I just go my car on the dyno this morning and I feel somewhat disappointed.

List of Mods
2012 Acura TL SHAWD
Sprintbooster
AFE drop in air filter
Maxbore stock TB
P2R TB spacer
P2R ported intake runners
RV6 J-pipe
Endless RPM exhaust
Unorthodox lightweight crank pulley
Ktuner preload #4 up to PCD/High-flow cat, J-pipe, Exhaust
(I will do Etunes to fine tune it)

I asked if the dyno adjusted for elevation because I live at 4000ft and he said yes. It is a mustang dyno so I know people have said that makes a difference. From the dynos I have seen this isnt even up to par with bone stock ones. Butt dyno feels good though. It feels peppy and strong from 2500 to redline.

Thoughts?

 

Stock pre cats?

 

Yes

 

Well the PCD or even hfpc are the best single mods you can do for power as your stock pre cats are the possibility the most restrictive part.

And to top it off you are running a ktuner basemap for PCD or hfpc so it can't be running very optimally for the mods you do have.

You got to get some pcd asap if you want power.

 

Something is not right, not sure if it is car or dyno. You should be making 250whp-260whp on Mustang dyno.

 

I had a 2018 TLX AWD that I did a dyno at the same place but that was 2.5 years ago (that I dont have anymore) and that was this one with the mods listed in this other dyno. My TL feels pretty strong that is why I was very surprised. I did just have my cams replaced last week because of the pitting issue. I wish I would have did a dyno when only I had a J-pipe. Also I had a 2021 TLX 4 turbo as a loaner for a couple weeks while my TL was getting the cams replaced (back ordered rocker arms) and I know the dyno numbers on that one and it didn't feel like it had a stronger pull than the TL. But then again that is subjective butt dyno

 

Try to go to that dyno, again. Something out of spec. Mustangs always read low. When i did my MDx many years ago it was around 250whp... And there is no vtec on exhaust cams.

 

I found another all wheel drive dyno close by. I am going to go through them just to see if there is a difference (plus they are a little cheaper)

 

I am considering getting HFPC. I don't want to do Cat deletes because I can't stand the smell. The last HFPC I had started throwing codes after about 1.5 years but I read the generation 2 from RV6 is less likely to do that. Plus I don't want my exhaust to be too loud. With my set up now it only sounds a little more than stock which I love. I have the resonated pipes in and it was louder at first but still not too bad and over a couple weeks it is even quieter. I know the SHAWD cats are 600 cell instead of the 900 on the standard TL so it is already freeing flowing but I am wondering how much better it will be plus the most important thing is how much louder. I love how I can almost forget I even have an exhaust at the moment. I have had louder ones when I was younger but have no desire to be like that again

 

don't expect to newer cats to last longer.

 

Is that one of the Gen2 cats? How long did it last?

 

yes. 1.5-2 years

 

Man that sucks. Did you get another pair afterwards or put back on the stock cats? In your opinion are they still worth it?

 

In my opinion no, stock or test pipes is a way to go. These CATS can damage engine. I have no luck with any aftermarket units that is installed close to the engine.
Right now I have high quality GESI/Vibrant cat installed on Jpipe, that kind cat should last a life-time. Also engine makes more power compared to the cats attached to the each bank, and no risk of damaging engine with failed cat.

 

Wow that is a pretty sweet set up. Such a clean looking converter. Now that I have been thinking about it I am wondering if I have some broken pieces in my stock converters. I have had some intermittent rattling sound that I have never been able to identify and I have noticed it the most at idle at stop lights when the car is still warming up. If my stock ones have broken or clogged catalyst that would definitely slow down the flow of exhaust gases.

 

Rattling for first 10-15 seconds during cold start is a classic sign of failed/failing metallic CAT. But since you said you have stock cats, I am not so sure.....

 

Maybe I am over thinking things. It doesn’t do it at start. I seem to only notice it a few minutes later when idling. But only when the car is warming up. I have never noticed it anytime else.

I was going to ask if with the route of the high flow cat on the jpipe who even makes PCDs anymore? I noticed that RV6 doesn’t have them listed on their website.

 

Maybe heat shield rattle. Yeah nobody is producing test pipes right now.

 

I ended up getting the RV6 High flow cats installed and have another baseline dyno scheduled a week from now on a different dyno. I know it will be apples and oranges comparison because of the different variables but should give me a good idea of where I am now. The addition of the HFPC didn't make my exhaust any louder just some rasp at higher rpms. Not too bad with my windows up. Much better than drone which I hate. Because if i drive conservatively I don't hear it at all only when I get on it and it doesn't bother me. So I will let you know the new dyno numbers in a weeks time

 

So good news and bad news. The bad news is the Dyno I did today was even lower than the other one. The graph showing two lines is two different tunes. The lower one is my “in the middle etune”. The larger one is the standard tune by ktuner for HFPC, jpipe and exhaust. The other good news is the Dyno guy today said the graph shows a hump right at the beginning like it wants to make a lot more power but then something pulls it back. So I am not sure if it is timing, afr or something to do with traction control on the Dyno even though he said he turned it off. Thoughts?

 

I am doing my etune through someone else now. The first guy charged $150 and I got a basemap and one revision over a months time (total of only 3 revisions for the price but I never got anymore than the 1st revision). This new person charges $450 but works on it until perfect. This new guy already seems way better. For the first set of data logs I have to upload 4 different ones. 1) cold start then idle until reach temperature. 2) 15 minutes stop and go driving. 3) 15 minutes cruising driving. 4) 3rd gear 2000rpm to redline run on flat driving surface same direction and location with each revision. The first guy didn’t give me any directions for data logs so I just drove around with a mix of all 4 when I sent it to him. After my etune is all the way done I will Dyno again to see what difference it made.

 

A new guy is Derek. He is one of the best.

Too bad you started tuning process, I would suggest real CAI. It really opens up J37, especially with 4" tubing.

 

Ha ha yes the new guy is Derek. Even though I could get more with an intake I don’t like how loud they are. I like the car sounding subtle where people can’t tell I have don’t anything to it.

 

So here is my updated dyno graph. I am still disappointed at the motor. It is weird to me that the torque is higher than the horsepower. It feels good and accelerates well especially if I keep it in the power band above 4K. Also weird that it peaks on horsepower at just over 5K. Would an intake make that big of a difference? The graph is really clean but stock motors make more than me, bummer. The guy did say compared to other dynos like the first one I posted this one reads middle of the line to lower but still that wouldn't make up the big gap that most people are at with these mods.

 

I am going to dyno next week at the other place that uses powerdyne because I was at 200hp and 200tq before the high flow cats and the custom tune. It will be interesting to see the difference. I also picked up some lighter wheels and new tires. They were only about 1.5lbs difference (wheel and tire combo) compared to stock but acceleration is very noticeable. Maybe more of the mass is in the center?? I am getting coil overs soon so I will upload pics once those are on. BUT one thing I did want to point out in this last graph is that the lower line is the K-tuner preloaded map with HFC, Jpipe and exhaust so the custom tune was very much needed. I can definitely tell. The very first run on the DynoCom was the 2nd revision by a different Etuner so big difference without a tune or crappy tune. But looking at the horsepower topping out so quickly it seems like it needs a lot more air up top and is choking out? Is the SRI fairly quiet below Vtec? just in case the girlfriend is in the car with me he he. If it was worth it Derek said the recalibration would only be $250 instead of the normal $450. I really wish I would have gotten a dyno before doing anything just to see how far I have come. oh well

 

Something not right, your max HP should be at around 6700rpms and you peak at 5100rpms.
Not sure if it is dyno operator, or technical problems. Maybe bad/dirty MAF, Engine knock, clogged air filter, bad CATS? Or maybe weak fuel pump?How injectors duty cycle % is looking? Ask your tuner. Maybe he sees something out of spec.

 

How much oil are your burning? Did you have the engine rebuilt by acura with new pistons/rings? Have you done a compression check to see how it is? How old are the O2 sensors?


unplug the SH-AWD fuse and run in FWD mode only. You'll see all the missing ponies. SH-AWD can be very hard to dyno properly and can show very inconsistent numbers if not done properly.

EDIT: Saw you are at 4000 above sea level.... that coupled with any sort of heatsoak is probably causing a loss.

 

It could be chalked up to Shawd.

Everyone who gets close to 300 is just doing fwd with the Shawd fuse pulled.

 

problem is, he is losing hp after 5k rpms. Awd has nothing to do with it.
This My mdx when ktuner was developing tune for 10-13 mdx (on awd dyno):

 

You dont think something is wrong with Vtec engaging? I had my cams replaced right before I started this thread by the acura dealership in my area. When I did my last dyno I could hear the exhaust note change so It sounded like Vtec was engaging. I have a dyno scheduled in a few hours at the first place I went to in the first post so It will be interesting to see what that one shows up as. I will post that later today. When I am driving on the freeway the "butt dyno" feels like it continues to pull into the mid 6k range. It doesn't feel like it starts to lose power or slow down after 5K on the road.

 

Well looks like my dyno session will have to be Friday because they were backed up and I didn't have the time to wait so Friday morning it is now. @dzionny_dzionassi You mentioned how the 3.7L likes an aftermarket intake. It would be interesting to dyno a before and after retuning it to the intake to see how much that would add. Is it super obnoxious and loud or pretty tolerable?

 

I have only had the car 2 years and did the 100K service and cam swap. It goes through a quart of oil about everything 2,000 miles. I assume the O2 sensors are the originals. I haven’t done a compression check.

 

The engine still had a few knocks at low throttle tip in according to derick he was trying to get rid of. Unless the HFPC were bad right out of the box I don’t know. If my new Dyno is the same or worse on Friday compared to the original PDF in my first post then something has to be wrong with the cats because I got them right afterward and did the other Dyno that was even lower. My air filter is about 6 months old AFE drop in. I am not sure how to even check to see if the MAF sensor is dirty or bad.

injector duty cycle about roughly eyeballing my data logs for normal driving part to mid throttle
4% at 1000rpm
10% at 2000rpm
20% at 2600rpm
40% at 4000rpm
and
during a 2000 rpm to redline full throttle run it followed the RPMs pretty close
30% 3000
40% 4000
50% 5000
60% 6000

 

I spoke to Marcus from heeltoe today about some suspension stuff and related to him the Dyno issues. He said he had the same problem with AWD giving really low numbers because of the power distribution throwing things off. He said he disabled it to leave it in FWD mode to get an accurate representation so that makes me feel better. How would I even access that? He said it was in the trunk.

 

After countless searching I guess I can pull the fuse to make it front wheel drive with only 10% to the rear wheels. But I also heard I can pull one of these in the differential control module. But I can’t seem to figure out which one. Search is not my friend with this one

 

I will post both dynos from both places


Bottom line all the bolt ons. Only difference is bottom is ktuner basemap 4 HFPC, jipipe, exhaust. Top one is custom ktune map




The bottom graph is all bolt ons except HFPC with ktuner basemap 4 HFPC, jpipe and exhaust Top graph added HFPC And custom tune

Some thoughts. I noticed the peak is better on the mustang Dyno but still drops off after 5800Rpm I didn’t want to do a FWD pull because then I would have nothing to compare it too. It is interesting to note the differences seemed greater with the Dynocom graph. The mustang Dyno guy said his Dyno front and back is mechanically linked so they run at the same speed and cannot vary. Both times I did the mustang Dyno my VSA Dashlight turned on afterwords because it probably doesn’t like that the front and rear wheels can’t run at different speeds. Last bit is I really wonder if the HFPC are bad already. I never mentioned this before but I do get a intermittent metallic rattle noise at full throttle when above 5K. Sometimes it is there sometimes not. I heard it again after leaving the Dyno again today. It sounds like a bolt in a tin can bouncing around. I never get a cold start rattle at all. That would really suck if the cats were bad and caused a clog right from the get go.


Subjective feel on the road? It feels better than it ever has. It has gobs of low end around town torque so I don’t feel like I have to wring it out. It feels like it pulls on the freeway at least to 6K. If I am at 75-80 on the freeway and floor it it still climbs and pulls better than it ever has without feeling like it is struggling. Passing power is great. I zip past people like they are standing still. So I am happy with it just a little worried about that intermittent rattle. The very first time I heard it was after a couple 2000-redline pulls while doing the Etune. Then it went away for a couple weeks and now is there only once in a while.

 

Did you use the subframe spacers that the Rv6 jpipe comes with? If not that could be the rattle. I'd be really curious what you would get with a fwd dyno pull. Shawd is notoriously hard to dyno. I'm glad Rv6 can properly dyno that MDX but they literally specialize in Honda Acura and make parts for many Shawd models. Obviously they have figured it out but who's to say a random dyno place has....

But hey as long as it feels great to drive then you should be happy.

 

Is it possible that when they replaced my cams back in January that they messed up vtec activating? I drove a bone stock MDX today and I could easily hear the change over. I can’t hear that in my car at all. Is it possible for it not to be activating and not throw a code at all?

 

you can pull the wire for the rear wheel speed sensor and it'll shut off VSA, ABS and SH-AWD.

OR this fuse is what I've been told from interior fusebox:

* means if equipped from the guide.


I'd buy some new upstream O2 sensors (NTK brand is OEM) and see if it helps.
Make sure you have the right oil level (not under or overfilled) when on dyno otherwise VTEC will not have enough oil pressure to stay engaged. VTEC is fairly simple system that relies on oil pressure to function properly. With exhaust mods, sometimes it can be hard to hear the changeover.

Did acura do a valve adjustment after putting in the new cams? Side note, there have been quite a few people i know with 3.7L engine that have had the fuel pump randomly take a dump around 100K miles. Check your fuel pressure level, perhaps the engine is being starved of fuel at upper RPMS due to fuel pressure.

Altitude does make a big difference in how the car feels. I felt like my MDX lost a ton of power when I went to the smokey mountains and went to the parking for the observation area at clingermans dome. I'd say we were at 6000FT above sea level.

 

Can the dealer check fuel pressure or fuel pump easily? On a coupe side notes my car did feel pretty fast compared to the stock 2014 mdx awd. That felt slow in comparison. Especially 80+ was chugging along. My car has lots of easy passing power. Like it is nothing. 80+ keeps climbing easily. The last side note is I had to reflash my computer back to stock and may need to swap back on the stock jpipe on and off each year. Apparently my state is cracking down on visual emission inspections. Unless I can find a place that is sloppy. But if I try like 3 times and fail I will have to go to the state themselves to pass. Newbie error about the flashed ecu when they did the emissions check. So I will flash that back too after I pass. The stupid VSA light hasn’t gone out yet from that mustang Dyno. I forgot it did that last time too. I think it took a few days to drop off. I don’t know how else to clear it. I had to get a new battery the other day and that didn’t reset the code or with me unhooking the battery for a few minutes.