I lived in Japan for 4 years and owned an Inspire. They are not special and not nearly as luxurious and have smaller engines. calling our cars Honda Inspires and trying to make yourcar look like one is like buying an ES300 and calling it a Camry and badging it with Camry logos. I just don't get it.

 

I didn't know that. Thanks for informing us that changing our TL's to HONDA will be demoting our cars status.

 

I knew that and I could never understand why people wanted to do that. But to each his own.

 

I never understood the whole changing Badging thing. Changing from JDM Honda to USDM Honda is one thing, but Acura to Honda....

 

i could of sworn they had a 3.2 liter 260hp engine as well as leather and pretty much all the other stuff we have. am i wrong?

 

you dont need to understand it.

do you understand why people change there wheels and add a body kit, etc? if so, its the same concept.

 

I understand your point and agree with you wholeheartedly... But I can guarentee your gonna get the same response over and over... it's basically a matter of choice and personalization.... bottom line? To each his own....

 

3.0 Liter 184 horsepower

 

so where did the 32v come from? im sure they have to atleast have the 3.2 liter engine in the regualr TL (the 225hp version).

 

32v is just 4 valves per cylinder. They are the same 3.0 they put in the v6 accords

http://www.honda.co.jp/auto-lineup/i...ata/index.html

 

6*4 = 24 not 32 what in the fudge are you talking about. Unless this is some type of Inspire made by Ferrari where they drop in a 3.0L V8?

 

scott, you have no idea what you are talking about.

 

I thought you're suppose to ELEVATE the look of the car, not "demote" it down to being a lowly Honda..

 

its funny you say that considering more than half the stuff on your car says honda and the chassis itself is from the honda accord.

 

Ok, I am a retard

 

Are you sure its the same chassis, the wheel base is longer on the acura:
TL-S Accord EX
Wheelbase (in.) 108.10 106.90
Length (in.) 192.50 189.40
Width (in.) 70.60 70.30
Height (in.) 53.70 57.30
Track Front (in.) 61.10 61.20
Track Rear (in.) 60.40 60.40

 

it also makes me when i see people put inspire 'american honda' badges on the rear sides of their car

 

32V = 3.2 VTEC

If people like it they will do it. Wether demoting the car or not its mad JDM fo shizzle! LOL

 

There are reasons why the JDM Inspire is called a TL.
The look of elegance that is understated yet still eye catching.
The feel of the interior spaces, with a more driver oriented looks with unique luxury features.
The quality of materials used like soft molded dash and finer leather
(minus the Tranny )
etc. I could go on.

Regular USDM Hondas doesn't have these qualities. My father has the 2k2 V6 Accord that I've driven for a few months prior to buying the TL-S. And beside the interior space that it gives, the Accord doesn't have any of the qualities that the TL gives me. So to me, rebadging it as a Honda creates some very deceptive connotations.

IMHO anyways.

 

you know what, i 'demoted' my car, and placed the INSPIRE badging on my car. And all I've gotten are compliments. Like some ppl said, it's just another way to be more unique. So stop all this crap about how 'demoting' it is to the Acura name. Each person has their own individual tastes. So stop all this stupid flaming and try to be more constructive, geeez. Grow up.

 

One of my favorite mods was to demote my Acura to a Honda, I'm glad I did it.

 

think what you want, no matter how you put it... it's still a honda.

 

its awesome how many people take a second look. i've gotten tons of compliments and many people even ask me about it. its nice to meet people with the same interests.

 

Regardless what anyone thinks, I am one of the few people that have lived in Japan for a long time and have owned a Honda Inspire. They ARE NOT as high quality and as luxurious as the TL. You can buy a 2002 Inspire in Japan for $10,000 everyday of the week. I bought a 3 year old accord with 43,000 km on it for $3500. THe same goes for Lexus Toyota. They have TOyota Crowns over there that are practically the same an upper level Lexus without the bling, features, and price tag.


http://www.carmode.net/web02/newcar/...2003/index.php

 

i have a honda saber brochure in my hands right now (incase you didnt know, the honda saber is the same thing as the honda inspire).

the exterior of this car is the same exact thing as the '99-'01 TL here. you could even say it looks better thanks to the fog lights. the few differences are the side markers and the fact that it says honda instead of acura.

another plus side is that they have more options when it comes to factory accessories. they have the door sills, the spoiler with the lights on top, they have a couple of different options for wheels (they have the option of 2 different BBS wheels, which are badass wheels by the way). interior wise its pretty much the same except instead of an all plain black leather shift knob, it has the honda of america symbol and it comes standard with a wood/leather wheel which is a $400 option in the US. they have a navigation system just as we do.

your inspire must of been the 25v which is the 2.5 liter v6 with the cloth seats.

a couple of other options they have that we dont: some sort of lights on the side of the bumper to increase visibility, option of being able to play dvd's through their navi (which we have to buy as an aftermarket accessory), the option of a 6, 8, or 10 cd changer, camer's on the front bumper, body colored mud guards, rear view camer for the spoiler which is integrated flawlessly, different ptions for the floormats, and a few other things that i cant tell what they are because i cant read japanese. hell they even have honda baby seats designed for use with the saber!!

P.S. the honda saber/inspire are ACTUALLY built in the same plant as the TL and they are imported to japan.

 

Actually I was right the first time. 4 valves per cylinder. the 3.2 is a 24 valve and the 2.5 is a 20 valve. I guess the your brochure would give someone a better idea of quality and features than owning one.

http://www.new-cars.com/2002/acura/a...fications.html

Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC(TM)), 4 valves-per-cylinder, belt-driven, single overhead camshaft

 

This leads me to raising the lame flag even more to the ones that put 32 valve badges on there car

 

Geesh, so sensitve around here.
Just because my opinion differs from your own doesn't mean I'm trying to flame you.
Do what you want and I'll congratulate you on a mod well done.

 

[QUOTE=scottosan]Actually I was right the first time. 4 valves per cylinder. the 3.2 is a 24 valve and the 2.5 is a 20 valve. I guess the your brochure would give someone a better idea of quality and features than owning one.[Quote=scottosan]

Well you weren't since you were implying that 32V stood for 32 valves which it doesn't. But i guess you were about 4 valves per cylinder which would conclude to a V8 if your facts were straight. I like the inspire badging. I wouldn't do it myself, but it gives TL's a very unique look.

 

actually you werent right the first time. 32v does NOT stand for 32 valves. get your facts straight. this badging comes STOCK on these cars in japan. but you would know that considering you were there for 4 years AND you even had one.

 

32V stand for 32 valve, if you think it stands for 3.2L then you are mistaken. WHat do you think it stands for then?

 

why is it so hard for you to believe that 32v does NOT stand for 32 valves? jesus, i've seen it on 100% STOCK JDM inspres/sabers and there are PICTURES of it in the HODNA SABER brochure that i have. i'll tell you what, since my scanner doesnt work, i'll take pictures of the brochure and post them so you can see that they say 32v and 25v on the back right side of 100% stock saber's. hopefully that will turn you from IGNORANT to BELIEVER.

 

We all know whos cylinder is not firing.

 

I think the group has got you on this one Scotto. If 32V does stand for 32 valve, and according to you there are 4 valves per cylinder, how many cylinders would you need to equal 32 valves? Damn I feel like I'm back in school.

 

I haven't claimed that the TL is 32 valve. I said it is 24 valve the whole time

http://www.acura.com/models/model_index.asp?module=tl

can one of you show me some specs to disprove me? I'll be waiting.

 

Simple, show me some specs, links, whatever regarding 32V. Furthermore I have a TL with a 20V (20 valve) 2.5 Liter 5 cylinder. AGAIN 5 cylinders x 4 valves per cylinder = 20 Valves.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/sp...=1#EngineSpecs

 

Please provide me with something that says 32V on any TL, Sabre, Inspire. My wife is Japanese, I have translated just about any article available on this car.

 

OK, my reasoning for for the whole V statements is because of the standard US abreviated on cars indicating the number of valves. After consulting with my wife, whom is Japanese, we read through some pages and the 32V stand for 3.2 Version. V = Version. So bottom line is I was wrong on what the V stands for on the JDM version. The Insire that I owned was a 2.5 liter 20 valve and was not near the quality as my 98 tl 2.5. The whole time I was questioning the 32V badge. I was under the impression that people were putting them on there car to indicate 32 valves. You have to admin there are many cars with 16V, 20V, 24V, and 32V indicating the number of valves. BOttom line I was incorrect on the badging, and I'm man enough to admit it, so I give my appologies.

 

Also, the 3rd generation US TL is not available in Japan. THe newest version of the TL is actually the newer version of the Accord. Check out these vids and you see its an american accord. It even is only available with a 3.0 L 184 hp and no S-type.

http://www.honda.co.jp/INSPIRE/cm/index.html

 

I as well have heard people on this forum claim that the 32V states 32 valves (ex: scottosan ) But out of all honesty I've never known what it stood for I just used common sense to conclude that there's no way in hell there would be 32 valves in any acura. I always thought that the 32V badge was 3.2Vtec but 3.2 Version makes sense too. FInaly I'm not boggled by this anylonger.