Need Some Real Advice

losothefatso · 10-30-2009, 01:14 AM

Hey I'm in need of some real advice or your own opinions. You say whatever you feel, just as long as you can back up your statements.

I'm 19 year old college student with a 07 NHP AT TSX. I absolutely love this car and I expect to be driving this car for quite sometime. I'm interested in more mods, with this little extra money that I've saved up. Don't get it wrong, I've been a member of this forum and the other forum and I seen and read quiet a lot about mods, but all my friends tell me "its a waste of money, its an automatic you won't feel any gains." But it seems to be said other wise.

These are the major mods I have on this TSX is INJEN SR, P2R Throttle Body Spacer, and my customize pipe to get more air from infront of the car to travel to the Filter, Customized Heatshield, and a Progress RSB.

There are also some other "look mods."

I plan on dropping it around spring with the Cupkit(Neuspeed + Koni combo). But I've been wanting to do some "performance mod", for quite some time. The only thing's I have in mind is some sort of High Flow Cat or Pulleys. (Still haven't decided between NST or UR)

Here a few pictures of my car.

Yes, I use to be the one with the painted gold rims with gold yellow fogs

.

I appreciate it.

harmonichonda · 10-30-2009, 01:49 AM

ram air aint worth it

mods you list are fine, comparing my car with some minor addons vs a colleague who has an 05 vs my 04, the biggest difference in mods is he has hondata's reflash where I don't plan to get that until tax rebate comes in next year.

On your pulley debate, read my recent postings, i think it was tsx-ws and some other who have the UR 3 set. However, I have a sound processor, 1000w amp and infinities all around, so underdriving the alternator just scares me. If you intend to do some work electronically, keep the stock alternator pulley and find a belt that works, the NST has the 15% overdriven pulley for the alternator, but seems they go out of stock places quickly.

Good suspension upgrades on fwd cars in general always a good way to go. If you have a friend with a good lift or have your own stands and feel confident doing the work, you should be able to do all of what you listed by yourself and save some cash.

Depending on your budget at 19, I would say prioritize in this manner:
Coilovers
Reflash w/e new cat
Then your extraneous bolt ons

However, autos have evolved considerably, and after standard bolt ons, if you can afford it standalone engine managements have also evolved since the huge hype over never touching an automatic. The beautiful part now is keeping it all obdII which is lovely in counties w/inspections. You have a relatively strong transmission (finally honda comes through), so don't let that hold you back, especially from the trivial addons you've listed an interest in.

tsxtasy · 10-30-2009, 02:30 AM

Well seeing as you can't reflash, that kinda kills it. You can still get gains though. If you are interested in suspension and handling, pick up some coilovers. If you want to make it a bit faster, I would suggest getting a header and high flow cat.

I have an 06 AT, so I went through this too. Considering you can get a header and high flow cat for about $600-700 total, it is definitely worth it. It makes the car more fun to drive for sure. As for pulleys, if you really want them, just get some Ralcos from Ebay for $115. They are exactly the same as UR and there are a few people on the forums running them without any problems.

ethankz750 · 10-30-2009, 02:49 AM

+1 to above statements. Im 21 and in college, with an 05 auto. As far as budgets go, i work for just above minimum (until my internships starts in jan.) and Im slowly modding mine. You could easily reflash, put a pulley kit on, CAI, Full exhaust (headers+exhaust), suspension, frame bracing, cams (mild not wild, like RSX type S cams for high end if you like). And maybe, if you really want to sink money into it, a turbo setup. Turbos work best on AT since you dont lose pressure between shifts. your auto has the potential to be as fast as any other MT. Light weight rims really help as well. just my $0.02, good luck

northbridge · 10-30-2009, 03:00 AM

^ for OEM cams, the most aggressive ones are the ones in the 06+ TSXs. he wouldnt see any gains from switching to a different set of cams.

harmonichonda · 10-30-2009, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethankz750

+1 to above statements. Im 21 and in college, with an 05 auto. As far as budgets go, i work for just above minimum (until my internships starts in jan.) and Im slowly modding mine. You could easily reflash, put a pulley kit on, CAI, Full exhaust (headers+exhaust), suspension, frame bracing, cams (mild not wild, like RSX type S cams for high end if you like). And maybe, if you really want to sink money into it, a turbo setup. Turbos work best on AT since you dont lose pressure between shifts. your auto has the potential to be as fast as any other MT. Light weight rims really help as well. just my $0.02, good luck

as guy above stated and we missed it, OP has 07 = no reflash. Boomslang doesnt even make a p2p harness for the greddy emanage ultimate past the 05 tsx's so there goes that option. kpro stops at 06, aem says through 95...not sure what's with that. SOL But, hondatuning had an 07 tsx get 201whp stock ecu after disconnect/reconnect nonsense, dunno bout what kinda dyno was used seems a bit high with just i/h/e

http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/t...hin/index.html

tsxtasy · 10-30-2009, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethankz750

+1 to above statements. Im 21 and in college, with an 05 auto. As far as budgets go, i work for just above minimum (until my internships starts in jan.) and Im slowly modding mine. You could easily reflash, put a pulley kit on, CAI, Full exhaust (headers+exhaust), suspension, frame bracing, cams (mild not wild, like RSX type S cams for high end if you like). And maybe, if you really want to sink money into it, a turbo setup. Turbos work best on AT since you dont lose pressure between shifts. your auto has the potential to be as fast as any other MT. Light weight rims really help as well. just my $0.02, good luck

He can't get the reflash, and a cat-back exhaust doesn't really help. Unless you get J's single, that's a different story. The average cat-back doesn't do anything though. Just sounds good

1TSXer · 10-30-2009, 06:34 AM

Hmmm, if I was in your situation I'd beef up the suspension and brakes and call it a day. If you wanted a bit of bump in the performance add a intake and header.

audioserf · 10-30-2009, 08:35 AM

I say drop it, do pulleys, and stop there. Since you have an 07, the gains you'll get from a high-flow cat aren't worth the money (06-08 cats are hardly restrictive). Your budget is limited, so mods like header/exhaust may sound fun, but they won't get you much gains, and if you can't ever reflash/boost the car I really don't see the point.

A drop makes a HUGE difference in aesthetics, and gives you a sportier ride to throw around the corners. Pulleys make a bigger difference for AT cars than MT cars (they make up for some transmission power loss), so you'll get nice gains there - the car will rev more freely and you'll definitely notice it.

tsxtasy · 10-30-2009, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioserf

I say drop it, do pulleys, and stop there. Since you have an 07, the gains you'll get from a high-flow cat aren't worth the money (06-08 cats are hardly restrictive). Your budget is limited, so mods like header/exhaust may sound fun, but they won't get you much gains, and if you can't ever reflash/boost the car I really don't see the point.

A drop makes a HUGE difference in aesthetics, and gives you a sportier ride to throw around the corners. Pulleys make a bigger difference for AT cars than MT cars (they make up for some transmission power loss), so you'll get nice gains there - the car will rev more freely and you'll definitely notice it.

It's still worth it

I still felt gains from mine. Obviously they won't be as amazing as the gains you 04-05 guys get; however, it still made the car quicker and more fun to drive

littlebo · 10-30-2009, 02:11 PM

Just look at your ECU partnumber , the car is 07year but the model is 04-06 (CL9), maybe u get luck and can make a reflash. I have the same story , ive bought my car in 07 but in passport its like 08 model year. Other way - u can get 06 ecu from car - part.com for nearly 50-75 usd , reflash it and use on your car , call hondata to check if this possible. If not, than cai and weapon r header, reweld 3bolt flange to 2 bolt and use your stock cat.

northbridge · 10-30-2009, 03:59 PM

hondata says that there cold be complications switching a reflashed 06 ecu into an 07 and nobody has tried it yet. to the OP, if you dont have the money and time to invest in being the guinea pig, i'd say forget about the reflash until hondata officially releases it.

ethankz750 · 10-30-2009, 04:11 PM

Yeah i did miss that it was an 07 (oops) so no reflash or Kpro. Hondata needs to hop on that. As far as cams go, if i can find the article I'll post it, I read that RSX Type S cams kinda smooth out the torque line. In other words it takes a little away from our bottom end puts it on the top end. maybe not what he wants but just an option thats out there. and for exhaust, IMO, anything that opens take restrictions out of the flow is a good thing (maybe not worth $ but good). Im kinda drawn between building my own, for a custom sound, or buying Js dual outlet.

losothefatso · 10-30-2009, 04:18 PM

Wow, I'm surprised so many people actually looked at this thread and gave feedback.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I'm looking at pulleys right now vs a high flow cat.

No one seems to have NST in stock, and the UR pulleys are quite expensive, since I don't plan to ever run additional speakers or subs, but I am running HID Fogs, but I doubt anything would happen?

I've looked at that ebay brand you were telling me about, and it's listed around $200 for some UR replicate. Not too sure if I want to go into that, but NST and UR are the ones I am looking at. My friend told me his fabricator can actually customize me a full exhaust, but most likely I would only purchase one thing at a time. Example, high flow cat, then headers, then exhaust.

I would appreciate more opinions and your two cents.

I'm for sure going to lower it and do the suspension probably around spring with the Koni Neuspeed setup. I love the comfort of the TSX and I wouldn't want anything too distinct from the stock setup feel.

How does my TSX look? No one gave me any feedback about that.

harmonichonda · 10-30-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by losothefatso

Wow, I'm surprised so many people actually looked at this thread and gave feedback.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I'm looking at pulleys right now vs a high flow cat.

No one seems to have NST in stock, and the UR pulleys are quite expensive, since I don't plan to ever run additional speakers or subs, but I am running HID Fogs, but I doubt anything would happen?

I've looked at that ebay brand you were telling me about, and it's listed around $200 for some UR replicate. Not too sure if I want to go into that, but NST and UR are the ones I am looking at. My friend told me his fabricator can actually customize me a full exhaust, but most likely I would only purchase one thing at a time. Example, high flow cat, then headers, then exhaust.

I would appreciate more opinions and your two cents.

I'm for sure going to lower it and do the suspension probably around spring with the Koni Neuspeed setup. I love the comfort of the TSX and I wouldn't want anything too distinct from the stock setup feel.

How does my TSX look? No one gave me any feedback about that.

You'll be fine, HIDs run on less energy than stock halogen bulbs. The biggest thing you > may < notice would be lights dimming under 1500rpm when your alt is only shooting out lower amp. When you are able to, I'd crank them on once you are moving a lil since the alternator only shoots off ~30 amps at most when at idle.

The brand the guy mentioned to you about cheaper pullleys is the mother company for UR, so they are authentic just with a different name