clolicious

If you could export you CL to Europe, as your means of transportation, and take 6 months or maybe even a year to drive around:
A- Would you?
and
B- How would you hook it up? Meaning, what suspension set up? what brakes would you choose? Would you supercharge the engine? entertainment(ice)? etc...?

mattg

tein ss coilovers
18" forged wheels
comptech s/c
comptech sways and strut bar
brembo BBK

N.O.6speed

^ couldnt have said it better

darrinb

make it rwd

Chaptorial

Don't forget headers/icebox.

mattg

icebox comes w/ the s/c.

good call on the headers though.

blader

dont forget the s\c accessories .. IC, pulleys, emanage, etc.

clolicious

Why TEIN ss? I know they're high quality but would the price be justified?
Definently Brembo's.
I bet the europeans wouldn''t know what to do if they saw a CL passing them by.
But serious- I'm in the process of researching the subject of exporting a CL for a private use trip across Europe and I'm trying to get some solid advice on best way to set-up the car for use.

mattg

or you could just get springs.

i figure for someone who is contemplating buying a s/c and a brembo BBK, what's an extra $500 for complete height and damping adjustability.

clolicious

Let's say that money is not a factor but good money well spent.

clolicious

Tell your fellow cl members to reply to this posting. The more helpful hints I get, the better the trip will be. I'm going to have about 4-6 video cameras mounted at various places through out the car documenting the whole trip.

anothercls

I'd take it turbo over the supercharger....

clolicious

Are U a turbo lover or do U think I would benefit better from a turbo?

anothercls

From what I have seen/heard from the turbo setups on the CLS I would say the turbo will offer more power in the end. Not exactly sure what the turbo would do in Europe, but it would be a lot of fun to have one there.

rezurex

depends what you like. there are a few forum members that have turbos in their engine bays, do a search and you'll find a bunch of info. its the nature of a turbo to have a slight turbo lag, whereas with superchargers there is none. turbos IMO are more fun to play with, especially with a nice Blow off Valve (BOV) and have more potential for higher boost. however the installation for the turbo will be quite extensive (no turbo kit is readily made for the CL-S... yet) but s/c kits exist for the CL-S, namely from comptech. installation and support for the s/c would be more accessible...

if you have an auto, i would go with a s/c. with a 6 MT... i would probably go with a turbo.

BC2G

so basically....exactly the same as we would hook it up here in the states

clolicious

I would definetly have to factor in reliability. Spending almost a year in a country that doesn't even have an Acura dealership-scary- but I wonder too if the Honda dealers could take care of any problems that may arise while I'm there. I guess I would choose the S/C cause of dealer warranties!

rezurex

i would order it ASAP because s/c's are on backorder from comptech.

darrinb

if your talking about europe our 4th gear would be embarrassing on the autobahn

clolicious

Tell me about it! For I am just another number on their waiting list. This whole idea is one of those concept to done deal things. I'm past the concept part and have moved on to the gathering of supplies. I've got the car- I've got the passports, documents- I've even went as far as to call a Alpine dealer from the UK to have a european navigation unit delivered, plus some odds and ends from overseas, to my house. This trip is going to be hardcore!

clolicious

I do urge anyone who has anything negative or positive to say about this thread to please speak freely. And it also doesn't matter how old this one becomes because I still have a years time to decide on how to set-up my car. KEEP ON REPLYING!!

darrinb

as far as tires go def go with the toyo t1-s

labmeister

And, don't forgot a good set of speed rated tires!

scalbert

Not actually. Due the high CR on these cars we are really limited to 8 - 9 PSI intercooled boost. That is something the blower in the Comptech kit can easily supply.

The main factor for the decision between the turbo and SC should be based on who is doing the work. You also have to factor in the custom work and tweaking that is often required and would be with a turbo kit. If the owner does not have the time to mess with it or cannot do the work himself, I would not look at the turbo route.

The SC has less total potential in making power. But it can make enough to shred the tires and produce 370 WHP so far with a little more to go. I suspect the turbo will easily break 400 WHP (I expect to see 425+ at the same boost levels I run); there is no question about with makes more power.

Now, for day to day driving, I have no doubt the SC is better. Having owned several turbo vehicles and will own them again, the roots style blower is better in traffic and normal commutes. Instead of a rush of power coming from a turbo, the SC makes it feel like a larger motor was dropped under the hood.

There are several important factors to consider for this type of decision...

scalbert

Where in North Georgia are you located?? If you would like to see what a blown CL-S is like I happen to know where one is at.

Shawn S

Stupid question…. Why would you do this ???
There are plenty of cars that are OVER THERE already that are better suited for the area.
Factor in the shipping cost back-and-forth across the pond before you think about what you would lose if you sold and bought something new.

clolicious

I'm located just north of Blue Ridge before the Tennessee border. I would like to know where the blown CL-S is. Let me know where it is at.

scalbert

It is my '03 6MT CL-S. I recently made 369 WHP and it is a joy to drive.

I'm just about 50 minutes south of you down I-575 in Woodstock (Towne Lake).

Let me know if you are coming down this way and we could meet up. Please keep in mind that this is not the basic SC kit from Comptech; I had altered it and added my own peices to get it where it is today. But it still would give an idea of what these cars are like with the blower.

clolicious

The reason? Simply because I can. Why not? Why not allow yourself the comfort of knowing that your going to travel in a great car that is just screaming to get on some european roads. On top of that, I'm one with my CL's. Ode to the CL-S!! I'd much rather travel for 6 months in semi-unknown territory with a vehicle that I know from top to bottom. I'm already inquiring about the possibilty of just selling the car to someone overseas so I won't have to bring it back. Who knows? There's still alot of fine tuning and preperations to be made before this happens.

Shawn S

I love my car too, but you mentioned that money was no object and “because I can”.
If that is all true, I’d much rather put myself in an M3 or 5-Series for a 6-12 month tour of Europe.

clolicious

OK I'll play with that idea. I'd choose the M series because it being a two door coupe. But I'll get back to you on this one after getting more info on the M.
Why would u choose a BMW over the Acura?

scalbert

BTW, just in case you did not see this and might be interested:

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146558

AQUI NO!

As much as i like my Cl, i don't think it would be the best car suited for your trip. Our Cl is a gas guzzler and with gas prices in europe being so high, filling up the old girl might get expensive. On a recent trip I rented a fiat punto and paid over 50 euro to fill up the tank. imagine having to fill up the Cl every 300 miles or so. the word ouch comes to mind. Also, keep in mind that parking in some european countries is tight, the Cl is relatively large compared to most cars in europe. I hope u won't mind a couple of blemishes on ur car. Also Ur car may attract attention of the wrong type since it will be a one of a kind and may get ripped off.

That having been said. I often wondered what it would've been like to rip through the southern italy country side, the autostrada or any coast hwy in the Cl. letting the Vtec hit
Sounded like fun. But the more I thought about it, the more i thought about all those fun cars we don't get here in the states, the smart roadster, the alfa romeo 156 ,etc. I think it would be a hell of a lot more fun to rent one of those car(or several of them) through a company like europe by car(they can arrange for a short term lease of sorts). either way, seeing europe by car sounds like it would be fun.

clolicious

These are wonderful points and this is the kind of feedback that I need to munch on. Thank you for your input. The whole reason for wanting to export the CL overseas is that while in the states, I would be able to suit up the car with video cameras to not only document the trip but to also possibly webcast the trip to friends and family, or anyone else for that, who would want to watch. Like I said in a previous reply, there's still alot of fine tuning and ideas to work out.