taman86

so after doing some searching around on google and hear, it doesnt seem that there are alot of options out there for performance parts for these cars. i am a long way from starting to mod but have been looking at options. i like cheap and effective and ebay has never let me down. but as far as real performance gains what are the options. any companies offering head porting that is streetable, what type of valvetrain upgrades are there and cams, any performance intake manifolds or larger diameter throttle bodies for decent prices, or any one try and do some porting of their own with beneficial gains. any n/a motor has potential power to be tapped, just gotta get the air into the cylinders smoother, faster, with more and out the same way. the out is covered with headers and such, the in part not so much. the only thing the spacers do is move the powerband down to create more lower end torque rather then top end power which negates the vtec part of the performance i would think. a "CAI" isnt doing much other then getting a wee bit more air into the intake with a little less restriction and smoother, but the cold part isnt so much true unless you have the filter in direct line with fresh air.

it almost seems that because our cars dont have an "H" on the grill, they are over looked for r&d upgrades, other then the cheap testing.

or i could be all completely wrong and acura is just that good and there is no need for better valvetrain, intakes, or throttlebodies cuz there is no way to improve it.

i always have an itch for more, better, faster and its almost disheartening to see such a neglected niche in the aftermarket world. just cuz its an acura, i guess they are viewed as business exec's cars.

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

Most of what you've said will have to be done custom. There's all the standard bolt-ons, but anything more than that will be hard to find.

I'm sure there's many reasons that the car doesn't have much aftermarket support, but I imagine the biggest one is the lack of tuning options. Even if you manage to customize the drivetrain to be amazing, the lack of a tune will just leave you with a engine that runs poorly.

taman86

hey there karanx7, fellow arizonan. i live in safford, smaller town about 3 hours south down us60 past globe. well that really is unfortunate. i wouldnt mind getting a hold of a company that makes alot of parts for the accord v6 and see why they havnt done alot of r&d for the TL. same platform, different engine, different body.

fsttyms1

There are parts available. You can get decent power out of them. Many parts are OE parts from the 3.5-3.7 engines. LIke he said though, tunning is the largest issue. There really isnt a tunner for our cars. You cant reprogram our ECU. The only way is a full standalone and you will spend thousands getting it to run.

taman86

so what parts are interchangeable then from those engines to have some gain on the 3.2a1 without causing drive ability problems. also i have seen a few threads for the type s intakes. what is special about the type s manifold that is different from the base. if the type s manifold flows better and is interchangeable, then hell sign me up

overboost78

The Tl doesn't have much performance parts, but there are a few things you can do. there are some companies making exhaust systems for it, also you can upgrade your PCM which will give you some gains in HP. If you are are looking for serious gains in HP Porting and polishing the heads and intake is always an option, but it is expensive and there is no guarantee the person doing it will do it right. being a luxery sedan I wouldn't do this. plus your car will be down for a while. there is also Nitros injection, but this is not a good Idea because it really decreases the reliablity if the engine, plus you can damage the engine. the best bet for your money is a bolt on supercharge kit. it's the easiest, quickest way to get major HP gains with out compromising much. there are some companies that do make a kit for the TL. I think Comptech is one of them

01tl4tl

honda is considered the more youth oriented branding, = more performance parts,,see what they race in SCCA on TV for whats going to have special parts division
while acura appeals to the type of person who enjoys Touring Luxury

for what you want in immediate accelleration power- get a lightweight underdrive crank pulley
removes 8.3 of 10 pounds off the end of the crank!! and makes faster rev time to vtec rpm where your play power is

bomz brand pulley on the low price end, but well proven here and by the CL section,
or UR at the top of the line, see vendor Excelerate
removing the resonator box and dropping in a K&N is the cheap and very effective cai

A TB thermospacer changes the torque curve slightly
Thermo spacers on the intake- your choice of brand/style- greatly reduces/insulates from heat transferred by engine block to the aluminum intake manifold
You are trying to reduce those air temps by any means, just bringing the air in thru the TB raises its temp!

while you have the intake manifold off to clean the egr port/passage system (do/due every 75kmiles)
you can access the intake runners for cleaning
Break out the dremel porting bit set for a DIY, port size match= enlarge the openings to the size of the gasket opening which is often a little bit larger

Smoothing out the rough edges there will improve airflow, but no need to create a tornado swirl with special type porting, and a little roughness in the runner keeps the airflow from ~sticking~

the Vtec program makes a `tornado` by delaying the 2nd intake valves opening slightly,,makes it swirl the fuel/air for improved mix and improved combustion

dont worry about cams and different manifold--if you want to go that nuts:
get a CL-S engine and 6speed manual trans if you really want to upgrade your type P
extra power in the TL with auto ,,is begging for a short trans life
See diy on that at top of main thread list
becoming a popular option for the skilled person

taman86

alright guys, thanx for the tips, very helpful. once i get this overheating issue taken care of we'll see where it goes from there.

taman86

sry, had a last question. overboost78, when you mentioned upgrading the pcm, is it the same thing that o1tl4tl is talking about for a stand alone unit, or do you have a link to a company that offers reliable tuning. also does any of the 02-03 exterior pieces transfer over to the 99-01 body (i.e. lights, grill, bumpers)? havnt been able to come up with anything for searches.

taman86

my above question still stands as to the pcm tuning overboost as it relates to otl4tl's post above about stand alone management or stock pcm tuning, but again 01tl4tl's post stated that our stock pcm's cant be tuned. disregard the exterior pieces question.

but now i do have have another question. in an unrelated search i came across a thread talking about IM swaps and tb swaps and adapters and porting. i didnt want to bring it back up so im posting in my thread.
what are the differences between the sh-awd IM, TLS IM, and stock TL-p IM. what tb will retrofit to the stock and so forth with adapters. 01tl4tl, you posted pics of an 80mm tb compared to stock, where do you get the 80mm from, and if mated to the stock manifold, who or where can port the stocker or make an adapter for it.

also, wouldnt pushing 80mm of air through the stock maf and map calibrations for a 3.2l cause the tables of those sensors to be maxed and literally throw the ECU into speed density mode, or causing the stock injectors to be close to maxed out?

i am coming from modern gm muscle background with about 5 years experience with modding and tuning those motors, and 80mm tb's are childs play compared to some of the tb's that are used for those motors, upwards of 102mm tb's and IM, anything bigger then 85mm tb on a stock ls1 76mm maf causes the calibration to become dangerously close to being maxed value. anything bigger then a 85mm tb/IM setup, you have to use a corvette z06 or gm truck 85mm maf, retune for the larger maf values and can from 85mm all the to 102 on a 85mm maf. unrelated vehicles and got off track, but do you understand where i am going with that?

fsttyms1

There is NO upgrade to the ECU (PCM). Just search. There is an option for a standalone to add to it but its expensive and requires a good tuner to get it to work.