fusiongt

is there any way to soften the ride of the Sh-awd TL??? I mean i luv the ride on hwys but in the bumpy city roads?? oh no...

007Acura

try lowering your tire pressure, you will get less mpg but it should ride softer

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

you could drive a 07-08 type s for a few years and then go to the sh...then you would feel like your suspension got softer...

fusiongt

I already have the TL and I only able to test drove on hwys but it was kinna disppointing ride in the city roads. wayy too harsh. I may have to put 17" rims and tires to soften the ride bit.

Mr Marco

The 4G TL SH-AWD ride was developed for performance minded individuals who didn’t want to compromise too much comfort. Spring rebound and strut valve portioning, in addition to the use of hydraulically filled poly bushings, were specifically designed to carefully balance sport and luxury. You cannot remove or replace these components with anything softer. Changing the tire sidewall height by swapping down to 17” would help, but ultimately the SH-AWD is not the car for you.

CRAZY KEN

Softer ride...lower tire pressure is FREE...or

if you have a 17" wheel get 235/55R17 tire
if you have an 18" wheel get 235/50R18 tire
if you have a 19" wheel get 235/45R19 tire

make sure the tire doesn't have reinforced side walls. They add stiffness, harsher ride, but better cornering and grip!

CRAZY KEN

TJ Zooker

Fwd

Kingcredible

An 11 yr revival for those out there still seeking a solution to this. I put 17" and all season tires on my sh-awd and the ride didn't improve. It made it "bouncier" but not "floatier". There are air ride kits out there but they will be expensive and from what I hear very unreliable

Edward'TLS

Unfortunately, almost all aftermarket solution is to stiffen the ride in order to increase handling performance. So there is hardly any aftermarket suspension downgrade that will soften the ride and worsen handling performance.

High profile touring (not performance) category tire is likely the only solution that can satisfy your requirement.

Kingcredible

Even the most expensive Goodyear comfort tread touring tires were no match for this suspension. It's a shame because this really is my dream car with the exception of the ride quality. It's a 6MT too! too bad the suspensions we have now weren't available back then, because we really CAN get it all nowdays. Ultra plush, and great road feel on these cadillacs and Audis. No compromising anything. In the meantime I bought a 3rd gen TL to get me through the rough commutes 😊

dopeboy1

You'll just have to get coilovers. I have tein street advance with the tein edfc so I can change the suspension stiffness at the push of a button. 16 way adjustability it goes softer and stiffer than stock.

Biggie_B

Maybe the suspension is worn. I went from a 2005 TL to a 2013 SH-AWD (both are manuals) and the ride to me is softer in the 2013 on city streets. Everything is stock on both.

Reorge

You didn't say what year you have but I think you can install the fwd spring/shock assemblies on a sh-awd.
For a 2010 front they are $118 each: https://www.acurapartsforless.com/v-...shock-absorber
rear are $210 each: https://www.acurapartsforless.com/v-...shock-absorber

You can install aftermarket parts but I don't trust any of the brands that are available.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...assembly,15174

Kingcredible

I appreciate everyone's input! ! I have a 2011 6MT. I've been toying with the idea of getting the FWD suspension. When I test drove the fwd it had the perfect balance between Road feel and comfort. If I understand correctly Tein coilovers would lower it no?... I may have to go that route no matter how ridiculous lowered cars look 😒 component wear could also be an issue, but at 105k miles I think they still have some life left. Funny you say you had an '05 because my '05 is also a 6mt and it rides like a cloud! Lol

Twin5761

I know this thread is hella old, but I knew I wasn't the only one that thought the Sh-Awd has a rough and tight suspension. What really made me notice it, is when I took a ride with my buddy in the FWD model. His suspension was MUCH softer. I'm guessing the tight suspension has something to do with the AWD system. I could be wrong. So now I'm second guessing on getting coilovers VS jus bagging it. What would you guys think is better, coilovers or bags?

My Maxima has tein springs and the ride is bouncy af.

csmeance

SH-AWD was the "type-S" so the dumb folks at acura thought it needed a stiffer suspension. It's great if you like it, but for a majority of owners it was too stiff.

Kingcredible

Success! I put on the OEM suspension from a 3.5 and it rides perfect. But there is a caveat. Driving characteristics have dramatically changed. Steering is mushy, road feel is gone, and SH-AWD is non-existent. You know like when you make a deal with the devil to have all the luxuries, money, and women in life. But he takes your soul and youth? Yeah kind of like that

BROlando

What if you're not into women?

csmeance

Great to hear! I went to the SH-AWD after not liking the koni FSD's I got.

FlyingDagger

What did you change? Just the shock absorber assembly or did you have to do more? Do you think a mix-match would be better? Ie springs from one, shock absorber from another. Maybe FWD fronts, AWD rears etc?

Why would it take the SH-AWD away? I dont understand how that would even happen.

Im sure I could scroll up, but did you have the MT suspension or the AT AWD suspension to start with?

Is there any chance that the AWD suspension you were driving on originally was just worn out and fresh version would have made a big difference in of itself?

Kingcredible

I changed the entire spring/shock assembly on all 4 sides. Mixing and matching doesn't work on all applications. A friend who put softer socks up front and left the originals in the back said it didn't make much of a difference

The SH-AWD module relies on different inputs/sensors to engage and draw different amounts of power to reach wheel. A coordinate system and datum is set based on the signals received by this module and the AWD engagement parameters are programmed. The softer shocks increase the pitch and yaw making the AWD system go haywire. It's terrible. If there is a reason to go back to the rock hard suspension it's this. I turned my sporty 6MT into a 90s Buick.

Yes I had the 6MT suspension which is considerable harder than AT

When shocks are worn out, they get softer not harder. I don't believe they were bad. I sold them to a guy who loves the way they make his TL ride now

FlyingDagger

So basically there is no good option to smooth out the ride? Do coilovers have the same issues with the AWD system?

dopeboy1

Guess it depends how stiff the coil overs are. I have tein street advance coil overs with the electronic controller so I'm 90s Buick one moment, press a button and I'm back to full stiffness track ready. Haven't noticed any issues it works like a charm. Truely it does handle like a boat when they're set to soft. I think there's a reasonable middle ground though with the stiffness somewhere around 4 front and 8 back, they are 16 different stiffness settings.

BROlando

The "super handling" portion of the car is a system.

Its meant to work with the factory shocks, sway bars, bushings, etc etc etc etc a million things.

However, it would still detect pitch and roll with a softer suspension. The sensors will detect the additional pitch/roll.

So its not disabled when you lower it or soften the suspension. It just reacts differently, and the outputs don't match up as they would with the factory setup.

But....it'll still work.

The wheel-slip traction shifting portion obviously still works because it works on wheel speed deltas. Again though, its programmed to put power down efficiently, assuming the stock suspension's motions. So...it may not work quite as well. Or it may work way better. Its impossible to know unless you're modifying the suspension after understanding the entire algorithm of the SH computers.

Anyway, part of having "super handling" is a heavily damped suspension with relatively stiff springs.

If you want softer or modified suspension, then why would you be concerned about the car not handling like it does from the factory? I don't understand the concern....

Its like buying looser pants and then worrying they wont fit as tightly.

Kingcredible

I knew beforehand it wasn't going to handle the same. I just didn't expect it to be completely comatose. While I understand your analogy of loose/tight pants, you really can have the best of both Worlds. Audis and other Germans strike that perfect balance of sportiness and comfort. Even their family wagons hit that suspension sweet spot. With our TLs, it's either 1930s wooden roller coaster jarring, or late 80s Lincoln Town car. That's okay, I'm just putting the information out here in case anyone wants more info on what poison to pick

BROlando

I understand your viewpoint.
I was responding to a different poster's comment....

FlyingDagger

Yeah I get your analogy too and all, but its kind of missing the point. The handling is probably my second favorite part about the car after the trans, and the rough ride is probably my biggest complaint with cabin noise being a close second.

Why do you add any mod to a car? There is something about it that you think could be improved. Want to launch in VTEC? Well we are locked at 4k so its a complaint that you cant. Grab a Ktuner. Problem fixed.

God forbid I would want to improve one of my only complaints with the car...

But of course, if faced with the either or, I would keep it as originally intended since the handling is a higher priority. Like if the car came in 90s Buick mode, it would be a complaint and I would for sure swap out to the tighter handling suspension. I was hoping there was a more balanced option out there. The FWD shocks clearly are not it according to the report. They were a leading option in the thread to provide the more balanced performance, but it didn't work.

Could be wrong here: The Audi's use adaptive motor mounts, the BMW's use adaptive shocks, and Chevy SS uses some sort of magnetic suspension that can be changed. Thats how they are able to provide the best of both worlds. I get that our cars are never going to be able to pull that off. The Tein's try to provide something similar, but since they weren't really developed for a TL or AWD...it seems like it would require a lot of extra to dial in even 1 setting on the Tein, much less a few different ones.

Seems that the main takeaway at this point is to use the MT shock assemblies.

My question now is: my shocks have 80k on them. Will switching them out for fresh ones improve the harshness of the ride at all? How can I know? I never drove it with 0 miles on it so I don't know how it felt to start with.

Kingcredible

Sorry, I left out 1 important detail. I also installed the FWD's 17-in rims and tires as well. No doubt this adds to the driving on clouds feeling. I'll put on the original 18-in rims with sportier tires this weekend and report back

FlyingDagger

Interested in your report, I wouldn't think it would make much of a difference on the wheels. I was thinking downsizing to 17's would help performance in general everything thing else equal (same wheel, same tire) as it would give some additional sidewall and lower weight. The caveat being that it might affect the AWD somehow? I don't think it would, the car comes with two wheel options and the 17 for the FWD is the equivalent in terms of rotational inertia or whatever tf to those sizes.

BROlando

I believe Koni Yellows for a TSX fit the 4GTL

These may allow you to refine the ride quality to your liking.

You could also keep the SHAWD springs, but mate then to FWD shocks. The springs control a big percentage of actual roll. The shocks control the roll rate by slowing down body motions.

Has anyone tried that?

Tein Street Advance coilovers or their new line of adjustable, stock shape EnduraPro Plus shocks would also be a potential solution. I do not recommend lowering the car on these since they use hydraulic bumpstops.

Fortune auto makes a setup for these cars, no? You can customize it for comfort. But I'm not sure how high you can adjust the height. You may be stuck with a pretty low setup - may be worth calling and asking.

Digressive shocks with way less bump damping would make the car more comfortable. This is why I think TSX Koni yellow would be the sweet spot. Soft doesn't mean comfortable. Damping out uncomfortable frequencies means comfortable.

There are options for sure. Any modification is going to require trial and error and some user engineering.

Has anyone taken any measurements of shock travel or spring rate values?

The cheapest thing is to make sure there's nothing rattling in the car. If you drive around with a bucket of bolts, the noise and reverberation will translate in your brain as lack of comfort. Try driving with noise cancelling headphones. If that makes the drive significantly more comfortable, it means you're translating some noise signal into harshness.

dopeboy1

Instead of mixing and matching and taking a chance on fwd/awd/auto/6,mt suspensions why not just get a high quality set of adjustable coil overs and adjust them until your heart is content?

What am I missing here?

BROlando

Yeah, Fortune Auto was one of the suggestions.

HOWEVER, its hard to know if the ride height can be adjusted to near-stock level.

You would also want to know what spring rates you want. And there would still be experimentation needed.

Cost is high.

Edward'TLS

Keep in mind that the 4G TL is at least 300lbs heavier than the TSX, and so the Konia shock, that is calibrated for the lighter TSX, might not work very well on the much heavy TL.

BROlando

The whole point is to make the car softer....

And Koni Yellows have adjustable damping. So technically, they're not calibrated for the TSX either

Edward'TLS

Technically the damping adjustment range for the TSX Koni is centered and optimized for the ~3400 lbs TSX sedan. If such is used on a ~3700 lbs TL, the corresponding effective adjustment range will be significantly reduced, or skewed to the stiffest side of the adjustment scale.

BROlando

The TL SH is more like 3900LB.

Why would MORE weight cause the damping force to be higher?

You ever seen an empty box truck thats banging its way down the road? That same truck, when loaded, will ride smoothly.

If you put a bunch of passengers in your TL SH with its stock suspension, it would glide.

So a "stiff" setting on a lighter car would feel like a "soft" setting on a heavier car.

Furthermore, you can manually adjust the damping with an adjustable shock.

Also...how much of the TL's weight is sprung vs unsprung?

Anyway, a Koni meant for a lighter TSX is going to feel soft on a TL. Not stiff.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

The damping effect on an adjustable Koni ranges from soft on one end of the scale to stiff on the other end of the scale.

When the designed-for-TSX Koni is installed on a much heavier TL, the soft settings will not create any significant damping effect. As a result, the effective damping adjustment range becomes narrower on the TL, and is skewed towards the stiff setting end of the damping effect scale.

What this means is that the TL (using TSX Koni) will have much narrower effective stiffness adjustment range than the TSX (using TSX Koni), and the TL (using TSX Koni) will not enjoy the same maximum stiffness damping effect than the TSX (using TSX Koni) when the Koni is set to max stiffness in both cars.

BROlando

I feel like you're agreeing with me....

In this case, a shock that seems stiff on a TSX will seem softer on a TL.

I assume both cars have similar motion ratios in the suspension too.

Kingcredible

Yaay! I put on the 18 in wheels with grippier tires. After a rigorous 4hr test drive putting the J37 and the 6MT through its paces here is my poorly written amateur review:

The Good Steering feel has improved. Not how it used to be with the MT shocks obviously. It went from those free spinning steering wheel thingies in kid's playgrounds where kids spin em pretending it's a boat or a car, to an acceptable Honda Accord feel. Adequately responsive for a daily driver. About 30%-40% of what it used to be
The Bad SH-AWD is still dormant. Body roll is excessive around sharp bends. It was scary taking a merge ramp at 70mph and feeling like you're tipping over. (It used to be on rails around bends, not anymore... Also drive safe, don't do what I did)

Ridiculous Under hard acceleration, while shifting from 1st to 2nd a disorienting change of nose pitch. Lol, 1 sec you're climbing to cruising altitude looking at the blue sky, next sec you're on a nose dive looking at the asphalt.

Final Thoughts: I wanted to make my daily commuter more comfortable and have achieved that goal. The price of comfort was handling, loss of AWD, and loss breaking/acceleration. I will leave the set up as it is until I get a proper comfort car (Merc E350?) Then put back on the MT rock hard suspension and give my TL its fun loving soul back. Maybe I'll go aftermarket ( Tein, Koni, Bilstein, etc...) after I read some more of you guy's experiences. No offense but lowered cars look tacky and ridiculous.... Especially luxury sedans.

P.S: @FlyingDagger "my shocks have 80k on them. Will switching them out for fresh ones improve the harshness of the ride at all?"
No, these are well built. I've driven several 200k+ TLs with original shocks and they still drive like new. Look for leaks or excessive bounciness if you think they're going bad

ultrapogi

lowering the TL 1-1.5” puts it more in line with what a bmw is stock. I agree I am not a fan of the slammed look. I do like very minimal wheel arch gap though.