When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Finally after almost two years with my wagon, I could no longer hold out and began stock piling parts. The basic idea was to build an OEM+ car - if you were to look at it, it would look like a concept car or fairly stock. Only the true enthusiast would know what had been modified.
A little context for you all. In my younger day's, I was heavily involved with the Honda/Acura scene. As I grew older, my taste started to change and I switched over to European cars, my last car being a F30 3 series. Anyone else who has had a similar experience knows its a love hate one - your constantly either fixing or maintaining something. Getting tired of this, I remembered that Acura made a TSX wagon and started looking for the perfect one. Then out of the blue, one popped up for the right price and condition so I hopped on it. This is my second TSX, some may remember me from the forums roughly 7 years ago, I was very active on tsx club.
Old TSX - Miss this thing - New build will be similar.
I'm hoping to get things moving along this week - still waiting on tires. As I update the car, I will update this thread. The goal is to keep the car riding smooth but with some sport and handling infusion - Have to make sure I don't rattle my kids brain or piss off the wife.
Also, special shout out to Marcus and the Heeltoe team for, one, helping match prices, and second, for being so helpful. If your not shopping at Heeltoe, I really recommend it.
Mods ordered so far:
Tein Flex
RSB
Accord Touring 19" wheels - Will be running stock accord sizing to retain ride quality and to protect the wheel.
Isn't this your second set of coilovers? Those OEM 19s look spot on.
Yes, bought the car with Tein SA installed and was not a fan. Reinstalled stock suspension almost immediately. Plus, I needed some warranty work and knew that the dealer would blame axles on the lowered ride height, so the car was back returned to stock - till now.
Thanks all for the support. Still waiting for tires. Wheels will go on first, followed up by coilovers. In my mind I have a specific look and hope I can achieve it. Was absolutely going to go with wider aftermarket wheels but did not want to do the work(roll and camber) - this car needs to stay practical and handle well since it's a DD and family car. May add some spacers later on to flush out the look. Stay tuned...this is not a quick build, I would like to enjoy each stage.
BTW: These wagons handle very well for what they are - I really want to improve on this and hope the 19s will not impact this.
When I first bought the car. Rear was at maxed height, another reason i did not like the SA line. With the new flex, I should be able to dial everything perfectly. Plus, with 19's that should give me the added clearance to maintain or reduce ride height.
Old touring concept that inspired my build. Looks like they used piano black plastic for the B pillar trim - adds depth and premium feel.
Oh man I was heavily considering those Accord Touring wheels ever since they came out but ended up going with different OEMs. Test fit shots look better than my Photoshop test mocks lol. Can't wait to see the outcome.
Looking good, man...19's won't hurt handling, if anything, improve it.
Looking cool, only criticism is that the new wheels look a lot like the old ones.
Looking good, man...19's won't hurt handling, if anything, improve it.
Looking cool, only criticism is that the new wheels look a lot like the old ones.
Haha, that was the point! Want it to look enhanced OEM. Germans do a really job at this, especially Audi.
Tires came in today. Went with a 235/40 - OE size. Also wanted a slight stretch. Hopefully will mount on Thursday or maybe even as early as Wednesday.
Oh, and, these wheels sit pretty flush. Their 19x8.5 +50 - pretty cool for a stock wheel. Hopefully the front tire tucks in with a little or I may want to get a camber kit.
Thanks Man. My worry is that they would be coming from Ukraine who is currently(basically) at war with Russia. Have you ordered from them before?
Originally Posted by jaav
Oh man I was heavily considering those Accord Touring wheels ever since they came out but ended up going with different OEMs. Test fit shots look better than my Photoshop test mocks lol. Can't wait to see the outcome.
I also considered the new Sport wheels but, in the end, the black wouldn't work with the look I was going for. Now if my car was black, that would be my default.
BTW - These wheels are not light. I would say 25+ pounds without a tire
What I love about an oem wheel is it's usually decent quality, light enough and milled to fit.
I'm a huge fan of wagons/hatches...I have 2 of my own. OEM plus is definitely where it's at.
Thanks Man. My worry is that they would be coming from Ukraine who is currently(basically) at war with Russia. Have you ordered from them before?
I also considered the new Sport wheels but, in the end, the black wouldn't work with the look I was going for. Now if my car was black, that would be my default.
BTW - These wheels are not light. I would say 25+ pounds without a tire
Small update. Received my tires today - Will mount the wheels tomorrow and take some quick shots. Not sure when I'll install the suspension. Depending how the car looks, I may do it right away or enjoy the new wheels for a bit.
I have two thoughts on that. I typically do suspension first as well. With coils if you do wheels first then you only have to adjust things once cause you haven't adjusted them for the factory wheels and then whatever you switch to. Not that it takes that long either way. Not that you don't know any of this J
Mounted the wheels and tires on the car. Went with the stock sizing for the Accord - I think it's a perfect amount of tire and ride comfort + looks pretty good. Modernizes the look a little bit. I usually would agree with everyone regarding suspension first then wheels, but in this case I wanted to see how the wheels look and ride before I lower the car - just in case I didn't like it and had to rethink. Coilovers and RSB are next - tentative time frame. Have the parts sitting in my garage. Anyways, let me know your thoughts. Thanks all.
biggest gripe is I hate how almost all OEM blade wheels don't go in the correct direction on both sides.
I do think it looks nice, but I feel the design is too close to what you already had.
Might be picking up on the fact that you aren't completely sold on the look either...
lower it and rock it for a bit...sometimes that's the missing link!
I think multi-spoke works in this case – it looks like it could handle that visual weight.
Originally Posted by EuroRspec
I also considered the new Sport wheels but, in the end, the black wouldn't work with the look I was going for. Now if my car was black, that would be my default.
If OP were to go with '18 Accord Sport wheels - I think only 5 thin spokes - that would've looked very 'skinny jeans on a fat guy' lol.
biggest gripe is I hate how almost all OEM blade wheels don't go in the correct direction on both sides.
I do think it looks nice, but I feel the design is too close to what you already had.
Might be picking up on the fact that you aren't completely sold on the look either...
lower it and rock it for a bit...sometimes that's the missing link!
I don't mind that. The look has actually grown on me. It makes the car look modern. I think the most frustrating part of the TSX, in general, is the huge delta between the front hub position compared to the rear - the front is completely flush, while the rear could use another 10mm of track. Furthermore, these wheels add 17mm more with the track of the vehicle. Also keep in mind the in the shots, the rear is packed with over 120lbs of weight(old wheels/tires). It actually sits level.
Originally Posted by xtcnrice
Not bad at all! You going to replace the H caps with As?
Probably not - Not worth the effort. The original caps are actually larger in diameter than the current Honda caps. In addiiton, the Honda caps are color matched to parts of the wheel - I think it would look funny if I rig something so I'll just leave it.
Originally Posted by jaav
Looks good! I always felt that the wagon needed thicker spoke wheels to visually work with heft of the 'wagon' part.
It really works well in the rear than it does in the front for some reason, but I'm probably cause it isn't dropped yet.
Haha, yeah, I think it's because the rear is looks lower and has more body lines.
As mentioned before, I'm going to enjoy the car in its currant state(Tein Flex chilling in the garage) and not rush to lowering the car. I usually do things too quickly and get bored. Eventually, I will go 3pc custom or forged wheels in 19in. And....the ultimate goal is to either go V6 or convert to manual - were talking years from now lol and I need to find a donor.
The cool part of this whole thing is that the ride is actually better than on my old wheels/tires(quiter and more grip) and I do not feel a difference in acceleration - Thought I would feel more since the wheels are heavier.
Little while ago found this cool shift knob - its OEM. Really liked the idea of it matching the wood trim. Shift knob is from the ZDX and is a direct fit.
Little while ago found this cool shift knob - its OEM. Really liked the idea of it matching the wood trim. Shift knob is from the ZDX and is a direct fit.
Now that's a cool OEM+ mod. Nice work! Love how it matches the OEM TSX wood grain trim perfectly!
Probably not - Not worth the effort. The original caps are actually larger in diameter than the current Honda caps. In addiiton, the Honda caps are color matched to parts of the wheel - I think it would look funny if I rig something so I'll just leave it.
I'm like 85% certain the emblems on both of your sets of center caps are held on with pins and spring clips. Which are an absolute PITA to remove, but possible. I bet that if you take a look at the pin spacing, they'll be the same between the Acura and Honda emblems. Meaning, if you were motivated, you could probably just swap the emblems from cap to cap and it wouldn't look ghetto at all.
When I was playing around with getting Honda caps, I played with swapping emblems only and found that the A's and the H's were the same size and interchangeable. YMMV.
I'm like 85% certain the emblems on both of your sets of center caps are held on with pins and spring clips. Which are an absolute PITA to remove, but possible. I bet that if you take a look at the pin spacing, they'll be the same between the Acura and Honda emblems. Meaning, if you were motivated, you could probably just swap the emblems from cap to cap and it wouldn't look ghetto at all.
When I was playing around with getting Honda caps, I played with swapping emblems only and found that the A's and the H's were the same size and interchangeable. YMMV.
Wish it were that easy.
Believe it or not, the A's are held on by pins and the center caps are larger than the 19's. On the 19s, the H emblems are actually clipped in like your TV remote battery door and the cap it self is smaller. I realized real quick that it wasn't going to happen - so I said, F it. TBH, I don't think most see a difference and doesn't really bother me.
I'm always surprised by stuff like that. As great of a job Honda seems to do with standardization between parts and the amount of things that *are* interchangeable, something like this pops up and leaves me scratching my head.
So..... Dropped the car today. First, and foremost, I know see that the Tein Flex Z are awesome coilovers for the money - they offer a ton of features at unbeatable price and quality. Car rides fantastic, I would say better than stock at low speed, more dampening range. At hwy speed it's nice and firm - I would say 15% stiffer than stock. Since I'm riding on 19's with a 40 series sidewall, surprisingly, I still have a bunch of ground clearance. I have a pretty steep short driveway and I used scrape on stock wheels and Tein SA at the highest settings which maintained equal ride height - Rears do not go as high on the SA as the front(as in most coilovers, but really noticeable on this setup). I haven't aligned the car yet, I'll let everything settle down before I do. Finally, suspension wise I still have an RSB to install and that i'll hold off till I get board.
My settings:I added 1/4" to the overall length to the front and rear coilovers and about 5 clicks from full stiff in the rear and 9 click up front. From the ground to the front fenders im at 26.75" inches and in the rear I'm 27.15" inches.
Next goals are maybe big brakes and possibly 3pc or 1pc forged wheels....This is a pipe dream, but if I keep it long it enough, I would like to swap a 6spd from the sedan.
In parting, I'm very satisfied with how the wheels and the suspension turned out. The added offset and width of the wheels, coupled with drop has really given the car the car the look I had envisioned. Need to wash the car and i'll take some better pictures - looks 10x better in person since.
07-07-2018, 03:14 PM
EuroRspec Wagon Build - OEM+
. Can't wait to see more.
