Hi guys,
I was reading car and driver and they did a test on a bunch of sport sedans. Among the bunch was a bmw, mercedes, audi, etc... then there was the 2003 TL type S. When i read the braking page they said that the bmw and the other cars all got under 120 ft from 60mph. I think that the numbers were closer to 112 or 115 feet. Anyways... they said that typically around 120 is good for a sport sedan but the TL took around like 125 to stop or something. Is this a similar case when it comes to the TSX? For those of you who own a TSX, are you guys satisfied with the braking power? Does it feel like you have plenty of reserves when you punch the brakes? Or does it feel like it wants to keep going? What do you guys have to say about the article that says that Acura gets blown away in the braking dept compared to a bunch of other sport sedans?

 

Its pretty much true. The brakes on the TSX are the weakest feature. Moreover, in panic braking, there is a bit of nose dive.

That said, the brakes are not horrible. They're just not up to many of the other vehicles in this segement.

 

Yeah, the brakes in TSX is not as good as other sports sedan. I believe the test data you're talking about should be from Road and Track because Car and Driver only test braking performance on 70-0mph basis. Anyways, TSX took 185ft and TL-S is like 197 or 200+ft. I think it has a lot to do with the brake pads. Other sport sedans use high friction pads which has more dust and doesn't last as long whereas TSX's pad almost emit no visible dust residual. I guess the pad material is of lower friction and lower dust. You can always swith to other brake pads for better performance.

 

Also, tires are a very important factor in terms of braking distance. Higher performance tires (not found on acuras) can dramatically decrease your brake distance and handling.

 

The NSX has great tires

 

i have to agree with everyone. the brakes is probably the cost cutting feature. also, i wish i had more feedback from the brakes. all i get is this airy sound when i step on it. i hate that.

 

In a panic break should there be sufficient power to stop the TSX quickly and safely? By the way, how's the ABS on the TSX? work ok? and does the TSX have enough braking power to easily lock the wheels up?

 

the breaking on the TSX is not horrible and it is certainly not unsafe. It is just not in the same class as BMW, Saab, and Audi.

 

Has anyone here dsone any braking upgrades to their TSX?
How has it worked for you? any pics?

thanks

 

Again, the brakes are not bad, they're just not great. There isn't much of a need to do mods.

 

You'll have no problem stopping. It's safe and stable under hard braking albeit with a bit of nose dive. The ABS respond quickly. It has quite a low threshold comparing to my last car but it works well. I would like to have a slightly higher threshold though.

TSX's braking performance is on par with, if not, better than most mid-size sedans. So under normal driving condition, you won't have a problem. In my case, I race the car, and would like to have more braking power so I could go deeper into a corner. Also, I would like to have more fade tolerance.

 

If there was one mod I want to do out of many, the brakes are #1 on my list. I'm used to a much more neutral braking response verses what I'm getting from the TSX. The brakes on the TSX are fair to good IMO.