Oh forgot to add, for all those that think the 528 is slow...think again. Don't underestimate this car.

 

Today I had my TL and met up with my buddy who has a 99 528i sport 5spd. Wanted to see how well the TL would do. Remember my TL is stock now and so is my buddy's. Off the line to about 70 I was ahead by a bumper at most. We hit the freeway and called him on my cell and told him when we hit 70 let's punch it. Well, I hit it first as I lunged before him. When I got to 90 (still in 3rd gear) he was next to me and started to pull away. By the time I hit 110 he was a full car length ahead. After that I slowed down and so did he. Damn our cars REALLY SUCK once on the highway. I wonder how much different it would have been if I still had all my stuff on.

 

German cars are monsters at high speeds. It has been proven to me too many times, they fly after 70/80.. Even the crappy 323i/ci performs awsome at high speeds.

(The new 530s are very sweet cars. Some people love the 528s, not me..)

 

AC,
4th and 5th gear are OverDrive, that's why it sucks!!!!! doesn't it take forever before the Vtec kicks in on both 4th and 5th gear.

------------------
tann@808-'00 TL
non-Navi(Doesn't work in Hawaii)

Factory body kit & Wing, 19" Racing Hart C-5's,
Nitto 555's, CompTech Springs, CompTech Exhaust,
CompTech Headers, Inspire Taillights, NOS(70 shot),
AEM CAI, Alpine 8080, TL rear door handles in front,
Apexi v-afc, 5% + 30% tints,30% front windshield.
tann@pixi.com

 

Tell me about it!

 

Thats weird my 4 speed spanks my friends 98 528 all the way up to triple digits.

 

I took third gear up to about 120...Y didn't u keep your car in 3rd when running up into triple digit speeds?
Ed

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Acura-TL.com - Forum Moderator

'99 TL Satin Silver/Ebony, Non/Nav, Comptech lowered, Comptech Air Filter Element, Inspire Tails, AEM Brake Pads all around, Comptech Axle Back Exhaust, "Guy Smiley" doll on the dash as my Co-driver...

Pics of my TL
Pics of my Miata! Wadya think?

 

I did, still lost.

 

I don't think so , it flies more 0-60 rather than 70-ups.

------------------
2000 Nighthawk Black Pearl TL
Mugen Front Grille
Mugen Front Half Spoiler
Factory Kit coming up

 

Also, one thing that everyone has not commented upon is that the 528 is with a 5-speed manual transmission . You cannot compare a manual 5-speed (which has got a direct mechanical linkage to the gears) with an automatic (where the torque-converter robs a big chunk of the power). It is certainly not an apples to apples comparison. Go bring a 528 with the 5-speed automatic to compare with the 5-speed automatic TL. The TL would thrash, embarass and humiliate the BMW and make the BMW pretend that he was really not trying to race....

Just my 2c

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2000 Naples Gold 3.2TL/Navi - Factory Stock but with up-graded tires

 

You're a hundred percent right Hunter, BTW..
Ed

------------------
Acura-TL.com - Forum Moderator

'99 TL Satin Silver/Ebony, Non/Nav, Comptech lowered, Comptech Air Filter Element, Inspire Tails, AEM Brake Pads all around, Comptech Axle Back Exhaust, "Guy Smiley" doll on the dash as my Co-driver...

Pics of my TL
Pics of my Miata! Wadya think?

 

Are a couple of you guys saying that you've driven your cars up to 120 in 3rd gear? Doesn't that take you way too far into redline zone? Is that without any engine mods?

 

I disagree. My 540i isn't the most bursty thing out there 0-60. Heck, I think a TypeS will keep up with me 0-60 but once I hit 80 the 540 becomes a rocket.

 

Not trying to diss, but I highly disagree. Yes the 5spd maual is faster than 5spd auto but you make it sound like it went from V6 to V8 all of a sudden. I've never raced a 528 5spd auto so I can't say what the TL would and wouldn't do against it. I think "thrash" was a bit exagerating, perhaps will beat it but not by much would be more reasonable. After today, I have no reasons to believe that even the TL would beat a 5spd auto in the high end considering that the 5spd manual was pulling from me at around 90.

BTW Ed, Acura replaced my rotors and brake pads for FREE!

 

why do you race all the time AC? got too much time to spare?

 

AC.. just wait for your M3... and stop complaining :P

seriously though... the hp/torque curve prolly isnt at redline... so you arent going to get full power there.;... definitly has to do with gearing.. I bet you the BMW is geared a lot better...

With your old 'gear' I dunno what the result would be.. rims would slow you down caus they weigh you down.. exhaust may increase performance at the top end... you still may have fuel delivery problems and timing issues.. which your APEXi controller might fix...

Like I said.. just wait for the M3... and you better call me when you get that... we need to swap for a few runs... my car is fully broken in now :P 9k+ miles and only 3 months old!!!!! Dyno 2/27... looking for 330HP at the wheels

------------------
Eric Wong
MY 01 Magnetic Red Corvette
GF 00 Black Accord V6
EX 99 Pontiac Grand Prix GTX

If you like me then

If you want to give me crap:

 

540s are just mean.
M5 = Very expensive to keep up..
540= Super nice car, love seeing them on the road.
<small><small>doesn't mean i don't drool everytime i see an M5..</small><small>

Here is what i meant earlier:
Japanese car:
0-60: 6.0
60-100: 7.0

German car:
0-60: 6.0
60-100: 6.3

So the same 0-60, doesn't mean the same 60-100. Not based on real number, but if i actually looked around, it will support my theory.

 

Something is majorly wrong with your baby.
I've taken down plenty 528s on HW5. SS to 3rd and vrroooom.

 

I use to think my car was f*cked up too, but with all my mods I dynoed 204HP at the wheels running 18's so I assumed after that my car was fine. 3rd gear is my favorite on the TL and 4th...ooohhhh I dread that gear.

 

Okay our 4th gear really sucks. When I am in SS mode, I have only used the 4th gear twice.

Once when I was racing with a Jaugar, I had 5 people in my car and the old man was alone. I was catching up in my 3 gear. I was like WOW!! Then as soon as I realine my 3rd and shift in to 4th. He started to pull away from me and then he is gone.......

Damn...

So evertime when I race I never go anywhere faster then 100mph, which is the redline of the 3rd gear. Because I know that as soon as I hit 4th, it is pretty much over.

Oh I raced with a prelude type SH with some mods. My TL is stock and I managed to keep up. He couldn't pull away from me, nither can I get any closer. But when I got to 100mph. I let it go, because I knew that he would smoke me after that.

So... besides the POS brake, 63/37 f/r weight distribution, our 4th gear sucks, too.

 

I felt that the rpm increase hella fast during the 1st and 2nd gear with the 540 , but gets slower in the 3rd & 4th gear and i can say slower with the TL , so i assume that 0-60 flies more. Yes , i feel that 70-ups feel like flying in the car , but if i see the raving , it seems to disagree with my feeling. correct me if i'm wrong.


------------------
2000 Nighthawk Black Pearl TL
Mugen Front Grille
Mugen Front Half Spoiler
Factory Kit coming up

 

These are the 3.2TL gear ratios:

1st----------2.563
2nd---------1.552
3rd---------1.021
4th --------0.653
5th---------0.470
Reverse----1.846
Final Drive-------4.428

As you can see, the 4th and 5th gears are overdriven gears (ratio less than 1), and they would only help you in your mileage. You will not be able to accelerate effectively with those gears.

I would think that the BMW 4th and 5th gears in the 5-speed Automatic 528/328 also would be overdriven gears since otherwise, they would not be able to achieve comparable mileage figures like the Acura 3.2TL (Mileage of the Automatic 528 : 18/26 while mileage of the Automatic 3.2TL: 19/29)

Here are the acceleration figures from Motortrend for the 3.2TL(June 2000) and the 328Ci 5-speed Automatic (July 2000):

3.2TL 5-speed automatic:
0-30mph-----2.5 Secs
0-40mph-----3.7 Secs
0-50mph-----5.1 Secs
0-60mph-----6.7 Secs
0-70mph-----9.0 Secs
0-80mph-----11.5 Secs
Quarter mile: 15.2Secs at 93.1mph

328Ci 5-speed Automatic:
0-30mph-----2.4 Secs
0-40mph-----3.7 Secs
0-50mph-----5.2 Secs
0-60mph-----7.1 Secs
0-70mph-----9.2 Secs
0-80mph-----11.8 Secs
Quarter mile: 15.3Secs at 89.6mph

The BMW 328 Auto holds the edge only in 0-30 after which the TL catches up and thrashes it soundly all the way from 0-40, 0-50, 0-60, 0-70, 0-80 and also the quarter mile. So let us not make assertions to the contrary without any substantiation...

The BMW that is comparable in size to the 3.2TL is the 528 which weighs 300 Lbs more than the 328. The 528 weighs in at 3495 Lbs while the TL weighs in at 3494 lbs You can imagine the acceleration effects that 300lbs would make into the above quoted figures of the 328i 5-speed automatic. By the time the BMW 528 Automatic reaches the overdriven 4th gear, it too will have problems accelerating (like the TL does)....but by then, the TL would be a distant dot in the Horizon.... all these arguments are assuming that the BMW 528 is with the 5-speed Automatic (which is geared differently from the 5-speed manual) . Now if the 3.2TL had a 5/6-speed manual with a 4th gear ratio slightly over 1, then this would be an apples-to-apples comparison, and I would place my bet on the TL thrashing and humiliating the BMW 528 manual especially since the auto TL does pretty well against the Manual 528 .....but handling (in dry weather only), is the BMW's forte and it would edge out the 3.2TL in it...

Just my 2c.

------------------
2000 Naples Gold 3.2TL/Navi - Factory Stock but with up-graded tires


<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by hunter001 on February 02, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

Is that 1/4 mi time for the TL right? Damn, that's as fast as my SHO...and it's not even labeled a sports car. As for German cars, they are engineered for the Autobahn where they routinely see speeds of 120+ so natually they're going to be geared for top end speed.

 

Didn't I say that earlier.

 

not true, german cars are meant for high speeds and not 0-60. mainly because they're cars are built for the autobahn and for all of you whoes driven on it accelleration isn't a factor on the autobahn, its all speeds. average speed on it is about 90mph and up and there are even sections of it where there is no speed limit at all. And like posted before, most of the german cars with small engines where built to handle the highspeeds. Thats cause in germany they tax you per liter of your engine. My friend goes there every summer and tells me that there are almost no v8's ever on the road. most benzes and bimmers that are driving there have liters so small they don't even make it available here in the US


------------------
'99 Acura 3.2TL Satin Silver

 

I've compared the 528(Auto) and my TL back to back since my folks have BMW's. My opinion is that the TL feels better up to about 70-75. The TL definitely pulls better and feels like there is more power and response than the BMW. Higher than 70 though, the BMW keeps pulling pretty well. Like others have noted, the TL feels good in third, but when the OD 4th gear comes up, it just flattens out.

Still, on the surface streets, the TL feels much better. Now as for a 540 like AC's, thats a whole other story.

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1999 Satin Silver TL Dunlop SP9000 215-45/17-mounted on CL-S 17" Rims
H&R Springs-Axiss MetalMasterPads-Crossdrilled Rotors
-Inspire Tailights-20/30/40 tint

Y2k S2K Honda Roadster
- Mingster Aeroscreen, Smokin Front mesh Grill, Clear Sidemarkers...

 

I just learned that the 528 and 328 have different gearing so the post about the 328 gearing is not accurate to say that based on that the 528 auto would be slow since they have different gearing.