Wondering if any one else feels the terrible body roll in their 4th Gen SH-AWD like I do. Recently purchased a 2010 TL SH-AWD and have it lowered on H&R springs with 20" XIX Wheels and brand new 245/35/20 Falken tires. Have not upgraded anything else on the suspension so that is on the to do list but wanted to see if anyone else feels the poor body roll that I do when at higher speeds. Just changing lanes the car feels real lose compared to my other cars I have lowered. First Acura and first AWD I have ever owned so just trying to get used to the car and getting more knowledgeable about it. I have searched the forums and could not really find anything about upgraded sway bars. Are their any out there? I looked at Eibach and others and did not see much. Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

Im running stock tires and suspension and ive taken turns, that are posted at 25mph, at 60mph without a problem. Its not just an AWD its an SH-AWD. u have to get comfortable and learn to drive with it. I read on here by other senior members that its tricky to get used to it, and i called BS, but they were right.

Get down under ur car and see if the people forgot to reinstall any of ur parts. Happened to me when i was getting my suspension done on the 3G,they forgot to tighten the cv joint and sway bar.

 

I don't have the body roll issue either, I accelerate through tight turns and the SH-AWD pulls me right through the corner. It does take practice, as you said, but once you get it.. cornering is awesome!

 

could be the extra weight of the 20's. could be your tires/psi. are they new tires?

 

Op,how many miles on your car? using lower springs on struts that have higher mileage may not be the best thing to do and may contribute to your problem.

I have the same springs as you and did it when my car had around 10k kms,i no such issues you describe.Regardless,your issue is not normal of the Sh and you should have your car inspected.

To my knowledge the sway bar is only available for the Fwd.

 

Should be be put in wheel, tires, suspension section and given a clearer thread title. Not much different then saying "Paint peeling Issue" then saying the car was repainted with a can a duplicolor on the street in the rain. Good luck, at least it can be fixed

 

The OEM shocks may be busted, after having to work much harder with the higher spring rate given by the aftermarket lowering springs.

The OEM shocks are factory designed to work with the OEM springs only, and not with aftermarket lowering springs with much higher spring rate.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will look into upgrading the shocks to see if that is what it is. The car has 46k miles so that could be what it is. Once I get everything checked out some more and the shocks upgraded I will be sure to share the results.

 

Could be several things. I would check your alignment, if they didn't do so when you put the new rims on. Might not be a bad idea to get the other suspension components checked out as well. Sometimes brand new tires need a break in period before they get grippier. As others have noted it could be the shocks or tire pressure. Tire pressure is hard to get right for the car with a set of non oem rims and unspecified manufacturer calibration.

There was also a member a while back who complained about unusual handling and we suspected it was not the norm and it turned out to be something so simple as too much tire shine/dressing and on the contact patch, where it was not supposed to be, just throwing it out there.

FWIW, if it feels like the back end is stepping out as opposed to just the car leaning that is usually a function of SH if you let off the gas mid turn. If it's possible perhaps a bit more detail in what your experiencing so we could get a better feel for what is going on. Also what car you're coming from so we can determine if it is a product of just vehicle character, it being a different kind of vehicle and weight, and what not.

 

did you get a complete alignment after your spring install?

after my H&R srping install, my back end had a TON of wiggle and the car felt extremelyh unstable to me. I knew it needed to be aligned, and once I had it done, the car handles TONS better.

that being said, I still think the car has too much body roll. in some slow speed corners, I can feel the car rolling more than I'd like. I don't think it's the shocks/springs so much as the car would really benefit from some stiffer anti sway bars.

i think there is a set available.. but not sure if they work on AWD models or only FWD??
you may want to look into a set of those.

at the very least, a REAR sway bar would do wonders for crisper turn in and less body roll....

also, what size tires do you have? I have the OEM 19s...and I think that gives the car mcuh better feel/handling.... less sidewall will make the car feel more responsive tos teering input.

one factor to consider is that AWD will still make the car handle amazing even if you do feel some body roll. once you enter a turn, just mash the crap out of the gas and watch SH-AWD work it's magic. you really have to "learn" how to drive these cars...it's counter intuitive. people tend to go into a turn and let off the gas..coast through the turn, and then ONLY apply power once they are PAST THE APEX... on these cars, you can literally get on the gas the second you enter the turn, BEFORE you are at hte apex..and the SH-AWD will improve your cornering line.....

you may already know all this...but I've noticed that if I really drive aggressively..the car feels like it rolls less... i notice the roll more when I am just driving slow around turns and the AWD system is really not engaged... as it only works when you are applying power.

 

I'm surprised nobody has bothered to ask what kind of Falken tires they are. Are these tires even speed rated for this car? The tires seem to me to be the culprit. A speed rating not only tells you how fast you can go in them, but more importantly it hints to sidewall stiffness. In a heavy car like the TL, this is extremely important to get right.

I have Falken 651 tires on my Honda Prelude and I personally think they are a rather cheaply constructed tire. My personal opinion is that you get what you pay for in tires. Conversely, I bought Bridgestone 970's for my TL which were a tad over $240 a tire. I got what I paid for. Minimal sidewall movement equals superior cornering at all speeds. I feel very confident with those tires.

This doesn't help you now, but in the future, perhaps stay away from Falken and stick with more well established brands such as Michelin, Bridgestone/Firestone, Dunlopp, Continental or BFGoodrich.

 

Quite interesting. Are there any other threads on "learning to drive" the SH-AWD.

 

Sounds like something isnt 'squared' or fail component.
SH-AWD will basically cause cranial hypo-tension before body roll. Assuming you go into the corner with 3000+ RPM ie torque to wheels ie Acceleration.

 

At 46k miles i would still suggest you check out your shocks,as member prepreludesh suggested above look into your tire rating as well.Soft sidewall will cause body roll.

If it is your shocks then i would suggest you switch over to coil overs and sell your springs, the reason being you will have a matched component,as opposed to shocks that don't match the spring rate of the H&R's.

As i mentioned in my post above there is no sway bar for the Awd that i am aware of.