Aznpersuasion

Does anyone know how to Take apart the trunk carpeting in the trunk?
~Jason

Inaccurate

Well, I might be able to help. What would you like to know ? What are you hoping to accomplish ?

shayan

iTrader: (1)

^ What are the arrows pointing out?

I would like to know also

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

BTW...wrong forum. Nothing to do with Performance here....

01tl4tl

Every ounce of weight removed is better for speed and mileage. I am guessing a full 3 lbs in carpet was there!

pohljm

Those are the drain lines coming from the moonroof. Actually there is more weight than you might think removed from there, the beauty boards and insulation, spare tire and tools have been removed as well. only need a can of fix-a-flat!

Inaccurate

Thanks POHLJM !!! You anwser these perfectly.

[For MichaelBenz] "Not performance related" ??? Haha !!!! Please rethink this. This is VERY PERFORMANCE RELATED. The TL is a PIG from the factory. Actually, my weight reductions (more than seen here is these photos) amount to the BEST MOD that I have done to my TL !!!! I have the UR Pulley. I have the AEM intake. I have "special" insulation on my CAI to make it a TRUE cold air induction. The pulley and the cai COMBINED does not come close to macthing the performance improvement from my weight reduction program.

[For 01tl4tl] And, I want to avoid a pissing contect regarding "how many pounds were removed". But, POHLJM stated it very well... it is much more than you think. But, the bottomline (beyong the number of pounds) is the performance improvement. My handling, braking, and acceleration has increased very noticable (to me) from the weight reduction.

And, Walmart sells 12V air pumps that weight approx 1 or 2 pounds, depending on model. I am 46 years old. In all my years of driving, I have never had a flat that was beyond just a nail stuck in it that could not be air'ed up enough to get home. And, if I do get a blowout or other disabling type of flat..... well, the Acura Roadside Assistance phone number wieghs nothing in my wallet.

pohljm

Hey how is your CAI insulation working out? mine is still working great!

I think Benz was refering to the "how to take apart the trunk carpet" thread

Inaccurate

The insulation is great. It has not fallen apart. It looks just like the day I installed it. I am still happy as hell that I did it. Like you once said, the car's performance is consistant (not moody)...it always runs like you just started it on a cold morning. I am looking forward to the Texas summer so that I can laugh at those 100 degree days that in the past would zap my perfomance.

Yea, it occurred to me later that Benz was not directing his reply to me. Sorry Benz !!!

Inaccurate

Here are some pics that I took tonight to share with my modding buds.

In the pic below, this is how high my trunck pops open when I hit the remote because the trunck lid is so light now.


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In the pic below, notice the cosmetic panels are removed here too. The arrow points to a rubber dampner (small boat anchor) that got removed too.


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In the pic below, this is my subwoofer... in the house, not in the car. I am no rapper.


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In the pic below, notice two things. The mid muffler removed to save weight (and for the sound too of course). Second, notice the plastic panels are gone. The heat shield for the midmuff is gone too.


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In the pic below, do you notice anything missing?


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In the pic below, notice the plastic panel removed in fenderwheel. Save weight and lets the air circulate in the engine bay.


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In the pic below, same thing. Panels under engine and trans are gone.


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In the pic below, notice engine panels gone. Underside of hood too.


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In the pic below, this is the boat anchor that sits above the front bumper. Gone.


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In the pic below, I need no stink'in floormat. No children, no passengers.


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In the pic below, the same thing too. And, notice no personal items in the car to add weight.


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In the pic below, notice no brick, commonly reffered to as the owners manual. No personal junk either.


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In the pic below, no junk in center consel either. Ohhh, the TV...well, that jewel is light and it "carries it's weight"



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In the pic below, I show you how serious I am. I buy just enough fuel for two days, which is 4.8 gallons during fillup time. I run the tank between "E" and 3/8 full.

01tl4tl

Have you actually weighed the car now?
Race shops can do a corner weights for you or the truck stop can do a whole car weight
Thats a lot of work- just add roll cage and go racing!

crzygosu87

iTrader: (4)

so do you actually use that subwoofer in the house then? hahaha

also i might be wrong but the underbody panels actually serve a purpose in airflow beneath the car

Aznpersuasion

well I just need to know how to take apart the carpeting of the trunk so I could see my FM modulator I have for my DVD, and see if I could plug anything into it, like audio and power, so I could buy the P.I.E. X3 and get the Valor Ilink connected to the Navigation, any suggestions please? HELP,haha
~Jason

HQTL6SPD

Hey Inaccurate, this is kind of off topic, but are you able to see the top mounts to your rear shocks from your trunk? If you can, would you be able to take a good pic of it?

For those wondering what i'm asking:: Basically i want to see how much clearance there is to reach the shocks from the trunk; for my future tein ss install. Instead of removing the dreaded back seats, i would rather cut holes to each shock and work from the trunk; plus adjusting the teins would be waaay easier.

jonathan.chance

Inaccurate - I'm not trying to bash or be a smart ass. You've gone to so much work to make it lighter but you're still using the stock rims? There's got to be something lighter out there than those.

varanelli

Inaccurate:

Well done. I have tried to reduce weight as much as possible too (including losing 25-30 pounds of my own weight).

Kracker

I added 100 lbs of dynamat. I covered all that stuff.

I dont think that there is any access to the strut mounts thru the trunk You have to take the rear seats out.. You dont necessarily need to take out the rear deck.

But I broke the weld on the bolt under to remove the rear seat... That sucks.

HQTL6SPD

I know, i'm just wondering if there is enough room behind the carpeting. If there is, i'll cut a hole to access the shocks, and reattatch the part i cut out. But like i said, if there is room behind the carpeting... just need to see a pic

Inaccurate

Aznpersuasion,

I found this in the "garage" at
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107568

I removed mine only once, so my memory of doing it is not that great.

1) Lift up the large flat panel that hides the spare tire.
2) You will probably need to remove the "Trunk Rear Trim Panel" before attempting to remove the side panel.
3) Slowly and carefully, start pulling the side panel outward. The plastic "clips" will easlily pop loose. (But, use your judgement first because I do not remember if the clip actually pop loose or if you need to unscrew them or if the clip needs to be pried upward with a screw driver). But, I do remember that it was fairly easy job to get the side panel removed.

FiveLiterCheater

Aren't you running 255's all around? Doesn't that add more weight than stock tires?

Inaccurate

HQTL6SPD,

I found this in the "garage" for you. In the pic, you can see the top of the rear shock. This is located behind the rear seat. By the way, the rear seat is a PIA to remove and put back in.

Inaccurate

Ok, since folks are not ridiculing me, I will share more.

I also removed my side air bags. I have resistors installed in the wiring connector to trick the electronics into thinking the air bags are still present. The resistors are needed to prevent the SAS warning light from appearing in the dash. Those air canisitors are heavy thick metal by the way.

DISCLAIMER - If any reader attempts this, please be warned that airbags can seriously injure or kill a person. You can have static electricity that will trigger the airbag while you are near the airbag. The airbag will inflate with explosive force which can injure or kill you. This is no joke. Use extreme caution when working near airbags.

Inaccurate

I weighed the OEM wheel (oem rim with oem tire mounted). The OEM wheel is 51.0 lbs (bathroom scale = +/- 0.5 lb.). The oem rim with Eagle F1 255/40-17 tires weigh 53.0. So, the wider tire is 2.0 pounds heavier (2 lbs x 4 wheels = 8 lbs increase)

For performance, look at it this way. The mass increase from the wider tires is probably offset by the smaller diameter of the wider tires. In physics, there is a thing called "angular momentum" - I think that is the term for it. This means that if you have two wheels that weigh the same, but with different diameters, the smaller diameter wheel will gain/lose RPM easier than the larger diameter wheel.

Inaccurate

This is on my "To Do" list for later. Also, perhaps a BRAILLE battery or Odyssey PC680 battery. Thanks for the tip.




NOTE - This is not a Acura TL.

Inaccurate

Another suggestion would be for you to post this in the "Audio, Bluetooth, Electronics & Navigation" section. Those guys there in the electronic section are sharp . I bet they might have some tips for you regarding your overall project.

Inaccurate

This is what I want to avoid.... I do not want to discuss the actual number of pounds. If I said that "X" pounds were removed, what does this mean ? The average reader is left with using their judgement as to what the car's performance might be with those "X" pounds removed. So, the bottomline is not how many pounds were removed. The bottomline is what the effect is on performance. This is how I wish to comminicate to the reader. The effect of removing the weight from my car was impressive to me. I hope the reveal more later if I do not get ridiculed. I had wrote a lenghty post several months ago. But, I did NOT post it because I was afraid that the readers would ridicule me...so, I figured why put myself thru that misery. However, I am thinking about posting it based on the reaction that I am recieving so far.

Regarding the rollcage... nay, it would add too much weight !!!! (joking)

pohljm

Inaccurate, You have already given me the opportunity to preview your post on this subject, and I am all for you posting it. There was allot of thought and effort put into this "mod" and valuable ideas to be shared on this subject. weight reduction is the single most important performance mod that you can do to a vehicle and many here overlook that aspect of modding for performance. You can also do it yourself, and its the best return on your money of any mod as well.

RJANACONDA

iTrader: (1)

innacurate not knocking you (to each is own) but why buy a car such a the tl and try to turn it into a race car i can understand the usuall mods ie intake exhuast to get some extra ponies in there to get the little extra kick wouldnt it be easier to buy a faster car or one more tunable or is it so you have a car that people think isnt that fast till they are left in the dust

Kracker

Innacurate, what else did you remove?

The rear sets are dead weight, the passenger seat weights 70 lbs... But it does have side air bag. The glove box weighs 30 lbs easy...

Why would you remove airbags? In my mind there is a huge difference between removing dead weight and safety equipment. Safety is safety. I wouldn't change that for 500lbs lost.

In Highschool there was a Mustang guy that was into drag racing. So he removed the sway bar. Heck 20 lbs is 20 lbs. Two weeks later he slams his car into a wall going around a corner. Car totaled, he lived.

Was it worth the .001 second on the track? I dont think so.

But I will agree all that crap in the trunk is crap. It can go.

pohljm

Your missing the point, he is not trying to create a race car, he is modding his car easily and cheaply and gaining real performance results without increasing HP. Once your at the 250HP level and with a car this heavy I think I read somewhere where a 100lb reduction is roughly equivalent to a 10 hp increase in the 1/4 mile. So if I can remove 200 lbs on my own and at no cost, how is that not as good as $1200 spent for 20HP from procats?

Inaccurate

Those side airbags are the results of "one up manship" with the car companies. One campany begins it, then the other companies need to too to stay competitive. I agree although that the side airbags was a borderline decision to remove them. I refrained for a while. But, the thought of those side airbags being there bugged me. I feel that for me that I would benefit more from the weight reduction of not having them. I have no children, and super-rarely even have a passenger.

Inaccurate

I take this as an honest question.

Here is my story (remember that you asked!). Before my 2006 TL, I had a 1991 Acura Legend Coupe. I did nothing to that car. Never even thought of doing anything to it. It was just a reliable daily driver that got me to work and back home everyday. I had no intendtions of getting another car. My 1991 Legend had an excellent body with great oem paint, and the engine ran great.

With 190,000 miles on the odemeter, my wife has a moderate fender-bender with my car. The insurance company claims it a total loss. So, I now discover that I am getting another Acura. As I am shopping for another car, I quickly discover that for just a few thousand dollars more, that I can get a new car instead of used. The wife agrees. Why spend 26K for a used acura when we an spend 32K for a new one.

So, within just two days, I go from being a happy camper with my 1991 Legend to being a proud owner of a new 2006 TL.

After getting past the 600 mile break-in period, I start hammering the car with WOT to make sure that the rings are sealing good. Those WOT's begin to become addictive. So, I am know no longer a sedate driver like I was with my 1991 Legend.

The summer temps in Texas were zapping my performance big time. So, I experiemnt by removing the underhood panels. While doing this, I remove that dampner above the front bumper. After driving it, I thought I was crazt to notice the improvement in handling and acceraltion. But, there was no dening it. The car handled better with those few pounds removed. So, now I am hooked into wanting to get more weight off. And, so it continued.

The point is that I never intended to have a mid-life crisis (whatever that means). I just had to purchase a replacement car unexpectantly with no prior notice. The insurance company calls saying my daily driver is totaled, I am forced to get another car within a few days. My wife and I are stuck on Acura's for their reliabilty. And, the closest thing to my 1991 Legend was the TL model. So, I get the 2006 TL.

And, I am not the type of person to trade-in car for something else. Plus, I honestly don't want anything else but an Acura for the relilabilty. When I was young, I had a new 1985 IROC-Z. I learned that true sport cars are a PITA when used as a daily driver.

I am happy with the TL. I don't want anything else for my daily driver. But, I do want to make my daily driver tailored to fit me and my driving style. So, the items removed from my TL are just a way of me tweaking it to better fit me. This car will serve a useful life for the next 10 years at most. Might as well make those years enjoyable.

jonathan.chance

I, for one, respect what you're doing and how you're doing it.

varanelli

Except for the supercharger, I have done just about every HP mod (the exhaust is pending). Since I have basically run out of things to do to increase HP, I've started to do everything that I can to decrease weight. I have not been nearly as complete as Inaccurate, but certainly every little bit counts, and dropping weight can be at least as important as adding HP.

My experiences resemble those of Inaccurate. My previous car was a 1996 Honda Civic that was untouched in terms of modifications. I too did not plan on doing anything to my TL, but once the ball got rolling....

Of course my midlife crisis hit a little earlier, at 35.

HQTL6SPD

I'm thinking about removing that front anchor thing too, unless it is there for any huge purpose?

BTW i removed my trunk carpeting to see if there was acess to the shocks, there was none. NO way i'll cut through metal to reach them, i guess removing the seats is THE only way... o well

varanelli

Inaccurate:

Two questions:

1. Where exactly is that front "anchor" thing, and do you know what purpose it serves?

2. Have you thought about removing the windshield washer reservoir and motor? Along with the fluid itself, this probably would decrease weight a good bit.

lostkhan

The Best way to Remove weight is LOSE WEIGHT. If you are over 200, Try hitting 150 and see your car performance

Kracker

But taking stuff out of the trunk is so much easier...

Inaccurate

Using www.acuraoemparts.com as a reference, this "boat anchor" is called a "WEIGHT, FR. BUMPER DAMPER" and also refered to as a "FR. BUMPER DYNAMIC DAMPER". This is all that I know as facts.

Now, I do feel confidient to speculate the purpose. I am a very mechanical type of person. From the looks of the anchor and the manner in which it is mounted to the car, and the locatiuon that it is mounted, I speculate that the purpose of this anchor is the minimize light vibration at idle.

When I removed mine, I notice no differences in the car that would give a clue in the purpose of the dampner. But, as far as removing it, the key point is that I have suffered no perceivable bad effects. But as discussed many times, I did notice that the car was easier to toss into turns around town. Not a huge difference, but if you are paying attention, you will probably notice. I did.

Regarding the windshield washer reservoir, I feel that for me that the washer is needed. Therefore, it "carries it's weight" for the benefit that it provides during drizzly winter weather. However, I do try to minimize the weight by not filling the reservoir full, which I think it holds nearly a gallon. Instead, I fill it with only one pint at a time.

Inaccurate

Ok, since I am having favorable reactions to my mod , I feel more comfortable to start a new, dedicated thread for it. Please use the new thread for any new responses. THANKS

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/where-tl-tsx-151540/