maybe i'm the only one out there, but the whole appeal of the TSX to 20-somethings, early 30s professionals is its bang for buck. why pay $26K for car, then dump $10K in mods in car?

just save your money and buy 330i. i'm more from the school of most bang for the buck. i have done every mod on my car myself. so far nothing major, but now that weather warming up, and i have money, let the mods begin. i just got my comptech rear bar. it'll be on by week's end. crawling under car, the bar looks substantial larger. i don't rcall diameter, but close to 2x diameter imo. bar is stiff as shit.

i've read that it really controls lean, and cuts understeer to neutral. once i get my income tax return, new rims and tires going on. if handling still not up to stuff, i'lll go to eibach springs.

comptech bar is $120, 17" wheels/tires $800, springs $225. for about $1200 the car should tear up the track. the lighter wheels and tires will help acceleration and braking also.

future mods, K&N intake - $220, new mufflers - $100. that should bump hp close to 220 hp and torque to 200, with light wheels and summer tires, i bet 0-60 close to 6, 1/4 of 14, close to 1 g skidpad and 70 mph slalom are possible. all this for under $2K

so who else is from the school less is more?

 

haha 2x no. i think it was 14 to 22 ? somewhere around there but not near double.

what kind of track are you trying to tear up here?

 

Good luck finding the lightweight wheels+tires combo for $800. Lightweight usually means forged, which is $350 per wheel minimum. Good summer tires are $150+ each. And no way are you getting 6s 0-60 for $1200, unless you buy some nitrous, but prepare to blow your engine up if you go that route. That said, the mods you listed should offer a little more punch (not 34 more lb-ft of torque or 20 hp, but maybe 10 and 10). Not many mods are going to take a second off your 0-60 for so little money, or the car would have just come from the factory that way.

 

I think you might be a little optimistic there KJ, but you're right that with relatively little money you can tune the TSX into something great. If you want to get down to a 6sec 0-60 run you're going to have to go to forced induction or nitrous. You'd be a hero to get 0.92-0.95g on the skidpad and there's just no way you'll be able to get 70mph through the 600' slalom. The Cg of the TSX is way too high even with lowering springs to allow you to transition that quickly.

 

I'm with you on the value minded purchases, but I think you're a little optimistic about your 60 time. 220hp is probably possible but would take more than just intake and muffler.

I'm definately getting the rear sway bar and springs when I got the cash. Lighter wheels plus performance tires sometime in the future.

 

cheapest light weight wheel i can find is kosei k1 ts(14.1lbs, $800 per set). If you ant to get toyos figure another 600, but that would put your corners at 35lbs and should give some serious acceleration, handling and braking gains.

 

No offence friend, but you are on crack.

 

I want some of those $100 mufflers that give you 10hp! I wonder if that's $100 for the pair or just one?

 

This is tangential but with his injen jab dyno'd at 181 hp which is an estimated 212 hp or so at the crank. intake/headers/exhaust might well get you to that 220hp level. Personally though i'd rahter get light wheels/tires you'd get more perfromance benefit.(handling, braking and acceleratiion)

 

let me clarify.

damn you guys are so anal on this post. relax and take some fuckin valium.

1st off i said i didn't know exact diam of bars. 22mm vs 14 is sunbstantial diff.

i said lightweight, i never said featherweight. bang for the buck, i can't rationalized $2000 in wheels and tires, put a fuckin jackson supercharger in for a little more $$.

i have found a mail order place that had an offer for 17" rims with kumho tores for $799 mounted and balanced. they are about 8 lbs lighter than stock rims. enough to make a diff.

don't forget that i'm maintaining stock size. 20" rims are heavy as shit. i was considering 18" rims, but felt the performance gains wouldn't be worth the price gain.

Yoko AVS 100 are about $100 each for 215/50 17, look it up.

i've read on this post that engine is underrated and dynos put it at more like 205 hp and 180-185 tq stock. combine that with seat of pants feel, confirmed by many others on site, that car feels stronger after 10-15K miles, and 220 crank hp with intake/mufflers is not that far fetched.

i haven't jacked the car up yet, but looks like stock exh manifold is pretty good, so headers will only be modest gains. there appears to be resonator/muffler behind cat, midway back, then exhaust splits in rear into 2 mufflers. everybody knows, bigger and straighter is better. instead of $1000 on full cat back, cut of mufflers, major source of lost hp, put up new mufflers with tips and get 5-10 hp without all the noise. i did it on my mustang.

leave stock pipe size and resonator, so car doesn't sound rice.
CAI with 2 mufflers, diy install, ~ $300 investment, 15-20 hp crank increase, awesome sound, results-priceless.

my fiancee took her digital camera after i dumped her ass, i'll have to buy my own or borrow my dads to doc install. i should have custom LED interior done today. classsy not ricey.

i know someone i still gonna bitch until i race their ass. believe me once tracks open from winter time, i'll scan some slips in. till then i'm going out this p.m. with stopwatch for unofficial 0-60.

who knows maybe i'm talking shit afterall.

 

A mustang flows a hell of a lot more air than a 2.4L 4-cyl. Don't expect the same gains. Also the dual muffler setup on the TSX is pretty unrestrictive as is which most dynos will confirm. Further, you can't just say "well, the intake gives 10hp and the exhausts give 10hp so I'm going to get a 20hp gain". That's rice math! The horsepower gains will be at different RPMs so they aren't cumulative.

 

LOL, going to remember that one.

Seriously though, dyno your setup when you get some stuff on there. If you can get the HP up that high I'd be happy, since there'd be more potential then I expected!.

 

Typically how much does a dyno run cost?

 

like tinky said no way will u get those hp figures...so far from all the dynos i have the most hp from a TSX. 184.6 hp at the wheels. i would like to take to the same dyno place and see who has more power hehehe. i hope to get the DC header soon so i hope to maintain the highest dynoed TSX but i know eventually ill get beat out till i got turbo. =)

 

There is a place local to me that is advertising hp and torque for $75 for 3 runs.

 

right 185 at wheels = 212 at crank, intake gives 10+ at crank, mufflers- 5-10 hp at crank for 220-225 hp, or 20-25 hp advantage. given 15% drivetrain loss, 17 - 21 hp at wheels. together with slightly lighter wheels, better tires, dyno should be close to 195-200 hp, good for 0-60 close to 6. give me a few months to install everything and dyno it and i'll prove you wrong.

or i'll look like a noob.

either way, my car will sound sweet and i'll have extra $1000 in my pocket to burn.

 

So you are still holding to your 14 second 1/4 mile and 1 g on the skidpad for under 2 grand?

I'll wager that you couldnt hit 1g on the skidpad with $20,000. Heck, lets make it an even 30k.

 

This is the only mod you'll need to hold 1g on the skidpad: Link