2004 Acura TSX Article at Automotive.com

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2004 Acura TSX

Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Import Tuner. The people demanded it: An affordable four door sport sedan incorporating the performance and luxury benchmarks the high-end division of Honda has become known for. Last spring, the people got what they wanted: The Acura TSX, with a 2.4-liter, 200-hp engine hooked to a six-speed manual, race-bred su

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IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Import Tuner Magazine

Born Of Fire - 2004 Acura TSX

Dazz Motorsports'project TSX Brings Modern Acura Fare Back Into The Performance Spotlight / Article provided by: Import Tuner Magazine

The people demanded it: An affordable four door sport sedan incorporating the performance and luxury benchmarks the high-end division of Honda has become known for. Last spring, the people got what they wanted: The Acura TSX, with a 2.4-liter, 200-hp engine hooked to a six-speed manual, race-bred suspension and a roomy, plush interior as only Acura could construct it. Priced between $25,000 and $30,000, the TSX offers potential buyers a high degree of bling for not a lot of cash, and puts other entry level European and Japanese luxury performance vehicles squarely in its sights.

Naturally, a car like this targets a different buyer than that who would purchase, say, an RSX Type S, so you aren't going to see a whole lot of modified TSX vehicles running around out there-at least not at this early stage. Then again, if its one thing we know, it's that no matter the vehicle, there's always someone who's ready to wrench on it and wring the very last drops of performance from the powertrain and chassis.

Having said that, meet the latest addition to the long list of project cars from DAZZ Motorsports, a 2004 Acura TSX. According to Joey Ortega, sales and marketing manager for DAZZ, the company chose this platform because, well, no one else had. "It's a little different platform than others we've done in the past," he said. "Also, with the popularity of cars like the 350Z and Evo VIII, we wanted to bring Honda/Acura vehicles back into the spotlight and show people that they're still great cars to modify."

In examining the base TSX, it's interesting to note the difference between its engine and that found in the RSX-S. Despite pushing 2.4 liters of displacement compared to an even 2.0 in the RSX, the TSX's powerplant is rated at an identical 200 hp. Look closely at the official numbers though, and you'll see the TSX achieves maximum power 600 rpm sooner. Additionally, it boasts 166 lb-ft torque at 4500 rpm, compared to a peak torque figure of 142 lb-ft 1500 rpm later in the RSX-S. This means the TSX produces significantly more torque a lot sooner than its two-door cousin. This engine tuning makes sense; the TSX is, after all, aimed at the luxury segment, and if you're some bigshot out on the town wining and dining your honey you don't always want to be winding the engine to redline in order to get where you need to go.

That's our take on it, anyway-but the fact remains, the TSX still has nearly a half liter more displacement. From the project's first day, DAZZ planned on taking advantage of this extra fuel in the most efficient way possible-that would be turbo. For the car's forced induction upgrade, DAZZ turned to the experts at HKS USA, who constructed a full bolt-on kit and fuel enrichment parameters for the brand-new platform.

For the hardware upgrades, HKS bent a new turbo manifold from SUS304 stainless, removed the catalytic converter and replaced that section with a custom downpipe, and replaced the remainder of the exhaust system with a specially made dual Hi-Power exhaust, the first of its kind for this particular platform. The turbocharger itself is an HKS GT2835 Pro S ball-bearing unit, which was paired with an HKS S-Type front-mount intercooler and HKS Super Sequential blow-off valve for maximum operating efficiency. Fuel enrichment is effected by an upgraded HKS in-tank fuel pump, HKS fuel pressure regulator, a custom rail, and 600cc injectors, and controlled by the F-CON V Pro Engine Management unit. Boost is controlled by HKS's EVC boost controller. After extensive research and development and the requisite fine tuning, this TSX was able to throw down more than 350 hp on its initial dyno runs. Ortega believes more power is very possible once they're able to get a new clutch made for the car, since the factory assembly was really struggling to hold the power. It's not entirely clear whether or not a consumer version of this turbo kit will be available in the future, but we sure hope so.

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