Has anyone heard anything about this? I have not but am curious to know if it is even possible on the new 04 TL? Are there any reasons why it would not work? Should Comptech be able to do a carry over from the CLS 6spd charger to the new TL with new tuning? I am sure the fly-by-wire throttle on the new TL will provide some new challenges. When could something like this be available?

Does anyone have the scoop on this issue? Does anyone know anything? Even if you don’t what are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

 

The compression is very high on the TL making it very boost unfriendly. Also, there is torque steer stock so a supercharger would make it even worse. Comptech also had very few buyers for the CLS supercharger so i'd be a little surprised if they decided to design one for the TL.

 

if it didnt cost so much I'd do it .. cant afford 4G+
doesn't the CLS have a fly by wire throttle? could've sworn it did...

 

how much higher is the compression on the 04 TL than on the 03 CLS. the torque steer issues would be just the same as on the CLS and there are/will be may more TL owneres than CL owners. I know the 6spd 04 LT will encourage the development of a product like this. the market seems much larger now.

I would like to hear from guys like, allmotor, nashua nigh hawk, and scalbert. of course all thoughts are welcome but i know these guys will know something.

thanks
jim

 

never say never, but like stated above, the high compression makes it very unfriendly to a supercharger. Hell my 99 with low compression would see better gains.

 

i hope they come out with something for my car, i have a need for speed....

 

The compression difference is .5, on the CLS it was 10.5:1 and on the TL it is 11:1.

 

All I know is that Comptech hinted to me in a conversation I had with them a few weeks ago, that they are going to start a project to do a supercharger for the 04 TL soon.

 

That is awesome. If they do that I will definitly be in the market to dump my CLS6 and get a TL6. Hope they do it and it doesn’t take a year to develop. I’ve always wanted a manual Acura with four doors. I'm getting itchy even without a supercharger.

Jim

 

They should. As far as not doing it due to poor CL-S sales, Acura is gonna sell a ton of TLs over the next few years !!

 

Poor HP gain is the reason they did not sell their supercharge.

 

yupp 4k for 50 hp is alot.

 

its not all about price, but that is important.
here is where they really screwed up:
they threw out an SC that was very conservative and called a day.
if they were a bit wiser with their strategy, they would release this SC for about 3400 strict pricing.
then they would have additional stages, such as 4k for the SC with proper tuning. and a third stage with an intercooler, so that buyers who wanted could move up to more boost in the future, and 40-50 hp would be the STARTING POINT.

Some will argue whats the point of having an expensive stage 3 kit when it will be about 5-10% of total kit sales? Wouldnt it be better the way comptech did it, just one conservative, easy to handle kit? Im sure if you asked the marketing advisors of Nvidia or ATI, two of the largest vid card manufacturers, they could give you an explanation of why the highend stuff is important in sales of middle and lower end.

Power is addicting, and when someone buys a stage 1 kit, i guarantee you they will at least add some stage 2 stuff especially if its not much more.

As for the 04 TL, 11 compression is really high, but all this means is that they will have to include an intercooler if they want to produce respectable gains. either that or lower the compression which is something they won't do, at least not commercially. If they are building an SC for the 04 TL, it will have to fit v6 accords as well for it to make sense.

IMO, Comptech needs to push more powerful solutions to the consumer, not wait for the consumer to come looking for it. A simple high boost pulley wont cut it.

Remember how many people were interested in Allmotor's turbo setup?, imagine if that custom kit came Bolt on ready with the name comptech on it, for about 4-4.5k

 

The SC is very possible on the new TL. That 11.0:1 CR just limits maximum boost to about 6 PSI non-intercooled on pump gas. I suspect they will keep it down at about 4 PSI for this kit to keep in with Honda and the supporting dealers. Keeping it conservative is sure to help longevity.

 

To add, to get the most out of it they should look at including the e-Manage pre-programmed (with a password) similar to what Greddy now does with their turbo kits.

This would allow them to tune the fuel curve better and set ignition timing where it is condusive to boost. It might even allow them to run 5 - 6 PSI in the base kit.

 

They have a history of being conservative with their projects. This is partially due to the support some dealers give them. There is not one aftermarket company with this level of dealer support. As such they will not go too far which may affect durability or driveability.

Comptech knew what they were doing from a business standpoint. They were much wiser than you in this matter.

If they would have brought out the kits in stages they would be killing them selves in CARB certification costs. Each system would need to undergo its own certification. By offering a single kit which is conservative the CARB cert costs were kept to a minimum, the dealers were allow to make a decision to install and support the kit since long term durability was not significantly reduced (which probably helped them keep in the good graces of Honda NA), and it opened the door to allow the individuals to take it futher without worrying about those other requirements.

This kit was not to make the car a racer; there are other cars for that. The costs are in line with what other kits for import 6 cylinder run of this quality.

 

I forgot to mention that Comptech has already purchased an 04
TL and Chad loves it, a supercharger will be here before long.

 

I am sure Nvdia and Ati dont have to worry about destroying a high compression motor with too much boost, passing inspection, or worrying about a dealer warranty. Some dealers wont mind more boost and power, some will. Unlike the video card industry, comptech cant make a high boost, low boost or whatever supercharger per dealer likings, so they made one that all dealers in general would like. Ati and Nvidia can make a card for specifically for a dell computer. It doesnt cost them much and they know it will sell. They can accomodate all their buyers with many types of cards. There are more people buying computers and video cards everyday than the superchargers. I see your point, but the automotive industry and video card industry are 2 different worlds.

 

all very interesting statements. thank you very much for your thoughts

jim

 

I can see why they did it, after all as you mentioned long term durability is important for them to keep so that their relationship with honda stays on good terms. But Honda can reject warranty service on a comptech modified car if they want to.
I'm not saying i know better than comptech in this business decision, maybe it was pressured by honda for them to be conservative with the kit.
In fact i respect their business "style," as they are able to tag a high price on a product ala headers and people will buy it. Its an example of respect and quality they have earned themselves.

 

Cant they make a kit which includes lets say an intercooler and the emanage or another tuning device when they apply for CARB? Then they sell more conservative kits under the same carb exempt number. I dont know if this is possible but, there is another thing.
When i meant stages, i didnt necessarily mean it strictly as "stages."
For example, they can offer more options with their kit such as the emanage pretuned as you mentioned. Offering an intercooler with the high boost pulley as another option.

Obviously this all goes back to long term durability. more power equals more strain on the entire drivetrain. True, but then why do they offer the high boost pulley, but nothing else. My point is more options wouldnt be hard much to RandD, and get into production. More options would make their sc much more appealing, not to mention more profit.

But i see no reason to argue this furthur, as neither of us are in Comptech's shoes to know which route is better than the other.

 

They potentially could but there may not be enough initiative to do so. I would assume the there was some crossover between the J-Series engines when related to their kit and CARB certification. This may have allowed them to get the blower on the different applications easier. But even with the various platforms they haven't sold more than about 150 kits in total from what I understand.

If only 10% of these would have gone on to add the IC and pre-programmed e-Manage the cost for certification would have been lost not to mention the additional R&D time. That would have been a loosing business decision. If 50% would have gone for it may have made better sense.

However, as you pointed out, the additional items would have added wear and maybe at a level which was deemed too much. I agree, Honda could and would deny warranty support but some dealers may let it slip since it is Comptech and it is conservative. At the same time since nothing was openly mentioned, Honda may turn the other cheek. There is also another point; they may have also considered the inadequacy of the FWD chassis for the extreme power level. I know an amateur in my car right now would be dangerous. They may have weighed that into the equation in decided to keep it tame in order to keep some controllability in this vehicle.

BTW, there is no argument, just discussion.

 

looks like you spotted out some good points, the only thing i can say to your above statement is that i still feel they could of sold more kits had they had more options available. I say this because thats what holds me back(amongst other things). If i were to spend a good amount of money on this kit, i would want more power or at least the option to attain more power in the future. I think they did not pursue it for all the reasons brought up, and it does make sense.
enough hijacking this thread! seeing the post of the plans for the 04 TL, they are not leaving it in the cold. It looks like they have some sort of header mod. planned. I am sure they will implement an SC or turbo for the 04 TL, especially if they know there will be an awd TL in the future.

 

the CL-S has fly by wire so this isn't an issue. The real issue like everyone else has said, it's the compression ratio. way too high to be boosting enough to provide good gains.

 

the cl-s has a throttle cable. no fly by wire.

 

The CLS has a throttle cable

jim

 

What about the mini cooper s with that upgrade package for 5g, thats only 50hp

 

i could of swore the 2003 has a fly by wire system, that's what i read in my model brochure when i purchased the vehicle.

 

Sheet! I knew I shoulda bought an 03... it can fly

 

No one has hijacked this thread. This is exactly the kind of discussion I was looking for. Talking about weather or not a supercharger will exist is strictly speculation until someone actualy releases one. I think that can get boring. However, discussing the technical issues involved with developing a product i.e. marketing, and development, is very interesting especially when we have the great minds that we do on this board. So please, continue fellas!!

Jim

 

I am 99.9999% sure it is a fly-by-wire system. just look under your hood and you will understand. there is a Trottle position sensor and cables.


Goldmember,

yes the 03's do have a special flight option! however, this has nothing to do with it haveing a fly-by-wire throttle system

Jim

 

The '03 has a throttle cable, there is no question about that. Those look like throttle cables to me; I've been under that hood too many times.

 

well, you read wrong.

 

In my provious post I ment to say I am 99.9999% sure it is NOT a fly-by-wire system. actualy i know it is not! sorry about the miss type. i seem to have left out a key word, NOT. i am sure of this. i tryed to edit my post but it was to late.

sorry
JIM

 

 

That sure is an ugly intake manifold!

:P

 

I think Scalberts pic is great i wish i had that ugly intake!!!

Jim

 

Just wait until you see the new one. The one in the picture will be kicked to the curb!

 

modaddict,

I saw the diagram for the intercooled custom intake he is building. All I can say is WOW! Scalbert is a pretty impressive guy with his know how. I cant wait to see the results.

Jim

 

I wish i had that black thing in the lower left hand corner of his pic.