Finally bit the bullet... A-Spec Suspension + RSB on the way!
06-09-2005, 08:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Msnowdon
Tom,
Has your car settled any lower yet?
Michael
Has your car settled any lower yet?
Michael
06-10-2005, 09:51 AM
#43
Oderint dum metuant.
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Originally Posted by tdawgy808
With so many positive threads on here about a-spec, I ordered my set yesterday for my NBP along with the a-spec bodykit and comptech RSB!
Can't wait!
Can't wait!
06-10-2005, 03:28 PM
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Another A-spec suspension review (long)
After reading the glowing reviews on this site, I just jumped on the A-spec suspension bandwagon. I ordered the struts/springs from Falconi Acura for my '05 6-speed TL last Thursday. While I was at it, I also ordered the CompTech rear sway bar from them, too. I got a bit of a shipping discount by ordering them together. The components showed up Wednesday. I was away on business, but had a chance to install the dampers and RSB yesterday (Thursday). In summary, this is definitely a do-it-yourself job. Nothing difficult at all, just allot plenty of time. It took me 5 hours from start to finish including the RSB. Here are some notes and first impressions:
INSTALLATION NOTES: The A-spec dampers did not arrive with instructions, but it didn’t matter since I had printed them out from this site beforehand. I also printed out Peter Uber’s notes. The two sets worked well together.
When I opened the boxes, the first thing I noticed is that that they looked exactly like the standard dampers. But the part numbers were different from the standard suspension so I forged ahead…
FRONT SUSPENSION: Protect your car! Use blankets or towels on the fenders to protect them from dings or scratches. I started on the front of the car by removing the front strut tower bar (STB). Easy enough, except for those pesky little connectors attached to the brackets. I ended up just taking off the STB nuts and 2 brackets. I then just shifted the STB around to get at the strut flange nuts, instead of removing the STB completely. Next jack up the front end and place the car on jack stands. Then dive down under the car and get to it. I started on the right front damper. The damper fork flange nut and damper fork pinch bolts were not too difficult to get off, but you might want to use some penetrating oil if your car has some miles on it or has been through a winter. The hardest part about this part was getting an angle on the damper fork pinch bolt.
The next step was to remove the damper from the damper fork. If I had followed the instructions, it would have been easy. But since I removed the damper flange nuts immediately after the STB nuts then the damper dropped down out of position making this part more difficult.
Once that problem was solved, I had to wrangle the damper out from under the car. After a minute or two, I decided to jack up the suspension about 8 inches or so to give me more room to work with. Once that was done, the damper slid right out. Positioning the new damper (which is marked left and right) needed a bit of assistance. I had my wife help me out here from up top by telling me which way to move the assembly and then put on a damper flange nut to hold it in place. I then lowered the suspension and connected things as directed. After that I jacked up the suspension before torqueing the bolts. Then I lowered the suspension and moved to the other side.
The left side went 50% quicker because I had a clear idea what to do. No issues here at all. I then lowered the car, reinstalled the STB, put on the engine bay covers and moved to the back of the car.
REMOVING THE REAR SEAT: Protect your car! Wash up before starting work in your car, especially if you have a parchment interior. I would even go far as to say remove your rear seat BEFORE getting under the car. Also, be extremely careful moving the seats in and out of the car. I wasn’t careful enough and ended putting a small gouge in plastic on the left rear doorsill. There are two sharp brackets on the bottom of the rear seat back that will scratch or cut anything they touch.
Otherwise the removing the rear seat back and bottom was easy. I did need to use pliers to pull out the rear seat bottom clips, though. I just couldn’t do it by hand. I didn’t bother removing anything else just as Peter Uber and Lore recommended (thank you!). Once the seat back was out, there were openings large enough to get at the rear damper flange nuts, but just barely. More on that later.
REAR SUSPENSION: I jacked up the rear, put it on jack stands, removed the rear wheels and had at it. Very simple to get in there with the wheels off, it probably would have helped if I had taken off the front wheels when I did the front.
Since I was installing the Comptech RSB too, I first removed the stock sway bar and loosely attached the Comptech one. It was very easy to get at all the necessary bolts and nuts for the swaybar and rear dampers under the car. However, those stabilizer link nuts are a pain since you have to hold the center stable with an allen wrench (I was using an open-ended wrench to turn the nut.) I then moved up top to remove the damper flange bolts. Easy enough to do, I used a standard ratchet with short socket and it worked fine. I tried the 2”neck socket that Lore and Peter recommended but found it too tall.
I found that removing the rear damper from under the car was a breeze. I guess I was just lucky to find the correct path the first time. However, I did use the same technique I used in the front and jacked up the rear suspension 8 inches or so before trying to remove the damper.
When I went to get the right rear A-spec damper, I spent at least 15 minutes looking for the left/right marking. I finally concluded that the Acura instructions were wrong and they are not right or left specific. Plus, I was feeling pretty lucky and figured at worst I had a 50% chance of getting it right. Installing the damper was easier than the front as I could see the flange bolt holes from under the car. Getting the flange nut bolts on was a bit difficult for me since I have big hands. I had to force my hands in to the opening will holding the rear nut in-between the tips of two fingers. It worked out okay, but I was working blind here. I did not use my torque wrench here; I just tightened by feel.
The directions for reinstalling and tightening the bolts and nuts were perfect, even though I had to make some minor mods because of the Comptech RSB I was installing. I then put on the rear wheels, lowered the car and moved on to reinstalling the rear seat.
REINSTALLING THE REAR SEAT: Protect your car, wash up before you climb in the back seat and make a mess. I was even more careful getting the rear seatback into position. Just remember that the center seat belt goes in front of the rear seat back, not behind. Otherwise, you will reinstall the seatback twice. Attaching the first hidden bolt was a breeze. It went right into position and I tightened it all the way. The second hidden bolt was more of a problem. I ended taking a work light and putting it in my trunk so that I could look behind the seatback and line up the bolt. Once that was done, I moved on to the rear seat bottom. This went in easy. Just remember to position your seat belts before bolting it down.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: After running through the instructions one last time to make sure I didn’t forget anything, I hopped in the car and went for a test-drive. There was a noticeable improvement in the feel of the car within the first mile. I felt like I was more connected to the road. I then took the car on to some back roads to try it out. Immediately, I could feel the tightness in the rear of the car. It felt like the rear wanted to follow what the front was doing. Before the changeover, it sometimes felt that the rear would jump out of position, especially over bumps on turns. That is gone now. The front of the car definitely has better turn-in now. But it does not seem to me that front lean has been reduced. Overall, the front and rear are better integrated accomplishing a much less front-heavy feel to the car.
I was anxious to take the car on the highway. There is a 5-mile stretch of the Garden State Parkway that crosses over some marshland that was the deciding factor for me getting the A-spec suspension. This section of road has some rapid up and downs in it that were disconcerting at speeds above 70. The floatiness is all but gone now. When the car is unweighted on the backside of a roller, it now feels much more surefooted. Going into the front of the roller, the car feels like it squats down and bites in.
I haven’t driven the car harder than 7/10’s yet. I’m looking forward to a few choice roads where I know the car will get a good workout. But so far, I have to give the A-spec suspension mod high marks.
INSTALLATION NOTES: The A-spec dampers did not arrive with instructions, but it didn’t matter since I had printed them out from this site beforehand. I also printed out Peter Uber’s notes. The two sets worked well together.
When I opened the boxes, the first thing I noticed is that that they looked exactly like the standard dampers. But the part numbers were different from the standard suspension so I forged ahead…
FRONT SUSPENSION: Protect your car! Use blankets or towels on the fenders to protect them from dings or scratches. I started on the front of the car by removing the front strut tower bar (STB). Easy enough, except for those pesky little connectors attached to the brackets. I ended up just taking off the STB nuts and 2 brackets. I then just shifted the STB around to get at the strut flange nuts, instead of removing the STB completely. Next jack up the front end and place the car on jack stands. Then dive down under the car and get to it. I started on the right front damper. The damper fork flange nut and damper fork pinch bolts were not too difficult to get off, but you might want to use some penetrating oil if your car has some miles on it or has been through a winter. The hardest part about this part was getting an angle on the damper fork pinch bolt.
The next step was to remove the damper from the damper fork. If I had followed the instructions, it would have been easy. But since I removed the damper flange nuts immediately after the STB nuts then the damper dropped down out of position making this part more difficult.
Once that problem was solved, I had to wrangle the damper out from under the car. After a minute or two, I decided to jack up the suspension about 8 inches or so to give me more room to work with. Once that was done, the damper slid right out. Positioning the new damper (which is marked left and right) needed a bit of assistance. I had my wife help me out here from up top by telling me which way to move the assembly and then put on a damper flange nut to hold it in place. I then lowered the suspension and connected things as directed. After that I jacked up the suspension before torqueing the bolts. Then I lowered the suspension and moved to the other side.
The left side went 50% quicker because I had a clear idea what to do. No issues here at all. I then lowered the car, reinstalled the STB, put on the engine bay covers and moved to the back of the car.
REMOVING THE REAR SEAT: Protect your car! Wash up before starting work in your car, especially if you have a parchment interior. I would even go far as to say remove your rear seat BEFORE getting under the car. Also, be extremely careful moving the seats in and out of the car. I wasn’t careful enough and ended putting a small gouge in plastic on the left rear doorsill. There are two sharp brackets on the bottom of the rear seat back that will scratch or cut anything they touch.
Otherwise the removing the rear seat back and bottom was easy. I did need to use pliers to pull out the rear seat bottom clips, though. I just couldn’t do it by hand. I didn’t bother removing anything else just as Peter Uber and Lore recommended (thank you!). Once the seat back was out, there were openings large enough to get at the rear damper flange nuts, but just barely. More on that later.
REAR SUSPENSION: I jacked up the rear, put it on jack stands, removed the rear wheels and had at it. Very simple to get in there with the wheels off, it probably would have helped if I had taken off the front wheels when I did the front.
Since I was installing the Comptech RSB too, I first removed the stock sway bar and loosely attached the Comptech one. It was very easy to get at all the necessary bolts and nuts for the swaybar and rear dampers under the car. However, those stabilizer link nuts are a pain since you have to hold the center stable with an allen wrench (I was using an open-ended wrench to turn the nut.) I then moved up top to remove the damper flange bolts. Easy enough to do, I used a standard ratchet with short socket and it worked fine. I tried the 2”neck socket that Lore and Peter recommended but found it too tall.
I found that removing the rear damper from under the car was a breeze. I guess I was just lucky to find the correct path the first time. However, I did use the same technique I used in the front and jacked up the rear suspension 8 inches or so before trying to remove the damper.
When I went to get the right rear A-spec damper, I spent at least 15 minutes looking for the left/right marking. I finally concluded that the Acura instructions were wrong and they are not right or left specific. Plus, I was feeling pretty lucky and figured at worst I had a 50% chance of getting it right. Installing the damper was easier than the front as I could see the flange bolt holes from under the car. Getting the flange nut bolts on was a bit difficult for me since I have big hands. I had to force my hands in to the opening will holding the rear nut in-between the tips of two fingers. It worked out okay, but I was working blind here. I did not use my torque wrench here; I just tightened by feel.
The directions for reinstalling and tightening the bolts and nuts were perfect, even though I had to make some minor mods because of the Comptech RSB I was installing. I then put on the rear wheels, lowered the car and moved on to reinstalling the rear seat.
REINSTALLING THE REAR SEAT: Protect your car, wash up before you climb in the back seat and make a mess. I was even more careful getting the rear seatback into position. Just remember that the center seat belt goes in front of the rear seat back, not behind. Otherwise, you will reinstall the seatback twice. Attaching the first hidden bolt was a breeze. It went right into position and I tightened it all the way. The second hidden bolt was more of a problem. I ended taking a work light and putting it in my trunk so that I could look behind the seatback and line up the bolt. Once that was done, I moved on to the rear seat bottom. This went in easy. Just remember to position your seat belts before bolting it down.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: After running through the instructions one last time to make sure I didn’t forget anything, I hopped in the car and went for a test-drive. There was a noticeable improvement in the feel of the car within the first mile. I felt like I was more connected to the road. I then took the car on to some back roads to try it out. Immediately, I could feel the tightness in the rear of the car. It felt like the rear wanted to follow what the front was doing. Before the changeover, it sometimes felt that the rear would jump out of position, especially over bumps on turns. That is gone now. The front of the car definitely has better turn-in now. But it does not seem to me that front lean has been reduced. Overall, the front and rear are better integrated accomplishing a much less front-heavy feel to the car.
I was anxious to take the car on the highway. There is a 5-mile stretch of the Garden State Parkway that crosses over some marshland that was the deciding factor for me getting the A-spec suspension. This section of road has some rapid up and downs in it that were disconcerting at speeds above 70. The floatiness is all but gone now. When the car is unweighted on the backside of a roller, it now feels much more surefooted. Going into the front of the roller, the car feels like it squats down and bites in.
I haven’t driven the car harder than 7/10’s yet. I’m looking forward to a few choice roads where I know the car will get a good workout. But so far, I have to give the A-spec suspension mod high marks.
06-10-2005, 03:44 PM
#45
Oderint dum metuant.
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ChuckDu - I think it took you as long to write that review as it did to install the suspension 
. Glad the install went well...I, too, have a scratch on the left door sill from the damn seat back...live and learn, I suppose.
Not sure how the interstates there are, but here, you frequently have to make impressive manuevers around morons who can't drive...the car makes these cuts much more easily and confidently than stock...if you ever have to do it, you'll see. I did notice a big reduction in nose dive and rear squat on mine, though...try flooring it and slamming it...you should notice a difference.
I love my ASPEC suspension and CT RSB! It's a whole new (and better) car, no doubt. Great write-up, welcome to the club, and enjoy!!
. Glad the install went well...I, too, have a scratch on the left door sill from the damn seat back...live and learn, I suppose. Not sure how the interstates there are, but here, you frequently have to make impressive manuevers around morons who can't drive...the car makes these cuts much more easily and confidently than stock...if you ever have to do it, you'll see. I did notice a big reduction in nose dive and rear squat on mine, though...try flooring it and slamming it...you should notice a difference.
I love my ASPEC suspension and CT RSB! It's a whole new (and better) car, no doubt. Great write-up, welcome to the club, and enjoy!!
06-10-2005, 11:53 PM
#47
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Not installing on my own...got my dealer to get one of the techs to do it for cash on his day off...at ACURA 
$250 for body kit install, aspec suspension install, and comptech rsb install...I dont have the tools/time/or patience to do it myself
$250 for body kit install, aspec suspension install, and comptech rsb install...I dont have the tools/time/or patience to do it myself
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