The Machine

iTrader: (8)

I was going to get hyper black, but I stayed with hyper silver. I'll post a picture later of them.

vester1986

^^ they will look good on your car, what size are these?

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

They are 19x8.5 +38 going on 235/35/19 tires. I hope they look good, doing a search I really haven't found many members with these so it was kinda hard to tell. And it looks like the one's I did find didn't have a drop and were rockin 20's so it throws off my perception of them. I'm going to do a 1.75-2 inch drop so I think they will look nice. Hoping I don't have to run a spacer to make them look right. I like the flush look, but I don't need it directly under the fender. Since I'm going with a softer spring rate on the coils I'm getting and probably going to leave them on full soft, I may need them to sit under the fender some just in case I would rub if I hit a big bump. I guess I will see once the coils come in and these go on the car. HURRY UP SPRING!!!

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Ok boys so spring is finally here and I got all the goodies on the car!

I'll try to just keep it short and sweet with all the modifications that have been done and just do a list, so here goes nothing:

Stern ST-2 rims 19x8.5 +38 (+23 with 15mm spacers) 235/35/19 Achilles ATR Sport Tires.
Yes some of you will probably disprove of this selection of both tire and rim, but I was working with a budget having an upcoming wedding to pay for etc, however the ride quality is very nice, the tires are grippy and they are not loud at all.
Rolled Fenders
ISC N1 Coilovers
Akata V2 15mm Spacers
Blox Open End Lug Nuts
Brakeperformance.com Slotted Rotors
Duralast Cmax Gold Brake Pads
Painted Calipers with Black G2 Caliper Paint
iJDMtoy.com DRL kit (write up here https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/ijdmtoy-led-drl-harness-install-w-pics-853543/)
Theretrofitsource.com HID 3k Fog Kit with independent mod
Interior white LED kit
Mid Muffler Delete
Exhaust Tips from SoCal Autosports (Azine Vendor)

Please note, I suck with a camera, it's just a simple point and shoot and the background isn't the greatest either, I would like to have a nice photo shoot done one day though. Also I know most of the comments are going to involve "MOAR LOW" lol, but I like the back where it is and I plan to lower the front a little bit more. However, with a 235 tire I think rubbing might be an issue because of the "tab" if I start to go too low up front.

NOW ONTO THE PICS!! ENJOY!!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Dude, you've been busy-nice update!

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Nice update dude! I really like the rims too! Great progress!

ebelp

Excellent job, Chip! I didn't realize all the progress you had until I just read your post...nice!

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Awesome update pal!

I remember back on acura world you were saying you wanted to keep the TL as stock as possible and keep the mods minimal lol

It has more mods than mine!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Damn, I haven't been over to Acura World since....hmm, since I became a Moderator.

lilsid112

iTrader: (7)

Nice update bud! Car is looking good.

omnuts

Very nice update, the ride is looking excellent

arn809

nice car man. looks way different cant wait to see the wheels bro...

M.I.N.O.

iTrader: (1)

Great progress! How did you get the 07-08 steering wheel to fit on your car, and what did it cost you? Thinking of doing the same thing myself.

ebelp

Well he has an 07-08 model TL, so I'm guessing it fit pretty easily LOL.

A SiQ TL

car's lookin good machine

M.I.N.O.

iTrader: (1)

Well he has the 04-06 A-spec rear, and the gauge cluster looks like it's from an 04-06 as well (although hard to tell for sure) so I guess that threw me off.

My bad...

arn809

wow man THATS THE REAL MONEY RIGHT THERE THAT'S THE REAL MACHINE... I LOVE IT MAN. Get type-s tails lights and trunk wing. your car looks AWESOOOME. NICE

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Thanks John! Yeah I had a few tricks up my sleeve I didn't tell you about, lol.

LOL! Yeah I do owe it all to you for introducing me to this site! And of course it never works out keeping the mods minimal once the ball starts rolling.

Thanks! To be honest I really love the 07-08 base tail lights. I'm not really a fan of the Type-S ones. I have thought about the lip spoilers for either the rear window or trunk, but I'm liking the nice clean look of the car so far. Maybe in the future...

arn809

ok man. and finally you updated your profile picture. about time bro. nice pic tho

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Ok guys, it's about time for an update since it has been a little while.

I guess the first thing before any progress was a little regression. On June 14th I was involved in a little accident. To make a long story short my a guy said he got caught between lights and mine was green. I was coming up the far right lane and couldn't see past the other 3 lanes of traffic to my left and wound up hitting his rear tire and bumper, this was the result:





More info can be found here if interested: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/well-fd-up-my-day-860309/

My car was fixed in about two weeks and was good as new again!


Now for some progress! First order of business was to free up a little HP so I wound up buying the RV6 V3 J-Pipe. After it was installed the car felt a little more peppy in the low to mid range, but nothing major. Most of the power is felt in the higher rpm ranges during WOT. And the exhaust tone with the mid muffler delete was very nice. Sounded very G35ish but it was very subtle.




Now back to some regression. I really did like the sound of the new exhaust addition, but felt like I needed a little more, so I bought the dynomax resonator and had it put on. Now of course with my luck something always goes wrong. When I left the shop I seen my one side skirt looked a little funny, so I said you know what, let me look at the front of my car and what else do I see, but this:



And this is how I fixed it, some white duct tape, lol


The dude at the exhaust shop was really sorry about what had happened and agreed to pay for it no problem as long as I could wait until that coming Friday for him to get paid and I agreed. So in the meantime I ordered another lip from Bruce (ACKTL05) because I sure wasn't running around forever with white duct tape on my poor A-Spec lip . More on this later....back to the exhaust....

The car sounds very nice on start up, under normal acceleration and during WOT, however it did add some rasp in 3-4k rpm range which sucks. So now I'm up in the air about what to do to get rid of it?? Do I add another dynomax resonator and hope it helps? Do I switch out the dynomax one for the magnaflow resonator, or just put the stock resonator back and have zero rasp, but very subtle exhaust note again? I know exhaust mods such as this are trial and error, but it sucks having to waste money on stupid stuff like that to figure it all out, so any insight from my fellow members would be greatly appreciated. Here are some videos I took. I know they aren't the greatest quality sound wise, but I really didn't know how they would turn out using a Flip Cam. Especially at the end of the first video when I though it was going to come out too windy, lol






Ok, now back to some progress, yet again. When I said I ordered the new lip from Bruce, I never said what one. I only have an 08 Base model TL, but have always loved the Type-S A-Spec front. So since my base lip was broken, I figured what the hell, there's no better time to get the Type-S lip than now! The install went great and it fits the 07-08 base bumper perfectly!! So here's how she sits now, hope you guys and gals approve!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Machine, all looks great-I see you went with the Type S Aspec front nose this time!

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Thanks! Yeah I love the Type-S front lip so much better than the Base lip. It's makes the car look way more aggressive. Wish I would have done the Type-S kit the first time around

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

You know, on white, it looks awesome.

I don't think it looks as good on Silver!

arn809

wow man good job on the exhaust sistem and front type s lip... looking good

ebelp

Great update, and great pics. Your stance is looking pretty nice. No need to go any lower. Thought any more about going with 6k fogs so everything matches? I'm very happy I made that switch.

McCollins23

Doin it big! Glad to see everything is good once again. Good call on the Type S lip.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

I was actually kicking that idea around yesterday. My wife actually said she likes the way it looks right now, so I didn't mess with it, lol. But I know curiosity will get the best of me and I will eventually peel the yellow overlay off and put the 5k blubs in to see how it all looks. I just hope the overlay will go back on if I don't like the look since they have already been peeled off once when the front bumper was replaced because of the accident.

ebelp

Not sure if I told you, but I was able to get my overlays off perfectly without damaging them and they still have all the adhesive, which is reusable. I saved the backing that I had to peel off before mounting them, so I just stuck them on the backing and stored them away in case I ever decide to reuse them. Oh, my overlays are Lamin-X...not sure which ones you have.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Honesty I forget where I got mine from and I threw away the backing to them. They were already peeled off once and the body shop was the one that did it, so I don't know how much adhesive is left if I was to do it again. If I do peel them off, don't like the look and then can't re-use them, then I will just buy another set. They aren't that much so it's not like it's breaking the bank to get fresh ones.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Wow...love it.

PS...I'll respond here rather than PM.
Well, for the rasp, I don't think you're going to do any better with a magnaflow, in fact, I remember thinking that the people that did the stage mod to their exhaust with the magnaflow and everything else oem already added rasp.

Before getting the exhaust, what I opted for was to try and have a longer dynomax welded in...but never got a chance to do it and sent it be back to amazon.
Originally, I had gotten the 16" body one...4" across...12" of resonator. Then I opted for the 23" one...
HERE:

Give it a whirl...at that cost, figured it was worth a shot. Ideally, I wanted them to weld up the bigger one and if that didn't kill it, then add the other one to it. and make a total of 28" of resonator.

Good luck, Chip.
J.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Hmm not a bad idea. I was thinking of buying the same size resonator that I already put in in hopes of curing the little bit of rasp that it has. If it was a ton of rasp I think buying that bigger one and having it put in along with the one I have now would solve it for sure. But since it's only a tiny bit, I think that adding another resonator of the same size would cure it.

KJ TL-S

iTrader: (9)

Looking good Machine, keep it up.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Ok J, after mauling it over, I decided to go the route that you were going to go. I ordered the Dynomax 24235, so I'll put that in and hopefully that cures the little bit of rasp I'm getting.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Keep us posted, buddy. Mulling, mauling would mean you were fkn obliterating it!

Are you considering an exhaust at any point?! That was kinda what pushed me to get one...wanting to get rid of the rasp! Kinda dumb when I say it out loud, but I think it looks and sounds cool too. Just expensive mod! Plus, there aren't many of the aftermarket exhausts that stop the rasp from the V3 jpipe.

I'm sure the longer resonator will be tits. If not, just have your smaller one welded in too.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Lmao oops with the mauling! Unfortunately I probably won't go with any aftermarket exhaust, maybe eventually if something catches my eye and the wife will approve it I can venture out into that territory with the big boys, lol. So for now I pretty much have to stick with the cheapo mods that only add sound and no performance even though I did buy a J-Pipe which makes no sense, lol.

Hopefully that new resonator will cure the rasp even though it's only 4 inches longer than the one on the car now. There really wasn't much rasp through the powerband to get rid of in the first place so all I can do is that is works. If not I guess the smaller resonator will be put back in. Which when you think about is kinda dumb in a sense since I would basically have a 28" long resonator. I might as well just put the stock one back in, have no rasp and just live with the subtle exhaust tone I get.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

You had zero rasp with the stock resonator?!?
See...I had a stage III mod already done when I got the jpipe...and to be honest, you get much more bang for your buck for the jpipe and the exhaust adds VERY little extra power. All about looks and sound, which in hindsight, probably isn't greatest investment.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll get it licked...I read somewhere that you can easily go up to 30" of resonator, HP loss is negligible, especially if you get rid of the rasp. And I swapped back, to the oem jpipe thinking I'd just be happy and settle for it being quieter...man, it sucked...car felt slower and was TOO quiet!

Keep us posted, Chip.
J.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

Yep, I had no rasp whatsoever with the J-Pipe, mid muffler delete and stock resonator in. It did sound really nice, but was just a tad quiet. The resonator I ordered said 3-5 days delivery. If it comes in this week, which it probably wont (of course), I will have it installed and report back how it sounds. Wish me luck

ebelp

Good luck!!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Then you should be in business! That means that the right amount of resonator will shut that rasp right up...and since the OEM can one is a little bigger, maybe 5" in diameter, then the longer 4" one should give you a similar can volume so hopefully it'll work.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

I'll be sure to take some side by side pics to give a nice visual comparison for whoever is interested in seeing the sizing difference between all of them.