My "Guess" is that you will get more bang from the J-pipe. I would get it and do the install of both at the same time.

 

Thanks for the thread. Help me out a lot.

 

Great info! Thanks!

Great thread!

 

This is the most informative thread I've read in a long time

 

Buy every single bolt-on available for the car install it and get it tuned simple as that..

 

I know I'm late but this thread has been extremely helpful.. Thanks folks

 

Thanks for the thread, super helpful.

 

Great thread, my question is where and roughly how much would it cost to get my '13 TL sh-awd tuned and what implications does it have on both performance as well as the fact that its a lease.

 

Great thread Pseudo, very well written and explained.
I am not looking for more power and I do not want to hurt my gas mileage more than just a little, BUT (!) I feel my 10 base fwd 3.5L 5AT is very quiet. I would like to add a bit of a growl to it. Would you reco the Magnaflow mufflers? Are they a simple bolt in, same size etc. as factory? (Why do you say muffler shop required - just for the hoist or do you need to torch and weld things?) Thanks for your help.
JC

 

Oh sh*t, without looking under the car, I think I remember that the mufflers are all one piece with the pipes. Right? So I guess to install the new mufflers you cut out the old ones. Not sure I want to do that.

 

Just got a 12 SH-AWD! Can't wait to get started! Great thread!

 

Pseudo...please gay marry me in Utah. Holy shizzle, you are a genius and I love this thread. Totally doing HFPCs, RV6 J-pipe for more power in the low end, and ATLP cat back to let my baby fart a little bet better.

 

Yes cutting is required. Also remember that the Magnaflows recommended here and the exhaust on the TL are stainless steel, so you'll need a TIG welder not a MIG welder to be done right.

It's a simple process, but if you want it done right with clean professional welds that look OEM you'll have to find a good fabricator with a TIG welder.

Mine should be going on this Saturday thanks to Mike Noribilt!

 

Great write up. Thanks!

 

DefMunkie- Did you get yours installed?

 

Someone should get a bone stock TL and do a bunch of freeway pulls against one of these fully modded cars. forget all the dyno graphs and talk about how much horsepower we think these things aded - and get out on the freeway - or a track - same amount of gas in the tank , same no of passengers - and do repeated pulls to see if the Bolt-on car really is substantially faster

 

I have a TL almost stock except for the ice box, and my boy has the same car with all these mods and let me tell you that it's a huge diff between the 2 cars. His pulls harder feels faster and you call feel the torque is much higher that in my TL. I was blown away.

 

I know who you're talking about, I hear he's done some pretty wild stuff to his ride.

 

If I were a betting man and I am, I would say the most hp you picked up from all of this is 10 max and maybe 15 on QT. First you have to understand how all of these mods work and work together. Let's start with the pulley, you changed one pulley, not all of them. You need to change all of the pullies, your new pulley can't spin any faster because it's still pushing the weight of all of the others. Second I didn't see any mention of headers unless I missed it. With all of the air intake and exhaust work you still have stock headers restricting everything you did. No way around this, your computer is still adjusted for the max exhaust flow. Third you never changed your plenum so you are still stuck at the max intake of the stock plenum. You can only get so much air through the stock throttle body and the spacer does nothing for this. Also you would need new cams to allow for the valves to stay open longer to get more air into each cylinder and to let it escape each cylinder. I'm not trying to burst your bubble, but I would have spent 2 grand on. New tv or something worth while. You need another 3 grand into your car to get the results you want out of your mods.

 

He does mention the equivalent of headers. For our engines the headers are integrated onto the block so we use HFPC or PCD. We're somewhat local to each other, I have a few bolt on's and we can test the stock vs not difference. If all I've gained is 10-15, you have nothing to worry about, it'll be a dead heat.

 

Ummmm...I dont think there is a Plenum spacer for the TL. As long as everything is free flowing from the motor back it should be some gains. As for the pulley, its just to help rev up faster, its not creating anymore power. Bolt on are bolt ons....they free up some power, but how much power is up for debate until someone is dynoed or tuned.

 

Cams are not available for our cars yet, I've checked. You'd have to do a lot of additional mods to possibly make it work, such as custom billets or re grinders.

 

Yep, he's done allot to his TL. Let's say it's a pretty nasty TL, but we will keep it a little secret for now, lol.

 

Hmmm I am wondering if I know this guy as well

 

There has to be the equivalent to a plenum on the car, every car has it. It's where the throttle body is located. I don't know the actual size of the throttle body for the TL on either engine, but a stock one can only move so much air. Just like a garden hose can only handle a certain amount of water. You need to go to a larger hose if you need more water. If there are no cams and any addition of throttle body, then you will never create the proper air flow for all of these mods. Plain and simple, this goes for any car, be it a Mustang, Corvette or a Beetle. All gasoline engines work the same way in regards to air flow, everything involved needs to be upgraded. A good example is a toll road, the traffic moves fine, you get to the toll and there is congestion and then it opens back up after the toll. You hit one restriction in your engine and it basically bogs you down. I think a lot of the power you feel is in your mind and you want to feel that power. Like I said 10-15 hp max if your lucky. Which in a 1/4 mile means basically nothing or in any other terms of performance.

 

Yea the pulley isn't going to rev/spin any faster since the other pulleys are all the same weight they were before. You need to change all of the pulleys. Also the main reason for going with an aftermarket pulley isn't really for the weight savings. It's for the balance of the pulley, most stock pulleys are not properly balanced. They have heavier spots just like a tire before it's balanced. The unbalanced pullies cause more of problem when working against each other. Although a pulley sells a lot better when they say "your engine will rev faster and fight off parasitic loss". More people will buy that than a marketing idea of "buy our pulleys so your engine is balanced better". The balancing does help with parasitic loss, but not enough that you would see in performance. It's more for you alternator running better, more than anything else.

 

Although I might be new to Acura, I'm in no means new to engines and modding them. An Acura engine runs no differently than a Ford or Chevy engine.

 

I think the only real way to test this is to go head on a track. I insist on a head to head because the numbers are only part of the story. And while the fundamentals of engine function & modification are pretty much true across the board n/a vs n/a, blower v blower, turbo v turbo, you have to work with what you've got. I don't for a second think that bolt on modding is as simple as saying intake 10 hp + pulley 5 hp = 15hp without tuning. But if you're on the other side of the fence and insist removing cats on a large V6 doesn't give at least 10hp, then we have nothing to talk about.

8th gen accords dyno +15whp with PCD on a 3.5.

 

I have a '13 TL 3.7 and I want to know which j-pipe to get?? The RV6 is out of stock and I also live in Canada so preferably would buy it from a store myself vs. Huge shipping/duties! Help!!!!

 

Who did the Dyno exactly and were did it pick up 15 HP? At the front wheels?

 

No store in Canada will have these in stock,they will have to order one and then sell it to you,in which case it will probably cost you more since they have to make a buck as well.

Your choices are limited and unless you can get a used one from someone local,you may have to order it directly from the forum vendor.I have the RV6 and i love it,superb quality on the welds and finished product.

BTW,i feel your pain about the duties/shipping charges,it really adds up to the parts you purchase.It happens to me every time but you gotta pay to play lol.

 

I feel your pain being in Canada as well. I'm lucky that I can go down to the border quite quickly though. I would wait for the RV6 J-pipe. I contacted RV6 and they mentioned they did some tweaking to the part to make it flow and fit better and that it should be in stock again in March.

 

I'll find the graph, so we can see exactly where in the rpm range were peak gains made. US spec Accords since way back when are fwd, I think only the wagons came with 4WD.

 

Just by your response to my question I can see you have no idea what I'm talking about, and as suspected I call BS on your power findings. Anyone that knows about cars, dynos any gains, would know I'm not talking about a an AWD or FWD when I say "where were the gains made at the Front wheels?". When I refer to gains made at the front wheels it means, was the car dynoed at the front wheels? Or did they pull the engine and actually Dyno the engine. 15 HP is a huge number to get just from removing cats. The number is even larger and more absurd when you say it came from the front wheels. Meaning that it was a 20hp plus gain if dynoed from the engine. From all of the info I can find find reputable sources the TL with FWD is going to lose 20-25% of its HP from the crank to the front wheels. This number goes up even higher when you talk about an AWD car. Looking more likely to be 22%-30% hp loss from crank to tires. That means your looking at nearly 25 HP from a cat delete? I don't think so, never in a million years. Maybe if it's from a Honda or Acura Forum the numbers might get twisted in favor of these cars. But it actually never happened and never will when removing a stock cat/cats.

 

HeartTLs, don't take anything personally, my response is not an attack on you in any way. I'm just going off of basic sound fundamental facts that have been around for ages. I would suggest if you want to find out about mods and actual gains from them, to do some research on these. Of course a company is going to say "we got 15 HP from our exhaust", what they don't explain is that they threw every other mod on there as well and had it tuned and then added the exhaust. This means every mod I mentioned before, then you can start talking about 50-60 hp gains and TQ gains in the same areas. But until you do all of this it's only realistic to see gains of 15hp tops from all of the mods. When I did my C5 Vette I only got 20Hp from all of the bolt ons and then added the cams with an Aluminum polished intake manifold, the numbers came to life and put me at close to 60hp and 60 TQ in gains. My buddy did the opposite thinking he would gain near 40 with just the cams and intake, I think he dynoed in at 12 I believe in gains. These were all performed with tunes as well. At a well known Vette speed shop. Even the guys there will laugh at you when you come in and say hey give me that magnaflow that will give me 20hp.

 

http://www.v6performance.net/forums/...ete-gains.html

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-112/2009-accord-coupe-6mt-dyno-799062/

http://rv6-p.com/8a-jpipe-pcd-combo-216.html

 

I am currently shopping for a 4th gen (09 SH-AWD) and have heard quite a bit about the XLR8 exhaust. What are your thoughts?

Thank you!

 

XLR8 all the way! Sporty sound, not to whiny. Perfect for a luxury car with tuner attributes

 

Yes! Sorry for the delay...I missed this somehow.

Was installed, the hardest part was aligning it to match the rear bumper and make sure that both sides fit the gap in the same way.

Sound is great...Gives it a nice throaty and subtle purr. Especially on cold start it is has a nice mild race engine sound

Not loud or obnoxious to annoy anyone around me. It took a few weeks for the sound to settle and have a lower tone, sounds like a nice sporty luxury car not a quite hybrid. My wife hasn't noticed although her mother did and complemented the sound

At WOT it sounds really good!! J pipe and High flow cat are next.

 

great write up