2007 Acura TSX - Wrenchin'

Your Honda Build Resource

		Acura's A-Spec body kit follows...        read full caption Acura's A-Spec body kit follows the TSX's lines to a tee. The pre-painted kit includes both bumper covers and a pair of side skirts. Not having to wait for a body shop to spray all of this cuts down down-time considerably, which is good since the TSX is Arpon's daily driver and all.
We've already outfitted Arpon's...        read full caption We've already outfitted Arpon's TSX with Eibach Sportline springs, Koni adjustable shocks, EBC and Goodridge brakes, 19-inch Ron Jon Devotion III wheels, and Bridgestone Potenza tires. Since all of our parts just so happen to be sourced outside of Japan, we dubbed it "The Anti-JDM Build." No offense JDM lovers.	Password:JDM's TSX foglights...        read full caption Password:JDM's TSX foglights bolt up to the OEM locations but require a bit of modification when using the A-Spec kit. The electrical connectors plug right in but the lights sit about a half an inch away from the bumper unless you modify the brackets. It's no big deal, really, and since A-Spec kits are somewhat rare, most TSX owners won't encounter this little problem.	Before Arpon addressed the...        read full caption Before Arpon addressed the horsepower side of things he had to dress up his bay a bit. Password:JDM was given the go-ahead for carbon-fiber intake manifold and spark plug covers.

5943 Posts
Anaheim, CA

You know you've got a problem when your daily driver-the car you got so you'd have something reliable to get to work in-turns into your next project. It's happened to our editorial lackey twice. Michael Arpon bought his '07 TSX so that he could tear his Si hatchback apart and not have to worry about when it got put back together. The Si currently has no engine in it-its ITR powertrain is being rebuilt-which makes owning a car like his CL9 TSX all the more sensible. That is, until he began tearing into the TSX.

It isn't all that bad though. Each of the TSX's mods were completed with an afternoon's worth of labor, which meant down-time for the daily driver was minimal. Upgrades like the Eibach suspension and EBC brakes, which we covered last time, took a few hours to slap on but the car was back on the road for work the next day. But having a reliable daily driver has just as much to do with driving convenience as it does minimal time apart. Driving a slammed-to-the-ground Si sitting on Mugen RnRs just waiting to get stolen is neither relaxing nor soothing-at least not all of the time. Ah yes, this is where cars like the TSX come into play. Not having to worry about important things like driveways, speed bumps, or parking spots is the care-free state of mind that only a true enthusiast can appreciate. Never mind all of that though, Arpon wants to build something new.

The TSX has already been lowered with Eibach springs and Koni shocks and is sitting on 19-inch Ron Jon Devotion III rims and Bridgestone Potenzas. The two-inch drop did much for aesthetics but, once the Ron Jons were slapped on, the rest of the car looked a bit wussy. Acura's A-Spec body kit helps with this. The OEM kit, which we picked up from our local Acura dealership, includes front and rear bumper aprons, both side skirts, and fits like it came straight from Honda. That's because it did. Everything's included from the double-sided tape to the screws. All we needed was a screwdriver and the kit was as good as on. It was so easy, even Arpon could install it. Of course, if you wanted to go full-blown A-Spec you'd also have to get the rear wing and 17-inch rim-and-Michelin combo, but we didn't care about any of that stuff. Complementing the Acura-issued body mods are yellow-tinted fog lights from Password:JDM. The lights include everything from a complete wiring harness and relay, to a switch, switch bezel, and a bunch of hardware. If you've already got the U.S.-spec fog lights, you can chuck most of this stuff. Under normal circumstances the lights would bolt right up and plug in, but the A-Spec kit's fog light housings meant we had to fabricate custom brackets to space the lights slightly forward. It's not a big deal and it saved us from some fairly large gaps. The Accord Euro R body kit was an option Arpon considered but, hey, this is the anti-JDM build after all and everyone knows that Accord Euro Rs are of JDM descent.

K&N's been making cold-air...        read full caption K&N's been making cold-air intakes since before some of you were born, so you know they're going to give you everything you need to install it and that it'll fit perfectly. They did, it does. The kit works without having to relocate the battery or anything else under the hood for that matter. There's also no cutting involved.	The TSX's factory-issued header...        read full caption The TSX's factory-issued header is actually pretty free-flowing. So is the exhaust system, which makes the power gains all the more impressive.
Like most any DC Sports header...        read full caption Like most any DC Sports header system, the two-piece version includes upper and lower halves, an oxygen sensor relocation harness that we didn't need for our '07, and some hardware and gaskets.	Installing the DC Sports header...        read full caption Installing the DC Sports header is fairly straightforward. We replaced the original exhaust gasket with a new one and bolted the header up in two stages: the upper half first followed by the downpipe, which we bolted to the catalytic converter on the ground.