I decided to christen my 04TL 5AT with a trip to the drags. I should've stayed home!! First up it was very busy, so only two passes. Temp was good at about 70 deg. and moderate humidity. I have made many passes at this track in my previous car and had very good times (for the car). I have always found it best to let the auto do the shifting. First pass, I staged the car and applied a bit of "power brake", the light turned green and the new TL just sat there a bit and tried to decide what it wanted to do. It didn't spin, rev, or move. It just sat there!!!! After what seemed an eternity it decided to motor down the track. Needless to say the pass was horrible. --60ft= 2.47, 1/8=10.34, 1/4=15.8@89.45mph. I was downright embarrassed! Several people wanted to see what she could run. By the way the VSA was off as was the HVAC system. Also had a 1/4 tank of gas. After about 2 hours I was up again to run my pig down the strip. I did the same thing, and the same horrible results. 15.77@92.06!! I was ready to take my car to the nearest dealer that sold anything but an Acura TL and trade mine in. On my second run,though, I noticed something. No wheel spin what-so-ever. My previous car (a 93 SHO) could set it's tires aflame from a stand still and it only has 200 whp. On the way home from the track I took a back road and did some standing starts. Here are my findings, some of you may already know this. If you just leave it in D and stand on the gas it will break them loose, but not very much. If you try and power brake the car, it retards itself almost completely off and gets very confused. So now I guess I will go back to the strip and try not power braking the car and see if that will bring a little life into the car. If it does not I am going to have to start talking to Acura as to what is wrong with my car. I know many of you will think that it is driving skill, but I use to be able to get my SHO to run a 15.1 at 88mph, so I know how to get them going (Normally) I think the computer is really hamstringing me on this one though.

 

Welcome aboard first of all.
I have not tried 'power braking' the TL. Surprising that your first attempt was in front of a 'cast of thousands.' I get a fair chirp just going to WOT but that's about it. I'm sure someone will write in with a proper launch technique, hang in there.

 

The 04+ TL's have electronic throttle, and some people have posted hesitation and problems associated with it at the drag strip. I say go back and try again without any brake-tq'ing and see if that helps.

BTW with a 10.4 1/8th mile my stock 00 Taurus would have beat you. :lol:

 

Welcome to the forum





Did you search other threads yet???

14.9 @ 95MPH

14.66@97.73

15.75@91.4

15.252@ 91.85

 

The 2 in the 14's are 6 speeds, and that 15.75 was with a complete newb at the track. I still find it a bit dissapointing that the new TL is slower than the Type-S'.

 

All things being equal it comes down to the driver (as this thread points out). The 2 machines given equally qualified drivers with the same skills would show the new TL is the faster car. The downside is that there are new systems in the car we must work with/around (drive by wire etc).

 

I've driven the TL-P several times and the 3G TL 5AT but never the TL-S. I now want to try the TL-S even more now just to see how it compares.

But, I kinda recall someone else on the board (Peter Ubers?) that traded his TL-S for the 3G TL and also found it to be a slower car.

 

Thanks for sharing your results, here are my thoughts:
-Your mph was very low, try shifting manually the pcm might be short-shifting the car
-I would not be satisfied with a 60ft in an 5AT unless it was 2.1 or below. You need to figure out why the car bogged off the line. When I drag a A-anything, I baseline it and then try different things on each successive pass. If it feels boggy I come out higher. But sometimes footbraking can put some car pcms into a limp mode. You would need to explore that.
-My other car runs 10.3@136mph so that is my background.

 

Well just for comparison, I was in my TL, my dad was in my 928. I took the 928 to the track and ran a 13.6 @ 102 with a 2.0 short time the same night we brought it home from the dealer, and when we raced, (on the way home from the dealer, just before we went to the track) We were dead even to about 50, then he left me by about a car and a half to about 65 or so. We went from a slow roll, about 10 mph or so, and he put it in me hard with about 4 cars from 10-60 or top of second in a 5AT wherever that is...

I think the TL auto will run a high 14 easily, maybe even erk out a 14.6 or so with enough practice... It is all in the 60', and the way I have been practicing is to have the left foot on the brake with the shifter in L, and stall it up to about 2,500, then roll onto the gas as you roll off the brake, almost a even swap. This gives the car NO bog, and the car takes off like a rocket for a heavy 6 cyl tank! Good luck out there everyone.

 

Nice Formula... I have a YSi going on my dad's Stang as soon as I put it on there, and a YSi going on mine as soon as I order one...

I HAD a YS and ran a 10.7 @ 134 on pump, and a 10.9 @ 138 on race gas in the heat. I have a 5 speed, and second gear is toast, too lazy to fix it cause I drive the car once a month to keep the battery charged. I made 647 on pump and 719 on race gas respectfully @ 15 psi. I am hoping for about 900 with the new charger @ 25 psi, and exhaust that is already on the car. I picked up 34 RW on motor with the new headers.

 

tangent/
I made 754rwhp with C16 and with an unlocked T400, my friend made 890rwhp with his tremec'd, 95 Cobra which has a 347ci. My 83 lb injectors are just about maxed out so I'm right around 950 crank I think.
/tangent

I think my 6mt TL is like a 14.2 car easily. I have has some 12.8-14.1 cars with stick before. I think 101 is doable too.

 

DO NOT brake torque these cars. It only hurts you. The best way to race these cars is turn VSA off, put it in SS, AND GUN IT. Peeling out off the line helps you with these cars. Let the computer shift the 1-2 shift in SS (without your imput) and shift 2-3 and 3-4 on your own. Practice getting the shift right at redline, accounting for the shift delay, and without hitting the rev limmiter.

I have to take my 04 TL to the track and show some of you guys how to drive these things

 

I have been playing around with my car since I drove it off the lot. I have found that no matter how you launch the car, it still seems overly sluggish until it builds some revs. My girlfriend has an 04 Lexus IS300, and we were at a light one night and went on green. She immediately jumped a car length infront of me. The TL then easily walked past the IS, but it is down right slow off the line. I realize that these cars are not meant to be drag racers...but this crawling off the line is embarrassing. My mom has an 05 LS430 and it will flat run off the line like a damn sportscar, and there is nothing out there that is more luxoboat then an LS430.

I am just very dissappointed with this TL. My friend just picked up a brand new G35 sedan..I had been pushing him for a race...NOT ANYMORE.

Hopefully I will be able to get to the track next week to try some other launch methods that you all of spoken of. Hope it goes better!

 

Is your TL properly broken in? At least over 1000 miles?

My car has 17,000 miles on it and I ran

14.3 in 1/4 mile at englishtown. The mods I have on are simple Comptech Exhaust without resonator, AEM cold air intake, comptech sports spring, and comptech Rear Sway Bar.

I ran it three times

14.26 at 101mph
14.37 at 98mph
14.24 at 103mph

 

Wow, yours is faster. TheMainEvEnt...

 

Well until some of you TL guys start posting high 14's stock (auto) and low 14's modded then I still say the new ones are slower. My gf's maxima has drive-by-wire, and it has ran 14.9's. It also makes ~ 10-15whp less than a new TL auto.

Mainevent please post the whole slip, because 103mph is REALLY fast for a 14.2. You could run mid 13's with that mph.

 

Main, are you 6mt?

 

for you guys in the 14 sec
do you guys just floor the car at the start or is there any technique??
i tried flooring the car at the start and it just stand there and gave me a 8.64 for 0-60.
than i figure that if i only floor it hard way in the beginning and one the tires won't spin.... floor it and i got a 7.7 for 0-60..... how do i get a high 6 ???
i really wanna know....

 

If you blaze the tires, then try rolling out and getting into the gas real fast but not quite flooring. I've gone 1.97 on street tires on a friend's firebird that way.

 

my tl was doggish when i first bought it but not anymore.I have 17k miles on it and when i floor it in "D" with VSA off it breaks loose and just hauls ass with a trail of smoke if ya guys want i can video my burnout from a stop and i tell ya its a big cloud of smoke thats gonna be sittin there for awhile

 

My car has 8K on it, but it is an auto not a stick. I am assuming, from those times, that yours is a stick. Good times for the car though!!

 

those have got to be 6MT times. i have not seen any 5AT even come close to those numbers. best i have seen on this forum is high low 15's and high 14's. so i think your times at the track had to do with your power braking and just getting use to the car. i remember the person that got the high 14 did not just let the tranny shit and was using a combination or "L" and sport shift.

 

Those mph's are really high, the 05 stang GT I ran next to did a 13.86 at 99. I realize it has much more torque...but a 103 should definitly put it in the 13's.

 

rets, it's actually the WDP paint . Less heat in engine bay=more hp . Got it?

dsc888 (proud to be part of Team WDP )

 

Lol... I thought the sleek NBP would run faster...

 

do you have the timeslips?

 

Alright, I haven't been to the track but I have used a G-Tech. I just got the G-Tech and did some runs last night.
05 TL automatic, completely stock
First run I left the VSA on just to see what the diference would be. I don't remember the 0-60 times but the first 1/4 time was 15.2
Second run with VSA turned off, 14.98
Third run with VSA off and using slap stick, 14.92
Fourth run same as third, 14.93
I did a mild brake torque each time I had the VSA off. On one attempt I torqued a little to much and the tires went into a spinning frenzy and they didn't grab. Each other successfull run though, the tires would break loose just a bit then grab and pull very nicely.
Not sluggish off the line at all. Maybe a bit smoother and more refined than my last Accord but I wouldn't say sluggish. Also for side note, outside temp was about 44 degrees. And my gas tank was on "E".
I have been very lucky with my TL so far. I read about sluggish off the line and vibrations often, I have not experienced this stuff at all.
And a quick question for any one willing to lend advice, I want to put some new wheels on my car, if I move up to 18's will it slow my car down?
Thanks, Stretch

 

Hi guys,
I ran my car at Englishtown a few weeks ago. I will be there with my team for the next event and for those of you who lives close, you're more than welcome to come see But I didn't use any special technique to launch my car but I have a 6MT. I ran my car nearly empty before I gas up about 1/4 tank with race fuel (they sell them nearby with 100+ octane) I was told it helps alittle.
My car is definitely no way could be in the 13s, it's way too heavy I think. I am happy that I got low 14s, perhaps with a S/C, I might be able to lower that number a bit but I will try to run it again next time, but mid 13s.. I don't think I can do that.

My friend's supra ran 11secs against mine at the line, so my TL was not a show stealer At the track, the TL isn't that glamorous because it's quite slow compare to some of those V8s that shows up.

but I'm happy with my car

 

If you're trapping over 100mph, you could easily hit 13's with a good launch and a different tire (drag radial). It's all in the 60 foot...

 

TheMinEvEnt,

Did you by chance drop your front tire pressures during the runs? Your numbers are really amazing.

dsc888

 

I completely agree with your post. At first I was brake torquing my TL and she would just bog off the line. I changed my technique and it has drastically improved the acceleration.

What I do is hold the brake with my left foot and rest my right foot on the gas with little to no pressure. When the light goes green, I stomp on the gas with my right foot while releasing the brake with my left. Tires squeal like there's not tomorrow and the car doesn't bog. I haven't run it at the track yet, but I'm thinking low 15's and 90+ mph trap speeds.

 

If you are way up in the mountains, that might not be a bad time. Is there any way to disable the traction/slip control in the car??? I know that with the G35, you need to pull a fuse to be able to step on the brake and gas at the same time and get full power. IF you don't remove the fuse, the car thinks you are doing something wrong (why would someone hit the gas and the brake at the same time?? ) and the revs will only raise a little, bog off the line, and then you get full power. Maybe there is something similar in the TL?? I know you have to pull the brake fuse in the G35 (the one that controls the brake lights and the ABS sensor). Don't drive the car this ay on the street though since you will have no brake lights and no ABS!!!

 

TheMainEvEnt can you please post the entire slips & their info? I find your numbers a bit strange, especially the mph. A range of 5mph is not normal, as long as you are driving correctly. I seriously doubt 103mph was the actual trap speed, seeing as how thats what some sc'd CL-S' have ran, albeit automatics.

 

Hmm, I thought the new TL autos were supposed to be a good bit faster than the 2nd gen TL-S's? Reason why I am asking is that my mom has an '03 TL-S and I got it to run a 14.8 @ 94mph bone stock.

 

Admittedly, I suspect that I have seen a few bad times posted on the boards at Etown. I witnessed and NA 6G Accord 4cyl 4AT run low 14s at Etown. (Even with 150 shot nitrous, I cant imagine that making it go from low 17s to low 14s)

 

I have never driven a auto trans TL but I can tell my 6MT TL is definitely in the 14.3 range or better stock. I"m not interested in beating on mine at the track too much but I will go at least once to see if I can get at least a 14.2 out of it.

 

Well John all I will say is go to the track before getting too confident in the numbers. Butt-dyno/quarter times are not always the most reliable.

 

My butt dyno told me that my then stock 99 Accord 4AT was good for low 16s....but(t) my track times had me at consistent low 17s.

 

I Know with the right tire i can hit 14.0 or a high 13 the power is there if not the bottle will get me there

 

Nitrotiger's username made me dig out this post...


mgokool


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