Hi all. First post here. I just purchased a 2005 TSX a few weeks ago and love it. I only have one complaint. Although my car performs beautifully in the higher gears, I feel it falls short from 0-20. Seems to be lacking in torque. I have a friend who drives a 2006 Saab 93 w/ a 2.0 Turbo and starting from 0 he smokes me. What I wanted to ask is if there is any modification that would correct this problem. I don't want to spend a fortune and I don't want alter it in a way that my potentially hurt the car in any way. Is there anything out there you guys would recommend? Is this a common complaint? Keep in mind I'm a novice when it comes to cars so don't get too technical on me. Thanks.

 

trade in for something else. Only thing comes in my head is under drive pulleys or intake (no CAI)

 

Are you kidding me?

 

read again.

 

6MT or 5AT?

If 6MT, work on your launches and shifting. A Comptech Icebox, from what I hear, aids low end torque a bit (moreso than cold air intakes, at any rate). If you have a bit more money to throw around ($600 or so), the Hondata ECU reflash smooths out the torque curve and lowers your iVtec changeover to around 4300rpm. These two things might give you enough of a boost to beat that Saab.

But honestly, if something like that bothers you, you are driving the wrong car. The TSX isn't fast - it's sporty for a fourdoor sedan, and can handle brilliantly, but unless you run nitrous or a supercharger, it's never going to be a drag king/queen.

Enjoy the car for what it is, and make modifications as you see fit for your personality/style/enjoyment of the car.

Welcome to the forums.

Edit: s14's right, underdrive pulleys might help here too.

 

upgrade your tires...better grip tires would defiantly help you to have a better launch.

 

Thanks. Maybe my problem is that my last car was a Nissan Titan with 380 lbs/ft of torque. I know it's not an extremely fast car. I'm just not used to a sluggish low end. Thanks for the suggestions. Would the TL have the same issues? Have considered upgrading.

Edit: It is a 6 speed manual.

 

Do you own a MT or an AT? I test drove my friend's AT and let me tell you I wasn't able to feel any tq or power what so ever. I was very disappointed by it...If you ever going to upgrade it to TL then please consider buying a MT because you will ended up running into same problem as you were now.

 

okay.. you seriously need to upgrade your car or try few mods and see that changes anything. I'm currently running UR pulleys, CAI, better tires and I was able to noticed the difference.

 

vtec x-over is set at 5000rpm for 05, and 4850rpm for 06.

and yes I would agree, most seem to rate the pulleys highly, those are next on my wishlist.

 

btw, 0-20?? I was thinking more of 0-45 ish but if thats what you want then just work on your lauch.

 

Hmmm. So the AT is much more sluggish. That's good to know. I personally prefer having manual transmission. I like the control and the fact that it costs much less over the life of a car to replace the clutch a few times than to have automatic transmission problems.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'll start looking into costs.

I wish I could afford the TL Type-S. I bet that would quiet my complaints.

 

Are you looking for best part in terms of just beating your friend? What tranny does he have, the 5at or 6mt?

If its the 5at you're losing to, then maybe learning to drive would be more important than getting parts. If his is stock 6mt, you must not be losing by alot. if you are, check to see if he's messing with his boost. From what I remember, that's fairly easy to do on Saabs...just plug your PDA in and change it. The TSX 6MT is pretty quick as it is relative to the 9-3, but his torque comes on strong and earlier. I hope you're taking it all the way up through VTEC to redline.

As for a magic part to beat a stock 9-3 there won't be just one. Throw some on bolt-ons and new summer tires on. For bolt-ons, I'd say get hondata, comptech header, cai, and RT cat...that should be pretty decent.

 

Let me drive it

If you want to keep the mod list short:
Intake
Rear Sway Bar
Tires

I doubt you'll ever be able to match a Saab 2.0 Turbo without putting a couple grand into it.
Just look at it this way. Saabs are not the best "put together" cars out there, you can pass him when he's in the shop.

Craig

 

I have an auto. I only did the resonator removal and cut out the back of the fog light cover to get more cold air in. Before mod it would only chirp tires a little bit, but after the mod it will lay some rubber. This is good because the tire slip allows the engine to rev up faster. The Hondata might not help off the line as much as the mid range punch, although I want one. Unfortunately I have a 05 auto. Most other mods will mostly help top end.

 

I/H + a nice tune + performance tires will all aid in a faster car

 

225/45-17 tires will change your overall gearing, and improve acceleration, especially if combined with a lighter weight tire (and rim, if you want to do that too).

I was more concerned about driveability, and went the other route, going for larger-diameter 225/50-17 Yokohama Advan S4's; at a listed weight of 26lbs each, they're not too much heavier, but the car is obviously slower, so I'm confident you'll feel the difference if you go the other way.

Reportedly, on acurazine.com, the 06 rims are each about 2lbs lighter than the 05 17x7's, and we know the 06's have more power; acceleration-wise, what I've done is perhaps a wash, 05 vs 06, but frankly, I like my change a lot, because I can now use 3rd gear - because I have to - and overall drivability is improved on the highway and in the city. Where I used to just floor it in 6th, I now downshift to 5th on the highway, depending upon my speed, and the size of the hill, and then floor it. In town, I no longer go 1-2-5.

 

i can beat him in my auto ..

 

a saab turbo... Honestly, you won't catch him on the low end because EURO cars and turbo cars in general reach peak torque so much earlier. You have to wait for you VTEC to kick in. the best thing you can do like everybody else said

UR Pulleys (help regain lost power)
Comptech Icebox
Tires
Hondata Reflash

 

Purchase a Comptech supercharger when they open back up for business and call it a night.

Other than that, your other choice is:
-Hondata reflash
-intake
-header
-high flow cat
-pulley set

You'll get about a 20-30whp gain I believe. And will run close to $1800 not including labor.

If you want to compete on level with force inductioned cars, then the TSX is not for you. We are deprived of aftermarket parts, and the lack of a good EMS will keep that door closed.

FYI, you cannot increase the cars engine performance without some wear and tear.

The way I look at it, the TSX was not really built for speed. The TSX is a Sport/Luxury sedan. The luxury is there, but the sportyness is aimed at the handling of the TSX.

My previous car before the TSX was a 420whp STi. When I sold the STi, I ended up comparing the TSX and a '06 Accord coupe V6. Although the Accord was more powerful than the TSX (engine wise), the handling of the TSX was beyond the capabilities of an Accord. Coming from the STi, I do miss the power, but the TSX was able to fulfill my handling needs.

 

you obviously didn't read his post clear enough.

 

you kidding right? if you are not...what you running on your car?

 

After owning a saab for about 3 years and spending about 3k just trying to keep it running i can tell you just wait a few years because once turbo lag hits him his foot will be all the way down on the pedal and he wont being going any where until he hits about 4-5 rpm. Buying a TSX is the best decision ive made... Not getting 6mt... biggest regret of my life...

 

This is a good suggestion. I'm happy with my tire upgrade. Between the RSB, suspension upgrade, tires, header and reflash it's hard for me to say which one is best, but tires definitely give you an immediate handling return on a car with a good out-of-the-box suspension set-up. The stock rubber is crap compared to a set of performance all-seasons or some equivalent.

If you can afford it, do all of the above

 

Sure I did. First he did not tell us his budget; second of all, he states that he does not want to hurt the car in anyway, so my suggestion is not to mod and do not race it at all.

 

That might have been the case with the older model Saabs but the newer Saabs with the 2.0t are alot different power curve wise.. it just pulls and pulls more.. I didnt feel any turbo lag when i drove one.. you should test one out

 

lol damn it. it wasnt that old a 99. Saabs are nice, nice ride but still love my tsx more

 

i say pulleys

 

I agree with this. The 2.0T engine (not the 175 hp "t" for that year) has 221 ft/lbs torque peak at 2500 rpm. It wasn't laggy at all.

 

I've got a question. For someone who doesn't mind dropping a little cash on the performance needs of the car, and uses the car as a daily driver, what are the best mods for overall performance?

I'm pretty sure you can't just strap in a supercharger without making some other types of upgrades...correct?

Lets pretend that you had....oh....say..$5,000.00 to spend on performance upgrades for an '06 TSX with an automatic transmission (sorry guys, my MT days are way behind me).....what would you spend it on? Not counting labor, just gear.

I'll hang up and listen to your responses....

 

Youre worried about racing your friend in a Saab? Wouldnt doing that do more to "potentially hurt the car in any way" then worrying about moding it to beat him? Maybe Im missing something but that sounds kinda silly to me.

 

Comptech Supercharger. Check out TSX 536's ride and videos by doing a search. The "gear" will be well below 5g's.

If you were 6MT, there's even an all-motor scenario that would still be good for daily driving.

 

I didn't think the reflash was out for the 06 CT supercharger yet?!

However, i'm pretty sure Marcus said the all-motor Hytech system will work with AT's too.



If you have $5k sitting around, i would DEF go with the Grand Am kit 1 w/ CAT and exhaust......the dyno looks awesome it would cost just under $5k! 260 WHP (MT tranny though)!!!!!!

 

Saabs produce more power but the chassis and reliability are absolutely crap.

 

to fix that low end get shortram intake, pullies, header, exhaust(custom would be way cheaper), and hondata.

if you bargain hunt(used parts) you could pull all that stuff off for ~1500bucks

 

for low end grunt: pulleys, comptech ice box, and some headers

 

get the hondata reflash and the comptech flywheel. you will be sure you notice some impressive gains with that combo

 

Rt Cat!