I don't know if this exists nor do I know if it would be feasible to do on a TL, but does anyone make/install an AWD modification for a TL or any other car for that matter? I was sitting around and thinking about it, it would probably a decent amount and certainly some time and effort, just wondering if anyone had ever heard of anything like this...

 

i wish...... how would u do that??? if u could take the awd system in the rl....

 

Say good bye to your trunk and probably most of the seating compartment unless you put a lift kit on your car.

 

what? um no.... the rl is the same approx size as the tl and it has a great back seat and trunk.... and its not lifted... the room needed isnt much. all you would need is a differential, drive shaft and half shafts all external and could probably be used on our car. the problem would be getting it all to work right. an rl drivetrain swap would be your best best, a wiring nightmare however

 

The biggest problem is that since the TL platform is not currently designed to work with AWD, you would need to find a location for the driveshaft to pass through under the body. This might involve completely refabricating the floorpans in order to provide sufficient clearance for an AWD system.

Your best bet is to just buy a car that comes with AWD. If you're really interested in it, I'm sure it can be done with enough effort, but it's going to be A LOT of time, effort, and money for a mod that will add weight and not provide you with much gain.

 

Creating an AWD TL in 3 easy steps

1. Remove badging from existing car
2. Purchase RL
3. Replace RL badging with TL badging (see step 1)

POOF AWD

Please note that I have not tested this directly, but am fairly positive you would have an AWD TL.

(sorry couldn't resist)

On the serious side I doubt you will find this modification cost effective. The warranty ramifications alone are staggering (i.e. say goodbye). Also in regards to safety (especially with home grown conversion kits) I would really question if it was worth it.

I envision Acura will see the light and release an AWD version of the TL eventually, but it won't be for at least 2 more years.

 

the amount of money you would need to spend to design and fabricate such a system would be pretty crazy. why not just get an awd car right from the start? i mean this is no little task, this is a pretty large engineering feat. there are plenty of cars that are similar to the TL that already have awd in it.

 

(all of above)

It would be an unbelievable consumption of money and time, and at the end you wont even know if everything will work out right. Subject of changing a fwd to awd or rwd doesnt come up much because of all the reasons stated in the prior posts.

Wait two or three years for Acura to produce a TL with shawd

 

I've seen crazier things... Like people swapping in LS1 V8 engines in their FWD car, or converting their FWD to RWD. It can be done, given the right amount of dough.

Granted though, the GM guys might have it a little easier... Because GM makes a special AWD version of it's corporate FWD transaxle, for Volvo. So it's probably a bolt on tranny. I also know they did the conversion, by removing the exhaust, and routing a carbon fiber drive shaft in the exhaust tunnel, and then fabricating a custom exhaust.

What's craziest of crazy, is this Cadillac I remember seeing on Car & Driver TV. They converted their FWD to AWD, by mounting another Northstar V8 in the TRUNK!

 

volvo is owned by ford.... i dont think there is a whole lot of part swapping going on in this area

 

Some people have done AWD conversions in 3rd generation Integra's using Realtime 4WD from Civic wagons.

 

Just because somebody is owned by somebody doesn't mean anything as far as who your partners are. GM supplies trannies for both Volvo and BMW. Honda supplies the V6 engine in the Saturn Vue Redline for GM, and GM provides honda with Diesel engines for Honda's European offerings.

And FWIW, GM and Ford are collaborating on a 6 speed automatic. (Not the one in the Ford 500, that is a different tranny altogether)

 

It's possible, but would be extremely expensive. Acura has the benefit of mass production to keep the parts cost low. As an individual purchaser, I can only guess it would cost several thousand (not including modification of your TL and labor).

 

forget about it. Sell your TL and get an RL, or wait until acura puts SH-AWD on the TL. SH-AWD has way too many eletronic sensors and wiring. Just wait.

 

I remember that! They also had to move the rear axle back to make room for that second Northstar!

 

The car in question...



The car is developed by Mosler, the people who make the MT900



Warren Mosler is one crazy SOB, but he makes some crazy cool cars.

 

The MDX is based off the Accord/TL chassis so a rear diff exists that could be used.

But, definitely the transmission would need to be replaced/modified to provide the power takeoff for the rear diff. Part of the spare tire well would have to go to make room for the diff. The rear suspension would have to be substantially modified to make room for the half shafts to drive the wheels. The exhaust modified to make room for the drive shaft. And a whole lot of other detail changes would have to be made.

It would probably be cheaper to buy an RL or wait for Honda to bring the Accord/TSX 4WD version over here from Nippon (but you'd have live with a 2.0 engine instead of the 2.4 - Yes Virginia, there is an 4WD version of the Accord/TSX sold in Japan, it's listed on the Japan website).

 

Snow tires are a lot cheaper and very effective. With the money it would cost for the hardware and labor (RL or MDX graft), you could buy a nice used 4WD winter vehicle.

 

yeah i have to invest in a set of snow tires.