LOS ANGELES -- Mercedes-Benz has AMG. Chrysler has Mopar. Toyota has TRD.

Yet, despite years of teenagers slamming their Civics with aftermarket parts, Honda has lacked a factory-engineered, street-legal, warranty-backed, go-fast parts division.

Until now.

American Honda's factory aftermarket parts division, announced today at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show, will provide dealer-installed tuner kits to give stock Hondas more roar.

Previously, parts made by Honda's in-house racing arm, Honda Performance Development, were for racetracks only. But years of racing have given the engineering team plenty of experience to make parts that the legal, warranty and compliance departments can approve.

As is typical for Honda, the Honda Performance Development unit is starting small and low-key. At launch, the HPD unit is offering only a performance kit for the slow-selling CR-Z hybrid hatchback -- and only for the stick-shift model, because the kit generates too much torque for the continuously variable transmission version.

But for those who buy into the 200,000-rpm Rotrex centrifugal traction-drive supercharger mated to a Griffiths air-to-air intercooler, horsepower zooms from 130 to a tire-chirping 187. Handling kits give the modified CR-Z a European hot-hatch character, while still getting 42 mpg.

'First toe in the water'

"We're sticking our first toe in the water," Philip LaPointe, manager of HPD Street Performance, said in an interview last week in Los Angeles. "We didn't want to start with too-high volume. We need to know who's going to build the parts and distribute them. We need to get our dealers and logistics up to speed."

LaPointe hopes that go-fast parts for mainstream models will go on sale during the next few years. But all the compact-car tuner kids likely will have to wait for the next generation of the Civic, coming in spring 2016, for an HPD kit, LaPointe said.

"The dream scenario is to have performance parts available at [new-product] launch," LaPointe said. While giving hints that Fit owners want to modify subcompacts, LaPointe declined to say if HPD would have tuner parts ready when the redesigned Fit arrives next summer.

Equipping a car with HPD parts will diminish the manufacturer's warranty. Honda traditionally has a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. But because Honda expects those with HPD kits to drive their cars at "spirited track days," the warranty will be reduced to three-years/36,000-miles, LaPointe said. The 15-year catalytic converter emissions warranty remains intact, thanks to some tuning help from Jackson Racing of Yorba Linda, Calif.

"All that constant high-speed loading and cornering is different from the typical durability cycle. It's not Belgian-block roads," said LaPointe, whose 16-year career with Honda includes chassis-engineering roles for the 2007 Acura TL Type-S and the first-generation Honda Pilot and Acura MDX.

"The HPD parts might have more exhaust drone or brake dust than the original equipment part, because we're aiming at a niche customer who wants more performance. But that customer still wants Honda quality and durability. We're still a conservative company that way," LaPointe said.

Dealer-installed kits

The warranty applies only if a dealer installs the kit. If a customer buys the parts and installs them himself, Honda is still determining if any powertrain warranty will apply. Likely not, LaPointe said.

After nearly a decade of free publicity from The Fast and The Furious movie franchise, Honda received the final push to create HPD street-legal parts from a hopped-up 2010 CR-Z created for the SEMA show.

"Everyone was saying, 'You have to make this Si version,'" LaPointe said, referring to the factory-built hot-rod trim level Honda makes. "The 'sport mode' of the CR-Z was just not sufficient."

As a result, Honda considered delivering the HPD kits turnkey, from the factory, similar to Roush and Shelby kits for the Ford Mustang. But Honda managers realized that dealers could augment their grosses by selling the kits, post-title.

The chassis kit will go on sale today, while the supercharger kit arrives in spring 2014. Pricing was not announced at press time.

HPD's tentative slogan is "Track Proven. Street Reliable."