MrChad

Well with an addition to our family earlier this year the TSX was getting a bit small inside for longer trips, etc. The wife now has an RDX and we traded my Accord in on this purchase so I got the wife's hand-me-down '04 TSX. It needed a tick of an upgrade for my tastes...


Before.


After. (Full A-Spec kit installed)


Also have been using a blue tint headlight film for some time.


Running 235-45-17 94Y Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position Tires









I installed the deck spoiler last weekend with a bit of help from the Mrs. to hold the trunk lid open while I installed the new torsion springs.

My wife's parents are with us this weekend. So my father-in-law helped me install the A-spec suspension and body kit. We ran the car up to discount tire for the mount and balance of tires on the new rims. But they unfortunately don't do wheel alignments at my local store - so hopefully get that done latter this week.

Car had previously been equipped with a Kenwood Sirius Satellite Radio system when it was my wife's daily driver. That has since been replaced with a new USA-Spec iPod OEM interface AUX input adapter.

erick3

VERY clean. Great choice in wheels man!

etarui

iTrader: (2)

Great Job! It's a completely different car now. Be careful that the wifey doesn't try to take it back =)

Markks2000

Looks Great! So what do you think of the ride with the A Spec suspension?

MrChad

It's a very mild upgrade in all aspects thus far. I haven't pushed it hard in any corners since it still needs an alignment and I'm not sure how far out of wack the rear toe and camber might be at this point.

But driving up and down the normal roads near my house the car feels almost like stock you'd be hard pressed to notice a change. It feels very compliant no jittery harshness at all.

The drop is very mild. I had 17x7.5 +50ET rims on the car before and after the drop and you could barely tell it was lowered - the front more so then the rear. I noticed more on ground clearance with the floor jack then wheel gap. Once I swapped on the 17x7.5 +55ET A-Spec rims you couldn't tell at all I dropped the car.

That said, I had Eibach Pro-kits on my old Accord EX and the suspensions are darn near the same. The Eibach's dropped a lot more and road a bit more harsh.

We have almost 40k mi on our TSX at this point so I figured if nothing else the A-Spec package would be a great excuse for new shocks for a decent price.

If you are looking for something to very mildly upgrade the suspension without compromise to the ride these seem the way to go. If you want to reduce wheel gap and feel a major change, you should likely look to more aggressive springs from the aftermarket - but those likely will require new shocks too and something like a Koni or Bilstien isn't super cheap. And a camber kit may be advised. These A-specs barely knock the camber out from stock in the rear, a camber kit should not be needed.

Something that made as big a change as the suspension was the new wheels. I had the exact same tires on +50ET rims. After switching those same tires over to +55ET rims the steering got much lighter, the rims may be lighter too. The A-spec rims with 235-45-17 tires are a tick lighter in steering then even our OEM rims which currently wear the OE sized 215-50-17 Dunlop WinterSport M3 tires for winter at this time.

So if I was to recommend the A-spec suspension and it was to be installed with new tires as well, you may want to look into the A-spec rims as well.

I got our entire kit from Curry Acura Parts online located up in NY state. I have the original gunmetal finish 17" A-spec rims for 04-05 model year. They also sell an A-spec rim in metallic silver finish that shaves a good deal off the price of the rim set something like $400+ total savings for the package. They also stock an 18" A-spec TSX rim now as well in gunmetal, silver, or chrome finish. But I was fine sticking with the exact kit for the 04 model TSX, some others may choose to mix-n-match if need be.

I'm also not sure if the 06+ A-spec package is more aggressive or not. I have the A-spec suspension for the 04-05 AT model cars, I wasn't to concerned with the maximum drop etc. But Curry will sell you any year and MT or AT A-spec suspension. Perhaps someone on here could comment if any year combo lowers the car more or not or ride more aggressively.

I know the Mid-Ohio Acura driving school I did a few years ago was running the '06 TSX w/ A-spec packages; but the cars had the springs swapped out for custom units made by the Progress Group if I recall in talking with one of the guys at the school - track use required a little more aggressive spring from the car. Giving Progress Group a call may be another option for anyone looking for a mild drop for road use.

MrChad

I'm fine if she does, I'll gladly drive the Turbo-AWD RDX then.

TWONZ

Fine Write up!!!
I'm looking to upgrade to the A-Spec suspension and your comments make me want to pull the trigger.

Yes, I do think you can install 06-08 A-Spec suspension to an 04-05.

ChrisBrown

Looks nice, and clean. I like it. Good job. Do you think you will use the XM?

kaliraver69

Looks great Mr. Chad you finally got rid of your Accord, huh. Your car looks a lot more aggresive and the drop looks nice.

MrChad

[QUOTE=ChrisBrown]In what the TSX? 2004 Cars have no SAT radio standard (04 had an XM FM-mod Alpine dealer kit if need be) - it's not a daily car any longer SAT radio is pointless for me in the TSX at this point.

We play with the XM in the RDX, I like it just fine. I have Sirius factory in my Charger company car. So at this time we basically have both services for free and I can't say I really like one over the other. They both have pluses.

Markks2000

Great write up Mr. Chad. Thanks for all of the information!

MrChad

I'm sure you can, but to warrant a unique part number I'm not sure what was done to the 06-08 A-spec suspension vs. the 2004-05 units.

The odd thing is my rims are not all the same part number. I think 3 of the 4 rims are 8W17-SEC-201B and one rim was 8W17-SEC-200B. Normally I would have dismissed this as the rims being re-boxed by the online dealer for shipping. But the center cap kits also had part numbers ending in a similar fashion of 201Y and 200Y respectively.

I had (2) 201B rims and (2) 200B rims but I had to send one of the 200B rims back to the dealer for replacement as the rim lip was chipped in the box during shipping.

minkl81

iTrader: (2)

nice update on your tsx

mg7726

with all these upgrades, i guess you'll be keeping it for a while,

MrChad

Likely another 4 years until the RDX is paid for. Then maybe on to something else. I'm hoping for good things with the new 09 TL SH-AWD on the way.

Not sure if I will be adding an AEM intake or Hondata to the TSX either, that's about as far as I will likely go with the mods. I don't think I would ever install the CT S/C or anything like that.

I had a full cat-back and header on the old '00 Accord. I doubt I'll be adding those to the TSX either, I got tired of that over time. I may not add an AEM for the same reasons, sometimes quiet can be nice.

Next on the upgrade train might be a mild break pad upgrade, I have Hawk HPS on the car now and they are lacking IMO on the TSX. So some new rotors and more aggressive pads may be next on the list. As well as a clean up and paint of the calipers they look a bit worn after 4 years of mid west winters. Likely something mild and non-showy like high temp flat black etc.

ChrisQ1980

Very nice, the car looks clean, and tastefully modified.

moda_way

I still recommend the Progress rear sway, but that's just my opinion. It would make the rear end more compliant on "those corners", but it doesn't sound like you are pushing the car all that much. I would've like to have seen it another 1/2" - 3/4" lower for asthetics, but it doesn't look bad.

I didn't realize those are the wheels you were getting. VERY TASTEFULLY DONE!! If I do end up getting rid of my TSX per previously discussed plans, I'll let you have first dibs on the Comptech intake box. Its quiet and yet has the same performance (or better) than most of the other CAIs out there.

As for Hondata, you really need to read the threads on it. The only negative I can find right now is that IF (that's a huge IF) the dealer finds it, your prized warranty would be null and void.

TSXHunter05

very nicely done, car looks great.

you MUST get a Progress RSB you will notice a difference in corners and driveability. I have the aspec and the RSB on my 05 and its just pure heaven.

MrChad

What wheels did you think I was getting? I told you I was doing the full A-spec kit, those are the rims that come with the kit. It's only the 3rd set of rims for this car :P

moda_way

Guess I imagined them being the Silverstar ones that were the ones on the A-Spec kit.

MrChad

These have been the wheels from day one.
http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...icle_id=264032

Although you can save a bundle going with the SilverStar 5 spoke dark grey dealer option rims. They run almost half as much. But you can't fit a 235/45/17 tire on that rim.

If you don't have to have the dark gunmetal look you can opt for a Silver sparkle finish of the exact same 5 split spoke A-spec rim and save a few bucks too. I was so far in the hole on this entire kit I figured might as well go for the gunmetal ones.

The TPMS cars get a newer chrome type rim now I think, it's still about the same rim though, 5 spoke split.

They sell the same rim in 18" version now too with a TSX ET55 offset as well. But I already had the near new 235/45/17 Potenza XL tires.

MrChad

I have some more pictures of the A-Spec kit from today:

kaliraver69

Nice pix Mr. Chad and I l am digging those wheels. At one point I was thinking about getting the TL high silver sparkle 18 inch rims but never pulled the trigger.

thiswasandy

Chad!

ThisWasAndy/GhettoBuddha from HondaSociety, Honduh, Everything-Honda.. lol.

I still have the Accord. I think I bought the short ram intake from you a while back.

Anyway. Got a NBP TSX as well. 2004. Still haven't done any mods other than amp/sub and usaspec ipod piece.

Good to see you aboard.


Andy

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Talk about a turn-around, she looks great

MrChad

I've been on board since the beginning - notice my join date. We've also had the 04 since 04.

I'd still have my Accord too, but it went to become part of the down payment on an RDX-Tech for the wife.

thiswasandy

Sweet.
TSX is lookin' nice.
I probably won't be modding the TSX for a while, gotta get a new tranny for the accord first.

Congrats on the RDX.

_ANDy

MrChad

Tranny for the Accord, what's wrong with the current version? It's not a v6-AT is it?

kaliraver69

It probably is, I heard those things were crap.

Mokos23

i was confused by the way you wrote your story, so you traded in your 2000 Accord coupe for the RDX and kept the TSX is this correct?

MrChad

Yes as a family we kept the TSX but it was my wife's car, now it's basically my car. I traded my Accord in on her RDX.

thiswasandy

lol, nothing wrong on Honda's end.
I screwed up, somehow ended up putting the car in Park going about 60ish.
long story.
but in the end, my mistake.

LukeaTron

Just out of curiosity, how did the car respond to that? ^^^^

There's this bad little man living in the back of my brain that renders the desire to push large buttons all but undeniable. This same bad little man also wants me to jam the car into park every time I'm cruising on the highway. It's a good thing I don't frequently drive automatics.

Mokos23

hope they didn't lowball you on the Accord coupe

MrChad

No I had a number I needed to get for the Accord in fair market value terms (it was paid off long ago) and they exceeded it actually by the end. Very happy deal I would have sold it out right for less actually.

Then again it's very easy to get a good deal when the lots of Acura dealers in Chicago are packed full of non-selling 17mpg RDX SUVs.

1Louder

You've created exactly what I want my car to wind up like! Very nice!

The wheels are gunmetal, yes? In person are they more silver/chrome-ish rather than grey? I have an 06 GBM, which I think is more or less the same color as yours but the 04 has a different name for it. I like the combo.

MrChad

They are simply an odd color. Yes, I have the gunmetal version. They are basically an anthracite or semi-gloss black chrome look. Just depends on how the light hits them. I really like them, glad I paid the extra money vs. the silver finish.

They are also available in chrome as well.

'04 was Meteor Silver Metallic, more silver then blue. '05+ was Glacier Blue Metallic....more blue I guess?

Mokos23

ahh good deal!