Active Dampers too stiff on FL5. Disabled with Damping Cancellation Kit

[Noize]

Wrong, Dream3r. Scroll up. Read it in context. I was responding to Noize, who posted a decidedly different take on his experience with the CTR vs ITS modules. Whereas most people have preferred the ITS, which is why I have an order in for one, Noize seems to be firmly in the opposite camp. Because of this, I asked for his impressions on the two modes he didn't mention, since he only mentioned Comfort mode.



CTR, weighing everyone's opinion is precisely what I'm doing, which is why I was asking for more of a description from one of the few dissenting opinions here.

On many of my favorite roads, yes, Sport and +R are too bouncy to be of use. On a few choice roads, however, +R is tremendous. Meanwhile, Comfort is nearly always fine, up to maybe 8/10ths aggression, as Noize correctly stated.

My worry is that the ITS module will dull Comfort mode to the point that the car no longer feels like a Type R, while Sport and +R will be neutered to where the car loses its unique edginess. For the most part, people seem to prefer the ITS, but I'm interested in hearing the reasons behind the dissenting opinions.

As to your point about either module being easy to sell once I choose my favorite, yes, that's true, but I have another issue there. As I said, I have a reconstructed cervical spine, to go with a broken neck and a shattered lumbar spine. As a result, I can't turn my head much, or look up or down, or bend much at all. Because of this, I doubt that I can turn my head and

Sorry, didn’t see a tag or quote. Here’s my old posts, I’ll try to expound beyond this and explain why I sold in next post.

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[Noize]

Well...
Acura ITS ADS installed.
I can definitely attest that everything works properly, including push to hold for full stability/traction control off.

I differ from the video reviewer in post #72 a bit. He said: "Way smoother and softer, less aggressive"- I found that not to be accurate. My take lines up much more with how Savagegeese reported it. If you are expecting this to be a transformation in how the car handles fast corners, it is not.

There is a backroad I take with extremely sharp corners, and an on-ramp at the end where you might find yourself entering at extralegal speeds. How the shocks behave on track and in high speed corners is unchanged- the car will still bounce in +R. But I would say it bounces less. I would postulate that the best way to describe it is like this; There are 4 settings that have been setup with this system-

Setting 1 most aggressive= +R in CTR, not used in ITS
Setting 2 second most aggressive= Sport in CTR, Sport+ in ITS
Setting 3 third most aggressive= Comfort in CTR, Sport in ITS
Setting 4 least aggressive = not used in CTR, comfort in ITS

To summarize, it feels like everything is just moved down a setting, with a new comfort setting added.

All that said, I had an FK8 for a couple years, and still have access to driving one often. Even with the ITS ADS computer, the FL5 is still much more aggressively dampened than the FK8. I cannot report on the Limited Edition car, as I have never driven one of those.

I don't regret this mod, but to answer if it's right for you, read the bit a few paragraphs up about the settings, or test drive an ITS.

I think I prefer it right now, because having stability control fully disable with damper settings more like FL5 Sport is more desirable. Also, comfort is even more comfortable, but not too soft and unusable like the FK8's comfort was.

Thanks for reading!

This

 

[Noize]

Read one post above where I explain settings one through four.

The reason I finally sold it was because I didnt care for ITS comfort at all and on a glass like road or smooth track, FL5 +R can at least be usable.

On stock wheels, I use comfort almost exclusively.

On my TE37s with RT660 255/40/18, I can go one stiffer without batting an eye, sometimes two stiffer.

To that end, FL5 ADS wins in all scenarios. If I need full assists off in comfort, I’ll pedal dance the car.

To me, the ITS module comfort doesn’t control the shocks as well, so it was a sell for me.

Hope this helps. That above post should explain each mode best.

 

[VLJ]

My local dealer says they're still showing the ITS module being a few weeks out, even though a number of online vendors have received theirs and shipped them to customers already. So, as a result, I ordered one yesterday from AllDiscountsParts.com, which is again proving to be fairly frustrating. Their website shows the part as available, but that was also the case when I first ordered it online, only to be told later that it's backordered.

Knowing this, I called them to ask whether the part truly is in stock now and ready to ship?

No one answered the phone. The first call, it simply rang and rang. The second call, it dumped me into a voicemail telling me to email them for the fastest response. So, they won't talk to their customers by phone. Good to know.

I wrote them, per their instructions. They responded today with...basically nothing. They didn't answer my question at all. Instead, I received the same canned response as before: "We received your order. We'll let you know as soon as it ships."

That's great, but do you actually have the item?

Btw, Noize, thank you for the explanations. I think I will still take a stab at trying the ITS module, although I'm not sure yet how I'll remove the rear seat. I may have to bite the bullet and bring the car to a shop and have them do the swap, since I have a feeling I won't be able to bend my neck and back enough to do it myself.

I also think that I will likely end up agreeing with your findings, and I'll end up swapping back to stock, but we'll see. I'll probably be out the cost of two shop fees, but I suppose it will be worth it for the peace of mind, right?

 

[Noize]

My local dealer says they're still showing the ITS module being a few weeks out, even though a number of online vendors have received theirs and shipped them to customers already. So, as a result, I ordered one yesterday from AllDiscountsParts.com, which is again proving to be fairly frustrating. Their website shows the part as available, but that was also the case when I first ordered it online, only to be told later that it's backordered.

Knowing this, I called them to ask whether the part truly is in stock now and ready to ship?

No one answered the phone. The first call, it simply rang and rang. The second call, it dumped me into a voicemail telling me to email them for the fastest response. So, they won't talk to their customers by phone. Good to know.

I wrote them, per their instructions. They responded today with...basically nothing. They didn't answer my question at all. Instead, I received the same canned response as before: "We received your order. We'll let you know as soon as it ships."

That's great, but do you actually have the item?

Btw, Noize, thank you for the explanations. I think I will still take a stab at trying the ITS module, although I'm not sure yet how I'll remove the rear seat. I may have to bite the bullet and bring the car to a shop and have them do the swap, since I have a feeling I won't be able to bend my neck and back enough to do it myself.

I also think that I will likely end up agreeing with your findings, and I'll end up swapping back to stock, but we'll see. I'll probably be out the cost of two shop fees, but I suppose it will be worth it for the peace of mind, right?

Are you anywhere near Nashville? I’ll install it for you for the low price of free.

 

[VLJ]

Wish I were, but I'm in NoCal.

Seriously, so many people I know here have recently moved to Tennessee. They make it sound like heaven, compared to the lunacy we're constantly experiencing here now.

 

[elusiveaura]

The install is super easy. Look up the video on youtube, actually here it is. Takes 10-15 minutes

Wish I were, but I'm in NoCal.

Seriously, so many people I know here have recently moved to Tennessee. They make it sound like heaven, compared to the lunacy we're constantly experiencing here now.

 

[VLJ]

The install is super easy. Look up the video on youtube, actually here it is. Takes 10-15 minutes

I know it’s easy, provided you can turn your head and bend enough to remove the rear seat. I’ve had so many spinal reconstructions that those simple movements are somewhat out of the question now for me.

 

[TheKrumpet]

I just ordered the damper module from AcuraPartsForLess on 4/29/2024. I asked them 5/1 if there was a backorder. They replied "they are trickling in, but should be delivered by end of May". That very same day (5/1) I got a notification that my order had shipped. Expected delivery 5/4/2024.

Must have gotten lucky on the restock?

 

[VLJ]

Add me to the list of the lucky. I put in my new order with AllDiscountParts.com a couple of days ago, and received a FedEx shipping notice today. It's on its way.

Now I gotta figure out how to remove that back seat without needing to turn my head or bend too far sideways. I'm not going to disconnect the battery. Haven't read anywhere that it's necessary.

 

[elusiveaura]

I didn’t disconnect mine either. Should be fine.

Add me to the list of the lucky. I put in my new order with AllDiscountParts.com a couple of days ago, and received a FedEx shipping notice today. It's on its way.

Now I gotta figure out how to remove that back seat without needing to turn my head or bend too far sideways. I'm not going to disconnect the battery. Haven't read anywhere that it's necessary.

 

[drac]

I ordered my ITS ADS in Feb and It arrived last week. I installed over the weekend, very easy to do, no gotchas.

I did a quick drive immediately before and after the change. To skip to the end, for me this is a definite improvement.

Context, I’m a family guy with 2 teenage kids. My wife and I both drive the CTR, for us it’s a sensible, fun, manual run around that we can use to zip in to town (30km) or go to the shops in. (16 year old daughter is learning to drive in it.) It’s unlikely to ever see track duty, we have sports cars and more luxury oriented cars in the garage.

We live in costal rural New Zealand and on our local roads the stock suspension is too unyielding, especially over larger bumps where it kicks through the whole chassis and can knock the car offline mid corner. It can make driving on bumpy rural roads unpleasant.

The ADS has definitely helped. The feedback through the wheel is very similar, as you switch up the modes you can feel more and more of the road surface.
The significant difference is the response to larger bumps in the road. It now breaths with the road better, even in sport mode. R+ is still very stiff but is now is just about usable. Comfort is more like other sports oriented cars, you can drive it harder as it’s more predictable over difficult surfaces.

I’m quite happy that it’s money well spent. Thanks to all in the tread for bringing this to our attention.

 

[Shingo Shoji]

I ordered my ITS ADS in Feb and It arrived last week. I installed over the weekend, very easy to do, no gotchas.

I did a quick drive immediately before and after the change. To skip to the end, for me this is a definite improvement.

Context, I’m a family guy with 2 teenage kids. My wife and I both drive the CTR, for us it’s a sensible, fun, manual run around that we can use to zip in to town (30km) or go to the shops in. (16 year old daughter is learning to drive in it.) It’s unlikely to ever see track duty, we have sports cars and more luxury oriented cars in the garage.

We live in costal rural New Zealand and on our local roads the stock suspension is too unyielding, especially over larger bumps where it kicks through the whole chassis and can knock the car offline mid corner. It can make driving on bumpy rural roads unpleasant.

The ADS has definitely helped. The feedback through the wheel is very similar, as you switch up the modes you can feel more and more of the road surface.
The significant difference is the response to larger bumps in the road. It now breaths with the road better, even in sport mode. Type R is still very stiff but is now is just about usable. Comfort is more like other sports oriented cars, you can drive it harder as it’s more predictable over difficult surfaces.

I’m quite happy that it’s money well spent. Thanks to all in the tread for bringing this to our attention.

Out of interest, how did you order it from the US? I’m in Aus and trying to use a freight forwarding service but it’s taking forever.

 

[drac]

Hi Shingo, yes I used a forwarder. There is one operated by NZ Post which is good for smaller items like this to NZ. I did have to pay GST but all up was about $100NZD and took about 2 weeks. (About 3 days for item to be delivered to forwarder, 3 days for them to process, me to declare and pay then a further week to be delivered to me in NZ.)

 

[Shingo Shoji]

Hi Shingo, yes I used a forwarder. There is one operated by NZ Post which is good for smaller items like this to NZ. I did have to pay GST but all up was about $100NZD and took about 2 weeks. (About 3 days for item to be delivered to forwarder, 3 days for them to process, me to declare and pay then a further week to be delivered to me in NZ.)

Thanks. Sounds like you were one of the lucky ones. It's taking a long time for a lot of us to get avaliable stock.

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