Hi-
I am new to the forum (thanks for all the great info so far!), and the owner of a new '06 TSX auto. silver with black guts.
I'm looking for some advice on performance mods. I ultimately want to add a cat-back exhaust, intake, and performance chip (or re-program)
I DO NOT want to throw on a giant power-robbing exhaust system or plastic intake that will throw everything out of whack.
Is there a way I can buy the three items at different times and have them ultimately work together properly?
Also, any recommendations on reasonably priced mods?
Any and all direction and opinons are welcomed, thanks in advance.
Looking forward to getting started!
Thanks,
Patrick

 

I believe you can mix and match your upgrades without worrying about them robbing gains from one another. A couple of things to look out for:

1. The Comptech rear sway bar will not work with non Comptech exhaust. The Progress rear sway bar will. Comptech rear sway bar will, of course, work with the Comptech exhaust.

2. Any aftermarket intake you choose will reduce your low rpm power (by a little bit) in favor of better gains in either mid or high rpms (or both). This is true of the Comptech Icebox and of the Injen CAI. I suspect its true of the other brands as well.

3. There is only one performance chip (re-program) available at this time, the hondata reflash.

You don't have to do all the mods at the same time. I'd get the reflash first as I think it brings you the highest gains. And, once you have the reflash, you'll want an intake and a header. Use the "search" feature and you'll see plenty of threads on each of the modifications mentioned. Have fun and good luck. And welcome to Azine.

 

search

 

First mistake.

 

you damn MT snob.

 

We created a monster.

 

 

Hey, I resemble that comment!!!

 

Hey, you made the same mistake before too.

 

I'm just getting 3 years of vent up frustration off my chest.

 

But I was smart enough to correct it.

powens67, whatever you do stay away from a CAI, either Injen or K&N. It robs any low end tourque that the car has. Go with a Comptech Icebox instead.

 

Bandwagon Jumper!

 

I think the K&N has less of the low end loss effect due to the longer and smaller dia intake tube. 3.00" Injen vs 2.75" K&N.

 

Off me!! I have been a MT snob for the past 20 years and now that I spend time in Boston traffic and have three kids I needed to take that in to consideration.
So far, I'm happy wiith the decision. Although I would like if Acura had the VW technology that matches revs on a downshift.

 

I gotta dispute this, Dom is still just fanboy'ing from going over to the dark side.

ANY intake is going to drop the low end torque just slightly, but that it... just slightly. Like, no more than 5ft-lbs over 6-800RPM, say 2500 - 3200RPM. If you drive aggressively, like high RPMs, and want a little boost, and don't mind the side-effect of the loud(er) engine growl, the CAI is great.

In an old (old... 04) dyno set, the comptech icebox was shown to be perhaps the best performace intake, out-edging the Injen CAI just a bit on the low and high ends, while the Injen held the best midrange gains. Other dynos have suggested higher gains for the Injen than were shown in that one comparison, but as someone who has read a lot about these in the last few months, I gotta say that making apples-to-apples comparisons is incredibly hard, even with the great and many dynos and charts available on this site.

All this is based off a few dyno run overlays done years ago now (and great data it was, but its kinda obsolete for the 06's), and impressions from Dom returning his 04 to stock, and me changing my 06 from stock to CAI.

Take it for what its worth, which is nearly nothing, but don't say no one said it

 

HMM...First time I am hearing that CAI robs low end- [well sorta first time] enough so that someone would post not having it. Especially since everyone who mods has a CAI or similar. And I've seen the dyno runs and most have a lower output around ~2k - ~3k. Does anyone/did anyone hondata flash without CAI or iceBox?
so dom are you not going to do any intake mod? Maybe the 06 only have minimal gains?


EDIT: Now I see that REACH is rebutting Doms comment. so this isn't an absolute. Also it would be nice to know which model the poster owns (if any) Is there an option under your user name to add that --it would be very useful.

 

I think VWong has a reflash without any additional engine upgrades. You might want to try to PM him.

 

On my 04, I had the hondata reflash without any additional engine changes. Not a significant difference in power below 5k rpm, but around 5k rpm, the difference is pretty drastic. It's supposed to be even more in the 06, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

Like you said the dyno does not tell the whole story. But in my few days driving a returned to stock 04 AT after 2+ years of driving the car with the Injen, I noticed significant difference. Enough that I feel I should be repeating my findings over and over again.

The bottom line for me is this. The mid and high end gains were not nearly as noticeable as the low end loss was. The car IMO came back to life after being returned to stock. Is was IMO that drastic.

 

I still have an 04 and no I won't be putting the Injen on it after seeing some MT CAI dyno's. The noise has something to do with it as well though.

So I guess I may have an Injen CAI for sale if anyone is interested.

 

I have enjoyed my K&N in SRI more than CAI specifically for the low-end loss reason.

 

I don't want to offend anyone by saying this, but really... if you drive like a grandma, you'll notice the low end loss. If you drive like a banshee (and I do tend to drive like a f'ing moron) you'll notice the gains way more than the losses.

virus7 I've been mulling over checking out SRI mode. Maybe this weekend I'll finally switch it up.

edit: Now I want to check out an Icebox, if anyone has one to sell

 

If your TSX is your daily driver then, like dom said, you will notice the loss of low end torque more than the high end gain. Sure, if you drive like a banshee, you'll see the gain. But, are you going to be high revving stoplight to stoplight ALL the time? I know some of you will say "yes". For everyday driving I doubt you'll go much beyond 4K-4.5K. Its like vtec. Its great that its there when you need it but do you hit vtec in every gear?

 

I've seen it in person in fact...

 

I think it also depends on if it's AT or MT due to different gear ratios. The MT has lower gears and the engine usually lives in a higher rpm range which may not experience as much loss as AT, especially in between shifts.

 

I definently don't drive like a grandma although I don't drive like a F'ing idiot either. Fact remains, you didn't drive around with a Injen for 2+ years then suddenly go back to stock. I did, so with all due respect I think I'm talking from a more knowledgeble perspective here. I'd love to hear from anyone who's done something similar.

And like JTso said, the AT the losses may be more pronounced. Maybe the losses can't be felt in an MT, I don't know.

 

And what I'm saying is, take the damn blue pill next time, its only ~5ft torque at peak loss, over a small interval.

Noticeable? Yes. Life changing? No. My CAI stays on.

 

 

I think the low end loss is noticeable. I have an AT, and I have both an Injen intake and a Comptech Icebox. During the time that I had the Hondata reflash with the hesitation, I experimented with different intakes and configurations. I had the Injen in both SRI and CAI modes, and right now I have the Icebox on.

I could definitely feel a difference between the Injen in CAI and the Icebox. With the Icebox it just feels like the car has more pep on take off. It also felt smoother, which I'm guessing is because of the extra torque you get back along with less noise. Sometimes having the extra noise makes you feel like your engine is working harder than it actually is. The Icebox is so quiet compared to the Injen that it gives you the perception that acceleration is a little more smooth and effortless.

I've talked to other Injen owners and they have also said they noticed a loss on the low end. With the Injen I felt more power in the midrange. It definitely felt like it was pulling harder whenever I would hit Vtec. If you are always reving high, then the extra power in the midrange along with the nice growl might be worth it for you. Just depends on the driver. Reach you seem to be happy right now with it, so just go with it. The growl of the Injen does sound awesome If you end up wanting that low end power back later, just switch to CAI mode. That's the beauty of the Injen two piece design. In SRI mode the low end power is very comparable to the Icebox.

For you Dom, I think the Comptech would be the perfect intake. You basically keep all of your low end power along with getting a nice little growl. That's if you want to go with intake anyway. You might be just as happy with keeping the OEM one. If you want I might be able to do some comparision between OEM and icebox for you.

With all that being said, I am still going to switch back to Injen SRI mode soon so I can experiment with how well it works with my Supercharger setup. I'll probably put it in CAI mode after that just to do some more testing.

 

well put. As it is, I'm starting to wish I had taken a closer look at the icebox when I was evaluating intakes. I'm all about the gains on the CAI, but if the numbers don't lie (which sometimes they do) the Icebox may be better for me.

I'm definitly going to switch to SRI for a while, I'll change it up this weekend. I think I'll have to evaluate the Icebox at some point too, so if someone has one in a closet somewhere please PM me.