First, a little background for those that need it...

My 6 MT tranny started making a howling noise on pedal take-up, so, after my dealer diagnosed a bad throw-out bearing, I'm having a new one installed within the next week or so.

After I received the diagnosis, I asked the dealer about installing a Comptech lightweight flywheel as long as the tranny was going to be open. My service rep said $330 for the flywheel, installation free. I told him to go for it.

While waiting for the flywheel to arrive, I contacted JTso about meeting up and doing some before and after testing to gauge the flywheel's effect on acceleration. JTso has a G-Tech and OBD II performance measuring software for his IPaq, so we agreed to meet this morning to make some baseline (pre-flywheel) runs.

PHASE I: Baseline data:

Fed's Car: 2004 Acura TSX 6-speed, no nav. Original wheels and tires, no mods whatsoever. Full tank of gas.

Weather: Dry, 50 degrees Farenheit.

0-60: Number of runs - 10
Best time - 7.37 secs
Worst time - 7.74 secs
Average time - 7.65 secs

1/4 mile: Number of runs - 3
1st run - 16.05 secs @ 92.3 MPH
2nd run - 16.20 secs @ 91.0 MPH
3rd run - 16.0 secs @ 90.3 MPH
Average - 16.08 secs @ 91.2 MPH

Now, for comparison, we also ran JTso's beautiful TSX through the 0-60 gauntlet.

JTso's car: 2004 Acura TSX 6-speed, no nav. 2005 TL factory 17" wheels and 235/45-17 Yokohama ES100 tires. Eibach springs and Koni yellow shocks, Comptech strut tower brace and rear sway bar, Hondata gasket, K&N CAI, DC Sports header, Neuspeed short shift kit. Mostly full ank of gas

0-60: Number of runs - 6
Best time - 7.03 secs
Worst time - 7.74 secs

As a control measure (and for the fun of it), I also did 4 runs in JTso's car, with the following results: 7.37, 7.03, 7.03, 7.03. Overall average for JTso's TSX is - 7.31 secs.

Conclusions?

Well, we both agree that JTso's mods have improved both the performance and aesthetics of the TSX. His car is consistently 0.3 secs faster than mine to 60 MPH, and it has an aggressive sound under WOT.

My opinion is that JTso's engine mods account for half of the straight-line acceleration gain, and the suspension mods account for the other half. I say this because under hard acceleration, JTso's car's rear end squats much less than mine, which when combined with superior summer compound tires, improves front tire traction and allows harder starts without as much feathering of the throttle.

By comparison, my stock TSX feels somewhat soft and squirmy on the pavement, and lacks the hunkered-down feeling that JTso's car has. I also drove JTso's car on some familiar roads in my neighborhood, and found it to corner flatter, grip harder, and push less in corners, yet it still rides acceptably well - in other words, JTso's TSX still feels like a "near-luxury" car.

Stand by for the PHASE II in the coming week (or two)!

 

Nice summary fedlawman! I'm looking forward to see the results after your flywheel install.

 

Good info. Maybe this will convince a few of the s that the TSX can be just as quick as its competition, stock.

 

Cool stuff!

 

Did you guys record any quarter mile times on JTso's car?
Just wondering how much more different it was in quater mile, and not only 0-60 times.

 

No 1/4 mile time with my car, as we were more interested in collecting data for fedlawman's car. We will most definitely do it again after the flywheel installation, and will have the 1/4 mile time then. If the flywheel yields good result, I will consider installing one on my car as well, perhaps with an aftermarket clutch at the same time. My clutch slips a bit lately...

 

Sorry I couldn't make it...=(

 

Nice post - what was generally the launch method and revs?

 

I too have a clutch that's showing some age, so I'm looking closely at the numbers. I know the butt feeling is very good though.

 

Great stuff guys

Looking forward to phase II.

 

Actually, I meant to talk about that. During 0-60 testing, my slowest times were obtained when I tried to drop the clutch and "hook up" the launch. During these attempts, all I got was wheelspin and wheel hop.

The fastest times were obtained by launching from idle, and progressively increasing throttle to full to prevent wheelspin.

I also experienced the 1 - 2 upshift power lag that others have mentioned here. I had never really noticed it before, but now I see that the gear ratios don't maximize 0-60 acceleration because the revs are too low when you first shift into 2nd gear.

You'd think with 6-speeds, Honda could have spaced them a little tighter. The stock TSX could easily be under 7 secs to 60 MPH, and under 15 secs in the 1/4 mile with better optinized gearing.

Finally, both JTso and I remarked that during fast 1 - 2 upshifts, both of our cars tranny's "crunch" a little. It feels like we are shifting a smidge faster than the tranny can handle, which is surprising since neither of us were "speed-shifting" - just normal lift-throttle, full clutch press shifts on the slightly aggressive side. I don't remember experiencing this with previous sports cars I've owned, most notably the Miata, which could swallow anything I dished out.

 

Yeah, we missed you Jay. It would have be cool to have your TSX out there for comparison too. I'll let you know when we're ready for Phase II. If you don't party too hard the night before, maybe you can make it...LOL!

P.S. Call me about that other subject. I've got some ideas...

 

Actually the high second gear is done on purpose to achieve good 0-60 times for the magazines. If they shortened 2nd, you wouldn't be able to reach 60mph without a second shift into third. A shift at 55mph would kill the 0-60 times that everyone likes to use as a benchmark of performance.

The lag you noticed definitely isn't good for overall acceleration. I would like to see a slightly taller 1st or a lower 2nd, combined with a 5000 rpm vtec engagement point. Oh, and better valving on the shocks to prevent wheel hop.

 

x oo

 

I'll give you a call Brian. And yea next time I'll try not to party too hard =)

 

don't mean to be a downer here, but after all the mods that JTso did on his car all he got was .34 secs faster than a stock tsx? seems like a lot of money spent for not much increase in performance. don't you think so?

 

Considering that most of his mods are related to suspension, it shouldn't make that much of a difference in his straight line performance. Also, the added rotational mass from the wider wheels and tires likely contributes to a reduction of straight line performance.

 

Keep in mind that the only power increasing mods are CAI, header and Hondata gasket and yield approx. 18- 20 whp = ~ $500. It takes a lot of hp and tq to move a 3400 lbs car from a dead stop to 60 mph or 1/4 mile. The other mods are suspension components mainly for handling but did help with launches during the tests.

 

.3 secons 0-60 is probably m ore like .5 in a quarter mile which is a HUGE difference.

 

if you think about it, there's only 3 mods that will give any horsepower, CAI, hondata gasket and header. you can't expect too much variation from stock w/ just those.

 

JTso, get those 1/4 mile times ASAP. You could be the first to break the 15 seconds! (Or has Kurt done it already?)

 

An 8000 RPM redline would solve the problem too...