as title states ive began my tl diet. 2002 acura tls 162k miles. car has been started to be stripped. i love the way it feels already. will follow up with pictures.

 

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removed the ceiling padding and everything on the back "dash" after photo was shot and seat belts
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removed passenger seat and now srs code is on
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extremely cheap custom intake need to refine it so its not this sloppy. more to come

 

cant see pics

 

you need the [img] on both sides of the link you're posting.

 

 

just uploaded the pictures. i havnt cleaned any mess out from under the seats or anything but im pulling the carpet out this weekend along with the stupid vsa throttle body as well

 

reason for this?




move battery to trunk

 

because racecar

 

hmmm...you got about 15 pounds worth of crumbs on that carpet!
Nice start, I don't think I'll ever go that route unless the car was going to be full on for track...you're removing all the things that make it luxury!

 

Same question. Why did you destroy your car ? I don't see a roll cage or numbers on the outside.

 

I feel like you are doing this on a very very small budget. If you want to do the TL diet correctly, you are going to need to spend some money, not just strip the interior out. There are some expensive items such as racing seats, harnesses, lighter coilovers, lighter wheels and tires, carbon fiber parts, etc.

I just hope you don't regret this in a few weeks. Is this your only car? Or do you have a DD?

 

its pretty clear that cars headed for the track
you cant install the cage until the seats etc are removed for welding access

Ck out gen3 thread by MichaelBenz, title `putting the TL on a diet`
He is a class champ auto-x racer and found lots of dead weight
very clean setup and lots of pics

 

inaccurate was the author of that thread. "putting TL on a diet"

 

Interesting - Has passenger seatbelt, but no seat.

What will car be used for?

 

car will be heading for track use EVENTUALLY like sometime during or a little bit after summer. i am finishing up school right now and will be getting a job again i am on a very limited budget at the moment. i dont regret doing this to my car because its given it almost new life and the only thing i wish i had was rsx seats because my girlfriend is very pissed off that now she has to drive everywhere. =) im not complaining about that though id like a personal driver. the car feels amazing around corners and a straight line already and there is still lots i could take out. i have a obsession with racing, this is what i want my car to be like. when its all done i hope it to have a roll cage, rsx seats, new wheels and tires, coilovers, 3.5 hybrid build and a manual swap. im sure im missing something but i want it to be very trackable and streetable. by the way. is this illegal to do to my car?

 

why RSX seats?

i've sat in them before and they're just ok... but if you're doing roll cage and all that, you might as well go all out no?

 

rsx seats are lighter than the stock tl seats and cheaper than a full race seat but i guess i could look into a racing seat again. roll cage might come in in the latter of my build because i am dreading adding any weight back into my car i want to take more out its beyond addicting its all i think about is what i can take out next to reduce weight go faster and handle better.

 

I'm assuming you will get a 6speed swap?

 

stitch weld the chassis

 

yes i will definitely be putting a 6 speed swap in my budget. im on my fourth transmission....
im actually ahead of schedule on this, i took out the carpet and some more trim and the center console with the cup holder and etc. do you know anything about stitch welding the chasis? if it could end up being as strong as a roll cage id rather do that because it would be a lot lighter i would think.

 

the only person i know that would possibly be attempting to stitch weld the chassis soon on a UA5 is fsttyms1

I haven't gotten around to doing any of that stuff yet but i do hear it is excellent for stiffening up the body.

 

i cant explain how fun my tls has become through just weight reduction and custom air intake alone.... i have so many plans for my tl i cant decide what i want to do next after initiating the build im just bouncing off the walls about my tl. everything about performance with the car has drastically increased. i actually highly recommend this to cars that need new life breathed into them. i still have a/c and stereo system and here in st.louis i am actually thinking about taking out the a/c and just using windows. i am a kid in the candy store at the moment

 

what are u gonna do with all the parts that came off the car? for sale? I could use a bunch misc interior pieces.. PM me if u plan on selling your parts, thanks! good luck with ur "TL on a diet"

 

im looking around but its hard to find somewhere in st.louis to weigh my car. any ideas?

 

Oh wow. Good to see someone in my area on here. Not my style to strip a luxury car like a civic, but to each his own.

 

No offense but that looks like a poor's man car....

IMHO; Just get a RWD car for Racing!! The TL-S is a SPORT/LUXURY CAR! Not meant to be Stripped.

 

rsx seats or DC5R recaros? i don't think the headrest loop is optimal for running harness straps on rsx seats. it's a small oval with no indentations to ride straps.

 

- Your car has near 0 utility use now that you have one seat.


Totally fine since it's what you are after! But I'm just not sure this is the right car for the job.


At the end of the day - Your TL, not mine, G/L!


+1

 

my bad--inaccurate did the losing weight thread,,but micheal benz also has good info--both are racers

there is a way to fix the srs light with pass seat removed

want the car to handle better for cheap,,cusco lower crossbrace- goes between frame rails right where they go wide to form the eng and trans area
they also make an upper to go with the stock bar there
the lower is most noticable change,,really tightens the car

the other day I jacked up the 01 from the normal right front side lift point,
BOTH right side tires came off the ground !!!,
if that gives you any hint as to how well the bars work

 

actually i disagree it has 0 utility. i am a student and it can actually fit way more things to carry from school dorms back to home. in your mind utility is carrying people around in your car. thats not a problem for me my friends have cars and do not mind driving to places or letting me drive their cars if they are intoxicated the only person who cares what ive done to my car is my girlfriend because now i cant drive her until i get another seat again.

my car is a poormans car i do not have a job or career at the moment im a full time student but.
many people have argued about stripping "luxury cars" is not right. bmws, mercedes, audis etc are all stripped for racing. i actually prefer fwd for racing at the moment the tl and cl are very good platforms in my amateur opinion. maybe i havn't driven. i love my car now more than i did.

thank you for the input also

 

^ You sir have the right attitude.

Glad to see your happy with the results thus far. Also, most dont understand that all that has been done can be undone in your situation.

I too have started the "TL diet" on my 3rd gen TL and I enjoy my car every commute to and from. It is not my dd, and my wife and I have 4 cars total, so we have the luxury to any of our vehicles we choose.

Keep up the progress

 

that looks epic lol. gl with your plans. it could be a monster if you achieve everything you are going for. best of luck!

 

Sorry, but I'm a little thrown off and am sorta lost.

Do you intend on removing all door trims and panels, glove box, center console, power steering? (removing the trash slots on the doors barely shave much weight off)

also
What is your source of income, you say you have no job, but who's putting in the payments for this project?

lastly
Why do you intend on tracking your DD, which is the only car you have?
(I'm assuming it's your only car because you either drive alone in there, or in your girlfriends car.)

 

i just wouldn't have stripped the whole car unless i knew had the money to make it into a race car right away. you could have kept at least the passenger seat in so your gf could ride with you sometimes. it just reminds me of these:



or the other way around

 

hahahahaha i like it. but yeah taking out the passenger seat is only thing i miss when were going places and i feel like a bad boyfriend having her drive everywhere. but love it when she isnt with me at the same time in my car cause she just doesnt understand the way i drive

 

the only thing ive done that requires money so far besides transmission was my rigged air intake which cost me 25.99. i still have some money but barely enough to make it to summer. my parents kindly pay for my car insurance, yes im very lucky. and they paid for the car but i had to pay the 2850 for the broken transmission. which i wasnt so lucky about.

not removing power steering, already removed the center console which is pretty heavy for how light it looks. im keeping glovebox as a place to retain some compartment in the car.

according to the list of weight innacurate has put up on the weight of different items ive added up all ive taken off and its been 326lbs. im not surprised but thats a 3g tl which start out lighter than our 2g's im thinking about weighing each of my 2g pieces and making a list for us 2g's since our front seats would already weigh more considering i think it has the airbags in the seats and not attached to the walls of the car. so there are differences in pieces that could add up im very interested into looking into this and informing everyone on it i love the 2g tls. to be honest i have an obsession with my car it almost has a spirit to it :p its just special to me

 

Wow, down 300 pounds, that's a lot of weight, man.!
The people questioning you are must not be familiar with the 3G threads out there...Inaccurate gets nothing but praise for the diet. I'm not ok with doing this to my car and after my recent "careless driving" ticket, I'm actually not looking to make my car any more fun or fast...



ACTUALLY, this brings me to another question, what kind of MPG improvements are you guys seeing with removing so much weight? Or are you just driving it harder since it's more fun and it offsets?

 

That's cool man. You have a goal, so continue what you are doing. I would love to see what weight differences compared to stock are. You could be an Inaccurate for us on the 2G side.

 

Yeah, recreate your screen name and call yourself ACCURATE!

 

4th tranny?
I will sell if my second goes no matter what I wont put over a grand into this car anymore.