Slithr

Car is a 2012 TL FWD Auto. Based on my latest experimentation, it seems to have a 128 mph speed limiter. What is the best way to defeat the limiter? I figure a software fix, but I'm unfamiliar with this application as this is my first four wheeled Honda/Acura product (other than my mower). I appreciate the help.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

cant.

Slithr

Seriously? No one sells a tuner for this deal?

Edward'TLS

It is virtually impossible to hack into the modern-day Honda/Acura PCM and modify the firmware program, without incurring astronomical cost to the handful of buyers.

Slithr

Sorry to say it appears you boys are right. Do they sell TLs in Europe?

jnc2000

Megasquirt....

Edward'TLS

There is no Acura brand in Europe, only the European Honda badge.

The European Honda Accord is available in North America known as the Acura TSX. This is it.

big10purdue

Just out of curiosity, why do you need to go more than 128mph?

potmilkz

BECAUSE RACECAR..... thats why

stella31

If the TL wasn't made to race, why would they put 305 hp in it?!?!

but seriously I'd be ok with 80 more hp and a 155 limiter...while still having it not wear a German badge...

potmilkz

well... you have to understand its a fwd 400 lb car.. i would understand if it had 385 hp RWD then we would say "wtf is with this limiter??"

but fact is... its a cruiser.. not a speed bullet.

fsttyms1

Piss poor excuse. Mine is FWD (2000 TL with a stock 150 gov) and will hold its own with M3s (stock) and slightly modded STI's on lapping days. There is no reason why it couldnt have it raised.

Slithr

Brochure says "sports sedan". If it says "sports", it shouldn't sign off at 130. I have had two occasions where the choice was between leaving the area and bad things. In both cases I was driving something faster than the bad guys and was able to leave. I consider it a safety issue. From my perspective, a "sports sedan" that will only run 130 is unsafe.

big10purdue

I see patients on a routine basis that drive in excess of 130mph. We usually scrape them off the pavement or pick up their limbs 50ft from the crash site.

Slithr

If one does not have any expertise in that area, it can be dangerous, as you pointed out. However, there are times and places that allow that type of speed, or more, with relatively little risk. There are also times that you have to weigh that risk in comparison to other factors.

ReneC

This is why Bond drives an Aston.

wreak

I'm willing to bet most of those people he's scraped off the highway also thought they had some kind of special "expertise" as well. See the issue with doing 130mph on any highway in NA is that the highways aren't designed for those speeds and people aren't accustomed to merging and dealing with traffic doing those kinds of speeds. You could be Micheal Schumacher behind the wheel and it still wouldn't matter if someone cut you off or was trying to merge in front of you at that speed.

This might be a valid argument if we lived in some areas of Europe.

Slithr

Exactly. One does not drive 130+ where there are limited sight lines or dangerous traffic conditions. The expertise I mentioned includes the ability to make judgements regarding road, traffic, weather and equipment conditions
so as to render the high speeds as safe as possible. There are thousands of miles of roads in the USA that are perfectly safe for a well maintained vehicle to travel at 130+ given the correct conditions. Don't know what roads you have been exposed to, but come to the western USA sometime and check it out. In many places the roads are good, the traffic is light to non-existant and the only thing that keeps you from seeing forever is the curvature of the earth. Happy motoring!

parasitius

Yup. Ohio turnpike at the right times of day -- 4 lanes wide and 0 cars stretches as much as 5 miles wide (it is a moving stretch of course) -- riding in the middle lane that is a helluva lot of margin for error on either side. As far as I know about cars, the only possible catastrophic thing that can happen is a tire blow out. I think it is fully guarded for deer (unlike other highways roads in the state).

potmilkz

try doing 130 here in socal..your not even able to reach those speeds most of the time as the road conditions will stop you from doing that.. bumps, high and low spots everywhere on the fwy and almost on every fwy..

100mph.. yes.. 130mph... no.. if the roads dont get you, the cops will.

cops are like ninjas at night, they come out of no where

Slithr

Southern Cal is pretty full of people. My guess is that you have to go a ways east into the desert to find any roads that would be suitable and even then you might have to go east of Palm Springs.

I have never owned a car that had good enough headlights that I would feel comfortable at night at 130. The closest thing to that we had in our family was my dad's 1968 SS427 Impala with aircraft landing lights in the high beams. You could run 100-110 at night and still see deer and stuff in time to stop if you had the high beams on.

big10purdue

So, the population of people that could possibly drive "safely" in excess of 130+mph are those surrounded by desert and Europeans. Not a high enough concentration of Acura owners to warrant the change...
Like previous posters indicated... it's not just the driver. Multiple variables play a factor. US highways and streets are not the autobahn... they have numerous potholes and imperfections. Then, you have the guy next to you trying to go 130+ in his Kia as he loses control and sideswipes you.
I ALWAYS trust myself as a driver, but I don't trust the idiots around me.

Slithr

The Europeans that I've talked to indicate that our interstate highways are as good or better than many portions of the autobahn. My experience has been that the roads in the Southwest are in better shape than those in the North and Northeast. Your options may be more limited.

Here you don't have to be in the desert to find roads that would be safe at those speeds. I'm not suggesting that everyone spend all day at 130+. What I am saying is that can be very useful to have that ability from time to time. If someone doesn't feel comfortable and/or have the experience to safely drive that fast, then I would discourage them from doing so.

Unless there are some underlying design flaws that would prevent the car from traveling faster in a safe manner, then the only cost would be a few keystrokes in the ECU programming. I believe the Civic Si is limited at 139. I find it hard to believe that it is a more capable car at speed than the TL.

rossfarneth

fsttyms1

There is a time and place for it. If you are doing it on unfamiliar roads you are asking for trouble, on the same token if you are doing it with traffic you are an idiot as well. US Hwys are more than adequate for it if you are using your head.

fsttyms1

???

dethred

I think the question should really be asked:

Why 128mph? If you're going to limit it at all, either limit it to ~85-90 (speed limit plus some) or set it at the speed at which the car would be unsafe for mechanic reasons (tires, stability, etc).

Setting it to 130 allows the driver to be horribly reckless while still limiting it, presumably for safety reasons, well below what the car is mechanically safely capable of achieving.

I'd never do 100+ in the car, but I am offended at the stupidity of the restriction they set in place. Not because of the very fact that it is implemented, but because its implementation makes ZERO sense.

fsttyms1

Most limiters are based upon the speed rating of the tire the manufacturer goes with as standard equipment

UA6

Car wasn't made to go that fast. Consider it a blessing in disguise.

fsttyms1

And how did you come to that conclusion?

UA6

I think you answered your own question.

fsttyms1

No i didnt. What i said didnt mean the "car" wasnt designed to go that fast. Thats just the tires that they picked arent designed to. There is no reason the car it self couldnt handle faster speeds (in/on save roads/conditions)

weather

...and quite frankly, that is a bad thing! The thing that piss me off the most is that these stupid drivers often aren't the one who get their parts picked up with a shovel, but the innocent driver/passengers in the other vehicle.

UA6

Aren't the tires considered part of the car? Someone that knows a lot more about the car than both of us thought it wouldn't be a good idea to have the car go this fast.

FireAtWill

Just out of curiosity...unless you're racing this car at the track, why would you ever need to go that fast? did you piss off a mob boss or something?

wreak

Well Acura does offer higher performance tires on the 19 inch optional wheels.

Slithr

Car came stock with V rated tires which are rated for 149.

No mob bosses for now. I'll bore you with a quick version of the stories.

Family vacation to Arizona. Driving from Tucson to Lordsburg, N.M. on I-10 at the time. It was about 1:30 a.m. New Caddy with three rather unsavory looking late teens/early twenties guys pulled up beside us (had interior lights on). Paced us for about 5 miles - right next to us. I slowed down and sped up 30 - 90 and they stayed right with us. The car had no plates. Pretty much no one else on the road and I was getting more than a little uneasy.

Luckily had a Q45 at the time and it would run an honest 150. As it turns out the Caddy would not. So about 10 minutes at approx. 150 and I never saw them again.

Driving home one night about midnight on I-20 south of Dallas. Bunch of kids in an older Chevy pulled up beside me, rolled down their window and showed me a revolver.

I was driving a 455 HO Trans Am, so I left the area at 140+. They tried to keep up, but were unable to.

In both cases, I was able to avoid what I believed to be serious problems by having the ability to leave those problems behind.

As I noted earlier, a Civic Si is limited to 137 (misread it the first time). It's hard for me to believe, especially after having the car to 130, that a Civic is more capable at speed.

Once again, if you don't know that you can drive a car at high speed without endangering yourself or others, then don't do it.

fsttyms1

It still has nothing to do on whether the "car" can do it. If you have Z rated rubber on that is rated to, and no limiter the car would easily go faster and have no problem doing so and no reason it shouldnt have a higher limiter. And i bet them having it on has more to do for ins reasons and other crap like most cant and shouldnt try to, that than because you think it cant handle it.

UA6

^Perhaps the decision was based on the OEM equipment. I'd like to see what percentage of people upgrade their car with high performance equipment. I do agree that 130 mph does seem low but I'm just trying to figure out the rationale behind that decision.

connork53

iTrader: (1)

Let me know when you figure out the limiter in your mower.