For those who have installed or have experienced aftermarket suspension products on the TL, i need some feedback. i feel like my 04 is too soft considering that ACura did not offer a sport package for the car. i just need it a little stiffer to make it ride like my 02 BMW 530i which had bilsteins in them.

i need to hear from people who have used eibach, comptech, h&r, etc....

thanks in advance!!

 

Definitely wait for shocks to be made before changing anything. Don't change the springs by themselves. In terms of springs, I'm a big fan of Eibach. I've had them in several cars (not the TL, so I'm just commenting on the overall quality).

 

This is my first Acura, previous car was a Volvo 850 turbo. I put Bilsteins on it at about 20K. Now have over 180K on the car and the shocks are still like new. I remember back when I put the Bilsteins on it, it transformed the car, it made the handling stiffer, yet more compliant, it really is amazing. It also made the car practically impervious to crosswinds. The shocks also made the car brake and accelerate better because it held the fore and aft motion in check better.

I don't know if Bilsteins were available for previous model TL's, but as soon as I hear they are available for the TL, I think that will be all the handling improvement one really needs, unless you are driving really illegal!

 

After 5K miles, and a couple of mountain runs, I have come to appreciate the balance that Acura sought in the TL. They wanted a good handling car (ie flat cornering and lots of grip) but wanted a smooth ride. IMHO they did this with big tires and fairly big sway bars but used fairly soft shocks to get a good ride. On smooth roads it is great and grips like crazy (I have HPT's) but the shocks are not quite up to it on rough and uneven roads and very near the limit. Shocks would be my first change if I wanted better handling and perfomance, but to my knowledge, no aftermarket shocks are offered yet. Those TL owners that have put on the Comptech springs seem to like the change. I would consider a good spring-shock combo when it becomes available.