okay i really need help with adding mods to my car and any upgrades at all, for performance, looks, and everything. please help me

i have a 2010 base polished metal metallic TL

so far i added a k and n cold air intake and a rear spoiler

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-295/pseudos-guide-adding-power-your-4g-854092/

 

After working on mine all day the results were minimal at best. Installed HFPC, J pipe, and CTE icebox and don't see much of a difference. Car still sounds pretty much the same and I will need a dyno to see results. Seat of the pants I can't tell. Car feels the same with a different pitch at full throttle. 1500 and not sure it really picked anything up. Just my 2 cents

 

wow. that sucks. with all those mods and $$ spent you would hope that the car feels piles faster.....

i wonder if none of these mods will do much until there is a way to tune the car???

it's really hard to evaluate these parts... some people claim they feel massive gains from just bolting on a jpipe..and others have said what you have said - they bolted on product X, and felt essentially nothing....

the fact that you added all those parts at once, and felt nothing - suggests that the car is tuned pretty well from the factory...and absent tuning...bolting stuff on will not do much of anythign to add power...

 

The above components generate additional hp by increasing the intake and exhaust flow rate, so that the engine will spin up faster.

However, the OEM exhaust pipes and mufflers are very restrictive in comparison, and are the limiting factor in your setup.

Thus, you'll need an aftermarket exhaust system to unleash the full potential for your installed components.

 

Not my first rodeo and not changing anything else. I appreciate the advice but mufflers will not make a large difference. NA engines actually need some back pressure to run efficiently / properly. Changing exhaust will only create more noise not HP.

I was under the same impression that the three changes at one time should feel a major difference. I have my test track down the street from my house. Point A-B I did 2 passes. Car pulled from a dead to 81-82 MPH. After mods I did the same 2 passes and car pulled from 0-84 MPH. Didn't quite make 85.

In no way am I stating the test is the most accurate but gives a general idea. It just sounds a little better at high RPM but if it's your first time in the car you wouldn't know the difference. Personal opinion the High Flow Cats aren't worth the headache of installation and I doubt there is any gain. J pipe looks cool compared to the stock but no big change in sound and can't feel a power difference. Ice box cleaned up the engine bay but I did notice the stock system is very similar plus it brings fresh cool air into the entire engine compartment. Definitely helps with cooling but can't say the difference it makes without recording before and after temps. Overall if I had to do it again I would do the J pipe and call it a day. Just my. 002 cents

 

The "feel" of performance gains for regular bolt on mods is all personal opinion. Unless you're talking about forced induction, you'll get people that say they feel the gains and people that say they don't feel the gains.

It's too bad that the gains weren't felt from above from the CTE and Jpipe bolt ons. It's a lot of money to spend to not feel any gains. But then again, I did the same mods (minus the HFC) and I'm pretty satisfied with the gains.

 

Dirtyo2000, there are two ways to boost the hp of a naturally aspirated engine, other than messing around with the Honda fuel management system.

Both ways have to do with the intake and exhaust flow rate.

One is to reduce the back pressure and make the intake/exhaust more "free flowing". This will add more power only to the top end - meaning mid to high rpm range. The engine will also spin faster to the red line in this case.

The other is to increase the back pressure and make the intake/exhaust even more restrictive. This will add more torque only to the low end - meaning low to mid rpm range. The engine will also spin slower to the red line in this case.

 

I'd recommend the XLR8 V2 j-pipe and XLR8 UR lightweight crank pulley. Both of those are great inexpensive mods.

 

^This

Mods on this ride Pretty much a waste of money.

If you had the factory behind you and unlimited money with a j35 your max would be 600hp. (See race TSX.)

Otherwise, why bother. There are good cars to mod, and there are good cars to simply enjoy as they were.

Personally, I spend my mod money on my yearly vacations to the Hawaiian islands. I get drunk, burnt, laid and trash a rental car for the same price it would cost me to turn my commuter car into a fucking rice burner.

I you really want to have fun, buy an old Porsche and turn it into a race queen. You would have better results and get more respect from REAL drivers.

 

^^ and thats why i stopped getting performance parts...my only performance mod is my exhaust.. and it will stay that way until i see a tune.. which is never

 

I had a UR lightweight crank pulley on my last car. That single handedly was probably the best mod compared to the price it cost. The install is way over my head as I've got limited skills to what I can DIY, otherwise I would look at that for the 4G.

 

I'm done chasing performance mods since I see this car is finiky with the computer. Will probably reinstall the factory cats in the next few months since in a few years will have to take a smog check and one less thing for the dealer to raise the red flag if the car ever has a problem. I can deal with the Intake and nothing to swap the J pipe.

If an engine has a major restriction then exhaust will free up a few HP but nothing dramatic. I would be willing to be that the J pipe is not flowing that much better than the stock pipe. True it is less restrictive the not like it's that great of a difference.

No matter what you do, if you can't manipulate the fuel and spark curves nothing is really going to change. Basically all the mods that I did are just duplicating what the factory parts were doing. If they made that big of a difference the car would be throwing codes and running like crap. Now if I could increase the fuel and timing I might be able to make more HP and tell the difference.

Because a motor turns up faster doesn't mean it's making more HP, it's just making the same HP faster. Take cars that change the gear ratio in them. I take my car with 300 HP, change from a 3.23 gear to a 4.56 gear. The car will turn up much faster and feel quicker. Will even run a faster time in 1/4 but it still has the same HP.

Because a motor turns up faster doesn't mean it's making more HP, just less of a strain or load while it's turning up. I learned a lot from actually working on the car and if it was to do all over again I wouldn't touch a thing. Not for everyone and the TL will continue to not be for me.

My 06 maxima defintely has an exhaust restriction since the pipe from the J pipe to the muffler is actually smooshed shut to get the right tone. The TL has a pretty decent exhaust system from studying it while under the car and not much to improve upon. Just because you add larger piping doesn't mean your making HP. Car needs a diet more than anyting.

UD pulleys were the big fad back in the day but not someting I would do to this motor. Since your spinning it up to 7K the dampner on the factory pulley plays a large roll dealing with enging harmonics. Sure most will believe that premature bearing failure is non existent but I would beg to differ. Since no factory balances cranks and rods within less than 1% of each other the factory balancer is needed to me. After all it's not a race car lol. I was looking for an improvement and don't think it's meant to be.

In no way am I saying not to do it but if you are playing around and want to beat someone that is beating you, don't think that these bolt ons will make a big improvement is all that I'm saying. Just trying to give back and great write ups that were done for the icebox install. I did read them all but don't see any gains from what I installed. It was fun working on the car and playing with Honda but they defintely build them for reliability and not performance. I don't think anything less than FI will wake the motors up.

 

The only way to tell whether there is any power gain, and in which portion of the power band(s), is to dyno the modded car.

 

Dyno's are only a tuning device and numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. The track is the only way to actually show an increase. Before and after times will show. Different dynos will show different results. With the Acura if you look at the J pipe dyno they can't even tell which pipe was the best since the results constantly changed. Only way to truly tell is 1/4 mile times, at least the 1/8. You can't measure acceleration on a dyno.

 

We should all just buy GT-R's and call it a day....

 

eBay is giving one away. I typically never enter contests like that, but this time I couldn't resist.

 

Focus on the sound system now.

 

mike, saw your post about your sound system set up.. would love to hear it someday.. maybe at a meet.

 

Dirtyo I think your expectations were unreasonable. Even though the CT-E icebox gains are impressive for a bolt on, it's less than a 10% increase over stock overall output. I've done the same mods as you, HFPC, UR lightweight pulley, CT-E icebox and long Jpipe. Is it worth it to spend over 2k in performance mods just to make the car a little faster? That's subjective. Are there other cars that can net you big(er) gains with just a tune, yes. I disagree with your point undermining the benefits of aggressive gearing, because after all isn't that what makes stock evo's and sti's so fast?

 

We can agree to disagree. Asked the question what were the results, most hate to give honest and open answers. Most want to feel they spent their money on a mod they can tell is there. My opinion is money is spent in much better ways. The mods will not show. Personally I wish I knew someone with the same car that I have so we can do a few pulls to see if there is really a difference. I'm willing to be it will not be enough to justify the cost.

I never undermined agressive gearing. I stated that gearing does not create more HP. No matter the gearing the car makes the same HP was my point.

You are content with spending whatever you feel is okay in your opinion for minimal gains. I experiment with all my cars and the Acura TL is a waste of money looking for a better performer with bolt ons. I would see better results stripping the car of weight for free.

Removing rear seat, spare tire and other truck materials, sway bars, unnecessary fastners will make the car quick. Granted it would look like crap and not handle as well but will be faster. That's free is all I'm saying. Just honest answers and not trying to justify money spent

 

^^Thank you for the interesting information and while somewhat conflicting with what some other members have reported,i certainly appreciate the various opinions.

I will be adding the IceBox and Hfpc to the j pipe that i already have and will share my review when completed.

I agree that running the modded car against a stock set up will give a better idea of any improvements.However,even this will have its own drawback such as drivers response time etc.

 

There's always variables but just gives a good idea. If you constantly pull away then you have made progress. Now if your neck and neck and get atleast get a car in front is it worth the actual money. It's all for fun and knowledge. Good luck on the install if you do it yourself. I'm just glad that no check engine lights or codes are being thrown lol. Did have to bend the heat shield behind the rear HFPC back a little to stop a buzzing sound around the 4K-7K range.

 

I have a '12 Mustang GT 5.0 and a BMW M Roadster for fast and fun. Both of those cars benefited greatly from bolt-on and tuning modifications. My '12 SH-AWD is all but stock and shall stay that way. I haven't seen any real modifications that can be done to these to allow for substantial gains in horsepower or 1/4 times, so it is best in my opinion to leave it as the experts at Honda designed it, and save my gas mileage in the process. $2-3k is a lot to spend for ~40rwhp... especially in the 6AT (until of course they come out with a tune to adjust the shift points).

 

^Two brand new rides and a hot hatch? Suuuure.....

One of my all time best/favorite mechanics once told me, "If you want a better, faster car, buy it that way from the factory."

Some mods are worth the extra $$ on the 4G and will show marked improvements in the vehicle: Coil-overs, BBK, wheel-tire package, Cat delete, etc. Others are just for fun: SS Cat-back exhaust, intake...

Spend your money wisely, your not going to get it back when you sell the car.

 

I would be happy to post pictures of them. The stang is a 2012 GT Premium M6 in Kona Blue, the BMW is a 2000 e36 M roadster in astoria blue... not that it matters, but I have a '12 Tundra TRD SR5 crew as well (in nautical blue)..

 

For sure bud. Changed it out to even better set up now.

 

Hey dirtyo, do you have FWD or AWD? I'm just curious if one is maybe more receptive to performance mods than the other.

 

I have AWD. Played with a few FWDs and slowly pulled away through the gears but haven't found anyone to play with since the Mods. They must know I'm packing now lolol

 

Yeah. TL's are sooo fast dude.

 

thanks for the pics. That pic post brings back memories of another guy who owned too many cars...Where is the E36?


What I really want to see is more pics of VivMike's ride.

 

fellas, you do know it takes about 30hp to "FEEL" in a 3500lb car?

with the 4G pushing the scales at 3700-4000lbs (depending on model) it will take a great deal of engine work(heads and cams(and even then you couldnt even tune it)) to be able to even tell that you're "moving quicker"

 

How about one of these? Lexus LF-LC

 

Jaguar CX-75 Prototype
1.6L Petrol 780 HP supercharged and turbo charged
Two electric motors
All wheel drive
gets 55 mpg..

engine produces 313 bhp per liter..
pretty impressive little car

 

:lol: OP is gone.

 

Lol!