Here they are. Sorry it's taken so long to post. Life sometimes gets in the way of things...Lots of photos.

 

Wheels look great man! So does the painted grill, glad to see more photos of it. Can't wait for you to lower it, once you get some springs on there it'll look AMAZING.

 

Yeah, springs will be the icing on the cake. pics look awesome!

 

Dayum, I really like PMM, and that's what I originally bought but it got snatched out from under me. It really looks good Lou.

 

Those are some skinny tires!

 

Man, looks sick, I wish there were more lights on in the garage photos :p
Lookin' fresh!

 

Great pictures lou. Way to represent for the 2nd gen TSX community haha.

 

OMG your car is raw. Even without springs, those 19s really kill the gap.

 

Lou, car looks awesome. How's the ride with the 19's? Do you notice the steering feeling any different without the soft sidewalls of the HX MXM4's? Is it more steady "on center"?

 

I haven't really pushed it yet because the car does feel completely different to me with this setup. As you know with low pro's you notice tire ruts, and road sealant, they use a lot of it here, quite a bit more. The steering response and handling are better with this setup, which is to be expected. In nut shell it completely changes the feel of the car in a good way. When cruising down city streets at speed, the ruts are what will remind you that you have low pro's more then anything else will.

I haven't been on the highway yet so I can't tell you how it is with the 'on center' feel. Although I know what you're talking about, it was something I got used to. I noticed it for the first while but I think the complaint, not dissing anyones driving abilities here, has more to do with over correction on the drivers part because of what the steering is like. I will let you know what I think when I hit the highway tomorrow.

 

There was plenty of light in the underground. I purposely shot them like that to give it that feel. You'll notice that some of the photos are almost the same, just a different exposure.

 

Now that's much better

Even though it'll throw off the speedo by more than 3%, I'm curious to see what a 245/40/19 tire would look like on the TSX.

Very pimp pictures.

 

I thought about doing that as well, in the end I went with this setup because I didn't know if I would rub with a full load of people and a 40 profile tire.

 

What is this lol, i cant see. (just curious not bashing your photo skills)

 

I hear you on the "correction on the drivers part" argument. It's definitely something you adjust to. This car does better with less input on the steering, and you just have to get used to it. But I wondered how much of that was due to the sloppy sidewalls on the MXM's. The sidewall on the stock TSX tires is huge and makes for a lot of slop in the handling. Either way thanks for the feedback and please do comment on the highway experience.

 

that looks great...think that just sold me on the wheels too...

 

LOL. It's the headlight. Not to worry I don't take offense to much.

 

your car looks awesome. i love those wheels, and the debadged rear just looks so much better. its such a simple thing to do, but it makes such a huge difference.

 

The car tracks really well on the highway. At one point I let go of the steering wheel while doing about 70 mph to see if it would pull either way and it was steady for as long as I dared to have my hands off the wheel. Which was more then 500 meteres. You can also feel the steering tighten as you travel through sweeping corners. So in a nut shell, it feels much better. I drove my wifes car today which is bone stock and found a significant difference on the highway between the two setups. You sacrifice a little bit of the 'luxury' feel the car has for a more 'sporty' feel.

Hope that helps.

 

Sweet looking TSX!!! Nice photos! I like this one the best, nice and sharp!

 

Thanks. I appreciate all the input from everyone.

 

Looks good, springs will definitely set it off

 

Thanks for the report. Thats encouraging. Now if I ever get around to saving up for wheels I'll know that its worth it. Its a matter of save up for wheels/tires for the TSX or save up for a supercharger for the Civic

 

I would say save for a supercharger for the Civic since it's already 'that kind' of car. When I was test driving cars my wife commented on how I seemed to have the most fun in the Si. I concured but it was too noisy for me and the interior just wasn't up to what I was looking for.

 

BTW Lou, how does the car's engine power / speed feel now that you have bigger wheels to spin? What about braking?

 

LOL. Funny you should ask. I got irritated at someone taking all F^@# day to make a left turn into an underground and woke him up by spinning the tire/s while going around him. I drive with the VSA off at all times unless it's raining buckets. Braking seems about the same if not better. Remember these are summer tires and they are VERY sticky so braking would probably be a tad better even with the bigger wheels on the car.

All in all this is a much better setup then stock. Even if one does not lower the car.

 

Well technically, braking should "feel" better because of the thinner tires, and in some respects be better due to better tires. Yet at the same time your braking might be worse due to have to stop spinning a larger/heavier wheel.

 

Overall I think the size change is negligeable. They're only a hair bigger in overall diameter than stock. And with the wheel itself only weighing 20lbs, I bet it's pretty close in weight too.

 

It's not just about the weight of the wheel or the overall diameter, it's about where the weight is. Normally, larger wheels will have more weight farther away from the center of the wheel (spokes + the actual circular rim + tires of the same weight, yet farther away) that cause the decrease in performance. I definitely noticed it when I went from 16's to 18's. I was just curious to see if anyone with 19's thought that the TSX I4 is now noticably slower with the larger wheels.

 

Hahahah. Well with a whole 200 hp if the car is slower due to larger wheels, I certainly can't feel it. I didn't buy this car because it was fast or thought it was fast. I bought it because I liked it. If I want to go fast I will buy a Suzuki GSX-R 600. Which I can buy for the same price as a CT SC. ...

Tha car feels better, stops better, handles better, tracks better and doesen't feel any slower then it was before the wheels and tires.

All is good in my world.

 

LOL, that's awesome. I came from an RSX to this car, which was very noisy (because I made the engine loud). And yeah, the TSX is so nice, the interior is just amazing.

I got in the Si 2 days ago and I had culture shock... haha. I couldn't get the car to move, it has zero low end torque. Its amazing how much different the 2.4 is in the TSX versus the 2.0 in the Civic. And the lack of leather in the Civic is awful, every time you get out of the car its a big ZAP when you close the door. Also the interior is a freaking rattle trap, it rattled the day we brought it home new from the dealer.

But then later in the day, I had a chance to pass a long line of cars in the right lane at a stop light, and after being between 6k-8k rpm for 2nd and 3rd gear, it all came back to me

 

Ya the Civic is a little pocket rocket that loves to live above 5K. My fave of all time is still the ITR. I've driven a few NSX's including one with a CT SC but that's a completely different class of car.

I would love to get the SC for the TSX but as I said in one of my earlier posts, $1000/10hp is a lot of cash for something that I will get very little chance to use. Victoria and area has six (6) police forces. Obsurd considering the population is just over 300K. Oh yeah, one of those police forces is dedicated to speed traps and pulling people over for tinted windows, license plate covers, etc. Go figure.

 

Bummer on the popo in your area. And yeah $1k/10hp is a terrible dollar/hp ratio. Its not so bad with the Si. The JRSC is $3300, and nets you 10psi, 78hp, 52ft.lbs, VTEC @3200RPM, 8500RPM redline, and tuned by Hondata. Oh and that's with stock header and exhaust, so add those and it'd be even better.

 

Jesus. Is that to the wheels? I remember back in 2001 Richmond Honda had a Civic Si in the show room that was done up with JRSC and all sorts of other goodies. Basically buy the car and drive it. Everything was done. They wanted close to $40K for it though. I thought a used M3 would be a better bet. I wonder what the CTSC will do for the TSX when it's tuned with Hondata? I guess we will have to wait for the numbers. If I was wearing your shoes, I would definitely get the SC for the Civic and be content at driving my TSX as is. The Civic Si is a nice car but I wanted something with four doors and the four door Si was not an option for me. Nor was the Acura CSX-Type S which is an Si with leather/Nav etc. Still a Civic.

 

 

one positive thing for the CTSC for the 2G TSX is that it'll benefit in the same way as the SC for the Si with the deletion of the power steering pump, so the belt will get a better grip on the pulley and make better top end power. The problem with the RSX and 1G TSX SC's is that on the top end of the RPM range the belt would slip a bit and power would taper off. So even if you ran higher boost, you'd hit a wall as the belt wouldn't grip well enough to actually push it.

 

I love your ride!!! can you post some more pic after u install progress spring?

 

I heven't decided wether I will go with Eibach, or Progress but when I do lower it I will post more pics.

Someone mentioned going with Eibach in the front and Progress in the rear but I'm not sure how/if that would work. If CT gets their asses in gear I would ultimately like to go with those but I'm getting very impatient.

The only thing I worry about Progress is the quality of materials used.

 

I would not worry about Progress quality. They are a very reputable company and they are not foreign to the Honda/Acura World. A lot of my friends with RSX's run Progress Coilovers and they prefer them over a lot of the JDM companies. In the 1g TSX scene, plenty of people are using their rear sway bars and have not seen any complaints aside from bushings being noisy.

I would trust Progress Suspension as much as I would Comptech Suspension.

 

Sorry, I thought i have seen your car with lowered in some thread...or did I see it wrong...