lsantana954

Hey guys im a new TLS owner and was curios about what performance mods can be down with out sacrificing fuel economy? Ive read about all the popular mods that get done to these cars but i dont want to kill my gas mileage being that the Acura is my daily driver.
Im coming from a daily driver that was getting around 33 mpg in the city so im already taking a loss with the acura, but it still better than what im getting in my Buick. With that being said id hate to put money on performance upgrades and only get 14mpg city.

HHawk

Intake and exhaust components ( cat-back, j-pipe, etc) will increase the MPG's slightly while adding horsepower because its allowing the engine to breathe better. But you may see this offset because you will want to accelerate faster to hear the engine roar.

lsantana954

Do you currently have these components on your TL? And whats your MPG looking like?
I just purchased the car friday night with a full tank of gas. Drove it home 160, 90%highway, and some more local driving yesterday. It has 285 miles on the full tank with about and 1/8 of a tank left.

I hate cars

Welcome, another GN owner!

Most mods won't affect mpg on these cars.

Intake won't make it better but it won't make it worse.
Exhaust can give both power and mpg.
The UR pulley has the potential to give better mpg but I doubt it would be measurable.


You're going to be sorely disappointed in the mods and $$vs hp coming from the GN. $2,000 will get you maybe 25hp. This is why I chose to leave the engine stock.

If you really want to mod it, exhaust is the best bang for the buck.

There are a few threads on this but average MPG is directly related to average MPH. I can average 32-35mpg on the highway going 65mph. I've even averaged 37mpg going 52mpg for 3 hours. But there have been times where I do the 4 mile round trip to work with no highway miles that I've seen 13mpg with an average of 16mph and that was driving it easy. There is a huge split between highway and city in these cars.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Welcome OP! I've done all the exhaust mods and my MPG stayed the same, most importantly it didn't go down. I drive city 90% of the time and I get about 340 miles in a full tank.

lsantana954

Thanks guys. Going into this car i told myself i wouldnt do any performance mods and do mostly appearance mods, but thats easier said than done as im sure I Hate Cars can attest to.
So alex you say youve done all the exhaust mods, have you done anything to the intake or is that still stock?
Good to see another GN owner as well, do you visit any of the TB forums? Heres a pic of mines

I hate cars

Nice. I was a member of turbobuick.com back before the big crash in '02 (I think). My join date was '98 I believe. I stopped visiting about 5 years ago for various reasons.

Me and my father have GNs and he has an '87 turbo T as a daily driver. The GN is a 276" stage II and mine started life as a hotair car and was converted over a long time ago.

Anyway, good luck with the TL-S. I put some money into handling because these cars have an excellent base. Geometry is great and it's a set of springs and shocks away from being an awesome handling car even though it's FWD.

lsantana954

thanks again. Are you going the coil-over or drop spring route?

I hate cars

Technically the TL has coilovers from the factory. The advantage aftermarket "coilovers" offer is adjustable ride height but nothing performance wise. There is alot out there but keep in mind most in this community put looks over performance. It's not like the GNs where you can choose springs based on the published rates.

The main way to compare is going off of other's subjective reviews and ride heights. Many aftermarket springs tend to increase understeer which is not good for performance. Factory a-spec springs are a good place to start. They lower the car roughly .5" and a nice increase in stiffness without ruining it as a daily driver. They also balance it better without as much understeer.

We're really trying to get spring rates published so we can compare with numbers vs feelings.

jray906

iTrader: (1)

My friend always tell me if I want MPG then don't get an exhaust mod...he said high flow = waste gas??!

340 miles full tank?! I drive like 80% freeway and 20% local. Full tank can only run 260 - 280miles only.....you can see what I have done to my car below....any idea?

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Mods don't have a direct influence on your gas mileage. Your right foot does.

Even F/I won't affect your gas mileage if you stay out of boost.

But, big/heavy rims will have a negative affect on gas mileage.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

when i had my intake on i actually had a huge increase in mpg. of course i never tested it mathematically (i think i was getting around 450+ a full tank on 100% highway) but i got the numbers off the computer on the car which i trust was reliable. I think city for conservative driving i was 22-24 mpg city and highway 33-36 mpg. granted, i installed the intake incorrectly ( which also lead to other problems) but the computer did give me those numbers on various different occasions.

Bayam0n

^^ wow, fo a second, i thought your TL in the avatar had a hood scope...

I hate cars

Exhaust mods are the only mods that won't hurt mileage and can actually help milege. Intake mods won't hurt mileage but can't help mileage.

It's about pumping losses. The engine has to pump exhaust out and down the exhaust system. Take some of the backpressure out and it does not have to pump as hard. You're not making more power because you're burning more air and fuel like nearly every other mod, you're making more power because the exhaust stroke is more efficient.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

I have the 3.2 TL and it's a 6MT. You have a 3.5 TL-S and I assume it's an a 5AT, that could be a difference right there. Now 340 miles is with me driving a few miles with the light already on. I'm not going like 40 miles on empty but I squeeze out at least another 10-15 miles each time.

jray906

iTrader: (1)

450+ miles ?? are you serious??
are you driving a Yaris?!

Do you mean all the Mod I have done are making my mileage even worse?

So still 325, compare to me 240 sth (light on)......OMG...as I remember I bought my car from dealer on 2007 september. New car without any Mod, still couldn't run more than 300 miles full tank. Maybe in winter I can run around 290 miles to empty....but summer can only run around 270 to empty...
I turn on my air-con all the time...

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Thats crazy, less then 300 miles. I couldn't live with that. Are you always flooring it? How often do you redline during the day?

I hate cars

Mine gets <300 in the city. 280 I believe but luckily that's 3 weeks of driving now. I used to fill up twice a week. I've gotten >500 on a tank but that was really pushing it. One was the 8 hour trip to AZ where I drove the speed limit and did not stop once.

MobTownTL

iTrader: (1)

yeah 450+ doesn't seem to hard on this car at all... i did the numbers... if your making 33 mpg (which is what the car computer reported me making with the intake somehow) on 16 gallons of gas (which is pretty much a full tank) you easily get over 500 miles out of the tank...


but like ihc said, you pretty much have to not stop and stay consistent with the mpg to get that.

jray906

iTrader: (1)

I don't reach the redline on daily drive. But I always STOP because of the stupid traffic....Its so much traffic on 10, 405 60 freeway.

280 is making sense. I get the number very often...

TL has 16 gallons? I thought it is around 15. I always fill up gas when I see the 0 in the trip computer. I can only fill up to 14 sth (less than 15) gallons and the pump stops automatically.......