NocturnalEvo

Wats up fella's?

I'm not a TSX owner, but i'm considering it..

My 2000 V6 Accord was totalled a little under a month ago.
Now i'm in the market for a new car. I need a sporty 4door sedan with a little oomph, and a decent amount of aftermarket support..

I originally was looking for something RWD or AWD, but with the TSX's and 04 TL's lookin soooo damn fine, i hadda come bak to FWD hehe..

Now im stuck between the two..
Yea there's major differences between them, but I still can't decide.

The TL has a highcompression 270hp V6.
the TSX has a 200hp i4.

But i also wanna work on the engine a bit, regardless of what car I get. The problem w/the TL is, that its such a highcompression motor, that geting much more out of it, is not going to be an easy task, even tho there is a supercharger in the works for it, its not gonna give that great of a gain. ALso, I realize that its still a very new car to the market, but a lot of aftermarket companies have been contacted asking whether or not they have any plans for making anything for the TL, all besides comptech said no.

As for the TSX, it atleast has its EURO-R counterpart. And im sure plenty of SPOON and MUGEN parts will be available soon.

So overall, which one will make more power? I kno thers some talk of using a RSX turbo kit for the TSX, its all very interesting and i'm definatley hooked.


But before i end this, i want to ask u guys..
When you guys were going out to buy your TSX, did u guys consider the TL at all? And why did you choose the TSX over the TL? I kno theres roughly about a $5,000 difference between the two cars. but why the TSX?


All coments are welcome, thanks guys

- Najeeb

masmole

This is TSX site/forum, what kind of answer do you think you're going to get?

Seriosuly, let me be impartial here... and yes, I can do that even though I own a TSX because frankly, I'm already kinda of sick of the car after 7 months of ownership. Nothing against the TSX, it's a wonderful car, it's me who has car-love issues.

If you're looking to tune the car, you're definitely better off with the TSX for one simple glaring reason, FWD configuration. On the TL, 270hp is already pushing the envelope and stretching what a front-wheel drive can do. If you ask me, 270hp might even be a bit much for that car even with the limited-slip diffy on the 6-speed model. The TSX however, can stand to gain a few more horses and torque wherever it can get it. And, because it is a great overall performing car in stock form, it has solid chassis that can handle it. Yes the TL is high compression but the TSX is too when you look at it. I wouldn't worry about this too much with Honda engines though, especially their 4-bangers. Honda has been known to over-engineer their VTEC engines that compression becomes almost a non-issue even if you go the forced-induction route. I have friends who have SC'd or turbo'd NSX's, S2K's, Civics, preludes and even at their high compressions, none of the engines have blown up yet (knock on wood).

I chose the TSX over the TL simply because it handled better. If wanted a car simply for brute straight-line speed, I'd get an E55 or RS6. For me, handlng is always the main deciding factor when buying a car. The heavier TL with it's FWD configuration and all that torque driving just the front wheels simply did not meet my criteria as good handling car, and I couldn't forsee any acceptable improvement even with mods on the suspension. I'm pretty happy with the way the TSX handles in stock form... and any further suspension mods will only sweeten the deal even more (not that I 'd bother).

NocturnalEvo

thanks for the response bro, that high-compression thing you talked about.. really made me feel better =)

Also, j/outta curiousity, with the basic mods and a little more such as: intake, header, exhaust, pullies, plugs, v-afc tuning, what kind of whp wud we be looking at?


And on a sidenote, i dont know if its just me. But the TL is kind of starting to look a bit ugly.. I've just been really comparing both cars (body style), and the TL's headlights seem to be too thin for the chunky body. The rear end is kinda too flat (the TSX pulls this off better heh), and the front is just tooo pointy.

To me the only 2 reasons I'd buy the TL is the interior and the 270hp engine.

Stokeless_TSX

dont let none of us influence u bro. This is your decision your 35k or less....and you will be the one stuck with what ever decision u make. I think both are great cars and both look awesome. Its all a matter of preference.

xizor

There is a lot of JDM Euro-R parts, getting is the hard part. There is already American distributors of Spoon and Mugen parts, hopefully the lesser known brands will make their way over as well. CompTech has been doing a good job of making parts, Neuspeed makes lots of suspension parts already and Greddy, Skunk2 and DC have parts coming out this year.

C_TSX_Go

sit in the new TL, like I did, I fell in love, it blows the TSX away, if you can afford it that is

TSX CSI

TSX is much sportier in my eyes, i drove the TL and it had wayyyy too much torque-steer for me. The engine was impressive and responsive but on whole, with out shelling out for the skirt kit, and the 18's it looked like an older mans car to me. The TSX is a much younger car IMO, and if you are gonna tune it, this is what you want. Just me .02

NocturnalEvo

Hmm... do you all agree that the TSX is the car to TUNE?

Also everyone here, and on the TL forums mentions that there is massive torque steer on the TL... but i'm probably looking to turbocharge the TSX in the future(to about 300whp or so), so wouldn't that have plenty of torque steer too?

Keeping that in mind, (yes i kno its my final decision) would it be better to get the TSX n turbocharge it? or get a 04 TL and supercharge it?

Thanks

vitocorleone

Can afford any car up to $35k. Drove TSX and TL back to back. Will not be buying TL as it felt "too big" for me, and it's additional features didn't overcome that. Plus the TL's rear seat doesn't fold down and since we only have one car....

TSX CSI

good luck with the turbocharging, there is none available as of yet, that I know of...... Custom would be the only way to go, but if it can be done i would love to see a nice sleeper blow the doors off all the ricers, and do it with style!

Crazytree

I have a friend who bought a TL with Navi... I bought TSX w/o Navi. The price difference was about $9,000.

leo leo

If your looking for the best daily driver (comfort, ride, immenities, etc.) and a car that is more drag/straight line performance oriented with good/fair handling capabilities I'd go with the TL (6MT)


If your more into handling/AutoX and modding cars; having a comfortable commuter; and If acceleration doesn't matter too much (Its a 16-17 sec car ) and your willing to forgo a few gadgets here and there then the TSX is probably your better choice. Don't forget to factor the six thousand or so you'll save with the TSX!

I personally think you can't go wrong with either, but make sure you know what you are getting, because (imo) these are two very different cars.

silverfox

As a current TSX owner, I am currently in the midst of trading it up for the 04 TL. First of all, let me just say that my previous cars were: 03 350Z Track, 01 TT 225hp, 02 A4 3.0, 01 A6 2.7, 01 Z3 3.0, 01 Vette, and a 04 WRX Sti. As you can probably tell, I love performance oriented vehicles. and go through cars like I change my draws The 350Z and the WRX sti was just too damn fast and it felt too stiff on uneven surfaces. The Vette actually had a nicer ride than these 2 cars. With my bad back, I let them all go. Audi's were my favorite cars as you can tell, until I bought my 1st new Acura. These cars are among the best in quality, ride, reputation, reliability, and the prestiege for the money.....PERIOD! To me, the TL encompasses all the great traits of these cars I've had put into one. My only draw back is that it's not AWD.

My TSX with nav came to $29K. For extra $6K more, you can get the TL with nav. Now, what I don't understand is, if you are into the performance of the TSX and planning on spending more money to boost the power and performance of this car to churn out an extra 20-30 more hp or even 50 - 60 hp, why not spend that money on the TL with the stock 270 hp? It's one thing to tweak a car for the fun of it, but in terms of $$ and risk voiding the warranty, step up to the TL. All the engineering, labor, and quality of workmanship is already built into it without you lifting a finger, even to flip through the yellow pages. But then again, we all dance to a different beat, so the bottom line is.....do what makes YOU happy. For me, that would be a TL ....for now, LOL!

Dan Martin

Nice first post there silverfox! 7 cars in 4 years is crazy.
I think you're right about the tweaking/tuning front. Some people do it just as a hobby and don't really care about the dollars and cents of what they are doing. It certainly makes more sense to buy a better car from a financial standpoint. That being said, the TL is quite different from the TSX and some people wouldn't buy a TL even at equal money. I've always been a fan of smaller cars so the TL just didn't feel right to me but I'm sure you're going to be happy with it.

Dr.Evil

My gf and I own both a TSX and the 04 TL. If u want a nice comfortable ride, power (but a lot of torque steer), something to talk back at ya and tell you what to do (the navi), handsfree cell phone use (bluetooth) dual auto up front windows ( which was the selling point for her), 5.1 DVD audio, go for the TL. If u want to hear an engine that like a sewing maching gone crazy as u go thru the gears (as i put it to her), nice firm suspension for the twisties and overall a nice fun peppy car go for the TSX. Hers maybe bigger and better but i say to her in fake Japanese voice" See that car! Berry Fast ! Made in Japan! See ur car Berry fast Made in Ohio "

jlukja

NocturnalEvo

Hmm... hows the fuel efficiency on these cars?

silverfox

Based on Cars.com:

TSX: City: 21 – 22 Highway: 29 – 31

TL: City: 20 Highway: 28 – 30

Amazing that there is this little difference between these 2 cars; especially 200 hp VTEC V4 vs 270 hp VTEC V6.

Mokos23

yeah you're right about that, so, are you assuming that our TSX has poor gas mileage, since it is so close the V6 270hp TL?

silverfox

Ok, in terms of the vehicle weight, the TSX is about 3200 lbs, while the TL is about 3500 lbs. The TSX uses more gas to pull it's own weight, while the TL with it's bigger motor uses less gas and is more efficient in pulling it's own weight. Picture a 150 lb guy (TSX) trying to dead lift 300 lbs, and a 200 lb guy with more muscles (TL) to lift the same amount. The 200 lb guy will use less energy to lift the 300 lbs as opposed to the 150 lb guy. It all comes down to physics. Therefore, the gas milege is similar, especially during the break-in preiod.

However, I was advised by my dealer that the TSX will get better milege once the car is broken-in.

I-MOD

It boils down to this....if you wan tto mod the car, and drive it hard get the TSX. I own both and love the nimble responsive nature of the TSX. There will be plenty of mods for it in the coming months as well. The TL is a nice refined car that has a nice sporty touch to it. It's no race car and isn't really setup for that. The seats are widers and don't work well for hard cornering, the car is heavy and quiet as well. Both are fun to drive but the TSX gets the win hands down for being more "Fun" to drive. I take the TL out when I have a long ride, I love the DVD audio/XM system in it and it is just more comfortable then the TSX. If I'm going to be the back roads I like the TSX because it has good seats for cornering and responds well to hard driving. It doesn't have that heavy car feel you get with the TL.
Both are great in their own way, you just have to choose the one that will suit the needs your looking for

D.

Iceman

I agree with I-mod. The TL already has too much engine for a FWD car. The TSX's chassis can handle more horsepower than the engine can deliver.

C_TSX_Go

TL TL TL TL TL TL TL TL

leo leo

TL

Mokos23

neither, get the G35 Coupe