Marcellus Smith’s 2008 EX-L V6 Coupe
This coupe is not like many of the coupes we have featured in the past. This coupe has been modified specifically for making power and cutting times at the track. It’s the only forced induction V6 tuned on the factory ECU in the US that we are aware of. Our Accord of the Month for July 2016 is Marcellus Smith’s 2008 EX-L V6 coupe.
The car has had a great deal of work done under the hood to support his CT Engineering supercharger with the CT Engineering high boost pulley. The supercharger is mounted on custom brackets and a few things had to be moved around a bit in order to fit it. Marcellus had to modify the power steering hose and fitting as well as the battery tray. He has made a custom cold air intake to help the car breathe and added 500cc injectors. Potentially the most impressive part of this is that he has been able to tune the factory ECU with KTuner to support forced induction in some capacity.
To further open the V6 up Marcellus has added the Pre-Cat Delete and V3 J-Pipe from RV6 Performance. Further proof that Marcellus tracks this car is that he included two exhausts in his mod list! He runs a custom 3″ diameter cat-back exhaust with HKS Ti Carbon mufflers on the track, but for street use he runs the ATLP cat back exhaust.
Marcellus has done some pretty substantial suspension work in order to improve the cars handling. He’s lowered the car on BC Racing coilovers and added the SPC 3 arm camber kit in the rear to help keep the alignment in check. He was able to stiffen the rear end of the car by upgrading his rear sway bar to the Progress 28mm rear sway bar with Progress endlinks. To help reduce unsprung weight Marcellus opted for the Enkei PF01‘s in 18″ x 9″ +35 wrapped in BFG Rivals in 245/40. To help slow all of this down he added a Stoptech Trophy BBK with Carbotech XP12 pads up. Pair this with the Stoptech stainless steel braided lines and Stoptech cross drilled rotors in the rear and this is one powerful braking setup!
Unlike most coupe owners, Marcellus deleted his fog lights in order to create an inlet for his custom intake. To help compensate for the lack of fog, he upgraded his headlights to a quad projector setup with RGB demon eyes by Dynamikill51ons, and they’re beautiful. To help him stay planted in the drivers seat he swapped his seat in favor of a Corbeau FX1 Pro with the Corbeau 5-point harness. Not too many people have swapped aftermarket seats into this car, so it’s always cool to see it done.
All in all, this may not be on air suspension and it may not have super wide wheels, but this car was built with completely different intentions. The car was built to reduce lap times and go fast, and it’s pushing the boundaries along the way. We can not wait to see the power Marcellus is able to squeeze out of his motor and what other supporting mods he does to satisfy the need for speed. Make sure to follow Marcellus and his build on Instagram as well as check out what he’s talking about on the forum!
A few words from Marcellus:
Major shout out to James at KTuner for the support to the 8th Gen platform and the additional support for boost on a motor that that other deemed impossible! Big thanks to Kenny at Turbogixxer for all of your running work in the past, present, and future. Special thanks to Monty for being the pioneer of the supercharger on the 8th Gen. If it wasn’t for Monty, we would still be playing the curiosity on if the supercharger would work, let alone on the AT with VCM!