Xander76

Hello, I am new here. I just got a TSX 2010 and was wondering, what performance upgrade can I make on this car?

I love Acuras and always have been a fan. This car looks sexy but I like to give it a kick, I used to own a 3.5 RL with a V6 and I miss that power.
I have been looking online for upgrades but nothing stuck out (plus I am a noob when it comes to cars) and want to learn more about vehicles.
I figured you guys can give me a point in the right direction.

Thanks!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

if you have the 4 cylinder TSX, nothing short of a turbo or supercharger will net you the brisk acceleration of the 3.5l engine....

TL;DR?
there's no replacement for displacement.

Xander76

So, its not worth putting turbo?
I have never put turbo on anything so I dont know what to expect.

xtcnrice

justnspace never said that. Of course if you have the funds, boost is the way to go if you want the horses.

CT Engineering has a supercharger, but I'm not sure if it's discontinued. Check heeltoeauto.com, they can set you up with the supercharger, Hondata FlashPro (for tuning), and whatever else you might want/need.

Turbo will have to be a custom setup as there's no out-of-the-box kit/solution for this car at the moment (RV6 made another broken promise on this subject). Will net you more power than the CTE SC, but will likely cost more (both up front and in the long run).

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

i'll rephrase;
yes...if you want to reach or exceed the RL's power level, you will need to turbocharge or supercharge.

this route is not for noobies. its a very daunting task and will make your car less reliable. (any time you deviate away from stock, you will become less reliable)

Xander76

Well, it was either that or eventually sell the car and get an WRX.
Still not sure which route to go. That is why I was asking.
So the difference in turbo or super charged? I thought they were the same?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

better brush up on your WRX skills then...if you think the supercharger and turbocharger are the same....

which one does the WRX have???

you can google this basic info, as I dont have a desire or time to teach you the in's and out's of a turbocharger and then define the differences of a supercharger....

Xander76

I am just laying out the field and figure out which would be beneficial, getting another car and modding it, or keeping this and mod it. If you advise I go to WRX, I may just do that then, and I will do research on super or turbo.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

what is your ultimate goal? in 5 years, what do you want out of your car?

if the answer to that is; to be the motherfucking fastest person in the world, it would be best to start off with a different car MADE to handle gobs and gobs of power. and also lots and lots of cash. $20k should do it.

if the answer to the 5 year question is to keep the car running as reliable as possible, it would be in your best interest to keep the TSX unmodded.

your plans are your plans, you will need to decide what you want in 5 years and then come up with a way to execute that.

xtcnrice

I don't recall how much the turbocharger will cost you... but I believe UTAH TSX has invested close to $10k on his, and he fabricated almost everything himself. Granted, he's on his 3rd engine or so, so this might be a bit misleading, but it isn't out of the norm to blow up your motor on an aftermarket/custom turbocharger setup.

If you want reliable power and you believe the WRX provides enough of it, then I advise you to switch cars. If you want to boost your TSX, it'll be 1) a pretty awesome, fast, unique piece of machinery, and 2) expensive and likely unreliable especially if you're not on the conservative side of things. FYI, I only assume the WRX provides "reliable" power because it's _____charged from the factory.

Xander76

I want to keep my TSX, I love this car. I only was trying to find something that has alittle more umph in it.
WRX was a suggestion from someone but its not luxurious like my TSX.
I just want to upgrade my TSX so it can get an extra kick and still be a daily commuter.
I will look more into the super and turbo then.
Any other upgrades i could go into, exhaust or suspension?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I am unsure if the current WRX have ringland problems.....
WRX's of the past blow pistons - engine trouble....
I know friends who are on their 3rd or 4th Suburu engine...

xtcnrice

See other threads in this subforum (and the Suspension/Tires subforums), there are lots of info on perf mods.

Engine mods that come to mind: Downpipe/precat delete, testpipe/HFC (debatable), catback exhaust (nothing noticeable), CAI (debatable), RBC IM (very debatable), larger TB (very very debatable), a tune (requires Hondata FlashPro, K-Tuner, or some random Russian flash, and no debate; this is a great "mod").

Suspension: Coilovers, RSB+endlinks, etc.

Lightweight wheels and grippy tires is the most underrated mod IMO. You will go faster in all directions with the right combination of wheels+tires (maybe not up and down ).

But it really depends what you want. These will give you some marginal differences, and that's about it. If you want a world of difference in power in a TSX, either consider boost or getting the V6 model.

Xander76

[QUOTE=xtcnrice;15740878]See other threads in this subforum (and the Suspension/Tires subforums), there are lots of info on perf mods.

Engine mods that come to mind: Downpipe/precat delete, testpipe/HFC (debatable), catback exhaust (nothing noticeable), CAI (debatable), RBC IM (very debatable), larger TB (very very debatable), a tune (requires Hondata FlashPro, K-Tuner, or some random Russian flash, and no debate; this is a great "mod").

Suspension: Coilovers, RSB+endlinks, etc.

Lightweight wheels and grippy tires is the most underrated mod IMO. You will go faster in all directions with the right combination of wheels+tires (maybe not up and down ).

I will look into these then, sounds about what I am looking for.
If I wanted a race car, i would get an Integra as an extra car and work on that, but only want one vehicle, and just to increase its awesomeness.

Thank you guys so much. I will be back to ask questions and look up info from time to time.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

BOLT ons - the basic modifications will not give you the same "uumph" as the RL 3.5L engine...

with the I4, you are limited to how much power you make! as there is no replacement for displacement!

so, sure you can do exhaust mods....but it wont ever make as much as the RL.
you're talking about peanuts in terms of $ to hp ratio

Xander76

Well its at 201 hp atm right? Isnt the V6 at around 250hp? So 50hp shouldnt be too bad to reach.
My mother actually has a Benz C300 V6 and has 248hp. That car has power and loved it but I am certain my car could reach that.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you can measure Horsepower two ways; at the crank and at the wheels.

when car manufactures list HP numbers, they are listing the measurement the engine made at the crank with nothing else hooked up!

when you hook up the transmission to the engine and add wheels, that measurement decreases significantly!

the general percentage lost from transmission and wheels is about 15%!

so, your 201hp is really only about 171hp to the wheels.

it's very hard to add HP and you wont ever come close to a stock RL v6 crank HP much less wheel HP

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

if added all the bolt ons available for your car- you'd likely be at 215-220crank HP!

an RL 3.5l is starting off at 220 WHEEL HP!

you will never be able to match or exceed RL's power with basic bolt ons

ssjoeboe9

Get an STi

Superchargers are stupid

Xander76

Ok, I will do some thinking. Thank you guys all for the info and figuring out what to do next.

Xander76

I have been looking around and could not find a list of things to do to a TSX, most is about the V6 but I have an Auto V4 engine.
I will want to go the route of Supercharge but want to the other things first( suspension, brakes/calipers, intake or exhaust or both idk)
You mentioned bolt on but I might not understand this since no where says this.
Yes I am car illiterate, but I want to change that. Anything you guys can give me, I would like to have my build thread soon.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

bolt on's are kind of like plug and play!
where you plug in and play! except it's the act of "bolting-on" parts.
these bolt on parts are simple, like replacing your factory intake with a bolt on cold air intake.

if you are serious about supercharging and have at least $5k extra ( please dont charge it to your credit card and amass debt) you should pick up a CT-Engineering supercharger that fits your TSX I4 engine

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you should also visit Joe's thread on supercharging

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-...836729/page35/

Xander76

No, I would not use credit, have loans to pay off lol.
And I now see what you mean about bolt ons.
First thing I need to do and change all my tires, maybe even do my brakes/rotors with hem, and debating if I want calipers. Then next would be the intake.
You think an Xpipe would work on this car, while typing this someone mentioned to me about it.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

yes, maintenance over mods ANY DAY.(tires, brakes and rotors)

I dont think you would need to change the calipers....ask Joe what he did for more stopping power. it could be as simple as changing rotors and pads to a different compound for more stoppage.

get comfortable with what your car looks like from underneath!
the exhaust pipes dont cross so you wouldnt need an xpipe....

thunderbt3

Oh snap another TSX with the rare and elusive V4 engine!

Xander76

Changing the rotors/brakes/pads since id rather have a different brand than the OEM, also not sure when they were done or fixed.
Xpipe I was told to make it sound louder, I mean I did remove the resonator already but the intake and exhaust was another step as well.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^thats blind advice! your exhaust doesnt ever cross. cross = X

get to know what your exhaust system looks like!
if you know where the resonators and mufflers and mid-mufflers are, you will be able to fend off bad advice..

also, be sure to talk to JOE before you upgrade your brakes....
geez! lol i sound like a broken record

xtcnrice

No such thing as an x pipe for 4 cylinder TSX I'm afraid. We have 1 exhaust manifold/headers/downpipe (whatever you want to call it), so it's impossible for it to cross anything.

I suppose you could make a custom exhaust that splits, merges (x-pipe), and splits again?

ssjoeboe9

ahhhhh man, Justin is being so nice... I could take on a young-padawan learner.

Xander, if you want to know everything there is to know about supercharging your vehicle feel free to visit my build thread which Justin already posted. I would be glad to answer any questions for you. No sarcasm, just straight answers to help you become a little more mechanically savvy.

Xander76

Glad to hear it. I will have more questions and advice from you would be great. Thank you.

ssjoeboe9

My first word of advice... READ.. a lot. My philosophy on cars (and life in general) is that you should be able to explain how something works very simply. If you can't explain it in simple terms then you don't understand it well enough yet. Half of my learning experiences come from me just wondering.. "How do they do that?" Same goes for cars, want to upgrade your braking system GREAT, find out what "caliper" means, and "friction material".. what actually is happening mechanically when you press on the brake pedal? What are "pots?" How many pots do my brakes have?" Brake bias?? What's that??--- then when you're stuck on something, ask here in the forums and preference it with what you DO understand and what you DONT understand.


Side note--- I like to imagine when I am learning something new, that I must learn it well enough so that if somehow I was teleported in time, back to an era where this technology (whatever I am learning at the time) didn't exist yet, would I be able to explain it or even re-create it to advance society?? Become rich and famous, and AWESOME?? idk, it motivates me haha