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Not really a TL update but I'm very excited about this nonetheless so bare with me here.
I finally completed the heads, cam, intake, exhaust 'build' on my Z06 and was able to get it dyno tuned last night. This is the video from the final pull it put down.
Torn on ordering BC or TEIN SAZ coilovers for my car.
Ordering the front and rear Aspec lip kit, reverse LEDs, license plate LEDs, as well as the coilovers all at once to avoid multiple shipping costs so I need to decide soon.
Any input? Leaning towards TEINs since they use the OEM rubber top hat mounts which I think would be better isolation than the metal mounts on the BCs that I fear would develop clunking and drive me nuts.
Both BC and Tein you can't go wrong. How much you wanna spend is the determining factor.
You sir, have cheated.
Like I said, I worry about BC's metal top hats causing more noise and frustration than they're worth. It also doesn't help BC's case that the TEINs are a fair amount cheaper.
So I'm getting ready to order my Aspec lip kit, and I'm finding myself wonder if the rear lip is really even necessary for our UA6's.
I'm half tempted to run just the front Aspec lip and leave it at that. The pictures on EndlessRPMs website showing the UA6 Aspec rear lip just doesn't who a whole lot for the car unless I'm missing a certain angle or something?
So I'm getting ready to order my Aspec lip kit, and I'm finding myself wonder if the rear lip is really even necessary for our UA6's.
I'm half tempted to run just the front Aspec lip and leave it at that. The pictures on EndlessRPMs website showing the UA6 Aspec rear lip just doesn't who a whole lot for the car unless I'm missing a certain angle or something?
if you install only the front aspec kit, you wont be able to notice much if your looking directly at the car from the front. HOWEVER, when looking at your car from the sides, it will be apparent and will look off IMO. Buy the whole kit from endless, hes got a pretty good deal at 865 shipped, ill be pulling the trigger on it eventually as well
if you install only the front aspec kit, you wont be able to notice much if your looking directly at the car from the front. HOWEVER, when looking at your car from the sides, it will be apparent and will look off IMO. Buy the whole kit from endless, hes got a pretty good deal at 865 shipped, ill be pulling the trigger on it eventually as well
I suppose you're right about the profile angle showing the lack of rear lip.
However, don't buy the Aspec sideskirts. If you read the link below you'll see that the Aspec sideskirts are the same as any trim level TL. All you need is the front and rear portions.
I suppose you're right about the profile angle showing the lack of rear lip.
However, don't buy the Aspec sideskirts. If you read the link below you'll see that the Aspec sideskirts are the same as any trim level TL. All you need is the front and rear portions.
hey man I think your reading it wrong.....it could be worded a bit differently as I can understand the confusion. What that is saying is the Aspec side skirts will fit all TL models, from 04-08, no matter if the TL is a base or type-s. I think you misunderstood. The aspec side skirts are different than what you have on your vehicle at the moment.....again not adding the aspec side skirts with the front and back portions will look abnormal.....
hey man I think your reading it wrong.....it could be worded a bit differently as I can understand the confusion. What that is saying is the Aspec side skirts will fit all TL models, from 04-08, no matter if the TL is a base or type-s. I think you misunderstood. The aspec side skirts are different than what you have on your vehicle at the moment.....again not adding the aspec side skirts with the front and back portions will look abnormal.....
"This one is easy. They are all the same. No matter what year or trim 3rd generation TL you have, the A-Spec side under spoiler option is the same part for all. The only thing they change over the years and models is the colors, as the color options did change."
Man, that certainly does read to me like the base TL side skirts are the same as an Aspec side skirt.
I've clearly got a bit more reading to do on this topic.
TL Aspec Sides are the same for 04-08 but different from the factory side skirts. They are different, but look at it as this, "A" side skirts fit 04-08 Base and Type-S, and "B" side skirts fit 04-08 Bas and Type-S. "A" is stock OEM, and "B" is A-Spec.
TL Aspec Sides are the same for 04-08 but different from the factory side skirts. They are different, but look at it as this, "A" side skirts fit 04-08 Base and Type-S, and "B" side skirts fit 04-08 Bas and Type-S. "A" is stock OEM, and "B" is A-Spec.
Hope that makes sense.
It does make sense. I've done some more reading on the topic and finally figured the subtle differences out.
I'll be placing my order(s) within the next week or so.
Hopefully I can install the Aspec kit pieces, coils, and the Brembo swap in one weekend.
So I got my brake calipers back from the powder coater and started gathering my pennies for new rotors and pads. When I finally got all those parts in I tossed the new fresh brakes on!
A few weeks later, my coilovers came in! I went with TEIN Street Advanced Z's since they were supposed to give the closest to stock ride quality and feel. After installing them I dialed the height in to 25" ground to fender all around and set the dampening to TEIN's recommended 6 clicks from full soft out of the box and took the car for a test drive. I was extremely impressed, even unaligned the car drove very well and felt ten times better not only handling wise but ride comfort wise compared to my stock, blown, suspension.
Yes, those were wheel spacers you saw in the above picture. Since my 'summer' wheels (Enkei RPF1's 17x8 +45) are the exact same size and offset of stock wheels getting spacers to make my stock wheels flush fitment wise makes switching back and fourth from summer to winter setups stupid easy now. Since they're the same specs wise I can jump from winter to summer sets with just a tire/wheel swap in 20 minutes and maintain a clean, aggressive look. I really do think the car looks great with a modest drop, proper spacers, and stock wheels on it even. It really should've been sold at a slightly lower height than it was. Here's just after the install...
I then tossed my Enkei RPF1's on and headed to the alignment shop for a final alignment. As expected, I need some aftermarket control arms in the rear to get my toe dialed in to an acceptable amount in the rear ($60 off Rockauto so I'm not complaining) but the rest of the car aligned great! Here she is on the alignment rack.
PS - I also debadged the rear of the car only leaving the Acura logo, much more balanced aesthetically and cleaner looking. Next up is tints, Aspec front lip at a minimum, and quad tips not sure if I'll do 3" tips or 3.5".
I'll break out the real camera and take some actual shots when I have some free time. We're about to get 9" of snow here (of course, right after I install my coils lol) so I have to wait that out first.
Looks great man! Must feel good having everything come together nicely
id recommend going for the full aspec kit, it will flow really well together and it's very noticeable when it's not complete. Plus get the type s rear lip and quads will fit much easier (minor bumper cuts). Get it soon though because I think the white is the only color left and they are almost gone!
Looks great man! Must feel good having everything come together nicely
id recommend going for the full aspec kit, it will flow really well together and it's very noticeable when it's not complete. Plus get the type s rear lip and quads will fit much easier (minor bumper cuts). Get it soon though because I think the white is the only color left and they are almost gone!
Thanks! It really does feel great to have everything come together.
I know a ton of people keep urging me to get the full kit but it's so darn expensive for, what to me is, a daily that I wanted to make look moderately more aggressive without breaking the bank. I hear it takes extensive modifications to the base bumper to get the Type S rear lip to fit as well...
Maybe I'll do the full A-spec kit, time will tell here when it comes down to making the decision. I'm more worried about how big of a pain in the butt the installation would be.
First thing is first, I need to tint this car. I personally think it really sets off the white paint.
I see a ton of colors left on EndlessRPMs site. I'm not sure the WDP is running out, yet.
Can anyone give me any insight on the additional height the Aspec front lip adds to the front end?
I've tried asking around and looking up dimensions on sites that sell the lip but have gotten nothing.
I just want to know how much further my front end will extend downwards after installing to verify I won't rip it off entering and exiting my driveway.
I use this as my daily, especially during the winter. Rather not deal with worrying about condensation in lines/the compressor and let's not even talk about the cost increase. :P
No, it is lower than OEM bumper. If I had to guess I would think my 05 lip was about 1 inch lower than OEM at the very most. The Type-S seems more aggressive but I never looked at it that closely.
Yes you would need fogs so stick to the 04-06 front lip.
No, it is lower than OEM bumper. If I had to guess I would think my 05 lip was about 1 inch lower than OEM at the very most. The Type-S seems more aggressive but I never looked at it that closely.
Yes you would need fogs so stick to the 04-06 front lip.
I imagine I can get away with 1" lower, I'll make the gf go outside and measure next time I'm stepping the car up and down the driveway.
Find a different place to live with your low life problems! My road and curbs are being replaced this week. I want to meet the construction guys out there and tell them to make it as low of a shoulder as possible!!!
Find a different place to live with your low life problems! My road and curbs are being replaced this week. I want to meet the construction guys out there and tell them to make it as low of a shoulder as possible!!!
That's always an option, but I have considered getting the rubber ramps for these problems. Lord knows it would help the process of pulling the race car in and out of the driveway tenfold.
Sidenote: Having logged over 2K miles on these coils now including several few hundred mile long road trips they're fantastic. Barely any more harsh than my stock suspension and much more confidence inspiring in the corners.
great job, now you gonna trick people thinking your TL is MT.
Time to aggressively fling my right arm forwards and backwards at shift points and rev the engine out in neutral at stops for a fake clutch engagement!
Well it's been a short while but I've finally made up my mind as to what next steps are in store for the car.
Last night I placed orders for the following:
New Aspec front and rear bumpers
Quad Exhaust Tips
Trunk Lip Spoiler
Roof Lip Spoiler
Reverse and License Plate LEDs
A Black "ACURA" Vinyl Inlay for the front bumper
And scheduled an appointment for 20% tint all around with a windshield banner
This should round up the rest of my additions to the car for now (aside from small things and maintenance). Still debating on keeping my 17" RPF1's, but I'm going to wait and see how they look after my next round of modifications. If I'm still not satisfied I might add on tire stickers to see if that newfound 'fad' will help me love them again. If not, off they go!
Excited to finally finish up the rest of the car. Then it's back to saving for other expensive things that aren't nearly as fun...
Finally will be pulling the trigger this afternoon on some new wheels for the TL. The RPF1's are sold to a new owner of a 2013 black Civic Si sedan that they'll look proper on.
Here's a shot of the new wheels in the finish I'll be getting. I think it will match my yellow brakes and WDP paint quite well.
But the wheel will be finished in this color (Anthracite - more of a gun metal finish)
I'm very excited to get these wheels in but the powder coating process will delay the arrival of the wheels by a minimum of 3-4 weeks I'm told. However, I got one of the last 3 sets of this wheel and they're discontinuing them. You'll notice this wheel is a direct homage to the wheels Rockstar ran on his TL - Advan RS II's. These were the only rep wheels I could find that were of good quality and still available, and it looks like I found them and pulled the trigger just in time to get one of the last sets.
Aside from the massive order of parts I just placed for finishing off the TL I've been quite busy dialing in the rest of the work on my other car. I figured you guys might appreciate some of the work I've been doing on it here as well.
I picked up a new intake manifold and got to work hand porting it further with a dremel to free up some more airflow.
Then the car had to be taken back to the dyno for some fine tuning, we got the car dialed in and it made more power throughout the curve as well as picking up 35 peak RWHP! Here's the dyno run...
Went out for a small photoshoot with a friend and we got a pretty cool shot here of the car. I guess candids always are the best, even if it is ruined by my ugly mug trying to remember if I left my hearing aids in the grandpa-mobile.
The car also got a ceramic coating of GTechniq Crystal Serum Black - a ceramic coating guaranteed for 7 years. Came out looking great and means I no longer have to wax the car like an obsessive compulsive person I am!
Here's a video walk around from the detail shop...
Oh, and we found out it does shoot flames! (They're way bigger on up shifts but I can't really capture those while driving. I scared my friend in the second clip LOL.)
Here's how the car sit now, in the garage that needs cleaning. I'll get around to that one of these weekends...
I also took a weekend recently to perform a paint correction on a friends used B7 S4 he just picked up. He was blown away at the results and must've not realized when I said I can make it look better than showroom floor new.
(First pass of correction)
Final product:
Here's how the TL sits currently after the removal of the RPF1s. I borrowed a local TL owners stocks that are powder coated to roll around on until the MK9's arrive. I lowered the rear end of the car another 1/2" to get the rear level with the front, it was bothering me - and I also ended up tinting the car this past weekend 20% all around. It also gave me a good barometer for how the darker gun metal will look against my paint and brakes.
That's about all I have for now! More updates to come with part installs right around the corner on the TL!
nice updates!! not sure if i asked this already, but what detailing products and equipment do you use? I started to get into machine work and have started using a torq 10fx along with jescar compound/polish and wolfgang's deep gloss paint sealant. it's opened up a whole new world for my ocd-like tendencies haha
nice updates!! not sure if i asked this already, but what detailing products and equipment do you use? I started to get into machine work and have started using a torq 10fx along with jescar compound/polish and wolfgang's deep gloss paint sealant. it's opened up a whole new world for my ocd-like tendencies haha
Thanks! I personally use a myriad of products, it truly depends on the paint and car as some OEM paints are harder/softer than others.
For a good all around approach I use Meguiars 105/205 compounds and then top it off with Menzerna Power Lock followed by a good layer of Collinite 845 wax.
Wolfgang is a great product as well for sealants. Jescar I know is an emerging detailing line that many people have had great success with and have grown to like recently. I haven't tried it myself yet.
Equipment wise I have a DA and Rotary. DA is used most of the time, the rotary is for when the DA just can't quite cut it. My DA is a Rupes and the Rotary is a DeWalt.
Finally will be pulling the trigger this afternoon on some new wheels for the TL. The RPF1's are sold to a new owner of a 2013 black Civic Si sedan that they'll look proper on.
Here's a shot of the new wheels in the finish I'll be getting. I think it will match my yellow brakes and WDP paint quite well.
But the wheel will be finished in this color (Anthracite - more of a gun metal finish)
I'm very excited to get these wheels in but the powder coating process will delay the arrival of the wheels by a minimum of 3-4 weeks I'm told. However, I got one of the last 3 sets of this wheel and they're discontinuing them. You'll notice this wheel is a direct homage to the wheels Rockstar ran on his TL - Advan RS II's. These were the only rep wheels I could find that were of good quality and still available, and it looks like I found them and pulled the trigger just in time to get one of the last sets.
Aside from the massive order of parts I just placed for finishing off the TL I've been quite busy dialing in the rest of the work on my other car. I figured you guys might appreciate some of the work I've been doing on it here as well.
I picked up a new intake manifold and got to work hand porting it further with a dremel to free up some more airflow.
Then the car had to be taken back to the dyno for some fine tuning, we got the car dialed in and it made more power throughout the curve as well as picking up 35 peak RWHP! Here's the dyno run...
Went out for a small photoshoot with a friend and we got a pretty cool shot here of the car. I guess candids always are the best, even if it is ruined by my ugly mug trying to remember if I left my hearing aids in the grandpa-mobile.
The car also got a ceramic coating of GTechniq Crystal Serum Black - a ceramic coating guaranteed for 7 years. Came out looking great and means I no longer have to wax the car like an obsessive compulsive person I am!
Here's a video walk around from the detail shop...
Oh, and we found out it does shoot flames! (They're way bigger on up shifts but I can't really capture those while driving. I scared my friend in the second clip LOL.)
Here's how the cars sit now, in the garage that needs cleaning. I'll get around to that one of these weekends...
I also took a weekend recently to perform a paint correction on a friends used B7 S4 he just picked up. He was blown away at the results and must've not realized when I said I can make it look better than showroom floor new.
(First pass of correction)
Final product:
Here's how the TL sits currently after the removal of the RPF1s. I borrowed a local TL owners stocks that are powder coated to roll around on until the MK9's arrive. I lowered the rear end of the car another 1/2" to get the rear level with the front, it was bothering me - and I also ended up tinting the car this past weekend 20% all around. It also gave me a good barometer for how the darker gun metal will look against my paint and brakes.
That's about all I have for now! More updates to come with part installs right around the corner on the TL!
Not sure what happened to the pictures in my previous post but I uploaded them to the forum itself now, that should fix any removal of the images in the future like older threads that used imageshack and such as image hosts.
Update post being written as of now, lots of parts installed or on their way...
01-23-2017, 07:38 PM
