ichi d

is it really that good? just some feed back would be good, cant decide which approach i want to take.... a-spec or go all out and get full coilovers?

christopher1

a diffrent car. i had it done last month after putting it off for 4 yrs thinking about it. now i see why doing this simple upgrade will make you fall in love all over again....! DO it! my dealer installed for 400.00 plus alignm. i bought parts from curry acura. my dealer did a great job in avon ct.

Treblig

It is that good. Flatter cornering, no floatiness. But on smooth roads (highway stretches) it still retains that lux ride.

Chas2

Worthwhile. I was told I could not do it with my CMBS/PAX car, but I finally did, and dumped the PAX wheels. Night and day. $575 on ebay and $150 install + 99 alignment.

JPSMAN

Yes! Its worth it. It keeps things original and the improvement is noticeable. If you want something slammed down or very firm, then ASPEC isn't for you.

23109VC

Christopher-

do you have stock 17" wheels or the 18" aspec wheels? when I read about people saying great things about aspec, sometimes they have already done wheels too and are running 18 or 19" wheels with PS2s or some kind of ultra grippy tire..

just curious what wheel/tire you have to get a better sense of your perspective.

if aspec can make thec ar handle "great" on the crappy a$$ 17" all sesasons, then that woudl be sweet...THEN when you go to 18 or 19" wiht summer stickyi tire,s it would make it one rails..

i honestly think my car handles really well with 17" and teh OEM tires...yeah, there is body roll and it's nowhere near as rigid as a real sportscar..but for a big fat sedan..if you toss it into a turn and hammer the gas, the SH-AWD REALLY does magic anbd the car just pulls throught eh turn...once you learn to drive it right...and make SH-AWD work for you the RL handles amazing...

what is your wheel/tire setup?

do you think the ride is still pretty good? sounds like you enjoy it and woudl rate it as all pro and really no con. except for the cost.

I don't know if I will do wheels/tires...but i'm seriously considering aspec... at least the suspension....

TheAcAvenger

Hey everyone. I just picked up an '05 as a daily. I absolutely love this car and missed Acura and their electronics that actually work properly (used to have an 02 TL-S w/ Nav). I'm trying to purchase the A-Spec suspension and was wondering where you guys purchased from. I tried the acura parts site for my local dealer and it just said "discontinued".

This ebay seller is selling for a solid price. Is this what i'm looking for? Mods, if it's not okay to post ebay links, i'm sorry. It's been a long time since I was a regular on the 'Zine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...item335d8b77eb

Treblig

Got mine installed at the time of delivery. There surely has to be parts out there. If I need to replace mine for whatever reason, I would had to think that I couldn't.

rtr

no way ! look harder i found them..

Chas2

I just found this on ebay, Acura of Reno has five sets, $475, free shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...s#ht_901wt_939

aznxb1az3

I got my aspec suspension yday from WholesalePartsGuy for about $500. got it installed today for 250$. there is a big difference from stock suspension and the aspec. the ride are more stiff, you can feel every pot holes. handling i think it improved a bit. when you making a sharp turn, it doesnt have the roll feeling. I think the aspec suspension is totally worth it!

23109VC

handling only improved "a bit"..? how would you describe the ride? you can feel potholes..but how is it on a smooth freeway? bumpy or smooth enough that it still feels like a luxury car?

if I were to do suspension on teh RL, I'd want to tighten up the handling and kill the body roll, but keep the ride compliant enough that when you drive the car it still feels like a LUXURY car and not like a total sports car....

do you think the improvement was similar to / more than / less than / whe you put on your 18" wheels/tires???

i know wheels/tires will make a big diff too and you know have both 18s AND aspec... for some peole, just doing 18s/summer tires might make a bigger / more noticeable difference than aspec??

Chas2

Well do an incremental change. So change your wheels and tires first.

Tires can make a huge difference, and going to 18's and a lower profile will sharpen the handling. That change may be enough for you. I just caution about getting too heavy a wheel...get something in the 23-25 lb range.

eVTEC

Basically, the effect of the change is as follows:

Tires > Suspension > Weight of the wheels > Stabilizers

Other than the first two, you'll have to somewhat push the car to notice the difference.

aznxb1az3

I got the aspec suspension because i didnt like the stock suspension, it was too soft. i want the sport feeling. after it was installed it, you can feel the different. on the freeway, the ride is still smooth but when you go over bumps, you feel it more than the stock suspension. if you dont want the car to feel like a sport car, i would recommend you not getting it. one thing for sure i like about the suspension is the body roll. when you make a sharp turn, you barely feel anything. when i go 50's mph on a circle exit on my aspec suspension, it feels like going 30's mph on the stock. that how big a difference you can tell.

23109VC

so body roll is a lot less eh? that's nice..that's whatmakes the car NOT feel sporty...it flops around in turns...

Treblig

23109VC

okay, that came off sounding wrong / backwards..

what I meant WAS - if the body roll IS really decreased THAT is good... because in STOCK setup, THE BODYROLL is what makes the RL not feel sporty....

so it sounds like this guy is happy with the aspec...killed the body roll and made the RL feel sporty!

I still want to test drive an RL with aspec to see for myself how it rides.. beofere I do it.. the parts are only $500 but it you get a dealer install for several hundred you really are dropping almost a grand... and once I do aspec.. I KNOW I'll want wheels... so in the end, i'll be in for a big $$ outlay...

rtr

well not a big deal if you can afford the car you can afford to get new shocks. These forums are to help everybody not to tell people how much money you have or don't want to spend. Real suspension will cost over 2000$ for some nice aftermarket so 500$ is nothing.

Ballinger

Here's my take:

--the ASPEC firms up the ride, notably reducing bound and sway. It also transmits more road bumps, including expansion joints, than the standard suspension, making the car less plush and quiet than it was, but feeling much more controlled. Either way, it's far less jouncy and rough than a true sports car. The car handles better in curves and, particularly, on winding roads with the ASPEC.

--The '09/10 rear sway bar "upgrade" for earlier RL's does not effect the smoothnicity of the ride, but does reduce rear body roll in corners. It's noticable in spirited driving and I think it's an excellent "pair" with the ASPEC.