D's Up

As the title says, I.e. - Performance and Aesthetics. I was thinking the other night about the car and I had somewhat of an epiphany in regards to "working" on the TL;

1) The TL is a 4-door luxury-sport sedan, not a sport-luxury sedan. If I wanted performance/handling to be my main priority I could have got an RSX, TSX or AP1/2 (yum) lol.

2) The car really is, from what I can tell thus far, a great car stock and left the way it is minus a few things.

3) It's got all the power necessary for day-to-day driving and then some, and maybe even enough power for the occasional race with some friends.

4) I'm a broke, soon to be college student and I'm making payments on the car so I can't afford to let the mod bug bite me that hard anyway.

Now I guess my main question is, who here has kept there car entirely stock or near stock and why? I ask because, I've gone through some phases in my 2 months of ownership so far. The most current and probable being the "keep it as stock as possible" phase. The only things I could realistically see myself doing to the TL are;

- Shaved Door Lock Mod
- New Sub & Amp Combo (not enough boom in the stock system, what can I say lol I'm a kid )
- Stronger HID's (low beams)
- Stronger Fog Lights (reccomendations here?)
- Debadged Trunk (maybe)
- Mid-Muffler Delete (maybe)
- Tint (maybe)
- Circle Blind-Spot Mirrors like B.Fizzle used to have haha

other than that, I don't know any true "bang for your buck" mods.

*Sorry for the long post guys.

sT04Louis

iTrader: (5)

Who used to have a TL with the balls modded out of it and is back to stock..?


This guy.

arrogantbastard

Bone stock '08 Type S here (I've only had it for a month...)

WayneJay

I enjoy looking at many of the modded TLs here, but that's never been my thing. Not to mention I'm a fortysomething now:-). On my TL I added a lip spoiler and I have 35% tint all around. I've considered some Spec-A wheels too, but that's probably as far as I'll go.

ABP_04TL

iTrader: (2)

i wonder how it feels to b stock lol

VTRAN

iTrader: (1)

i got my type-s last year and im pretty young as well, college student. threw all my savings into the car to purchase it. although its a fun car stock, little things make it THAT much better such as tints, led interior lights, and i even bought myself aem v2 intake for my birthday. as long as you're not spending a grip load of money on things like $1000 rims and exhaust systems, youll be fine. but trust me man, im around your age and its real fun working on your own car

lopopo

my car is pretty much stock except for tints/interior lights/ and HIDs.. and main reason my car remained stock is cuz i got no money LOl or else it would not be.. =/ but its still nice

wall e

im stock cuz im afraid of change esp. if its permanent. and some mods i juss dont understand, like debadging...its like ur ashamed its an acura.

BradE

Mine is stock. It's a daily driver, and it performs fine in that role. Plenty quick enough and handles well also.

ThaiBruin

Coming from a fairly modified Altima, I plan to keep the TL relatively stock. The only thing I want are the A-Spec bits (body kit, suspension).

vinceeyy

i read this forum for about 4 months before the buggs started getting me.
now i have done to my car AEM CAI, debadged, and very soon XLR8 Jpipe.
I think the performance of the car could be increased a little bit. It's not the fact that it's not ENOUGH stock, its the fact that for x amount of dollar you could get x amount of performance increase/aesthetic increase. that's what I wager.
I don't ever plan on having EVERY mod out there, but the few of the ones that I personally think are worth it, i'll research and find out if i would like to do it.
after all, mod-ing and "personalizing" your car is based on personal preference. if you feel like stock is your preference, good for you! if not, good for you!
we all just have the common bond of having the TL

D's Up

there's another thing, I drive an automatic. If I got a stick, the mod bug would hit me hard.

vinceeyy

btw, so far i did tint, debadged trunk and sub/amp.

if you want a local to OC custom sub enclosure PM me.
i'm a manager at a Bestbuy and one of my guys does custom fiberglass enclosures. i had him set me up with a 10" and a amp and it's freaking nice. best money i've spent.

Paintballny

I used to own a 2000 accord coupe v6. Loved it to death but I modded it quite a bit... to the point it was annoying to drive at times (i do long drives of 6-8hrs quite often) as the drone from my exhaust and constant worry about scraping the front end on everything cause I was lowered.

I've grown up since then and I work as an engineer so I have become a bit more conservative. My plans for this car are very limited (atleast for the next 70k miles). So far I have only bought an ebay replica a spec lip spoiler, oem all season mats, oem trunk mat, and led license plate bulbs.. I do plan on picking up an a-spec kit (christmas gift to myself), getting the car lightly tinted, and changing all my interior bulbs to led. After that I plan on keeping everything else stock for quite a while.

I bought this car as I really wanted a nice comfy car that I could drive to an event wearing a suit and not look silly (a dropped accord with a loud system and exhaust... didn't really work). And, I have a warranty so I won't be doing anything major till its out and the car is fully paid off (2yrs).

Do I want to pick up a set of tein ss coilovers, an edfc, and some agressively sized 18s or 19s? You bet! But, thats not going to happen for quite a while...

D's Up

hahaha there you go man!!

Blazing GT

what is stock?

matthew404

Nothing but the wife-mod on my TL.

AD-TL04

Im there with you too- a soon to be college student and I got this car a year ago. I finally saved enough to buy some gunmetal a-specs for the car this past summer and besides that it just has tint that came with it when i got it. The only mods that i would do now are anything super cheap like LED interior and license plate lights, but for the most part the car is still stock.

ray6712

bone stock its my wife's daily driver and she can barely handle it as it is

Will Y.

Nothing different but tires and a license plate frame from when I picked up the car new.
Nice subdued, quiet daily driver, and sporty/quick enough even with the stock suspension to lose traction a couple of times on sweeping twisties on Sunday. 4K+ RPM to fuel cutoff feels/sounds good, too.

AckTL05

iTrader: (18)

this site made me go broke. I CANT STOPPPPP HELLPPP

vinceeyy

where'd you get the aspecs and for how much?

stock to the bone

LOL look at my screen name. Wheels, tint and A spec kit are all i'd do. No lowering or any engine mod. Tl's have class and i dont wanna hurt the resale value.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I've only done aesthetic mods. I too feel that the Type S has all the power I personally need. Plus, I don't want to risk voiding out my warranty.

But..........someone's sig says "friends don't let friends drive stock".

AckTL05

iTrader: (18)

cant hurt resale value if you take them off, just dont go crazy and paint everything and do mods you cant take off and replace back to stock.

Red Voodoo

My car is "relatively stock". Only real noticeable difference would be the ride height.

SouthernBoy

Both of my 3G TL's are still bone stock. My wife wouldn't want her '05 automatic messed with and I didn't want to do anything to my '04 manual. The reason is that in my opinion, this car is so darned good in its stock form, I was not going to do anything with this one. I would feel the same about a Cadillac CTS-V or a Pontiac G8 GXP or a Z06.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Trade with me and you'll know

MVR 155

Stock here... bought my TL Type S brand new about 2.5 years ago, the day after I picked it up I transferred my sub/amp from my 2006 TL into it which is the only mod/change I have done. I do run snow tires in the winter and have swapped out the front brake pads for Hawk Ceramics due to the crazy amount of dust from the stockers but I wouldnt really call those mods. I have often though about doing a few things to it but it is my DD and I do take clients out in my car so having a noisy/slammed car is not in my best interest. I have my Z06 for when I want/need something to play with.

paz840

iTrader: (2)

I was stock for about a week

jisleyjr

Still bone stock after almost a year. I put 18" rims on in the summer, <-- avatar, and snow tires on factory rims in the winter. I would like to do tint, but i just haven't gotten around to it. I put my energy into the Starion.

Majofo

true but I think minor mods really complete the package and can set you apart making the TL more eye appealing, but moreso for owner satisfaction. Also having the right suspension & tire package is probably one of the best mods we can do on the TL, aside from the aesthetics & exhaust mods. The TL is much too silent in stock form for my taste, and I'm not talking rice exhaust.

BigJack75

I agree with the OP. Our cars are pretty much great the way they come. But I am a big car guy and love to play with things. I have added a cai and plan on getting the j-pipe. This is my only car and a daily driver so I am not into huge mods. I just like to play a little.

AcuraVic

I'm proud of the fact that the car looks the same as it was purchased at the dealer. I'm not knocking the modded TLs, as there are some beauties out there.

I have added cross drilled and slotted rotors, and A-Spec steering wheel (she came with the kit), the dealer chromed the wheels as part of the purchase. I also added the comptech 22 millimeter rear sway bar cause I almost wiped out the second day I had the car (that was scary). Everything else is stock, and beautiful.

lusid

New tires and LED lights inside. + 48k miles, New 11/06 with 21miles.

That's it..

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

for now

jmkiang

iTrader: (5)

Answer: too many people

SouthernBoy

I wouldn't classify upgrades to tires and fog lamps as mods, but I have done both. I have modded six of the cars I have owned of which none were for looks - all for performance. I just felt the TL was a bit more classy and I really like the way it looks. I was not of a mind to make any changes or alterations. I did once play around with an intake a fashioned from some parts in my basement on it and found it not to my liking for this car. So it will remain as I bought it.

Izzy-Type-S

iTrader: (1)

Minor stuff listed below...nothing serious yet. Tints, ATLP exhaust, headlights & a drop coming soon, by next summer. I agree with keeping allot of the stock look but enhacing it some.

Majofo

^ ah.. but will you sell the TL or will it become the project car down the line when you find a suitable replacement.