endurance Racer has had its entire interior stripped down to just the essentials. Acura has replaced the luxurious cabin with the latest in racing safety gear, including a full roll cage, racing seats and harnesses, quick-disconnect steering wheel and full racing instrumentation.

Drivetrain

As a race-ready version of the 2016 Acura ILX, the ILX Endurance Racer already starts life with a peppy little engine, and while Acura hasn’t revealed too many specs about the engine used, it does list some of the work that was performed to get the ILX into racing form.

Prices

The updated 2016 Acura ILX starts at $27,900, but for teams looking for a race-ready ILX Endurance Racer to take on some of the toughest road tracks in the U.S., it’s going to be much more expensive than that. Acura isn’t saying how much it will cost to get a fully NASA prepped ILX loaded up into your race hauler, but it won’t be cheap.

Conclusion

Transforming an entry-level luxury car into an endurance-racing racecar is no easy feat, but the Acura ILX Endurance Racer definitely looks the part. The 2015 NASA season of events kicks off this weekend, but Acura will have to wait until December to get its shot at Thunderhill.