Hi All,

My Accord is giving up the ghost and I'm trying to decide on a new car. I really want to upgrade to an Acura. I live in Washington DC and 99% of my driving is in city traffic and I park on the street. About 1% of the time I like to go camping or to the odd music festival and I've bottomed out my Accord more times than I like to admit on dirt roads and the like. I originally decided I wanted to upgrade to a crossover SUV to get that added ground clearance. I test drove the RDX, MDX and ZDX and frankly they are great for their class but they drive fundamentally like trucks and it seems silly to drive a truck every day for the rare times I'll need the added clearence.

Idea I had today: What if I picked up a 2010 SH-AWD TL and put a 2'' lift kit on it? Anyone have any experience with this or can point me to some threads? I couldn't find much in a search. Any expectations on how that would effect the ride? Any photos out there of how this looks?

Is this a terrible idea?

 

You'll never find a 2" lift for this car, and even if you did - you need to consider how it would destroy the handling and performance the 99% of the time you needed it.

Pick up a jeep with a lift for your camping endeavors - you can find and mod them pretty cheap.

 

Yea.. I don't have the space for a second vehicle. Found this thread on the same topic: http://photos.acura-tsx.com/forums/s...php?p=14080713 No clear conclusions tho.

 

What about the honda cross tour? Does that fit the bill?

 

Actually, the CrossTour is a pretty nice vehicle for your consideration. My wife has a 2011. Very nice vehicle.

 

Yea the crosstour initially appealed to me. But after thinking about it, 1) I think it looks ugly, 2) the length of the car makes finding parking in the city that much harder, 3) I want all the bells and whistles of an Acura, and 4) a hatch back is slightly less ideal in the city as my car has been broken into several times and a locked trunk is more secure when I'm forced to leave gear in my car when I'm out and about.

How about this: Air lift kit with the TL! I would install the air lift kit and nominally drive it at the same height as it comes from the factory and jack it up when I need to go off road a bit or drive in the snow. Anyone have experience with those things? How do the air bags effect your ride if you are at the factory height? What other adjustments would you need to make?

 

Seems like you're doing LOTS of extra work without even having the vehicle yet.
(Modifying the suspension can cause a lot of headaches and troubles. not to mention, you're moving in the OPPOSITE direction of what the suspension is used for)


See if you can test drive a 4G over night or for the weekend.
take it out to one of your spots and see if its viable.

if not; a different vehicle is in store for you.

 

dude.. the car is not mean to be lifted..

why buy it only to spend about 4-6k on air bags just so you can lift 2 inches off the ground? there are cars for that purpose... rdx, mdx, etc..

and when i say many.. i mean many..

 

why not throw on some 22" wheels. that'll give you the lift you so desire.

 

^not really.
at the expense of tires and lower sidewalls to accommodate the speedometer; you're not gaining anything....
if he's going camping, I highly doubt he would take the "rubber band" tires off road.

 

If you put a lift kit on it, oil changes will be a 5 minute job.

And get some 24's for daily street driving, and when going camping throw some BF Goodrich 31x10.50's on there

 

Yea the air bags are pretty expensive and although you can get them for ~1K$, the cheaper models seem like a bad idea. Looking at tires, looks like the largest tire you can fit will only give you about 0.4'' of added lift.

Best thing would probably be to get the car, add a fixed 2'' lift kit, and if it sucks, re-assemble it as it was from the factory and worst outcome is I own a newish TL (how terrible.)

Hasn't anyone built a rally car out of a TL around here? May end up in an FX35 if the test drive goes OK with that.

 

i am not sure where you get your prices from but 1k seems to be a price of an air bag for 1 shock.... either that or some really cheap china made ones where it can leak or potentially damage your car on your first 5 miles.


thats the worse thing to do.. its like telling people to buy a 2013 svt raptor , then put it on air bags.. so you can drive a lower car.. its not built for that.. dont waste your money and time...
rally TL? i doubt it.. circuit, probably.. acura is not exactly rally material.. infact they are far from that.

fx35 is by far a wayyyyyy better choice for you since it is built for what you need it to do.

but yea.. you got some pretty bad ideas.

 

^ Lmao, some bad ideas, man

 

Why not just buy a Subaru if you want a camper type car? TL is not meant to be lifted 2 inches without a major re-engineering.

 

I dont think he gets it.

there soon will be a thread conveniently titled "halp, guise! I FUXXED up my suspension!"

 

^^

Anxiously waiting for that thread, please include pictures!

 

Hahaha where's the sense of adventure on this forum. While Subarus do fit the bill from the perpsective of this thread, I find them about as aesthetically pleasing as a microwave oven.

Glad I came and inquired as it seems several people think this is a bad idea and it seems this hasn't been tried before, at least on here. I'll probably forget about off-roading entirely or go with the ZDX or FX35.

 

if you forget about off roading; then we welcome you into the TL family!


but seriously; why try to defeat what the engineers have done for the car? the suspension on this car is awesome!
double wishbone! independent coils!!!

why destroy this?

 

I figure as I am not mr. tokyo drift, I could make due with a slightly more wobbly suspension... but if it would be a significant effort of tweaking just to make it only "slightly wobbly" then I don't really have the time or garage for that. Screw it.

Plus as one of those "engineers", everything I own is in 7000 pieces so it wouldn't be that much of a radical departure from business as usual.

 

^please tell us if and when you put those spacers on then.

 

I think you're crazy for wanting to lift a TL but do what makes you happy. That's all that matters.

 

I wonder when great handling on a vehicle became an attribute only useful for drifting, racing, auto X and no longer useful for everyday driving situtations such as avoiding potholes, other motorist, wildlife and idiots/kids running where they shouldn't.

 

Cant wait to see the outcome of this stupid mod.

 

 

^ lol

 

IM gona lift mine about 1 inch...The DAMNED speed bumps in Oakland are freakin' ridic.

 

Did anyone figure out a lift kit or makeshift kit for the Acura TL? I'm in the same boat and go camping quite a bit. I had a 06 TL and I tow a whitewater raft trailer. I just sold the 06 and upgraded to 2014 6MT and am working to get a tow hitch and roof rack installed like my 06. I'm stocked for the AWD. Hopefully won't need friends to push me up the dirt boat ramps with my wheels spinning out like on the 06.

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...kaAteJEALw_wcB

This one and


THis one. Ive tried eVERYTHING EXCEPT these two. All the easy lift ,coil spacers, etcs.. they lift but not significantly. These two are actually spacers are pretty involved in regards to install.

 

An Accord crosstour or ZDX suspension probably fits this car.

Maybe look into that

Or look at a simple polyurethane spring spacer. Hillbillies have been using them for generations and continue to thrive with massive success.

 

Just ugh