Help me, I'm going through Buyers Remorse! Bought new 03 TLS 3 weeks ago. The A/C on my '96 Volvo 850T was going out and after having already dumped $6500 into it in the past year for maintenance, it was time to move on. I'd heard so many good things and read good reviews about the TLS, that I opted to go for it. ...Well.... I'm not sure I made the right decision to suit my taste in performance. I know it was the right financial decision, but I can't seem to get over this performance letdown. My Volvo had the high pressure turbo which I turned the wastegate back 2 rotations. Stock numbers showed it to put out 222 hp, so I thought I'd be getting a faster accelerating car by going to the 260 hp TLS. Not so....... I miss the pull that my Volvo had upon the Turbo kicking in. I'm thinking that I should have waited on the S60R to come out this summer instead of going with the TLS. Anyhow... Is there any performance upgrades that really work on the TLS? I don't care to add to the look of the car (Personally, I think the ground effects, rims, and spoilers look juvenile.) Is there ECU upgrades, Superchargers, or Turbos available. I go for the sleeper look - right down to my kids car seats in the back seat. When I had my Volvo it was the greatest to have some young punk pull up beside me in his bright green Mitsubishi with the bass rattling and fart-sounding exhaust. I knew they'd get me off the line, but once "old 'Bo" got lit, I'd shoot by him.

 

Best bang for your buck:
OBX or STONE headers - ~$350-400 - Adds a peak hp of +32whp to the car.

Comptech Supercharger - $4-5K, adds ~35-40hp to the car overall (comptech plans on adding an ECU upgrade of some sort for the supercharger which should push those gains to somewhere close to 60hp). The Supercharger includes a special Comptech Icebox intake too designed for the supercharger

Comptech Icebox - ~$250 - Adds about 10-15whp in the upper range, overall gains for the icebox are higher than a CAI (can feel it more in the midrange), and the icebox is a lot quieter than a CAI at full throttle.

In addition, some extras you might be interested in -

Comptech Swaybars - ~$300 - best handling performance upgrade for the money - prevents the car from leaning too much in turns.

Comptech Springs - ~$270 - lowers the car slightly (1.5" front, 1.25" rear), but adds some more performance handling upgrades

There are a bunch of other performance upgrades for the car, but these are your basics. (Supercharger isn't really a basic upgrade, but since you asked!)

 

Well, here's the really short list for a TLS (bang for the buck):

1. Headers - (30 HP at crank)
2. Intake - (10 HP at crank)

Other than that, perhaps some of it is getting used to going back to a normally aspirated car. There is no "rush" in a normally aspirated car, like you would find in a turbo. Although the 5k+ RPM range is quite nice.

I could very well imagine that for some people, a turbo rush would make them think that one car is faster or more powerful over another - even though empirical data (i.e. 0-60 or 1/4 mile times) does not support it.

Drive it a little more, and don't be afraid to redline it and hold the pedal down.

 

Sounds like headers would be the way to go. But, I'm sure that will void the warranty. Isn't there a saying about having cake and eating it too... Haven't installed any headers since mid '80s when I was the young punk with money running around in Big Block '67 Chevelle and then a '72 El Camino. Oh how I miss the sound and simplicity of a big block Chevy. Wife has given me the green light to get another Chevelle - AFTER I GET HER HOUSE BUILT NEXT YEAR.

 

There is a law when it comes to car warranties. The law is that the dealer cannot void your warranty unless they can prove that the aftermarket part caused the failure. Since proving it is usually harder than providing the warranty fix, the dealer will usually just honor the warranty. Obviously your warranty on the headers won't be honored, but all OEM parts should still be honored. Also, if you get the dealer to install it, there's a chance they might be more willing to warranty it. Some dealers are more "mod" friendly than others ...

 

All Comptech parts are guaranteed with Acura as long as they are installed correctly.... To make sure they are take it to Acura...

 

Apparently you have not gotten side by side at a light and given the driver of a '96 Volvo 850T (even with your "mod" of the turbo), the look... and floored it when the light turns green. Under almost all circumstances, your samurai ride will say "scohl" to the big volvo.

"the 2.3 5 cylinder 20 valve DOHC turbo charged engine unleashes 225 bhp that propels both the saloon and estate versions from 0-60 in around 7.4 secs with a top speed of 149 mph. For a car this size that is deeply impressive. Anyone wanting extra turbo power can try the meaner looking 850 T5-R that delivers 250 bhp and does 0-60 in 6.8 secs. Fuel economy is 22-41 mpg. The front wheels power the 850 T5..."

 

Welcome aboard, Trojan!
Everyone has pretty much said it all. Stock for stock the TL-S should blow the doors off your old Volvo--even with your mod. It should certainly outhandle it as well. This is despite the seat of your pants turbo rush...
That being said, keep in mind that an Acura's rush of power comes on after 4700 (or so) up to the red line. You have to drive it to the limit to extract the most potential...
We owners of headers will tell you that they also provide this peak power in that same range, and after having a stock TL-S and switching over to headers and an intake, the rush comes on when the VTECH engages...
You can get Comptech headers and Icebox (near a 40hp increase), usually from your Acura dealer, bought and installed for $2200...It'll be covered under warranty. It'll be stealth. You'll love it...

 

So if I get the Comptech headers and icebox, have my dealership install it, and if the headers end up somehow destroying the engine, my warranty won't be affected? Does anyone have this in writing?

 

I think it is on the Comptech website and/or at your dealer...Remember, I fried my tranny not long after the header install (3 months) and they didn't even care...
I've only been told MY dealer won't warranty the s/c or damage, but I've heard here and at cl.com that some will...

 

Well that's not good. Warranties should really not be left open to interpretation, especially by the dealers. I'll have to read that and the Mangusson-Moss (sp?) act over again.

BTW, I was under the impression that if you supercharge your engine, you're basically giving your power train a death sentance. Might be an old wive's tale, anyone care to dispell it for me?

 

CT headers/icebox/supercharger should net somewhere around 75whp or more according to CT. All this can be had for about 5k plus installation (3900 for the SC including icebox + 1100 for the CT headers). Not too bad although the headers alone give you about 25-30 of that whp. The auto SC I think is running a conservative 4-5lbs of boost right now (2 guys have it so far that I know of).

If you have the money you can always go custom Turbo. Problem with FI in this car is that I doubt Acura would have little difficulty proving that a Turbo or SC killed the tranny or the engine. Good luck.

Personally I think headers and intake/icebox will give you a nice little power boost.

 

My previous car was a '96 Volvo 850T also. The folks who say that a tls will "blow the doors" off it are just mistaken, it was a rocket sled after the three second turbo spoolup. Also the folks at Volvo flat out lie about Hp numbers. This is because of Swedish tax laws.

 

Volvo 850 T vs TL Type S ...

 

The Comptech blower kit alone can give you what your looking for, however go ahead and put the headers on first as it will maximze the blowers gains. The stock exhaust is free flowing and expensive to replace, so don't waste your time/money. Your handling will be night and day difference with the Comptech sways and springs.

 

Lol

But seriously, were both those cars tested on the same day, same track, same conditions?

 

I don't think so. You're performance may vary...

It's just a general comparison, but it's logically impossible to actually test two cars with exactly the same conditions. The two vehicles would have to be occupying the same space at the same time!!!

 

OK...

You got me curious, so I checked on the testing procedures and guess what. The test results are from SIMULATION SOFTWARE!!!!

Never mind!!!.....

 

Dang nabit man!!

 

What was the et on the only '96 850T? Like 6.9 and 15.4?
The TL-S is somewhere around 6.4 and 14.9...
A half a second is a long way 0-60 and 1/4 mile...

Add i/h and you have a wider gap...
Besides, on June 4, 2003 a '96 850T would be luck to be 7.2 15.8 if the turbo'd still handle the regular abuse...Just MHO...

 

The S60R is hot! Ever since I saw the insert in Road and Track I have been waiting for a full review of the car.

MY main concern is the navigation system will be lousy. Have you seen or heard anything about the Volvo navi?

BTW, I have an 03 TLS.

 

What does the header/CAI do for me on 0-60 times? Everyone is mentioning the hp gain, but what about the performance felt behind the wheel?

 

I've never taken my car to the track, so I don't know my exact times or whereabouts...
I will tell you I drove more than 5 TL-S cars before picking the quickest feeling car, not for the color...
Anyway, c&d says 0-60 in 6.4...I'd say with headers and CAI, that would drop you to 6.0 to 6.1 conservtively...Your biggest gain will be seen 0-115 and 40 (or so) to 115...The headers give the peak performance above 4700rpm and this car is really strong at the top of second and third gear...
My car isn't the fastest car on the road for sure, but it will run with a sub '99 Mustang GT, outrun a Maxima or Altima (stick or not), outrun a BMW 330i, outrun a 540i auto (never found a manual to compare), used to keep up with my friends Subie WRX (he got a new turbo so that was shortlived), outrun a g35 auto and have been keeping up more or less with g35 sticks on the highway...
You want faster, get the s/c...

 

I thought our cars could handle even the newer GT's, or am I wrong?

 

Car and driver has the '02 GT at 15.3 in the quarter. If that is representative of what you'd find on the street, a stock TL-S will narrowly take a GT in the 1/4. And a TL-S with I/H will take them by a fair amount.

 

They might could, but I've never run a newer one, just the older ones...It seems in Jax, only women have new ones (and they are all like 'verts), and every tom, **** and harry redneck has an older one with a straight pipe...

 

A manny GT should hand us our ass if driven properly. I think they are usually low-14s to mid-14s stock while we are mainly high-14s to low 15s stock. Autos are closer in performance because they have more power/torque while we have better gearing.

I think realistically you might be able to drop upto .5 seconds off the quarter (with good weather) but under similar conditions maybe .2-.3 seconds. I ran a 15.2 under hot and humid conditions last year and hope to run a 14.7 or so next time I make it to the track with headers (and maybe an icebox).