Hey guys, I have an 02 TL-P. I believe the stock statistics are ~230hp, and a 0-60mph time of ~6.5 seconds.

I currently have an AEM V2 CAI, and I'm only pushing 164whp, and a 0-60mph time of ~7.7 seconds.

I know I could get some extra mods to increase HP/torque, but I'd like to start by bringing my car back to stock at least.

What maintenance could I do to bring my car's power back up. I have already SeaFoamed the crap out of my car. I did the correct procedure for it too. I'm planning to do the following:

- Iridium Spark Plugs (Currently Platinum with 70k)
- Valve Adjustment (Never been done before. Car at 170k)
- XLR8 Motor Mounts (Current ones are shot as hell)

Are those three things enough to lose ~60HP? What else could I do to bring my engine back to health.

Do you think doing a 3x3 with the new Honda ATF DW1 could help? Changing tranny mounts?

 

You're forgetting that the auto trans sucks POWER through drivetrain loss.
I looked up the stats of a 2002 TL and the CRANK horse power is 225.
if you dyno'd your car and received the 164 number, that means that 164 is being delivered to the front wheels and not at the crank.

the 2004 3rd gen TL is rated at 258hp at the crank. but at the wheels its only making about 210hp.

 

Thanks, but my 0-60mph time is still a solid second off base.

Losing 60HP from bhp to whp sucks, which is why asked about the tranny fluid/mounts.

Any info on maintenance would be appreciated.

Edit: Also, the V2 CAI that is supposed to bring in 10-15hp is factored into the 164whp. So I'm actually far below that.

 

^no, the cold air intake will not make 10hp.

Mounts will help transfer the power to the wheels. so you might be losing a little power through drive train losses with broken mounts.

 

Cool, thanks for the mount info. I've been using mush for mounts for a long time now, so I'm sure all the three motor mounts are broken. That probably put some strain on the tranny mounts too, so I'll replace all 5 mounts at once.

Weird, I thought the V2 intake was supposed to add that much. Lowest amount that I've read was 8hp to the wheels. Either way, it's not too relevant as it's certainly not losing hp.

I'm more heavily concerned with the valve adjustment statistics, if you have any info on that. How much HP could I lose from not having done my valve adjustment?

 

I googled:

 

Maaaan, I know all that. I have google too, but I was more focused on the power side of the problem. I can't find any Acura TL specific info on HP stats relevant to valve adjustment.

I don't have any running issues, like stalling or a rough idle. Yet, I'm still significantly slower than the stock time, so I'm just asking for things to do to bring my HP back up.

 

its going to be hard to tell you the exact HP lost with loose or tight valves as each one might be out of clearance.

fix the mounts, change the plugs and get a valve adjustment to see where you're at.

 

agree on getting valve adjustment, thats your signal best bet right now since its never been done.

not sure where your getting 6.5 sec spec for 0-60, with mods yes, but a stock tl-p can range from 6.9 to 7.2 and as high as 8 sec in some books, idk maybe im wrong. plus an older tranny thats slips a little will delay shifts, slowing you down. when i first got my tl-p, 100% stock with a slipping tranny would always take about 8 sec for 0-60, after cleaning up that car, new plugs, valve adjustment, tires, cold air intake, new tranny, ingalls stiffy ETD, im just about 7 sec for a 0-60, on a good day maybe a 10th or two quicker. id prob be a little quicker if i didnt have two large sub woofers/amps in the trunk weights like 80+ lbs. Ingalls stiffy ETD really helps the car get up and go off the line, very helpful for getting a solid launch, it gets rid of a lot of wheel hop. I never gate shift, so that could shave off a little time by holding first gear a little longer up to just before the rev limiter. But id like my tranny to last so....

 

well quick search i see some places calling for 6.5 sec for a stock tl-p 0-60, but personally iv never seen that without a few mods. It really depends on the driver and how well you can launch and wheel spin, and i never launch my car hard. trying to make this tranny last, so no unnecessary wot.

 

different rim/tire overall weight and size affect 0-60

valve adjust can lose big HP!! they are not allowing fuel and air in at the right time for the right duration = poor combustion = lost power/torque

Spark plugs- 70k you are ready for new,,cant say hp but car will run way better

for your desires of rapid speed: I would go with the lightweight crank pulley
lose 8 of 10 pounds of rotating mass is a HUGE improvement
It allows the engine to rev way faster so it gets to vtec and the powerband faster

shifting just before redline is not optimum-
you need a dyno graph to learn the peak torque rpms for each gear, shift so you use up the power in the current gear,, and be at the correct rpm to accellerate in the next gear

you run 91 octane or higher only?

 

the bad front/rear mounts if vac booster equipped- are leaking and making overall poor conditions, maybe a mystery engine miss?
Ck the trans mounts before replacement--unless you have a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket,,,then replace everything to be sure!!

 

Thanks for the info, Tom! Also, thanks to gold2003tl (90) and justnspace.

I'll fix her up and post back with stats.

 

The auto trans on our cars sucks up on average 22-25% from the dynos i have seen over the years. Factoring in that you are right about where you should be for HP (If you actually did a dyno) How did you do your zero to 60? With calibrated instruments or with a stop watch? What kind of day was it? Humid? Hot? Barometric pressure? What things were in your car for weight? How much fuel did you have? Was TCS on or off? Did you use SS or leave it in D, or did you gate shift? A pretty much stock TL-P should be in the low 7s for 0 to 60, not 6.5, that is TL-S territory. And lastly DRIVER. It can effect the 0 to 60 as well.


And as far as knowing the hp you would loose from incorrect valve adjustment there is no such data. Every car is different, You would have to take into account how many and how far off each valve is. Going by the things you have told us, your car is running normal.

 

I used an iPhone app to test the time (starts when it detects 0.1g). It was ~70 degrees. Completely dry weather here in AZ, so no humidity. Pressure should be a little low, as the AZ is elevated due to Rocky Mountains. Observing this, I have to fill up 91 as 93 isn't offered. My fuel needle was almost touching the red empty line. There was nothing in my car except for me (130 pounds). TCS was OFF. I used SS which brought 1st gear to redline. It doesn't seem like I was terribly slow, but I guess I'll just have to get more bolt-ons. I don't want to go FI just yet.

I'm interested to know what your 0-60 fsttyms1(Kris?) is. You should have the fastest 0-60 left of FI, unless I'm missing some mod info.

 

Only the stock TL-S can do a 6.5s 0-60 time, not the stock TL-P. You got confused.

 

No, I wasn't confused. Rather, my source was just inaccurate. It's not really a credible site, so I wasn't expecting it to be exact. That site
says the Type S has a time of 6.1 seconds. I wish there was a more credible site that posted accurate stats for all cars.

http://www.zeroto60times.com/

 

try some of the auto testing magazine reviews
but remember that brand new cars will get different numbers than 10 years later~

what your car runs is what it runs

 

Resurrected this thread since I was looking for stock TL times.

The 0-60 website is pretty unreliable. If you notice, the 2005 TL is 5.8 (auto or manual is not specified) and then the 2007 and 2008 TL are 7.0 and 6.9 respectively even though all the cars are from the same generation... Doesn't really make too much sense so I wouldn't put too much credibility in this site's numbers... Obviously the 3rd gen stock is faster than the 2nd gen stock so either the 02 number is off or the 07 and 08 numbers are off.

http://www.jbcarpages.com/acura/tl/2002/specs/ says the car goes 0-60 in 7.2 secs and 6.2 secs for the TL-S.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...take_road_test has a short excerpt on stock '02 TL times as well and I would trust Car and Driver over most others.

"We detailed the engineering upgrades to the TL's 3.2-liter SOHC 24-valve aluminum VTEC V-6 in March 2001, so let's cut straight to the benefits. With 225 horsepower and 216 pound-feet of torque, the standard 3.2TL towed itself to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds, 100 in 20.9, and through the quarter-mile in 15.9 seconds at 90 mph.

Those results were at the top of the nine-car heap, but they look pretty tame compared with the numbers generated by the Type-S: 60 in 6.2 seconds, 100 in 16.0, and the quarter-mile in 14.8 at 96 mph.

Besides its robust peak power—260 hp at 6100 rpm—the high-output V-6 has very endearing torque traits: 232 pound-feet on tap from 3500 to 5500 rpm, which shows up as strong midrange punch: It zips from 30 to 50 mph in 3.3 seconds (the standard TL does it in 4.0) and 4.5 seconds from 50 to 70 mph (versus 5.9). As with the base TL, the performance of the Type-S is muted slightly by a standard automatic gearbox."

Don't know how accurate that dyno app is on the iPhone, but I would redo your tests on a real dyno. You should also post your results from your phone here too to share.

 

^the 3G TL 6MT is capable of 5.8 0-60 with a great driver.

 

^

With a great driver for sure... Is the OP's car manual or auto? No way you can break 6 with a stock auto. Unless you were investing a lot of money into mods, I would be surprised to see an auto 2G TL (not type-S) to go under 6.

 

I can't seem to read... OP, since you have a '02 TL in automatic, I wouldn't be too alarmed with a 7.7 sec time. Sounds pretty accurate to me considering the mileage and I don't know how well you kept the car for almost a decade now. With a few more mods, I think eventually, you might be able to get into the high 6's, but I wouldn't expect too much (unless you're talking about serious weight reduction or other tune ups). Have you gone to a track? What's your 1/4 mile time?

Anyone else measure their 0-60 times for a 2G TL in auto? I would say that between 7.2-7.4 is normal.

 

Ive never measured my 0-60. Im sure its in the upper 5s now. Last time i ran at the track i was in the 13.8 range at 103 ish. I have done more to it since then and will be doing more with this new motor that i will be installing soon (all NA)

 

Yea, it was determined that my time was NOT abnormal.

Yea, I plan to swap in a Type S engine along with a CL-S manual transmission. Just waiting for my current transmission to die. With, I/H/E/P and FI, the car can get down to low 5s.

 

Fatty, is your name Kris or what?

 

who is this fatty you are talking to

 

You know I'm talking to you lol. The first time I ever skimmed your name, I just read fattys. Soooo, Kris or fatty or your real name? Idk why I thought your name was Kris. Maybe thinking of someone else.

 

Its Fast times 1 (won) not fatty

And yes, its Kris

 

^change his avy...
btw, I need a new avy.

 

 

It still seemed you thought your TL was supposed to be 6.5 sec, sry.

I dunno though. Even with everything, it would be tough to do low 5s. How much do you think all of this will cost? Do you think it's worth the investment? Why not just get a newer car? (170,000+ miles is a lot) Not knocking you, but I'm just wondering why the strong affinity to the TL.

Btw, love your new avatar.

 

Dang, that's beast.

Could I ask what the mileage on your car is Kris?

 

440k on the car (about 220k on this motor and trans)

 

Thanks Kris, Karanx and I are loving it.

 

If you would like something else just let me know

 

Someone is making the most use out of their car.

How much would you estimate that you've invested into the car?

 

^kris, you really need to make a build thread.

 

way too much.

 

i still get 0-60 under 7 seconds and im still on original tires, rims, tranny fluid, steering fluid, coolant, air filter, and transmission. i mean only thing i have changed so far are brakes and oil (castrol gtx hm) and i ALWAYS fill it up with shell vpower 0% ethanol. this thing is as reliable as dirt. and trust me i drive this car really hard, i floor it every time i drive it. thank god its a honda or i would be broke. i need to spend some money on maintenance soon though. my mechanic drew some red circles last after oil change on the report paper and wrote that i need new tranny and coolant fluid soon...it was all in red capital letters.

 

Can you confirm this? Do you have any source? According to top tier regulations, they have to use a certain amount of ethanol. I'd love if v-power had no ethanol, but no one seems to be able to confirm.