Ive noticed many people mod there cars in different ways. Many seem they prefer looks over performance. Body kit, internal mods, exhaust for sound etc. The car looks fast but isnt going anywhere. Many ricers do this. They never want to race cause they know theyre fronting. May look it but cant use it.
Id rather go w/ performance and have a sleeper car, then improve the looks when im satisfied w/the performance side.
I know this thread is not going anyhwere (probably goes in the rant and rave sec.) just had to share this though.
My ? is how many tl owners went looks before performance and why?

 

for me i balance that...a little performance was 1st on my list...then a little looks...then performance...then looks again...

 

I would guess I am more for 'looks' (ie no engine mods).
Performance-wise, I did springs/sways, strut bar, tires/rims.

Why? Being a FWD 260-hp car (Type-S), why would you want more horsepower? You'll affect balance. If I wanted more power, I would have went with RWD (eg IS300/GS300 modded, G35, etc). So, my mod $$$ went towards looks.

Many different applications, train of thought. I think the TL has enough power for its purpose.

 

I'd say two things to that.
1> There are very few 'rice' mods for the TL. The OEM bodykit is by far the most popular but it doesn't make it look terribly aggressive either. There are of course the standard rice mods that work on any car, like horsepower stickers, but I haven't seen many TLs covered in stickers. So I'm not sure where you are coming from on this.
2> No matter what you do to the TL, it's not going to be a speed demon. NA mods get a Type-S up to what mid 200 WHP? Add a supercharger (for over 4 grand!) and you can get what, 300 WHP? And 3200+ lbs? Come on. Isn't any mod for the TL essentially a looks mod at that point?

<-- 2000 TL w/ I/H/E/Sidemarkers/HRSport/Sways/Tints

 

i went with lookd first.

indash tv/dvd player
02 tails
cleared heads
body kit
lowered

and then i did all the bolt ons (most of which are still chillin in my room)

Exhaust
headers
pulley
intake

and then i went back to looks (all of which is still in my room)

mugen grill
WW spoiler

on a car that is meant to look nice rather than its performance, i thought i would make it look nice first and truth be told, only reason i did any performance is, some ppl are addicted to mods (ie: me) i have this problem where i cant save money. so i buy my mods, once i thought i finished the looks depart i went into performance. to each his own thought right?

 

You can spend 2K and it wouldn't get you over 290. Beside it's not like I'll get to use all 260hp everytime everyday anyway.
260hp V6 is as perfect as it is.

 

yea i agree for it being a Fwd theres really no use...its just its features that got me...the SS

 

I went for looks, because IMO..I wouldn't mod an engine who is FWD...massive torque steering. 260HP is enough for me..because yea you can beat me from every light..or even on the highway..but sooner or later I'll catch up..because you gotta stop some day. Another reason why I also went for looks is because the TL is a nice comfortable car..not a hard stiff ride like a WRX STI or a Supra TT where you will race against other ricers. I like to enjoy the comfort of driving. =P

 

i prefer all show n no go. looks will make drool over ur car. i think our cars are fast enuff for my taste esp since i really dont race dat much. ( dont liek tickets) also i see no point in trying to make a family car fast.

 

izzo, I feel what you're saying. I definitely would rather have a performance sleeper car, altho I can definitely appreciate i tastefully car customized for looks. Some cars look WAY too flashy, and then they have no performance mods.

I hate to call guys out, but there's this one dude on this site that has done nothing but swapped all his interior lights for xenon and put in '02-03 style tails, but he makes such a big deal about these mods in his sig. Dunno, just makes no sense to me.

 

i only have tl-p...so really, performance modding wouldnt get me newhere, so i jus go with looks

 

If there is a Turbo charge for our car...I would so do it. If there is no Turbo-charge I ain't doing it.

 

Hmmm, makes sense, I guess? Anyway, what most of the people have done on this site, as far as the all show and no go theme, have done it tastefully. It's not like they took a civic, put on a flashy kit, huge wing, wheels, stickers, etc., w/o any performance mods. I have a few performance mods on my to-do list, but a majority of my list has to do with appearance/audio.

 

Good thread... lots of different [and good] opinions here.

I first started modding after inheriting the car from my parents (may i add im very thankful to be driving such a nice car at a young age) because i wanted to make the car more "me"... personalized, for lack of better word.

I came across this forum... and as with almost everyone else here... began spending money on the car here and there.
the feeling of being able to make your ride stand out slightly from others on the road is really nice~ even if it's as simple as regular car washes to the subtle mesh grille, tints, debadging, etc.

Anyway, regarding your post about more show less go, i think i am in between.
while my current mods probably suggest otherwise, i bought the oem kit knowing if i had not gone for it i will not be able to find a complete set in the future. it was one of the many on my wishlist but definately not on top... not that i regret purchasing it. I don't. It has made my car so much more beautiful and i admire it everytime i get in and out of it.

Personally i think this car is plenty powerful already. Afterall, it is a family sedan... although a few bolt-ons such as CAI/pulleys/headers surely give it an extra kick and fun.

 

Well, here is basically what I did to my car...

-OEM kit (from the dealer)
-35% tint
-(2) 12'' Rockford Fosgate subs w/ amp

at this point, my car was lovely. The car looked good, and even though I was carrying an extra 100 pounds in my trunk, the car was still quick. Then, this is when it all went downhill...

-AEM Cold Air Intake

now, 10 thousand dollars later, my car got fixed, mostly because my CAI sucked up enough water to fill up a small pond while I was driving during the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. It wasn't pretty.

Mods done in the last 2 weeks..
-Cleared headlights
-silver diamond grille

Of course I would like to touch the engine again and maybe throw the intake back in (if I was THAT stupid) but at this point I would much rather make the car look nice because that is what will get me noticed and that's what will make me feel good about driving it. Besides, 260 horsepower is good enough, and sometimes I think my TL-S is a sleeper because really people have no idea how fast this car is. When I kept up with my friend's heavily modded Mustang GT, he looked at me like I was crazy because he thought my car was slow. Plus, sometimes engine mods can be a pain, especially if you are throwing performance mods on a car with a super-weak transmission.

 

I know what you guys mean. I think if I had a type-s I would not be as inclined to mod the engine as I am with my tl-p. I do have a 2001 naples gold tl-p, so I plan to make it look as "nice" as possible. This means possibly type-s rims, add OEM spoiler, good tires, MAYBE H&R OE or sport Springs.

I feel that the body kit is not for me, especially with the pot holes, etc...

I want my car to look as stock, and as nice, as possible.

Now, as far as performance goes, of course I would like to have my car go faster, since I will be driving it until it dies on me. So I am thinking about Icebox, headers, and maybe a pulley. No exhaust, as I want mine to look as nice and close to stock as possible. But I want it to be just as fast as a tl-s.

That's about it...

edit: oh and maybe some nice door sills!

 

i agree...if u own a tl-s u wouldnt need to do any mods to the motor...but if ur a tl-p owner ull want the xtra kick to match the tl-s...as subtledreamer said...its also the little mods that set the car apart from the rest of the pack...if a bystander notices 1 single thing different from a stock...theyll start to look at ur car more closely to find out what else u did n what not...im not really a big fan of subs n stuff kuz i think the Bose sounds real nice...nice enough that some people thought i had subs...besides i wouldnt want xtra weight in the bak...but i mean...if i got it for free...suuurre...lol

 

I totally agree with you

 

 

I went for suspension first because it is looks AND peformance.

 

I went for looks at first. I sold my red '98 Corvette convertible because it was getting me into too much trouble, so I was looking for a car that blended in good, hoping to avoid tickets. I also figured that an automatic would help. I found my '00 TL and figured that would be a good blend-in car and keep me out of trouble. I joined this forum and you guys destroyed me. I did a bunch of appearance mods first then eventually got into some performance. I'll have an upcoming post of all the mods I've done with pictures as soon as I get my AEM CAI on.

 

well i agree that the look/performance mods ratio for TLs is not really good.. but the main point u gotta get is that the TL is not really made for performance and most people just want it to look good!


but for me, look is not enough i think my car's pretty well balanced performance/look wise..


@cUr@-TL

 

Before I do anything to make the car look any better I am going to spend everything thing I have under the hood. I love power and well yeah alot of people will say thats its a fwd car but I have some big plans for this motor. I really couldnt be bothered with the way the car looks from the outside, she is always clean but you would never know what is under the hood. Only problem is not very many cars take it seriously on the road, but that is also good cause its always a surprise attack...

 

I went with looks first because I felt the car had enough hp at the present time. Going from the Civic to the TL was a world of power to me. So I started with the outside, by the time I was done, the car felt slower to me. So then I began to have fun under the hood.

 

you choose what you want, i will choose mine. although it has the performance, i bought my 02 tl-s based on the looks and what i can do wrt to that. up until the day i traded it in, the engine and exhaust was completely stock!

so i expect you will be putting in the supercharger, nitrous, engine management, higher flow injectors, yadda yadda right.......................... oh, don't forget to watch out for that wall or light pole or hydrant, that extreme curve you can't see around the bend, them pedestrians, the other cars, etc.

 

i appreciate everyones input. thnx. in my old car it was all looks and audio. this by far the nicest car ive ever owned. so this time around im going performance. and for those who disagree, 250 to 300whp is a ton of power (after mods). granted ther eare plenty of cars that are faster stock, bet youl have to break the bank just to put down a down payment. the average joe cant affoed that type of car. and to those who say youll wreck.............the object is not to hit anything. ill take mine to the track thank you.

 

You go boy!!!!

 

how ironic

 

 

My mods are in the signature, in the order they were done with dates noted.

As you can tell, I first did a system, then the body kit. After seeing pictures of the body kit, I had to get it. Then I didn't like the looks without a drop, so I dropped it. After that, I started doing performance mods.

I was very content with the stock power of the car at first, so I wasn't too worried about power mods at the time. But after doing some visual mods and standing out from other TL's on the road, I started thinking, "Why just stand out in looks? I should get more power to back it up."

The forums have been great in helping me out with tips and advice, and I would've never gotten this far, or plan on turbocharging the car, if it weren't for you guys. So I guess I should thank all of you for breaking my wallet.

 

 

looks and performance go hand and hand. I prefer both.

 

^^^^^^^same way I like my women, looking real good and performing even better!!!

 

I spent a good amount in looks first. . kit, drop, tints, OEM kit, h.i.d foggs, painted up some of the black stuff. . ., rims, a system for my self. . but now im ready to move outside, , i did this because i rather learn my car first and break it in. . then go ahead with the performance. . as well speed only gets you in trouble or killed !!!!

 

 

i guess im leaning towards the looks side... oem body kit on its way. I'm also looking to buy some rims and tires soon, i already have 2 Kicker S12L7's 750 RMS each . However, i am getting a dragon weapon-r short ram intake.. but tahts about it. If i want speed i'll just take my pops 6 spd 04 M3 for a lil spin :-d.

 

Looks are a given when it comes to a sexy car like the TL. 00'TL-P here with OEM kit, SSM. The suspension is what i toyed with first... then I started modding the engine to get more power... look at the sig!