DragonTls

Any of you out there with a tls, drove your car over a 100 mph?
I did, I was racing a v6 accord and it still kept up with me. when I punched it on 3rd gear the car flys but when it reach 6000 rpm I switched to 4th and car felt funny. It seems like it didn't want to go. I've always driven a stick shift and I know how it works. I had a twinturbo 300zx before.It just seem like the tls is slower on higher end speed. When actually, it's suppose to be faster. Can someone please let me know if this is a problem with the car or driving skills.

bricot

Nope its a known issue with these cars, you essentially have 2 highway gears 4th & 5th. It is one of the things that most people on this board would almost unanimously agree that Acura needs to change ( or would purchase if there was an aftermarket option)

Beiruty

It's the case of the gearing in the 4th.

4th and 5th gears are overdrive gears (less then 1). Now if you shift early to 4th ( at 6,000 rpms instead of 7,000 rpms) you would fall in non VTEC range and the race is over.

Remember the 3rd gear would max at 105-110 MPH. So, by the time that you shift into 4th you would be doing 120 MPH.

And the acceleration will slow down...

The freaky thing is that slowing down quickly from 120-130 MPH to a 65 is a bit nerving..... panic stop because of the extreemly fast aproching vehicles in front of you is not cool.... freaky...

RAdams

Math and physics tell you why a car acceleratoes more slowly in a higher gear. However, the TL/CL suffers from a ludicrously tall 4th and 5th gear, hence the [even more than expected] drop off in the rate of acceleration.

Wednesday night I raced my friend's RSX Type S from 55-125. It was the first time I'd held 3rd gear all the way to redline on the street. I laughed to myself when, after hearing the absolute WAIL of the CAI right up to redline in 3rd, it shifted to 4th and went SILENT.

Still pulled his ass though

2K2SilverTL-S

If you wanna win races in the top end, you MUST HOLD 3rd gear out till about 7100 rpm's and shift. This way, when you get into 4th, your a little higher in the rpm band.

Beiruty

So, the RSX-S is not faster than CL-S/TL-S... Some car magz posted time of 14.4@96!!

RAdams

I can't make a blanket statement, but my car with mods is faster than his car with an intake.

BlackShadow

From now on just race to 110-120 mph then let off.

RAdams

Actually, they're speed limited to 130MPH, though we've not tested that to confirm. I say race them past 130... if they pull you from 110+ you're gonna blow by them again eventually.

BlackShadow

In that case, keep racing til their car can't go no more.

TUFF GONG

Yup, TL-S dissapoint's after 3rd. Dam Acura for that 4th!! Anyway I used to have Twin turbo Z, and this car is no Z on the highway (two completely different types of cars anyway). I used to love my Z on the highway, or for that matter anywhere

Ever think about the fact that this 3.2 makes 260hp naturally aspirated compared to a 3.0 making 300hp with the aid of turbos. This baby is Breathing ! Then again, when it comes time to add the H.P's, turbo's are a whole lot more entertaining!! In respect to both H.P. gains and dollors spent

jbrown

This is regurgitated from a previous post I made last week:

"For top speed, I've found a few stretches of I-95 between Daytona and Jupiter that are awesome, possibly the only good thing about driving in Florida. In my '94 GSR 4-door (RIP), I hit 147 (indicated) several times while screwing around on the way back from spring break a few years ago. And more recently (2 months ago) I bounced off the speed limiter in my TLS (149 indicated) twice, man is this car amazing or what?

BTW, anybody know how to dump the speed limiter on these things? I'm really curious to see what this thing can do once I get adequate tires and brakes. "

Definitely not speed limited to 130, you guys just aren't crazy enough (or patient enough). It actually pulls pretty good once you get the revs back up in 4th.

BlackShadow

I think he meant that the Accord was speed limited to 130 mph, not the TL or TL-S.
Personally, I have taken my TL to 147 mph.

daverman

I think that Honda/Acura made the 4th gear ridiculously tall and very close in ratio to 5th because a. most people won't drive above 100 mph and still want to accelerate, and b. it improves fuel efficiency by reducing the RPM rise when downshifting from 5th to 4th at highway cruising speeds (for a moderate power boost).

edgalang

Actually I read around that 4rth was meant to be the overdrive gear during city driving. Try it. Drive around the city then shift to SS, and you'll find yourslef sitting pretty at 4rth gear.

RAdams

I was referring to the RSX Type S. I know the TL has more than 130 in it