alright guys and gals heres the thing, im only 18 and the TL is first car. i have driven many other cars and consider myself a good driver but im far from experienced. im not one to go out and look for people to race, but i would like to know some of the techniques that give you a little edge. eg* gate shifting, when to shift at certain gears. when to use SS mode or not. how to launch properly. spesificly anyone with a 99 an how to maximize the power throughout the gears

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/technology-16/windows-xp-installation-help-156523/

 

yea i saw that thread, sux. but like i said im not looking to race, i just want to become more in touch with my car(donno if i make sence)but yea racing is better left to the track, or at least on private property.

 

lets say you are going to pass some one or you need to jump into a opening in traffic while moving. i usually gate shift down to a gear that gets me to about 3-4k rpm at the speed that i am at now and keep steady there. then when you see you opening punch it and your already right on the power and no down shift hesitation( its fun). other then that i use it to engine brake. like if am coming up to a red light/exit ramp and i have the room ill shift down thru the gears to slow down. if ur going really fast and need a little extra braking you can use it to the same effect to power brake. most of the time im in auto mode, i flip to gate when i want to control downshift like above.

my favorite is:
you see some one that is asking for embarrassment( ex. tailgater, ricer, kid thinking he is tough in like a cavalier or taurus etc). ill downshift and keep it about 3-4k when they get near push it. keeping it on the power band makes your accel instant and pretty impressive atleast in a type s(havent pushed any other ones). you can surprise people by the pull. the trick to catching a street hooligan off guard is to be smooth with the gas. when the car is at 3-4k rpm its jumpy and ready to go. i try to stay as smooth so they dont realize im ready to rip and then bam, im gone. be safe out there. enjoy the car, its can be pretty fun. im not scared of redline, i have had honda/acura all my life. i dont live at redline but i get there when i can, these cars love it. a good redline rip always makes me smile.

 

Only way to learn is to try. Go out and find at what point your revlimiter kicks in. Learn how long it takes the trans to shift when you tell it to and use that to start to learn when to shift so that it shifts just before the revlimiter. Turn off the radio and start to learn your car and what its telling you. Your butt can tell you alot about the car and what its about to and not to do.

 

Agree with Fsttyms (get it- fast times)

PLUS I would add the advice of search for a local racetrack- roadrace, circle track or autocross event. try www.scca.org for location in your town.
There you can go on a real racetrack with a pro race driver helping you find the limits of YOUR car and how to drive near them without exceeding them.
A one day roadrace track school is about $250, and the autocross or SOLO2 events are 25$- far cheaper than most tickets!!!

Also- STOP USING THE TRANSMISSION AS A BRAKE- THATS WHAT BRAKES ARE FOR

The downshift should be used to ensure the engine is in the proper gear and on the torque band as you exit the corner.
Its Apply Brakes, Downshift, Turn In, clip the Apex, Throttle to full as able and rocket to the next corner.

You may have noticed that transmissions cost $4000+ to replace, while brake pads are $60 rears $100 fronts (Hawk HPS prices) and ~GREAT rotors~ are $100 each for the front and are an easy DIY in the driveway

A little Pro driver instruction will totally change the way you drive.

Side note- the 25 Hours of Thunderhill- considered to be the most brutal of endurance races and held in Willows Ca, at the 2005 event: 1st in class and 3rd overall was a slightly modified turbo 2004 TL run by Hondata- the employees who designed the TL
They wanted to prove the FWD would keep up with the RWD Porsche and others- and it did!
These cars are great will benefit from some brake and handling upgrades.
See our vendors for frame stiffners, tower bars and shocks

Enjoy your new ride- its a keeper!

 

^ agreed about the tranny braking. i have 55k more miles to go on waranty, im pretty rough on it. i dont think its the best idea, but i do it to slow down when traffic slows a little bit mostly. thats just me tho.

 

01tl4tl has some really good advice (always like reading his posts), especially about cornering technique. You'll notice you have more control in the corners with that technique as opposed to down shifting before braking anyhow.

I just want to add my prefered passing technique on two lane roads with passing zones. Instead of doing what many other ppl due and get in the opposing lane before punching the gas, I find it quicker and safer to downshift first and keep a couple car lengths between whomever I'm gonna pass then once I'm WOT I'll speed up until I'm about 1 car length behind the bumper of whom I'm passing and then finally cut over. You make your pass quicker and spend less time in the opposing lane and have less risk of a fatal head-on collision. It works best when passing multiple cars especially. Also if there is a turn on the road and I know I'll try to pass after the turn I hang back a little further and over to the side of my lane so I can get a clearer view of what's coming ahead in the other lane before making my move.

 

but you for got the WON after it.

Agree. The TL is a car that likes to be accelerating thru the corner, not braking thru it. Try to do all the braking before hand and early into it and start easing into the throttle before the apex.

 

Understand the limits of your car: it's suspension, tires and brakes.

Get on it on your own terms, do not let someone sucker you into a bad position where you don't know what your next move and escape routes will be.

When I am cruising and want to go to WOT, I Double Down.

 

<Not meant as criticism rather I'm curious>

I would think that the piggish nature (heavy front end push) of the TL might lend to some left-foot trail braking where you start squeezing on the gas will backing off the brake. Although the fact that you (in particular) have a clutch to deal with....

Also, I found that for autocrossing I liked softer rear tire pressures to help flick the car and get the rear to be a little sloppy as opposed to hard to trying and loosen it up through the rock-ness of the tires.

Thoughts?

~Eric

 

Most is in the driving technique (and every one is different), but i have found in the tl (before the manual swap) that being a bigger heavy car you want to slow you approach before the turn and drive thru it. If you do too much braking during the turn it plows thru it. slowing a little more first allows you to start putting power down before the apex better and pull out of the corner better. With this approach you can raise the psi back up and have better stability (atleast thats what ive found auto xing and racing.

That said i really cant wait for this season auto-x and stuff to start now that i have a LSD in the trans. Its SOOOOOO much nicer coming out of the corners, i cant wait!!!

 

I'd imagine the the softer rear tire pressure would slightly offset a bit of the understeer. You could probably play around with different damping settings as well between front and rear until you find what works right for ya on track days (maybe get tein's with EDFC). I don't autocross though, just forza motorsport.

 

Yes there are MANY things that can be done to adjust the way the car handles. If you have adjustable suspension you really have alot of options.

 

Limited slip-dif. Someday I'll have to take my car to the track. No where near comfortable doing it the way the car is now though.

 

Find some local SCCA events where they set up Auto-X or have track days at a near by road course. Its cheap and safe to learn your car and your mental limits. They are great and i do it.

 

Trail braking is traditionaly a rear drive car trick used when you approach the corner
WAY too hot to get on the gas hard at the apex without sliding out.
Often used when trying absurd inside pass with 2 cars outside
A little brake as you transition helps set the car and maintain an inside line.

It can be used with our cars in emergency- same as above - too hot into the corner.

I drive left foot brake when in the mountains or track days, just easier for me to be on the brakes and downshift in SS right where I want, and roll right onto full throttle without the delay of changing foot position

It also helps to use a little brake just to transfer weight forward and set the nose for the turn-in point of the corner then begin back on throttle then full throttle as the wheels straighten out.

 

The reason I asked was that the last FWD car I autocrossed was an ITR (I know, totally different beast) and the trail braking and lower rear tire pressures worked for us back then ('99) - before that my Mustang Cobra. Since the wife and I just had kid#2 arrive a week ago, the D-sportsracer has been mothballed for the year and I'm thinking about catching a couple autocrosses to just have some fun.

Thanks for the advice, although I don't agree that trail braking is only for absurd passes and over-cooking an entry. Anything to stay on the gas just a split-second longer while remaining smooth benefits lap time.

 

Are there any of these events in FL?

 

Joe80055,

A quick google of: "tampa scca" brought forth this link:

http://www.cfrsolo2.com/

Maybe this will help you. There are other organizations like NASA where you could do both autox and open track.

 

When you guys are talking about shifting do you mean the tiptronic or the gate shift? Which is best for pasing cars on 2 lane roads. Or does it matter?

 

it doesnt matter unless you are going into 1-2.
3+ doesnt really matter

 

for passing the fun way, is to fall back a little, use the tiptronic to downshift to a gear that you are around3-4k rpm, get on the gas and smoothly/ swiftly change lanes. the key is to get the engine/tranny ready to get the power down (example of downshift)

 

Im guilty of doing this quite often. Especially when I see one of those rice-mobiles



Yea I noticed that too. When I had my 99 Maxima I would hit the brake then step on the gas and the torque from that thing would just pull me out no matter how slow I was going (Of course it helped that the car was much lighter than the TL). What I do now is exactly what fsttyms1 just said. Def works much better

 

I have a 2000TL, I wanted to know the same as the original poster. I bought this car second hand its a 2000 with 100k miles. It moves, but im just worried with a couple of more years of pushing it it will start to burn oil which I don't want happening. Also how bad using gate shifting used on a regular bassis?

 

Is your transmission the original one?
If so check for failure symtoms and get a free replacement while you still can!
register by VIN at www.acura.com ownership experience link

If trans is ok- do a Seafoam engine cleaning treatment and run the car however you like.
Use good quality oil and filter and keep them changed

at 105 thousand its supposed to get water pump,timing belt+tensioner, coolant and spark plugs

Members here have over 200 thousand miles on the original engine and still running fine and strong. These things are just getting broken-in and running good at 100k, so enjoy

For using the Tiptronic electric-shift, use it whenever you want. It helps to read the owner book for tips, but its computer controlled to prevent over-rev on downshift and redline limited on the other end.
Using the transmission as BRAKES on a regular basis is not wise and wears out a $4000 part. Using it to be in the right gear to rocket off the corner is proper use

Use of SS mode will not increase consumption of oil, but will do a number on fuel economy, a not in a good way!

Enjoy

 

Thanks for the info, man Do i love the power band on gear 1. The car takes off like a rocket raced an altima, dude thought i can an SC on my car thanks to some weird tranny whinning noise thaht can be heard pretty loud from the outside. But is this common, after driving it hard I get burning smells from the engine bay and also the wheels, same things happen on my Honda Pilot. Also Gate shifting upwards will not harm the tranny right?

 

Numerous people told me that it's detrimetal to shift from automatic to tiptronic during driving; according to them, changing between the two on the go will break the transmission, and they suggest using either or. Fact or crap? I do have extended warranty on my 03TL, but nevertheless, don't feel like screwing the tranny.

 

crap, our tranny is electronically controlled. its not like your are physically changing anything. the computer decides what to do and controls it. when you tiptronic, it takes your shift decides if its safe and doable and either does it or ignores it. those numerous people are stupid. that also applies to changing while driving. its still under the computer managment, notice when you move from auto to tip, it stay in the gear it was in. if it stays the same, it cant do any damage, nothing happened.

 

I would not slap shift from the manual gate to SS mode just to hold 1st longer-
way too easy to go in Nuetral and lose the engine
Use the manual 1-2 only when conditions such as ice and snow require you to hold 1st gear

If playing with SS, just push it over anytime stopped or moving - matters not
- it says what gear the car is currently in and you decide what to do from there

It should auto shift from 1st to 2nd for you in SS, the rest are up to you until you hit the rev limiter/fuel cutoff zone of the rpm, and when coming to a stop in SS, it automatically goes to 1st under 7mph and is ready to go

For burning smells check the brakes and especially the trans fluid.
Check trans fluid WARM- stop engine, pull stick- wipe- insert fully- remove and read should be between the lines- requires special HONDA fluid from dealer
I am not aware of loud whining noises -except VTEC sound-
noises heard from outside are bad
There is an extended warranty to 7 years from first date of service or 109 thousand miles- FREE new trans if yours tanks before then. Covers most- but not all- gen 2 1999-2003.3
registering at www.acura.com ownership experience link will tell you, and there is a page of symptoms to read on trans failure.
You can also call m-f 6a-5p pacific time
1-800-382-2238 x5

Everyone who has not registered their car please do so now- its free and important

 

the 4spd 99 doesnt auto shift up from 1-2 in ss mode. also i too have a whiney trans noise, does sound very much like a SC but no problems with the trans, i love the sound!

 

99s 4sp are different than those of us with the 5 speed auto

The new cars let you have control over first- but I appreciate 1 less thing to do at low speeds in parking lots