Ok guys, I'm racking out my brain here with this whole springs purchase. First, I was 99% positive about getting the H/R OE purchase, now i'm leaning to the H/R Sports....WTF! I do this with any purchase, so indecisive!!

I'm not as knowledgable about this stuff as most of you are so tell me what I need to know, what I need to look out for both springs? Any bit of information helps.

ps: this could all be avoided if Acura didnt make the TL look like the MDX......my cousins ne Maxima doesnt even have a gap that big?!?!

 

hey bloo:

i just installed the HR Sports 2 days ago and the ride feels great. This was my first ever mod and I was going through the whole "which spring is best" indecisions.

Searching through this website is funny since some posts degrade into petty arguments that have no relation to the original post . And you sometimes end up more confused.

Car definitely looks better. 1 fat finger fits in the gap now rather than your whole hand. Handling improved a bit as well. Mechanic says that camber will be a bit off too, but what the heck, its a car. As long as its safe, its ok by me.

I suggest you watch the mechanic work on your car and this will remove a lot of the myth about a car having to be babied and kept perfect all the time. It definitely woke me up.

Hope this helps.

fightingfish
2002 TLS
Eternal Blue Pearl
HR Springs

 

I love my H&R Sports. I was actually a little worried about getting them since they are a touch lower then the Comptechs, but once installed.. they are awesome. My springs combined with the 18" rim/tire upgrade makes this car handle like you wouldn't believe... and it looks so much nicer too (check out my site for pics). Just go for the Sports.. you will love them!!

 

Facts:
I'm keeping my stock tires

Getting a kit

Worried about scraping on my driveway, speed bumps, etc.

The car has 38k mi. on it so do I need to swap out the shocks too?

Are there any other mods that I need to add to the car (camber kit, etc), if I get the OE or the Sport?

 

You should not scrape on speed bumps unless they are unusually high. Not sure about your driveway.. depends on the clearance you have now.

You will not HAVE to swap out the stock shocks when you install springs. The odds are you can probably get another 20k out of them even with the new springs. I mean, there's always a possibility that they will go sooner, so you should keep that in mind just in case.

As for Camber kit... if you stay on the stock tires you should be fine. On mine I need a camber kit b/c of the off-set of my 18" rims, but on the stock tires you should be OK on either kit (OE or Sport)... but... after driving around on springs for a while you will probably want to switch out the stock tires for better ones. When you lower the car it handles so much better and it really shows you how sh|tty the stock tires are... so you may want to start budgeting for those as well .

 

juniorbean, are you still thinking about switching over to coilovers?

I too am in this suspension modding decision process. Springs seem cheaper, but darn if you aren't going to have to replace those stock shocks eventually. I know a few people personally who think it's better to just go coilovers and get the shocks/springs all at once -- generally because they blew their stock shocks with aftermarket springs.

Plus, bloo_tls02, you might want to think about the idea of being able to adjust the height of your car with that bodykit and the worry of scraping. You can't adjust with just springs. Now, I have no idea how long stock shocks would typically last, but you may want to consider just going coilovers to replace your stock shocks/springs.

It's important to note that I don't have suspension mods yet, and I never have before. I'm just relaying information that I have gathered over the last couple weeks.

 

I have comptech springs and a body kit and I live outside of philly. I love them and I would do it again. I have no complaints.

 

paxus - Yeah, I still want coilovers. No money now.. so what I'll probably do is just wait until the shocks go... then instead of replacing the worn shocks I'll buy full coilovers and get rid of my H&R's....

 

I actually did switch out all 4 stock tires to the Sumitomo HTR equivalent and they handle like a dream.

 

What town do you live in? I don't see a lot of TLS's around with body kits.

 

I live near Willow Grove, PA
Yea, no one has a hooked up second gen. TL around here.....i could break some ground here. Actually, there is one hot ass ABP here in PA. One other guy has seen it besides me. Totally hooked up (top to bottom).

 

I work in willow grove and live in warminster. My car is a 2002 TLS ABP with Comptech springs, OEM body kit, Exhaust tips, and as of 30 minutes ago........OBX headers!!!! May

 

Cool, I've got the same ride (minus the mods). I'm just starting to mod the car now even though I've had the car for about 2 yrs now. Just did the tint last week, H/R Sports next week and then the kit after that. Also thinking about installing sidemarkers on the car, but cant find a place that will cut into the car.

I used to work in the Prudential building on Rt. 63 a few yrs ago. Trying to find a job in that area again, now I travel all the way up to Malvern for work.

 

I work on davisville road which is really close. I had sidemarkers on my last car. I liked them until I got into an accident and saw how much rust was on the inside of the fender panel. Not worth it to me...H&R springs look great, you will love them.

 

Cool, I work out at the LA Fitness on County Line and Davisville....hey, was that your ABP that I saw in the lot a couple of times?
As for the sidemarkers, once I get them.....they're not coming off. Was there any visible damage to the outside body.
Where did you get your markers put in at? I've been looking for a place to do them, but the onely ones I've found were shady joints in the city.

 

I have seen a ABP at that LA fitness but no, I have never gone there and my side markers were put on a civic in north jersey when I lived up there. I would go to a body shop instead of a speed shop, but just my 2 cents...