KamikazeTL

Ok there guys, I am only 16 years old and I currently have a job which is at a fast food makin almost 8 bucks an hour. My parents are giving me the acura 3.2 tl year 2000 which i have put 2 obx exhausts and aem cai and I will pay the payments on the car monthly. Or I will co-sign with them to get a 10,000 loan to get a civic or integra. Which would you do if you were me? I am into imports and show-cars and fixing up the car. If you guys chose keeping the TL then what would you do to fix it up? I already got exhaust and cai.

rrdy

I'd take the Tl, get an OEM or WW body kit, and lower it..err there is a lot of stuff to do

1st timer

Let's see Integra,Civic, TL............................TL all the way,period!

ABBOUSHI

oh man such a hard question to ask ummmmmmm..... TL ofcourse what does a civic/integra have over a TL. and if you do get an integra/civic the most you can do is make it blend in with every other civic in the world.

dark inspire

TL bro, u need fixin up suggestions? i suggest you browse through the archives and order yourself a pizza, ur gonna be here a while! there are soo many great mods you can do some very unique. take your time, and dont rush into it.

LiQiCE

An integra/civic has a lot more mod potential than a TL in terms of aftermarket availability. For most of us who are driving TL's, we're driving it because of the mix of luxury, sport, and value. Not really enough mods available aftermarket for our cars to make them real beasts on the road...

There is a lot of good things coming up in terms of mods for the TL, but many of them are expensive and some of the biggest power adders like the Comptech Supercharger (~$4000) aren't available for the TL-P and would require some special modifications on your part to addon. That might be your cup of tea since it sounds like you want to do the mods yourself, and a TL with some crazy mods would obviously be more unique than a Civic or Integra with some mods.

Just comes down to what you're looking for I think... A TL that will take some more creativity to get more power out of the engine, or a Civic/Integra that you can easily mod. A Civic hatchback with a B18 motor and some light mods would be pretty damn fast. Would be difficult to mod a TL to keep up with one.

In terms of your next mod for the TL, I'd recommend headers. They won't give you the same gains on a TL-P that a Type S would get, but the gains are still pretty nice for a bolt on. You can grab some OBX headers for about ~$300 off eBay or from www.ssautochrome.com (The SS headers for the '99-02 Accords are the same ones for the TL... Don't get the ceramic ones though, they tend to flake).

ABBOUSHI

the question here really is are you tryin to be Pimpin in a TL or Racecar drivin in a civic. thats what it comes down to. TL will never be a racecar i retract that 'never say never' ahh. neither will a civic but you can always try.. i guess

drcookie

Why wasting the hard earned cash to pimp up the car ? Just save the money learn how to use money to make more money. Who knows, you might be a millionair by the age of 25. You could do whatever you want after that ....

Just my $0.02.

SHINY TL-13

take the TL you'll luv it

NYZGREATST

hmmm.... if it was me. id go for the civic or integra. ONLY cus as a first car u want to experiment. i had a honda first and i did the stupidest crap to it. neons underbody nad in foot wells. all that stupid crap. thing is after awhile all that crap jus seems childish. imagine u do that stuff on a classy TL. jus seems horrible to me. i think u would learn alot from having a civic or integra first and then get a tl later on. i know im not that old to talk but ya know...

i know ppl are gonna flame me but if ya really think about it, it makes some sort of sense rite? jus think of your first car and the crap you did to it and regreted.........

Edr0e

Dayum 16 with a TL... I love In & Out burger btw.

Id say, keep the TL if all you are responsible for is the rest of the payments. Why go spend 10k on a used integra/civic? Just pay off the rest of the TL, im sure insurance and registration will be under you're parents name. Once its paid off and you turn 18, you can have them transfer the title under your name and start paying insurance under your name. ( shouldnt be much longer its a 2000 right? )

Sell the TL and by then u should have some sort of income to afford something new.. shiet i heard the 07 skyline is coming to the us...

Think in terms of your future... Civic w/ a turbo kit will only get u tickets, accidents, and headaches...

BLaCk Acc

All i gotta say is, when i see hooked up civics or integras, i dont usually turn my head or say wow thats nice. I just say hmm another civic, even if its crazy modified, its nothing special because 2 seconds later u'll see another civic on the road that crazy modified.

Now when i see a audi a4 or a golf gti or g35 or even an rsx hooked up i'll look and mite say wow because u dont see a hooked up one every 2 secs.

NYZGREATST

very very tru. i couldnt imagine being 16 with a tl tho. i know at that age i would screw it up with neon lights and crap like that but to each his own rite?!

jayhawk815

Like others have said, KEEP the TL. There is still so much you can do to them. Even with a TL-P, you start with 225 hp, much more than either the civic (at best 160) and integra (i think 190 for a rare Type R). Sure it weighs more, and the civic and integra have much more aftermarket support, but seriously, the TL can have power, speed, AND style. Sure, both other cars can have style, but it's the been there, seen that stuff, and not my style. A TL is much more upscale. More "Pimp" in my opinion, especially at 16. Just check out Mr. Hyde's old TLS, that is the best of both worlds. IMO, his former car looks better than ANY civic or integra that I've EVER seen, and trust me I've seen plenty, having been active in the import scene for about 10 years now.

With some investment, it's reasonable to get a TL-P to over 300 hp. Yes, so can you with both a civic and integra, with enough money, but you are going to often lose daily drivability and sometimes legality. A TL can comfortably and luxuriously haul four people, what better way to have fun with your friends and to show off your car!

LiQiCE

What mods can you get for a TL-P to get over 300whp? Other than NOS and maybe the SC I can't think of any? Or perhaps some Type S part swaps and a turbocharger? ... NOS is cheating imho, and forced induction is going to cost a pretty penny... No offense intended, but probably more than someone on $8/hour could afford w/o a lot of saving. I don't think you're going to be able to get enough bolt-ons to give you 300whp on a TL-P.

Right now fairly well modded NA TL/CL-S's are only pushing about 240whp..

jayhawk815

When I said 300 hp, I was referring to at the crank, not at the wheels. I know whp is a better measure of the power, only way to get a discernable measure of hp is from a dyno, which of course measures power at the wheels. Atleast at this current time, I, too, doubt that there are enough bolt-ons to produce 300 whp from a TL-P. However, great gains can be had with the familiar I/H/E bolt-ons, CL-S/TL-S throttle body, mdx intake manifold, upgraded pulleys, and VAFC to control these, among others. IF he doesn't have any other expenses, most of these mods can be attained, atleast once he has it paid off.

thescoundrel

Sell the TL, buy a bike (used 600 or 750), and buy a rainy day car. If you want to go fast a bike is the sure bet. No modding really required. The only thing you need to buy is a car to drive in the rain. The TL is quick but once you drive a bike, almost any car is a slug.

Faizalstar

I just got my '00 TL, my last car was a '97 Civic EX which i hooked up, rims, dropped, air intake, spoon strutbar, catback, system, etc. Since your 16, you would obviously enjoy the speed and taking it to any of the HIN shows if they come around your way! On the other hand, you may want to take that civic and start racing which IS DANGEROUS!!! (not tryin to sound like a daddy!!) Especially with other civics/integras pulling up next to you to try to race! The TL is definitely a different ride and car but still has potential to do what you would like. The other downside for the civic is that you WILL get pulled over once you have it hooked up with cops tryin to f&*k with you!! A TL is a more discrete, undercover and a great ride!

It all depends on what it is u want to get out of the car! Since your sticking with Honda/Acura you'll never go wrong!

:nutkick:

HCHO2000

Get A New Car Over Any Used Car Even A Tl

jayhawk815

Yeah and take the 1st year depreciation in the ass! Besides, I don't think he's looking at getting new car anyway.

Faizalstar

All cars take a depreciation once they leave the lot but Honda & Acura maintains their value very well

etxxz

Consider this:

1) unless you have a lot of money, there are 100000000000x of madly fixed-up civics and integras.
But you can save 15000 if you dont get the TL
2) There are very few sickly supped TLs, and i've only seen 1 and i got to MANY car shows...(Kman's in miami meet~55grand ontop of 32 for car)
3) Your asking the wrong crowd...as you can see 99% of the people in this forum own a TL and are in love with it.
4) I'm 17, and i would definetly love having an integra to sup rather than TL
5) The integra and civics have a lot more potential of speed and power than a TL...turbo kits are #1 reason too.
6) aftermarket is a lot bigger AND CHEAPER for int/civ than TL
7) 8bux an hour aint getting you a TL and enough dow to get parts(insurance, ext warranty, GAS)...maibe not even for a project civ/int...prostitutes make more money...(hint~hint)

tell us what your decicion is. peace.