Any suggestions for an easy suspension upgrade to my '01 TL? I am mainly familiar with car audio and have limited/little knowledge on upgrading suspension. Would like to cost under $300 if possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

You can go with either the spring or the sway bar.

If you want to lower your car and want to reduce the nose dive under hard braking. Go with the spring

If you want to keep the ride comfort and keep the car looking stock, then go with the sway. But the sway will only reduce body roll.

Oh and if you want good handling, you MUST get rid of the stock tires

 

What is wrong with the stock tires? My 2002 came with Michelins that were pretty nice. Are you talking about earlier models?

 

I am sure if the 2002 got better tires, and if they do, then good for you and other 2002 owners.

All I can say is that my stock tire felt like $hit! No kidding... It felt like I was driving a different car after I changed the tires.

 

What type were your stock tires?

 

If it was me, I'd first swap those tires, then the sways, then the springs.... Tires will make a big difference, the Bridgestone S-02 Pole Positions are great, same with the Bridgestone S-02's as well as the Bridgestone RE730s (I think they were RE730's that everyone liked so much). There's also some really sweet Michelin's out there that are more of a summer ultra high performance. By far though the best bang for the buck is the sways, but installation may set you back a hour or two of labor. Gotta check the install method of those things.

 

best bang for the buck is sway bars. springs are nice in conjunction with sports shocks. if you changed the springs alone, you shorten the usable life of shocks which will make your car "floats," after the shocks lost their dampening effect, not a good idea.

 

Thanks for the info, I will check to see what tires came with my TL and let you all know. Any recommendations for type/brand of sway bar to use. I am mainly looking to reduce the body roll in corners, I dont do too much hard braking. Anybody know where I can get this done in Washington DC area? I appreciate all the info!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by Acura_Fan on June 06, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

i have comptech and it works well. i dont have experience with other sways though. eibach might be stiffer? search on the net for best price.

 

My stock Michellines went flat on me twice. Apparently, those tires have weak side walls and easily cut on the side. This is not repairable so I had to purchase new replacements. Those stockers are junk!!

1.Weak sidewall
2.No grippin power

Get rid of them and replace them w/ upgraded rubbers!!

BTW, Snook carries great replacement tires at www.acutocarparts.com

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Y2K SiLVeR TL, non-navi
SLVR TL Homepage

SoCal TL meet on June 9th, 2001

 

i agree stock tires are the worst. just any other tires are better than the stock michelines. go to tires.com or tirerack.com for best prices. autocarparts.com does not have the best prices.

 

The stock Michelins are a great compromise tire....they provide very good mileage with a quiet ride....

But for handling purposes, the stock Michelins are not in the least bit good. They squeal like a pig during even a fairly less aggressive move....don't even try to do a really aggressive move with the stock Michelins....they lose their grip very fast....

The very function that enables good mileage (low friction) in the stock tires, works in the reverse way when it comes to grip in turns and while braking......

I replaced my stock Michelin touring tires with Ultra High Performance All-season Michelin Pilot XGT-Z4s....in 225/55-ZR-16 size... Handling difference between the Stock Michelins and the Michelin Pilots are like night and day....



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2000 Naples Gold 3.2TL/Navi - Factory Stock but with up-graded tires

 

Lot of talk about changing the stock tires. Has anyone tried the Yokahama AVS db? They make a 215/60 R16 that should fit nicely.

 

i have yokohama avs db on my 96 tl. they work great, much better than the micheline energy mxv4 + . that's what i am getting also for my 2000 TL. the overall diameter of 215/60/16 is larger than our 205/60/16. 205/55/16 has same overall diameter as the stock michelines.

 

Checked last night and I have the Michelin MXV-4 Plus, 205/60 R16. Reading the last few posts, I believe that the tires are probably pretty miserable when it comes to cornering. I almost found out first hand last night as I was merging onto the interstate. I suppose if I put sway bars on I would get myself into trouble as the handling performance would far outpace what the tires could handle. So if I put sways on I better replace my tires. Is this assumption correct??

 

i have comptech sways and stock tires. i would not say it's a dangerous setup, it's certainly suboptimal. i guess if you do lots of dare devil manuvers, you probably should upgrade both at the same time.

 

I am not too daring. I just like to take corners quick every now and then. Maybe put the sways on then upgrade tires when the stock ones wear out.