Can anyone confirm that this is true, that our TL's really have 285HP in them and all we need to do is change the ECU ? or whatever it is? Is there any truth to this myth?

 

You can increase the HP on any car by upgrading the ECU.

 

Has anyone done this?

 

who makes the upgraded ECU? and how much is it?

 

It is well known that Acura pulls out timing over 6200rpm and that this motor is capable of more. I would be interested in finding out who can reprogram the eprom for higher shifts and to make better use of the capabilities of this great engine.

 

http://www.hondata.com/


Might be worth a phone call or e-mail

 

i can believe that the motor is capable of 285hp. if you look at the dyno charts the hp is still rising when it hits the cutoff. the torque on the other hand is taking a dive already.

 

Somebody, anybody find out. So we can start buying this thing.

 

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...highlight=chip

 

And that is precisely the problem; even if the reprogramming the chip were accomplished the impact on torque is usually minimal. You do end up with extra HP but it isn't very usable except at the high RPM end of range. I did have the guldstrand chip on my 89 vette and it made a huge difference in torque but then, that is what corvettes are all about. When I was thinking about putting the Dinan chip on my 540i, I found out most of the power increase would be at the upper end of the band where the Bimmer was already strong. The other problem is that unless the dealer installs it, you are in danger of voiding the warranty.

 

There will be multiple chip options. What you should do is buy a spare ECU from the tuning company and have them chip that one then you have a "chipped" ECU and a stock ECU. Anything goes wrong or scheduled maintenance or whatever you throw the stocker back in. No chance of the dealer finding out. I'm sure you can find the diagnostic software too and then you can clear all codes. You can also probably reprogram many things too such as using your remote to put windows up and down, radio stuff like maybe superbass all which I did to my TT with a laptop and an OBD cable. Just be patien and it will come. This engine is capable of 300+ but Acura can't outdo the NSX #s from the factory. You will gain mostly HP like said before but the tq will increase also. My chip in my TT pushed the HP 51hps and torque went up to 296 but the TT was torquey to begin with. When I get the TL in a month the rest of you local NYers will have to get together to mod em out. I had multiple mod BBQs at my house with as many as 17 Audi TTs in the garage, driveway and street! Doug

 

you forget that the Audi is a turbocharged car and the TL is a N/A car. the gains for a turbo application are huge and the torque increases are even more. you increase the boost a bit and you instantly get more power. in a N/A car the most you can do is advance the timing a bit and use higher octance fuel to get the engine to burn faster. the gains will be very little and making the engine spin faster does not equate to more torque. the only other modification i can see is adjusting the vtec, making it shift into the second set of lobes at a lower rpm.

 

You can install a vtech timer but you will compromise the cams from what I am told. I do not know that much about engines and how they work but I have a friend who is very very educated in how various engines work and I will be prying information from him when I work on this car. You guys will be the first to know. Doug

 

I wonder how much more HP can be effectively transferred to the front wheels without the TL going sideways. On the 540i chip, it did require 91 octane, whereas the factory chip was set at 89 since BMW's are sold in many countries with only lower grade octane. The TL already requires premium grade fuel. I would rather have a cure for the pronounced torque steer rather than more HP in the current TL.

 

The tl requires 91, that's not premium here on the east coast.That's one thing that sucks about Cali.....

 

Additional power would likely be all at high RPM's, so it shouldn't make the car more likely to go sideways or anything silly like that. The car isn't exactly a torque monster.