travhouse3000's TSX Wagon (Graphite Luster) ATX
 

I've only owed this for about a mouth or so but already couldn't resist modifying it when the options are so limitless. I've owed many Hondas and Acuras in the past and loved them but moved to BMW for several years but now, I'm back baby and loving every minute. Enough bs, on to the car. It was a totally stock 2012 with tech package and 72k miles When I bought it for $12,550 plus TTL. So far I've added:
-HPS short ram intake
-Tein S-Tech lowering springs
-ESR SR06 wheels in gloss black with chrome rivets
-Falkin Pro G4 tires (245/40/18)

Parts on the way:
-Tanabe cat back exhaust
-HPS cold air intake extension (convert from short ram air intake to full cold air intake). I wanna see the difference.

Parts in the very near future:
-try to find a quality taillight with modern lighting
-roof rack system
-black out all the trim including the roof rails except the Acura emblems and maybe the chrome trim around the side windows.
-Koni shocks when the stocks are wore out
-Hondata flashpro or just get a dyno tune. I've been looking around austin a little bit but haven't found anything reputable as far as shops go. Any suggestions?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...54bbd3f4ae.jpgThe day I brought it home. Totally stock.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...00c8118b1c.jpgHow it sits now.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...53f2242809.jpgHPS short ram intake
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...66b57369a1.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...1a6a1f3326.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...9dd777c503.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...294ec5633d.jpg

Will that Tanabe cat back exhaust system fit the wagon?! Goodluck with the build!

The research I've done says that it will but there's only one way to know for sure. I'll be the test dummy and let y'all know how it goes. 👍

https://www.heeltoeauto.com/cat-back-exhaust/tanabe-medalion-touring-exhaust-2009-14-acura-tsx-accord-cu2-all-sedan-wagon-t70164-tan.t70164-6.html

Sweet! Can't wait to find out!

Cool man. Welcome back! Similar story here, was into Acura's/Honda's, moved to BMW's and bought a wagon TSX last year. Haven't modified it yet, but the urge is strong.

Thanks man. It's good to be back. I miss these cars.

Careful, once you start it's hard to stop.

Maybe Ratchet Racing can help? I don't think he has anything specific for the wagon taillights, except the JDM version (if you like that look :ugh: ), but he might be able to do some custom LED work for you.

damn that site is awesome. Thanks cu2wagon. 👍 gonna go the custom route.

Chasing LEDs for the win! Buhaha.

Have fun!

Great start. Your wagon looks great. What are the wheel's offset?
Best of luck on the exhaust, I am looking forward to hearing your results.

Update.
Got the Tanabe on there and logged about 1000 miles so far. It fits up beautifully. No issues at all. I suppose the only thing with the fitment on the wagon is maybe the pipes are a little more tucked under the bumper. I think the wagon has a slightly longer rear end. But they still look great. Performance wise, not a big increase. I noticed a lot more from the intake. But i will say as I've logged more miles it definitely has seemed to increase. Pulls much harder now. Maybe the fuel/ignition is balancing out or maybe I'm just nuts but it definitely feels quicker tonight than it did two weeks ago when I first installed it. Now flashpro yet but that's coming next.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...93b2271603.jpg
...I have black rivets to replace the chrome ones on the wheels and black lug nuts going on this weekend. I'll post up a video of the exhaust soon. I will say it sounds great up to 3000 rpms, pretty low and throaty for a 4 cylinder. 3k to 4k it drones pretty bad and above that sounds great again, raspy and higher pitched like a open exhaust.

Thanks man. 👍 The offset is 30.

Correction, the offset is 35. Just had the wheels of today to install the black rivets and double checked.

Wow the exhaust is pretty tucked in there and didn't notice till i scrolled up and read your first post. Also debating if its worth $1k for that exhaust for a mild gain. Hope you are happy with your purchase!

Yeah, definitely more than the stock exhaust but the stock exhaust stuck out to far in my opinion so it's better then stock I think. Plus if it stuck out more it would definitely scrap everywhere. I've already scraped both tips a couple times pulling out of parking lots so I'm kinda glad they're tucked.

I'm happy with the purchase and it's definitely high quality but if you were working on a budget I would say it's not worth it and just swap out the tips but me, I would definitely buy it again. Especially now that it has seemed to acclimate. Probably even more so once I get the hondata flashpro.

It will be beneficial once you get tuned with Hondapro.

I am curious about the cursing drone 3k to 4k, is it that bad?

Thinking of just replacing the tips.

Very nice. I had an '11 in the same color. I regret selling that car, it was a perfect fit for everything and loved the looks.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking too.

The drone is pretty bad. The tone at that rpm is very invasive but I'm not really in that rpm range but for a short time while accelerating hard. During normal driving it's not much of an issue. Sounds great everywhere else in the rev range.

Thanks, man. I sent him a pm.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah it's definitely a versatile vehicle. I've already put it to use several times.

Are your wheels 18 x 8 ET 35? I am trying to decide on tire sizes and I have a set of BBS 18 x 8 ET 38. Thank you in advance

They're 18x9.5 actually. No rubbing at all.

245 on a 9.5" wheel = little stretch = no rubbing. Thanks for the info

Sure no problem. I will also add that they're not stretched to the point that the local tire shop won't work on them. They said I could go to a 10 inch wide rim with a 245/40 and still meet there safely guidelines. That was important to me to be able to take it to any tire shop when I get a blow out.

Alrighty, overdo post here. Made a couple small changes. I added the extension to the air intake to make it a true cold air intake and let me just say... wow! That couple feet of tubing made a world of difference. I had the short ram air intake before this and it seemed to improve torque a bit but nothing in the high rpm range. If anything it was worse. So then I bought the Hondata Flashpro to see if that would help. thought I could just punch in my intake and exhaust setup and upload a tune for that. Wrong. The only map available was the base CARB tune. So I downloaded that tune uploaded it to my car annnnd......it ran like shit. So I looked into custom tuning and it's $500 and over an hour away from home. Not bad I guess but honestly, I don't wanna spend that. I just paid $700 for the flashpro and thought I would just be able to download a map based on my upgrades. So I had already intended on adding the air intake extension that I had previously purchased and went ahead and did that hoping it would improve things. It helped a little bit but still had flat spots in the rev range. So finally I returned the tune to stock and removed the flashpro....it runs incredible now. Pulls hard and consistently through the whole range. The exhaust is even quieter. I guess what I figured out is RAM Intakes are garbage. Go with the full cold air intake. I will, from now on for sure. Unless, I guess, you wanna go the custom tuning route. I may have been able to get it to run right and maybe make a little more power but it wasn't worth $1,200 to me. So now I have a flashpro for sale. 👍

For what it's worth, there's a FlashPro calibrations thread somewhere on this 2G TSX subforum where people have uploaded their maps. I know, you're taking a risk by downloading someone's tune and using it as your own with no warranties, all risks. But, I've taken the risk and some of these tunes have been great. I took someone's VitTuned 09-10 4cyl 5AT map (the guy had CAI, RV6 headers, maybe a catback?) and converted it for use with the 11-14 5AT TSX and have been using it on my car for years now without any issues as far as I can tell. Obviously issues could arise in the long run and I just haven't noticed it yet, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Just food for thought!

New owner
 

Hello,
Just wanted to let you know. I am the guy who have purchased your wagon.

did you purchase is it will all the mods?