i have a 2005 TL and something does not seem to be right. I've gotten a custom catback system and everything but performance wise i cant even beat a accord with cai. i dont understand how a 270 hp Tl with a cat back can only tie a 07 accord sedan v6 with a cai? is there something wrong with my engine or shud the accord be keeping up? is there a ecu problem? any help wud b greatly appreciated bcuz i do not like seeing my TL only tieing a accord...

 

how many times?
manual or auto?
what CAI? you check for leaks?
how long have you had the TL? maybe unplug the battery to reset the computer?
was the accord modified at all.....other than the CAI?

btw, i think the HP for the TL is at 258 instead of 270....i know the TL vets will chime in if i'm wrong.

 

31k miles auto he has a fujita i dont have a cai i have cat back...tl for 4 months today. i reset ecu 2 days ago all it has done is absolutely kill the gas milage...258??? accord only had a cai and it was a sedan its a Se V6...

 

You should read around, there is NO WAY our TLs are putting 270 or 258 on the pavement. I think its closer to 220 at the wheels using a dynojet.

 

seriously only 220? is that will all hp readings that dealers give out for all cars then? so the accord really doenst have 244 on the ground or what is the case? reason i bought a Tl is because of the hp...

 

also ever since i reset the ecu ive been getting a ghastly 14 mpg which with premium prices today is really killin me should i reset teh ecu again or wht is going on here/ is it due to the catback?

 

This may sound dumb, but did you check your tire pressure?

 

brand new tires installed 2 weeks ago full inflated to required psi

 

Here's the deal. Your TL is really 258 at the crank vs Accord at 244 at the crank. These are both under the revised '06 HP ratings. Not to mention I've heard the Accords are slightly underrated according to TOV since they got 223 WHP out of an '04 TL6MT and roughly 217 out of an Accord 5MT. (At THAT time the TL was rated at 270 crank and the Accord at 240 crank) And since the Accord is significantly lighter, your results are not surprising. I'm guessing you have a 5AT? If you race an Accord with an MT you won't keep up.

 

As far as the Horsepower reading it is 258, but that is advertised 258 which isnt to the wheels, it is to the crank, there is a huge drop in hp when it actually makes it to the wheels, any hp reading you hear on tv and in brouchers are always to the crank, (a 258 WHP car in actuality is advertised as 300+ depending on differential loss on the car) never to the wheels, as far as losing to the accord maybe something happend in the reset of the ECU, I am not too familiar with doing that but maybe your dumping too much fuel and running way to rich, something i would do so more reading about on the forums

 

wud u suggest in resetting the ecu again? it was running fine until i installed the catback and then i was advised to reset the ecu did it possibly not reset properly

 

You know if you loose too much back pressure you lose power. What kind of piping comprises your "custom catback?" Or if they kinked the pipe somewhere, you're in a worse position than the stock exchaust. Strange you say all these problems happen right after your install.

 

well initially the problems were not there but when i resetted the ecu thru the engine circuits things started fallin thru, it is possible that the ecu was reset incorrectly....removing too much back pressure decreases power? i dont think it removed that much back pressure....in addition, wud it b a good idea to add a cai 1st or a p2r throttle body 1st. i made a bet with my friend with a is350 that my tl wud beat his car stock by the time july rolls around so i need as much hp as i can get

 

Well, then I hope you have a supercharger on your list.

 

if your custom catback was not put together well, then you probably lost a lot of backpressure.

how did you reset your ecu? did u rev it and/or drive it hard right away after you reset it? if so then you might want to reset it again and just let it be for awhile. dont drive it hard for a day or two. let the ecu learn the amount of air coming in and out. you may be running rich if you revved it or ran it hard right away cause the ecu thinks its needs more gas. that might be y your mileage is crappy

once you figure out your problems, get a UR pulley, that will help and its fairly cheap for what you get in return

 

Supercharger is gonna be your CLOSEST chance to come close to the IS350.

__________________
Kansas City/Missouri Meet!!!

 

First of all, WHO's cat back did you get? Is it one of the ones that others on here have gotten of is it some type of "one off"? If it's one of he ones on here, which one is it? Also, the CAI adds more power than a Catback at a SIGNIFICANLY lower cost. If you had the $1K for the catback, then the additional $150 bucks for the CAI seems like a no-brainer. Also, on the 350 race.... just go ahead and pay the guy now and save the wear and tear on your engine. If he has tuned that thing "at all", even the Super charger won't be enough. The TL may have "decent" power but it's not a "racer" by ANY means.

 

that will teach you for messing around with an accord lol! :p j/k

that actually sounds about right. you have to remember you TL guys are lugging around 250-300lbs more than us, so this offsets the increase in displacement and hp. plus, your OEM wheels are a little heavier too.

both cars in 6spd forms are pretty much heads up too. weight always plays a huge role. alot of people out there are so fixated on hp numbers, but never account for the weight of the car. for example, a r/t charger boast 340hp, but the thing weighs about 4100lbs. my car may come with 100hp less from the factory, but i used to take them out with just intake/exhaust.


as someone mentioned, hp is rated from the crank, not the wheel. before the sae correction, TL was 270hp and accord 240hp, after they changed it, the TL dropped to 258hp and accord 244hp, BUT that was the year they switched from the j30a4 to the j30a5. speculation says the j30a4 would have been rated around 232 or so hp with the current sae correction.

 

Haha yeah..you have a lot to learn man.

First off, with the exhuast, I'm sure you lost som back pressure thus loosing some torque, but gaining up in the higher RPMs.

It also depends alot on the driver and the launch tactics.

 

aite guys thanks for all the help i will look into all of this

 

guess i wont b takin out that is350 after all :-\

 

what size piping did you go with on your custom exhaust?

 

well wht ive done is taken the mid mufler off and added custom free flowoing cats while adding a 2.5 electric cutouts after the freeflow cat resonator is stock and magnaflow mufflers...my own style of custom system. i gues its possible im loosing too much back pressure with all of this...

 

just to quickly chime in... if you made the catback at a shop you must be losing hp... my first catback gained nothing... redid it... gained some... went to greddy + procats... gained alot.... it isn't about what mods you have it is all about the driving in the long run

ps. 6speed accord=base tl auto... same way as 6speed base tl is damn near = to auto tls

 

forgot to mention... my car is modded up and even I know not to pick a fight with an is350

I did take out an hemi 300 tho

 

im surprised that no one has mentioned it, that the accord v6 is pretty fast.. my brother has one, a 07 v6 accord 6spd and its not slow to say the least. the engine in both cars are pretty much the same.. 3.2litres, just the ac is tuned to throw out a few extra hp. not enough to dust the accord

but yea 260hp advertised is what the engine produces, but what acutally comes to the wheel is like what others said, prolly like 220.

haha what did you think would happen in the race? 3.2vtec vs 3.2 vtec... cant expect to smoke him

 

Where did you get a 3.2 06 accord at? 7th gens come with 3.0s. did he get the J32 swap on or something? 260 advertised??? Thats the J32A2, which Gen TL forum are you on????

 

You never will be takin out a an is350 in a TL. Smaller, lighter and 50+ more HP, don't kid yourself. You wanna street race you need and STi or EVO. Don't kill yourself kid.

 

is350 is fast. ive also got a fully modded 08 TL-S 5AT, and an IS350 would still beat me. i think stock 1/4 mile is in the mid-low 13's....

if my TL-S was a 6spd, i i think i would beat an Is350, since they are only 5AT.. but ya know what, a good driver can make a 2.0L sentra SE-R dog an IS350...


and like everybody said, CAI is very very critical.. it will open up at least 5 ponies to the wheels, and if you've got a decent catback or hi-flo cat, it could even add up to 10 whp combined..

Cold Air Intake is a must for power!! $200~ or so

 

i've had a v6 accord before and took out auto TLs like nothing.
The only TL that was faster though was the 6 spd which my friend had.
Being a lighter car does make a whole lot of difference.

surprisingly, the accords ARE fast

 

Well did you change any of the stock piping or just throw in those certain mods (and in the mid muffler case take out). The only reason why I am asking is because I am trying to make a custom exhaust for my TL and I dont want to be losing power because I want to do a custom exhaust

 

well i kept all the stock piping and idk if that is a good idea or not i think i mite need to redo the entire system if taht is the case but today the car felt much much lighter at the throttle i think the ecu figured it out or something but i still reseetted it again so that i the gas milage wud not be so bad...

 

well then you shouldnt be losing power on back pressure cause there is plenty of people out there that replace the cats for high flows...i would say stick with it and see what happens

 

good advice there, its not always about what you put in your car. you DO need driving skills to oust an is350. is your tl auto? don't know if you mentioned that or not. i didn't feel like reading everything.

 

ya TL is auto and i have taken him on stock vs stock and it wasnt too bad of a beating but one thing is for sure that he being the driver is good in a straight line but scared of really pushing it hard

 

oh and gas mileage is back to normal cuz of the ecu reset but i'll see how the performance changes

 

yea let me know cause I am curious to see if at all changes cause if it does then when I finish my mods maybe ill do a little reset myself

 

Ya know what, I thought the IS 350 was light like an Accord. However, I just read an article in MT where they ran one against a 330i and a C350 and the curb weight on the Lex was 3583 lbs which would probably be about the same or even slightly more than a base TL automatic. I know my 6MT is only 3482. Twenty extra hp aside, the biggest reason the Lexus is so much quicker than the Type-S has to be the really deep gearing and I also bet that automatic is one of the most efficient trannys out there too.

 

yea the lexus is as heavy as our TLs and i beleive with some more modifications and some luck ill hopefully wont get crushed that bad :-)

 

I will put in my here.

When I had my 08 TL Type S at the dealer getting my A-Spec kit put on, they put me in a 08 TL BASE (non navi).........whoa.......what a "dog" compared to the Type S. Now, I know it's 286HP compared to 258HP, but the BASE TL just drove way different.......kinda felt "heavy n slow". Weird. (I did notice the TPMS showed 30 psi at all 4 corners, tho)

I am NOT knocking the TL BASE........don't get me wrong, it is still a VERY nice car...........but it drives totally different vs the Type S.

As far as the IS350.......that's a fast car.......no doubt. But it is SMALLER car vs the TL.

Honestly, I think a Honda Civic Si would give me & my TL Type S all I could handle.
Since he would have a 6sp manual and I am running a 5sp paddle shift auto that is pretty slow on the shifts......IMO.

But I think you need a Fujita CAI + P2R spacer and you will take that Accord.