Ken1997TL

So.. with my newly acquired '02 RL, I've gone down the road of modding it, bit by bit.

So far I've done the following:

'04 RL chrome shift plate
'04 RL wood shift knob
Removed the intake resonator thats in the front bumper
Tightened the throttle cable
Put on some fancy Michelin tires

I plan on doing the following soon:

- Extrude/Hone the intake manifold
- Different throttle body (?)

Big Green Acura

Keep us posted on the project here. I have been trying to make my RL faster for a while without any real results. I did just get some new goodyear tires that make it really stick to the road. They are Kevlar belted with Carbon Fiber side walls. I can't spin the tires anymore no matter how hard I try!

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

put a K&N drop in filter since you already removed the resonator

BelowRadar

Hey Ken, you plan on doing any stereo mods ? ? ? Or do you have any suggestions ? ? i was thinking about an Alpine flip up, but wasn't sure what speakers that i could fit under the factory grill.... and amps for that matter

Ken1997TL

Most likely I'll try to find a 2004 RL stereo at a junkyard or eBay. Since it has XM, 6 disc + tape all in one unit. I'll need the headunit, an additional 2 speakers (mounted on the upper portion of the front doors) the XM receiver unit/antenna. Might cost me upwards of $600 or more, but it will look nice and classy.

Jimmay

Hi. I have a 1996 RL. I was wondering how to remove the intake resonator and what exactly does tightening the throttle cable do???

Jimmay

bnm

Ken1997TL

Removing the intake resonator requires removing the front bumper.

Tightening the throttle cable will make the gas pedal a little bit "stiffer" and less free play. Basically you can feel the engine's actions a little better through your foot.

Jimmay

ok thanks! I dont think im going to take off my front bumper, but i will defiantly tighten my cable up. Is there any specific way to do it or is it just tightening a bolt?

Ken1997TL

Nothing too fancy about it really, just don't overdo it. Leave a little bit of slack.

s4mm4n16

I just purchased a mint 2002 RL and I'm in love. I asked a friend I trusted what I should do if anything to upgrade it's performance, and he said cold air intake (iceman or K&N) and exhaust (GReddy). But the problem, none of those companies seem to sell their product for my year and model. What should I do?

BelowRadar

I'm looking to replace my rotors. As I have noticed in the past, Honda rotors warp fairly quick. I had a 96 Civic and I ended up putting Power Slot rotors and using Hawk performance pads, and they never warped. I ordered them from tire rack, but they don't seem to carry those for the RL. Any suggestions ? ? And how beneficial are ceramic pads ? ?

chitownRLer

Kudos Ken, congrats!

couple questions,

what does "removal of intake resonator" do? any repercussions like damaging the engine or loss of gas MPG?

What type of paint thinner/stripper did you use for the shift gear plate?

also, you should add couple more on the do do list:

-replace interior lights.( I have replaced all the interior oem's with cool white lights. I forget the brand...its either PIAA or something else. quite nice. still looks classy and nice, not ghetto!does not look cheesy at all.)

-replace the fog lamps with the white PIAA lamps

Zipho

hey congrats ken1997TL, how are your Michelin working for you, you notice much difference in handling? how about wet conditions?

Big Green Acura, hey man what kind of good years you running? how are they holding up? how are they in the rain?

I'm going to be looking for tires soon, and I know that tires can be the cheapest way to vastly improve handling. But when I search through threads here and there, people are all over the place. For everyone that likes a tire , there's someone saying it's shite.

Hey chitownRLer did you replace all interior bulbs?
is really that noticable of a difference?
where did you get your bulbs? can they be found online?
are white bulbs in your fogs as effective in the fog as the oem?

thanks

BelowRadar

I have an 02 as well. I've had a set of Yokohama Avid V4's (kept the tire size the same as stock) for about a year and a half. Put about 17k or so on them and I love them. They are much better than the stock michelins that came on the car. The Yokohamas were rated much higher according to Tire Rack, and I like them a lot better in the rain as well....... not to mention they are significantly cheaper. Just my

Big Green Acura

Zipho these are what I got. Just got them from a local shop. THey do well in Rain, snow, or Dry pavement. They work wonders on The RL I have. THey do everything better than the OEM tires I had on from Acura.

Ken1997TL

Removing the intake resonator is purely for sound purposes. It makes the motor sound like a refined NSX motor during full throttle. It does NOT make it louder at a steady speed. Keeps it classy but fun. I've done this on my '97 TL and it worked out great.

I cheated and simply bought the 2004 RL shift gear plate and swapped it.

Zipho

BelowRadar- that's interesting that you like your yoko's avids, there was someone who put up a thread saying that he had bought the yoko's from tirerack and hated them and returned them. This is what gets confusing is such opposing opions of the same product. That said I will consider the yoko's as an option (who knows maybe I'd be one of the guys that loves'em.

Big Gree Acura- I don't see your tire type, I know their goodyears from your first post, but what kind?

Thanks guys

Oh, I tried putting in some LEDs in my interior, I like em. changed to two main dome lights and the trunk. have the rest for the doors and the remaining domes on their way from
www.superbrightleds.com

alot cheaper here than at the local ricer auto shop

mattdaddyz

I second this. I have the Avid V4s on my 2002 RL and love them as well. I've put about 20k on mine and they look real good still. Real solid.

BelowRadar

I maybe biased, but my first experience with Yokohamas was about 10 years ago. I worked NTB, and I had a 96 civic coupe. I put some (back then) they were S305 H rated and I up sized em. Loved the tread life and the handling and wet weather traction. They were discontinued, and i used the Avid H4's starting in about 2001. Loved them even more. Better we weather traction, and the handling. After I graduated from my civic to my RL about 2 years ago, my RL still had the stock michelins on them, and I was very displeased. Especially after how much they cost. I read reviews on the Avid V4's and decided to try them, and I'm gonna go out on a limb, but I would do a commercial for Yokohama if they asked me to. I've recommended these tires to other people I know with performance sedans like Maximas and TL's and they both were pretty pleased. I think Michelin makes a damn good tire, but I think you can get just as good a tire for less.

chitownRLer

hahaha, LOL....

chitownRLer

Yeah Zip, I replaced almost all of them except the ones in the trunk and the license plate, i am not very mechanichy.

There is a very noticeable difference...The LED white lights are much more cooler white beam vs. orangey OEM's.

with regards to fogs, yes, I have PIAA fog lights and they are just as effective as the oem's. I got my bulbs at local sports car custom shop here but let me see if i can find what brand i purchased. I know you can find them at a decent price on ebay as I looked at ebay before deciding to purchase at the auto store.

Big Green Acura

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...Tires&sName=Car

That should work. Guess I forgot to post the link last time.

Big Green Acura

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...Name=All+Tires

That didn't work.

It's the "ResponsEdge" tire with Carbon fiber reinforced sidewalls, and Kevlar insulation.

Zipho

cool, thanks again guys.

sorry for jack'n your thread ken.

chitownRLer

Zipho,

That person who purchased the avid 4s from tirerack and returned them would be me. If you like to pay to have tires put on your car multiple times, go right ahead. yoko's made my steering wheel shake at 65mph and crappy bumpy ride overall.

believe me I really really really did not want to pay extra money for OEM Michelins...Of course I wanted to like and love the yokohamas but sorry, it rode like crap and did not fare much better in ice or snow than the OEM Michelins did for me.

onebadna1nsx

Hey Ken, just wondering, how easy is it to remove the resonator? Could you provide me with some instructions? I want to do this too.

TIA
Eric

Ken1997TL

Its actually not all that easy, you have to remove the bumper and front passenger wheel to do it. Took me about 45 minutes total, but I've done it before.

I recommend an RL shop manual if you arent too familiar with the car or havent worked on a Legend or similar car before.

Zipho

hey Ken I'm guess'n the shifter plater you have for the '04 is chrome as your door handles/shifter? I did the stripper method on mine and it has a very sutle tint to it, not much, but if the '04 plate isn't much $ I might just replace it.

as well, ceter console swap with the '04 possible?
did the '04s have a black wood trim option?

Ideally I would have an '04, but I got good numbers on my '02 and 6 months later I'm just passing 34,000kms (22k miles). maybe I'll end up with an '04 down the road, but I'm happy for now.

Ken1997TL

Yes, its chromed as much as the door handles are.

The '04 shiftplate is about $20

Center console swap IS possible, but you'd need a new headunit, climate control AND navigation unit. NOT cheap.

And the '03 and '04 RLs had a dark/black wood option that some have claimed turned somewhat green on them.

Zipho

thanks ken.
ya I was looking at prices on acuraoemparts and the swaps not really worth it (for now anyways). and I now know what your talking about with the sun fade to green, not really feeling the green console.

so the dealer quoted me $34 for the '04 shiftplate, haven't found it on the web yet. where did you get yours?

Ken1997TL

Bingo!

Here you go!

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...CUTCHEON_COVER

Its called the Escutcheon cover (weird name I know)

$18.78 plus shipping

BelowRadar

thanks for that link as well ken..... I was looking, but couldn't find..... hope they have the 04 tail lights too !

Zipho

thanks ken

Zipho

hey ken
when I went to tighten my throttle cable I saw that there were two (one for cruise cont. I'm guess'n). I couldn't tell which was the pedal cable, left/right?
there looks to be maybe 1/4 -> 1/2'' of thread left to tighten. when you tightened yours how much slack did you take up?

Ken1997TL

I did about 1/2 an inch. Your car might be slightly different.

And yes one is for the cruise. Just look around, one leads to the dash

Zipho

ok I did a 1/2", if you guys haven't done this yet, it's easy and well worth it.
thanks ken, never would have thought of that one myself.

Socol

How about Type II intake manifold and Cam regrinds?

BelowRadar

Ken and Zipho..... have you noticed any difference in your MPG, since you took off the resonator ? ? ? ?

Zipho

BelowRadar, I haven't removed my resonator. From what Ken says it's just a sound thing.