Let's talk cars...

How good do you think the handling of TSX is?

And please focus on the subject, nothing about grocery getting, snow driving and such. Just pure enthusiast driving.

Since nobody have replied, let me add something on to make it into a real discussion.

Now that I got into an FWD car, all of a sudden I felt like I can't just press on the gas as long as I used to. What's the best way to be faster in TSX?

 

if you want to make the car feel like rwd, floor it halfway through a turn, you can probably get the back end to get a little loose. i did mazda revitup in DC and in the autox with that car, i found out how to kick the back end out, just like driving a 3 series

with that said, to go faster? slow in, fast out. you gotta slow down more in a fwd because the handling is only on the front tires.

 

Ditto what donutchow said above.
To further improve the handling however, you should get some nice performance tires like Pirelli P7000s.

 

I don't get it.

 

me either

 

For those that dont get it..I think he is reffering to the fact that with fwd you will plow into a corner (understeer) if you have too much speed. At least I think thats what he means.

How about a thicker rear sway bar. That should help to make things more neutral, or even get your back end out.

 

Umm.. How about just buying a friggin BMW?

Honestly, I don't know what the big deal is...

I test drove a BMW 3-series through a twisty stretch of road, with my sales guy telling me to "give the car throttle all the way through the curve". well, I did. And I felt stupid doing it. Why in the hell would I keep accelerating through a 25mph curve when I'm already going 60mph?

Yesterday, I took my TSX on the same stretch of road, driving it like I normally would. It felt natural, and I was able to go at least as fast as I did with the BMW.

It's all about preference. If you prefer RWD, then the TSX is not for you. It's just that easy.

 

 

Do you know how to read? Or do you really hate BMW that much that you wanna kill every BMW owner? I just mentioned RWD and you replied BMW? What medicine are you taking?

Just a simple question and all of a sudden people start comparing cars again. Go to other threads if you feel like talking more trash!

And also, I am talking about TRACK DRIVING. 1 Sec is considered A LOT!!!

 

Hmm, maybe I should clarify things up.

When I am on RWD cars, I will just flick the car a little into the corner, get the back end loose, and then use the throttle to control the angle. But I still cannot figure out how to flick the TSX. The rear end stay planted all the time. The front end, though, gotten loose...quite some times... I know my FWD driving technique is not perfect, thus I started the post...no BMW talking here, please.

I just wanna be faster on TSX (my only GS car now). I saw some Mini Cooper S turning up some really impressive times, and judging by magazine's test numbers, it's about the same as TSX (albeit lighter). I just thought I could compete with them. Right now they're about 2 secs faster than me....

Anyways, I thought slamming on the gas half way through the corner will only drift the car sideways or incur understeer due to the torque? Am I wrong? I heard FWD cars is more suitable for aggressive driving style. Is it true?

Oh, btw, I raced with 225/45ZR17 Pirelli PZero Nero on my TSX for some time already.

 

Dunno if this will help, but more years ago than I'm gonna admit here I saw a showroom stock sedan race sponsored by Car & Driver magazine. Had front and rear drive cars. As awkward as Saab 99s were (I had one at the time. I loved it, but it sure wasn't a handler. Nothing remotely like the TSX.), they came in 1st and 2nd. Both of them used emergency brake to loosen the back end going into the corners, and then would power through.

Edit - and inside rear wheel would lift way off the ground. It was very weird looking.

Question, though - do you really want to do that to your lovely TSX?

 

Yes, and No dude.

I'm just saying that if you like to drive like that, then a 3-series may have been a better choice. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until after the apex to start mashing the throttle on your TSX.

Admittedly, I don't track my car, so I can't help you shave a couple of seconds off your time. However, in my day-to-day driving, I will say that the TSX steers with throttle input better than any FWD car that I've driven.

If I hated BMW that much, I would have recommended you go and buy some of their RWD competition - IMHO, they don't compare, though.

P.S. I apologize if my post offended you

 

email car and driver, during their test they praised for the tsx for having minor understeer and claimed that with the VSA turned off they were able to get some oversteer to make quick time through the slalom

 

Like tinky said turn the VSA off.

With FWD drive car you have to gas it through a turn to keep conrol of the car. Its harder to drift fwd. Trying doing the opposite of what youd do with rwd. its kinda backwards like that. rwd you accel out of the turn, fwd you accel through the turn. youll get the hang of it.

 

Yes i drive an 00' maxima at the moment and even though i don't go to the tracks with a lot of tunnels and turns i come up too, i accelerate more. I get more control over the car then slowing down and then accelerating.

 

Accelerate through turns? Okay, will try it next time. I don't really understand doing the rwd technique backwards, but will try to slow down more and then accelerate thru the corner next time.

Oh, I always race without VSA...that's for sure

I actually tried the good'ol lift off oversteer technique, but the rear end is just too stable. Maybe I really gotta learn left foot braking soon...

 

It depends on how sharp the turn is as to whether i slow down or not. Granted Im not drivng a type sh lude which you can just hold your foot on the gas the whole time and corner at 100mph. But you'll be surprised how far you can push the suspension on the car. If im taking a really tight turn (15-25mph) and im coming into at 45-50mph I'll down shift to 4th or 3rd right before i enter the turn and then into 2nd (still keeping anywhere from 30-45mph) right i gas it through the turn and then just push it and by mid turn im back to around 60-70mph.

Just keeping playing around a test your limits. just remember if you take a corner too fast in fwd and your not gassing it, then you are liable to lose control and spin out.

I saw the aftermath of an idiot honda tech do that where i sold. he took a lude out for a test and took a tight corner without gassing it, took he car into a sign post and got the post jacked up in teh rear wheel well. needless to say he was fired.

anyway, let me know how this feels to you.

 

FWD is more forgiving, so you don't have to stick to the RWD mantra of slow in fast out. You can carry more speed into the corner without worrying about spinning the car. My advice would be to increase your entry speed and then if the car starts to run wide (at the front) ease off the gas to get it to tuck in at the front (this will make the tail light, so be careful).

Also consider adding more pressure to the front tires (only). This will (up to a point) reduce their tendency to understeer. Don't get carried away - experiment with various pressures up to about 42lbs.

My other thought is that based on my test drive, the TSX seemed like its suspension could handle more than 200hp and I sensed that it would be pretty hard to get it out of shape just due to lack of power. I felt the same thing about my 95 BMW 325is, so I got a 99 M3

C.

 

Thanks for the tip. I don't know about carrying more speed into the corner, learned something new...since I am pretty much used to RWD driving and my instinct is fighting for that. Will try that this coming weekend maybe.

 

do you have the 6 speed? if you're autoxing i hope you're leaving it in 2nd the whole time. i guarantee if you do happen to put it in 3rd on the autox course, then heel toe into 2nd around the turn (don't know if you know how to do that), then the back end will kick out. maybe a little too much though!

 

I don't have my TSX yet, but with other Hondas I have found that you should not floor the gas pedal all the way. I found accelleration to be better with the gas pedal maybe between 1/2 to 1 inch above the "floor". Just let up the pedal a bit.