Alright I know right off the bat people are going to tell me to search the forum, but I have done extensive research so keep this in mind when reading this post.

My warranty comes up in June, and at that time I would like to begin modding me '04 TSX. I have researched the different aspects of this car that seem to restrict performance the most. The exhaust seems to be fairly adequate, so I don't think that makes sense as my first mod. I am a street driver and will not be tracking this car AT ALL. I am looking for the most bang for my buck.

With that said, for those of you who have modded your vehicles, what would you say is the most effective mod? I am looking to spend somewhere around $500. From my research, upgrading to UR pulleys seems to be fairly effective.

Any advice or recommendations? TIA

 

UR pulleys and/or hondata.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33868

^^ that's a thread that I created a little while back entitled "rank your mods". should be a good first step.

 

my most effective mod is the UR pulley set. for around $370 (including install) my car definitely pulls harder afterward.

intake is cheap. the comptech icebox is what i've got, and while i can't say i notice a big difference in go, taking the resonator off sure makes the car sound a lot better. many people on here like CAI better than an icebox. looks nicer anyway.

lastly, a pretty cheap mod is a rear sway bar. i got my progress RSB for $130ish and had a guy on the forums here help me install it (free). and even with my coilovers, the thing made my steering noticeably tighter.

 

I don't think you'll find a better bang-for-the-buck then a hondata reflash ($600).

 

This might be more than you wanted to spend, but lighter wheels and better tires make the most sense to me. If you're focusing on power rather than handling, than the re-flash seems like the way to go.

 

That's a good link!

 

Well, I do put a lot of emphasis on handling. I just feel like at the moment I could use a power performance mod and not stress the OEM handling of the car. My previous ride was a B5 A4...I had an APR 1.0 Bar Chip, Borla cat-back, stassis-street sports, and 18" RS4 wheels. But the route i choose with that car was improving performance until the point that I felt the suspension needed to be modded in order to efficiently handle the new power increase.

It seems as if the UR pulleys are a pretty popular power increase mod, which is what I was swaying towards. Is it worth getting the complete set, or can I get solid gains from just replacing the crank? In other words are the 1-2 HP that people seem to free up from using the alternator pulley worth the money in your opinion?

 

Can you install the pulley set if you are running an aftermarket stereo? I remember it was the one mod i couldn't do with my old subaru because it wouldnt have supplied enough power or something like that.

 

^^ Yeah, many people have measured the voltage drop and it wasn't that significant. If I remember correctly Abrams, you have a pretty big system along with that aftermarket Navi. How many watts are you pushing out?

 

I thought the UR pulleys were the same size, just made out of aluminum so they're lighter. If that's the case your output wattage shouldn't change at all.

 

 

No the pulleys are smaller too. You can get stock diameters pulleys that are lighter for some cars, but I don't think I've seen one for the TSX. I was interested in getting one at one point and couldn't find one. NST was going to make me one though.

 

300 to speakers
500 to sub

I have a capacitor as well, I wonder if I get an optima battery if it would make any difference to make up for the pullys prob not

 

I agree with everyone that says this. HONDATA is by far the best bang for the buck mod I have ever had on any car.

 

A better battery will definitely help. The wattage of your amps is always the peak output which they only hit momentarily. That isn't all that monstrous of a system so you're normal drawl will be something 1/4 to 1/2 of the peak numbers (largely dependent on volume).

The alternator should be able to put out enough voltage to cover the nominal conditions but possibly not the peak output. Caps are good for covering quick, short spikes in demand but they aren't good for sustained or repeated peak drawl. The battery is essentially a slower, deeper cap. It can't spike as hard or quickly as the cap but it can serve as reservoir for a more sustained drawl.

If you want to use water as an analogy, think of the battery as large wide bowl. It holds a lot of water but the pressure is limited. A cap is like a tall narrow pipe. It drains quickly but can produce a lot of pressure.

If the output of the alternator dips due to a heavy electrical load, it runs more juice through the primary winding to bring the output up again. This makes it hotter. The output is directly proportional to two things, the speed it's spinning and the current in the primary winding. If it's spinning slower (smaller pulley) it needs to juice the primary harder. If the nominal drawl is to high it will build up too much heat and melt the insulation between the windings causing it to fail.

I would suspect that a decent battery (bigger reservoir) and the stock alternator should cover the demands of your semi-modest electrical needs fine. Even with the undersized pulleys.

 

Thanks for the analogy so i can actually understand what your talking about, I apprecaite the info. Looks like I found my next mod from this thread.

 

its interesting, it seems that the things are + or - $500 are:

CT header
Hondata
Pulleys (installed)
OEM 06 Cat

but for the sake of argument, for about 600 you could also get:

DC Sports header+RT Cat., self installed.

On most of the "rank your mods" thread, a decent header (DC/Topspeed/Comptech) or Hondata are pretty close to the top of engine/exhaust mods.

If you self install these, I think you'd probably get a pretty decent cost/benefit relative to installed pulleys. I personally couldn't tell you if the combination of these 2 beat what Hondata would give you (05 5at FTL). There are dynos associated with what the cat and header given individually, and the returns are pretty good, dare i say better than what pulleys have dyno'd.

Of course all of those together make things really fun....

 

REALLY FUN... I totally agree and if you are leaning towards getting new header and cat, you might as well spend an extra 200 and add a good intake cai/ram air depending on your preference. It makes a huge difference IMO.

 

Thanks for all the input guys...I have a couple more months until my warranty is up (when i begin to mod) so by then I should be looking at more then $500 to work with. If the later is true, I may go the CAI, Header, 06+ CAT (or RT CAT) route.

 

I'd do header and RSB first... that's just me.
Also remember that you need to put some money into your tyres if they are already worn out.

 

Don't forget, you 04/05 guys have an extremely restrictive 900 cell matrix catalytic converter. I highly recommend you switch to the Random Technologies cat, which is a 300 cell spun cat. That is really the only exhaust mod you need to do to free up a lot of back pressure.

But, Hondata is always the #1 recommended mod as long as your car is a candidate for it, and your 04 is.

 

I recently did the Hondata and Apexi filter. The more I drive it, the better it gets. You can always find a filter used on the black market to keep cost down.

BUT, I have the comptech and RT cat ready to go as well!

 

I agree I would strongly recommend getting an RSB...best bang for the buck. Why not improve one of the things that the TSX does the best, its handling! As others said the rear end feels solid, with increased cornering + handling capabilities.

 

get some piston return springs

 

is getting a headers worth it if your car is an automatic? anyways I said RSB for a better handling

 

Apparently they made it for someone, does anyone know anything about these?

http://www.nonstoptuning.com/pKitHonTSX.htm

 

My first mod was the progress rear sway bar