awell007

How strong is the aftermarket for the 02/03 CL-S?

I have heavily modded my 99 Cougar, and am sure i will do the same to my upcoming CL-S?

Is there a wide variety of performance parts out?

I'd most likely want to start with intake/headers/exhaust.

Cost of the three?
How well does the car respond to bolt on mods?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

lou_RENAMED

IMO get the Comptech Ice-box if you like the car quiet or the aEM if you like the roar at Vtec. Comptech headers give around 30 HP to the wheel but mostly at high RPM meaning over 5000 RPM.

stick with Comptech cause they sell quality parts and will continue to do so even though its dropped. Get a hold of Deanbluesi in the black market cause he gives you great prices and you can trust him.

Congrats on your car and this car with bolt ons can give you 250-260 HP to the wheel you tell me if the car reacts good with bolt ons

Slimey

Welcome. It sounds like you need to read Chod's FAQ. A lot of your questions will be answered there. It's a bit dated, but there's a lot of good information to be found. Click the link in my signature.

GreenMonster

Congrats and welcome to the Acura CL forum.

Check out the tuners guide:

http://www.acura-cl.com/tunersguide/

Some of the most popular mods to the CLS are headers, intake, springs and sways. You can get all of those from comptechusa or can mix and match from the various suppliers depending on what you're looking for.

awell007

What are the gains on the Comptech Ice-box and aem?
I would want the aem for the sound, but if gains are better on the icebox I'd prolly go with that.

What are the headers going for?
Install difficulty?
Are they S/S or ceramic coated?

Is torque steer or wheel hop an issue stock/modded?

Are there known problems on the 03 CL-S?

I've been here a day, and I already have seen multiple threads regarding the tranny...

awell007

Thanks guys

The FAQ did answer alot of the questions I had!

One thing tho, has anyone attempted to gut their pre-cats rather than dropping 1300.00 on headers.

Results?

1300.00 is AWFULL steep!
Headers for my Cougar were only 600.00 and that was when they were first designed/released...

Slimey

Comptech headers are stainless steel and run about $1100. Install varies, and many members have done it themselves (with the right tools, of course).

There are a couple other companies that make Comptech knock-offs for about $400-$600 (I think). OBX makes a ceramic coated variety, but people have had problems with the coating coming off. The non-Comptech models are ONLY available for those with the auto transmission. Six-speeders only have one choice in Comptech. Do a search for OBX or Stone Racing if you're interested.

Transmission issues have really centered around the auto tranny. There have been some sporadic issues with the manual transmission, but no real global problems.

LiQiCE

Comptech Icebox / AEM are supposed to give max gains of about 10-12whp. The Comptech Icebox is supposed to give better gains in the mid-range than the AEM and similar CAI's.

Headers vary in price depending on what manufacturer you go with. Comptech is the most expensive at around $1100-1200, they developed the headers, spent the money on the R&D, and use a more expensive and supposedly higher quality SS.

OBX is another big manufacturer, their headers run around $383 (ssautochrome.com) and produce gains similar to the Comptech. Their design is based off of the Comptech one, but peole have complained of fitting and alignment issues and of lower quality SS. They also make Ceramic coated headers, but from what everyone has said they are of very poor quality.

Stone is the 3rd manufacturer of headers for our cars, and they will supposedly have better fitting/alignment than OBX, and will supposedly be of higher quality steel. The design is also based off of the Comptech design. They haven't been released just yet, but Nashua_Night_Hawk is doing a group buy for $400 for the headers.

The 4th manufacturer is Opak, their design is based off of the Prototype Racing team's header design, and supposedly will have better gains than the Comptech design because it is an equal length header design. They will cost $750 but group buys might drive the price down more ... Here is a link to more info on it: opakracing.com

Exhaust on our cars is not going to give you too many gains, maybe 5whp at most, and for ~$600 for the comptech exhaust, most people have skipped it.

There is a Comptech supercharger available for the 6-speed CL-S and one will be available soon for the automatic TL-S/CL-S, which provides gains of around 50-60whp. It runs an extreme $5000 for the supercharger, plus installation ... but it does come with the Comptech Icebox (~$250 value).

There are other mods you can put onto the car, like pulleys ... there's a 3.5L upgrade available for the car (although finding an installer maybe difficult).

With the right amount of money, there are a vast amount of upgrades available for the car, but the most common will be Headers/Intake/Exhaust.

Torque steer is usually an issue with a FWD car with a lot of power, and it isn't any different with our cars ... wheel hop problems can be eased by buying better tires, the stock Michelins are junk for hard driving.

Known problems with the '03 CL-S is mostly the tranny issue. But supposedly Honda figured out which manufacturer had the problem with the tranny and with '03s built after a certain date (most say June '03 or after) there is no longer a tranny issue. My '03 TL-S was built in June of '03 and I have about 9000 miles on the car right now and so far she's still running smooth *knocks on wood* ...

Hope this helps!

lou_RENAMED

hey newb look at the black market you can pick them up for around $650-$700. I just sold mine for $675 shipped and it was in perfect condition. Like I said start with the Ice-box it will transform the way the auto drives escpecially at lower RPM's cruising aroung town....by the way Deanbluesi can get new ones shipped to your door for less than a grand.

awell007

Thank you everyone!
Very informative posts!



My only remaining question is on the gutted pre-cats.
Has anyone done it as an alternative to headers?

There are quite a few people on my Cougar forum that took that route over purchasing headers.

It worked out great/almost the same gains as the actual headers with the only problem being the need for MIL eliminators..

Anyone?

lou_RENAMED

I don't know about you but there the CAT in our cars cost about $900 to replace so if you think you'll be saving money please PIONEER this route Don't forget the headers and intake WILL not VOID your warranty I don't know how Acura would feel about gutting the CAT.

One more thing please don't mention about what Cougar owners are doing to there cars. If I had that car I wouldn't spend on aftermarket either Just kidding

oh yea WELCOME ABOARD

Titand19

Welcome, What color are you thinking of getting?

awell007

Satin Silver Metallic or Anthracite Metallic.

MMMmmm

bullaculla

good choice! welcome.

blackmagiCL_S

Welcome!

One thing that I would like to add is that the OBX headers do have some "ricey" resonance at around 2500rpms but other than that they rock and save you a lot of $$$. There is another manufacturer called Stone Headers and there is a group buy going on but they might have some resonance issues also I heard. Comptech costs a lot more but they seem to be the best product.

paper1122

anyone notice the mods awell has on his cougar "high-rise" spoiler.......

blackmagiCL_S

high-rise=PARK BENCH? or not? Don't know.

Love those front wheel drive cars that go SO fast that they need a spoiler on the back for more than decoration (iz jus fo decorashunz, yo!).

Didn't notice but the guy seems to know his sh!t even if he did make the mistake of putting a bad spoiler on his car. I'd cut him some slack. He has been way cool.

He has real questions. Newbie to the forum...yes. But dumb to modding? Maybe not.

LiQiCE

blackmagiCL_S - Not sure where you heard the Stone headers might have resonance issues, but the two installs that Nashua_Night_Hawk has done both did not have resonance issues. We will see for 100% sure when more people get their headers installed, but for right now the tendency is to lean towards "no resonance" in my opinion.

blackmagiCL_S

Actually one of the installs did have some resonance issues. Bulldog01 has a bit of resonance and I have been in his car and heard it. It isn't nearly as loud as the OBX though. I would go with the Stone before the OBX.

awell007

Actually the Wings West high-rise spoiler isn't one of the ricey looking park bench ones...

I'd shoot my own damn self if I had one those ugly things...

See link

My Cougar---animation

LiQiCE

Ah ok, my bad ... they didn't post about the resonance issues on here, and Nashua said "NO Resonance" for his install so I figured the 2nd install went just as well.

Nashua_Night_Hawk

I have no resonance at all.. so is the case on Bulldogs car... I am pretty sure cause he did a full-load runs on the dyno an NO resonance sound at all.

If Bulldog now has some weird noises, he would better check any leaks...he can testify that the Cat converter O-ring was busted at the installation and it was reused!!! it could be a leak..

blackmagiCL_S

It isn't nearly as loud as the OBX resonance. It seems to bother him a little but I don't really think it is bad...at least not when I heard it.

blackmagiCL_S

Ah, now I see. That doesn't look too bad at all. I like the hood too.

Smitty

The high rise.. just like the Mitsu
Welcome to the board.. ENJOY
Smitty