Last weekend I brought home a new Accord and my father and I had both of the hoods open next to each other and I noticed that the '06 TSX hood is help up by a stinking metal pole like back in the 80's. The accord has gas struts which gives the car a feel of quality. Why would Acura skimp on something like that? It isn't like the hood is lite or anything. Just seems cheap to me. I love the TSX and it will probably be my next car because the Accord just didn't do it for me. I know it's trivial, but hey, why do that? Just ranting

 

My guess is because it's made in Japan and that's something they like or is the standard over there. Just a guess though. Also, there is no rubber/plastic molding trim in the engine bay of the TSX. Go look at a TL and it's all plastic. My guess is that's another Japanese thing. Just a raw engine bay with no extra goodies.

 

You can get the lifts on Ebay. For like $60 and $100.

 

your annoyed by that? I dont find it cheap because it didnt had struts..

 

I look at it this way: one less thing (rather two things!) to replace down the road.

the metal support rod does it's job quite well for me.

Maybe by not adding hood struts, Acura was able to add heated seats, or heated mirrors, or lighted steering wheel controls, etc...

I'm going to have to check out a TL under the hood to see this plastic/rubber trim that's been mentioned.... I wouldn't personally think the lack of it makes TSX any less of a quality vehicle, tho.

 

We had a cadillac from long ago that had struts like that, and while they're cool when they work, eventually they'll give out and then it's a pain to either pay to fix it, or like we did, just found a broom and used that. I MUCH prefer the metal pole because you know it'll always work. And really if they're going to spend money on something, I'd rather it be on something that I use/see everyday instead of just a few times a year.

 

I would be interested in finding out what other models in Acura's lineup use these struts because my CL has them. Is it just the american built ones that utilize these things? Yeah, I understand that they will ware out costing the owner money, but my Ford Explorer had them and they lasted well over 100,000 miles. I know it's trivial but I just wanted to see what others thought. I just noticed it and found it funny. It doesn't really reek of innovation. Still love the car!

 

Im mad cause my TSX uses wheels, where I am still waiting for those cool hover cars they said we would have by 1985 Now that seems cheap to me.

 

lol....hovering, that would be interesting.

 

Go ask a fireman about those gas struts. In the event of an engine fire those struts can go off like a rocket. I personally saw that happen when responding to a car fire call one of the struts went off and exited the front of the car and hit one of the firemen. They took him away in an ambulance as he was hurt pretty bad. So... I became a fan of the old simple pole. Now before you go shaking your head saying no way; WAY - That's a true story. So don't stand in front of a car if it's on fire.

 

One thing about the gas struts I've noticed on the TSX is that they don't prop up the hood all the way up. They just prop them up half way up which really isn't comfortable for me to work under the hood with when the hood only opens up half way.

 

Oh, I believe you. Maybe they wouldn't have to use struts to raise and hold the hood. Our Silverado hood is hinged with springs so you wouldn't have a pole or potentially dangerous gas struts. I am wondering if springs would take more space than the conventional strut.

Also, I would think the pole would hinder work under the hood.

 

Sounds more like a case of incorrect fitment of said gas struts. Either that or they bought ones insufficiently long enough to allow full opening.

 

Correct. I was referring to TSX.Fury's gas struts. I have yet to see one that opens the hood fully.

 

I've never had a japanese car with gas struts...but it doesn't bother me. The ones on my Explorer were still good when I got rid of it 11 years and 180,000 miles later.

 

RSX & TSX: Prop
TL, RL, & MDX: Struts
Not sure about the RDX.

 

If you want my guessplination.

The US Accord in Japan is called the INSPIRE and is the Luxury model Honda. This also explains the use of LED tails on our US Accord.

The TSX in Japan and everywhere else is called an ACCORD non-luxury.

So basically Honda is pulling the old wool over our eyes. But in the end we call basically get what we want. Luxury and performance.

So, for me anyways, that could explain lack of gas hood props.


But if you ask me i prefer the old fashioned hood prop rather than gas.

Like some have already said, it has no potential of failing or needing replacement, well unless of course you bend it somehow.

 

http://www.redlinetuning.com/products_quicklift.html

 

Yeah...I decided to look around the Acura website and happened to notice every other car accept the TSX uses these struts. Seems like most people dislike gas struts because of there short lifespan, but what about the gas struts that support the hatches on both the MDX and RDX? They must have been left off because of the TSX build location. I wish I knew how to create a poll, I would like to see what everyone else thinks (struts or metal support).

btw...when you take the tour of the Acura TSX they make the same hissing sound as gas charged struts do when you go under the hood. Probably because it sounds expensive and high quality.

 

i would love to have hood shocks instead of hood prop, this is my 1st car w/ hood prop.. but after I saw how useful hood prop is, i dont want shocks anymore. you can work with the engine easier than having hood shocks. my only reason wanting hood shocks was it looks better than prop..

 

While it is nice to have assisted gas struts for the engine hood, I'm more surprised they skimped on the trunk. I use the trunk often, but I only go to the engine to top off fluids for maintenance.

Besides, the Accord is targeted at Baby-Boomers who customarily drive Buicks and Toyotas.

 

AMEN!

 

gas struts would be a nice feature for the hood. an underhood light would be nice too. i wonder if we can use the gas struts from an accord for our cars?

 

Not really annoyed as much trying to figure out the reasoning....I just find it interesting that every other Acura uses them.

Cheap might not have been the correct word more like antiquated.

 

And just for the record....only the V6 model Accord has gas struts to hold the hood up. All other US Honda models use hood props.

Couldn't tell you why, but I personally could care less.

 

The torsion bars use for the boot will never wear out. Our older JDM accord has gas struts for the boot, and now that it has leaked, the boot just comes crashing down on your head if you are moving stuff in the boot and some joker comes by and nudges the boot. Not safe having 15lbs of boot coming down on your upper back.

 

And at sub-zero temperatures, I'm much happier with the hood prop, despite the fact that it looks a bit "cheap".

 

Wouldn't this be for weight savings? I always thought that Honda went out of their way to shave weight off the front of this car to let them make it more neutral. That was one of the main reasons for the magnesium gearbox.

 

You can make the argument that the prop is towards the front of the engine bay, which may get in your way at times.

The gas struts are on either sides, which is less likely to get in your way when working on the engine.

 

They should have gone for an aluminum bonnet then.

 

There is a hood prop hole on the bottom passenger side of the bonnet. Then you use that hole, the prop doesn't get in the way.

 

I imagine the hood is a lot heavier on the Accord, so they used struts to offset the weight. There's probably some magic weight where it is deemed too heavy to lift by the average user.

 

Cost-saving measure, period. I can't believe some of the speculations I am hearing on here. The hood struts cost more (albeit not that much more) and are left off of the TSX for that reason, and that reason alone. Someone is going to say "Oh come on they don't cost that much so that can't be it" but let me remind you that Honda doesn't paint door handles on base model Accords, or even so much as put in more than 2 speakers. Automakers cut costs in lots of ways, and on the TSX this is one of them. It has nothing to do with being built in Japan (lots of Japan-built Toyotas have hood struts, as does the RL). It has nothing to do with weight.

All the more expensive Acuras in the line have hood struts. The more expensive Accord V6s have hood struts. It's a matter of cost, end of story.

 

Personally, I like the prop rod. Never wears out, and has that second hole that props the hood nearly straight up -- love that for working in the engine bay. I've had two cars (Camry and Explorer) have the struts wear out and it's a pain in the ass.

I hope they keep the prop rod on future models but I'll bet they don't... No matter, I'm keeping my TSX for a long, long time.

 

JDM Honda Accords always had hood props. Since the TSX is based on the JDM Accord, it would ultimately end up with a hood prop.

 

ding ding! tell the man what he won... and if i needed to work on the engine longer i would disconnect the hood all together.

i'll take the KISS metal prop over the gas struts.

 

I'm continuously amazed at what some people get hung up on. As others have pointed out, those gas struts do eventually fail. So, one less thing to go wrong down the road.

 

....it saves the Honda Motor Company $100 or so in parts and assembly. Simple. Honda believes that the target market for this car would not value a $100 plus margin price increase for a hood strut. They are making these decisions constantly. And lately, they have been moving closer to the cheaper side. I would look to the Honda brand actually cheapening much more going forward as the car maker looks to better seperate the brands. I have a new 07 CR-V and the quality is pretty decent, but compared to its cousin, the RDX, they share many less parts and the RDX is amazing inside.

 

One thing that bothers me is when people use this phrase incorrectly "I could care less." I think you meant to say that you "couldn't care less." If you "could care less" then that means that you do care about it enough that you could care less.

Also, my wife had a '93 Lexus something or another and it had the gas struts to hold up the hood. It was really annoying because they stopped working some time ago so we had to use a broom to prop it up. It was very very annoying trying to work under the hood with a broom in the way. The other option was to use some vice grips on the clamp to keep it from moving. Either way it was gay. I would have killed to have the "old school" or "antiquated" metal prop.

 

Opinions are like buttholes...everyone has one.