i have test drivent he TL-S. the thing seemed pretty good factory.

i felt it had minimal body roll, and the ride quality was decent. it was firm, but not too firm.

i know the TL-S has stiffer springs/shocks than a stock TL....so when you go to Koni yellows, or Tein coilovers, how much stiffer does it get vs the TL-S?

is it night/day or marginal? if it got tons stiffer, the ride became much more bumpy...then i'd pass. if the ride got better or stayed the same but cornering/handling improved...great.. if so how much?

what about just slapping on some lowering springs onto the facotry TL-S shocks to get the looks....will that also make it handle much better or just mess it up?

part of me wants ot get a TL-S and then just leave it stock. but if you can make it handle TONS better....i'd be tempted.

 

I called TEIN, because I was also interested about ride quality and they told me that the TEIN SS gives about a 15% stiffer ride, but thats what they say. I know a lot of members on here are running those and could tell you the facts from first hand use.

 

Don't have Teins, but I do have H&R's. Several people with Teins on their TL have ridden in my car. They say that my coils are a bit more forgiving then theirs. Let me tell you...I feel EVERY bump on the road, and that's even after I raised the factory setting's for the coils 3/4" (which shouldn't matter).

So that means Teins, Basics or SS, are even stiffer than my suspension. As you can see in my sig, I also have the Progress RSB. The car handles noticeably better, with less body roll and less understeer.

The stock Type-S suspension feels a bit like a boat, in comparison to my current setup. But, you will suffer greatly in ride comfort/quality if you go to aftermarket coils. If you go springs/stock shocks, then your shocks will wear prematurely.

Now how long that is is speculative, but the life of the shocks is definitely shortened. It is a trade-off. So you have to decide between ride quality and handling. Is it worth it? It is for me, because I enjoy taking corners hard and accelerate out of them. If you are just an average driving enthusiast who doesn't really like to push their car, you probably should stick with the stock setup. It is, like you pointed out, stiffer than the base TL's suspension.

Just my . Keep us updated on your decision, with some pics!

Scott

 

I think improvements can be made.

The Progress RSB adds 4mm and is adjustable. Similar change with 6MT drivers reported a very noticable improvement. Add some better bushings and the fact that the RSB is "adjustable" and I think the TL-S would improve.

Regards Springs or Springs/Shocks or Coil-Overs, setting aside added stiffness (which will vary with settings and manufacturers), you get a lower COG and that'll have some positive handling impact on pretty much any car.

IMHO, those two together will make a very noticable handling difference.

 

I have many customers running Teins. Overall, I have to say everyone is really happy. I severely hesitate to say that the ride impact with the Basics, or especially the SS set to softer settings, is anything more than slightly firmer feeling over some road conditions than a stock TL or TL-S (in my experience, they are not worlds apart).

Dampening is very good, body motions are tightly controlled, and balance is much improved. This combination of factors can translate to the feeling of a firmer ride because the "boatiness" is actually what makes the car ride good. You can't really have great body control and comfort over all surfaces all the time. The great benefit of feeling the road surface is the sense that the car is actually connected to it! This is a welcome addition to a great chassis such as this.

The TL with SS dampers and a Progress or Comptech RSB is the best you can get this side of a 3-series, IMO. That speaks on ride and handling. Don't let anyone tell you the Tein coilovers are stiff. They simply are not.

Marcus

 

With respect to shocks and springs...for the cost difference you will get a better matched setup and more performance potential with the coilovers. The spring and shock will afford limited height options as well. However I will say that you can noticeably improve the performance without impacting ride greatly. If this sounds like a compromise between coilovers and stock, you are right it is. The car will feel more stock, but only have a mild increase in performance compared to the Teins.

I suppose it all depends on the sort of performance you are looking for.

 

Yes you can improve the TL-S setup with TEIN coilovers without sacrificing ride comfort. The TEIN Basics are firmer than stock but not stiff or jarring. The TEIN SS even allow for damping adjustment so you can adjust, at least relatively, how soft or firm the ride is. I've had customer from 16 yrs to 60 yrs old run the TEIN SS and it was able to suit each one of them b/c they were able to adjust the damping according to what suited their driving style.

 

How adjustable are the Tein SS?
I'm wondering for Summer - Winter driving conditions... in the winter I would want less "lowering". Do the SS's adjust from "slammed" to "A-Spec" height?

I'm currently on A-Spec suspension and it doesn't perform/look the way I'd like it.

 

I respectfully disagree. This is a very common misperception that most people equate a stiff ride to better handling. This is simply not true. A properly set up suspension will allow the wheel and tire to move over irregularities in the road with very little chassis movement. The correct spring with the right amount of compression and rebound damping will ride pretty well. Wheels and tires play a significant role in this as well.

 

I could agree with that, it's just that I've never come across such a setup firsthand.

Any of the commonly used suspension systems I've been around are always stiff, IMHO. KYB, Koni, H&R, KW, Tokico, Tein SS/Basic, Neuspeed, etc...(I consider feeling all the bumps on the road as being stiff, btw, that's just my personal definition).

 

You are absolutey right. Since people equate stiff ride with better handling the market gives them what they want. I doubt that any of these systems have been truly engineered for this particular application. Most of the folks that change out the suspension to a stiffer set up believe their car handles better. Perception often differs from reality.

One of my other cars is a 2002 Corvette Z06. This car had relatively stiff suspension. For model year 2004 Chevy tested suspension with extensive track time and adjusted accordingly. The result was softer more compliant and better riding suspension that still resulted in better lap times around Nurburgring. Along with many other owners I upgraded to 04 shocks and enjoy a better ride with better handling.

 

Just my
I doubt that the engineering dept.(if there is one) from any supplier puts the money and effort into their producs that Honda does. For 10 years I have watched people put aftermarket items on, and most of the time they regret it. Acura made it right the first time. Acura does not build to be the best in any particular category. They hope to achieve a balance. For me, my '07 TL-S does it perfectly. Just my opinion.

 

 

I agrree with Z06. A stiffer rides doesn't make a great handling car.

You can lower it and put stiff springs and shocks and think it handles great because it feels more precise with less bodyroll. In reality it might pull less G's on the skidpad than stock. It might be an oversteering bastard in the slalom. 90% of the people on here assosiate no body roll to good handling based solely on feel. I see it written so many times that the car handles great with nothing to back it up other than feel.

I also don't like the big sway bars. They take the independance from the independant suspension. If you're truly looking for a car that handles good, get as close as you can with springs and shocks and tune with the sway bars. I'm probably going to upgrade to the stock manual rear bar to help a little with the understeer but that's as big as I would go.

To answer the OP's question on shocks. I have the Koni yellows and on full soft it feels like stock. Above that it gets stiffer. I like a well damped ride so I have mine 2/3s of the way up on stock springs and it makes a world of difference. You can't go wrong with these shocks. I would seriously try shocks first before springs. Then again, I do my own work so it doesn't cost me anything to tear it apart. Seriously, the shocks/springs took me 30 minutes per side. Any competent mechanic shouldn't charge much more than an hour shop time per axle.

 

I don't have a Type-S, but I am running a Tein SS setup with Comptech RSB. I also have 19x9 wheels with 245/35 FK452s. I have the dampening set at 12F/10R (0-16, 16 being the hardest) and it really does handle like a dream. I don't really know how else to tell ya...I'm no pro driver, and my TL isn't going anywhere near a track. Its actually a pretty decent ride, not nearly as bad as I thought.

 

We are pretty lucky with such a long wheelbase. It's a little harder to get a harsh ride even with a stiff suspension. When I had my Konis set full hard, the headlights would bounce all over the road at night but it wasn't that bad inside the car.

 

I have heard this comment many times over the years.

My response:

Just because Honda paid more for their suspension tuning does not mean they optimized it for performance, or comfort. There are a number of compromises built into it. This is what the engineers a paid to do. Compromise everywhere to achieve a result that will please the most people (or offend the least).

If you prefer the stock suspension then all the better for you. No further investment needed on your part. However those with either more performance or comfort in mind will likely want to alter the suspension to do the particular goal better.

And lastly, the fact that Honda spends more on their engineering is likely true, as they have the resources to do so. But money spent is not performance gained in all cases. The particular goal needs to be the focus. Investment in process only helps achieve a goal, not refine it. To that end, I agree that nobody can produce a compromising suspension for the TL any better than ACURA.

Marcus

 

If you consider feeling bumps on the road as stiff, then I am glad you said so. I equate kidney pain to stiff. Bumps in the road I appreciate feeling, as part of the vehicle communicating conditions to the driver; an important aspect of performance driving.

We would then need to consider keeping facts, facts. By general definition I would argue that there is NO "stiff" suspension available for the TL. Drive a Civic on Tein RS, Omni Power, or other track performance model. That is stiff. No such suspension is available for the TL. Indeed, the most firm out of the box setup you can get on a TL are Yellows or SS adjusted all the way stiff. And then I would classify the suspension as "medium."

When one of my customers says they don't want a stiff suspension, my first question is with regard to "define stiff." Most of you guys all feel similarly, but others of you have very different definitions.

Marcus

 

It is time to get back to the OP's original question. As you describe your situation you should not change out the stock set up. There is a greater chance you will mess up the handling than actually improve it. If you just change out the springs the car's handling will probably be not as good as it was stock. You will be hard pressed to find an aftermarket set up that will make it TONS better. Enjoy your ride as is.

For those that say some of these other systems improve the handling I would like to see the data from on track lap times before and after the change. That is the real world method to see how much improvement was realized.

I have a base TL and with better tires this car handles just fine. I would not have any problem putting it on the track as is.