third gen stock topout?

[Trunks]

hi i was wondering for those of you with 3rd gen firebirds 3.1l v6 , what does ur car top out at mine seems to be 105 and that seems slow. i say it seems slow because even when i press the pedal all the way down it takes a long time to accelerate up to speeds (like 55, 60 etc) and i was wondering what basic maintenance i can do to change this (maybe spark plug change) and also if there is a governor on third gen cars, specifically 1992 firebirds

[Colin]

Yeah, there's a governor on 'em I believe, and the only way I know of to delete them is to get some sort of power chip. Changing plugs and routine maintenence will help in small ways, but you'll still be governed at 105-110. I've seen it posted on here more than once, but our cars are rather heavy to have a 3.1L V6 in 'em.

[Trunks]

thanks collin i'll research on how to get that gov out , i really want it out of there :D would getting rid of the governor help acceleration?

[91Firebird]

I thought our cars went up to about 118-120 before the governor kicked in? I have been up to 105, but I let the gas off myself, the governor didn't kick in. Yeah a chip would get rid of the governor, but those are expensive, almost $200. Unfortunately just removing the governor won't help acceleration, although the chips claim to offer a slight performance increase (but most people say they aren't worth the money).

By the way, you said your car doesn't accelerate very well, do you know about how many seconds it takes to get to 50 or 60? I can try timing myself later and we'll compare results.

[ February 25, 2003: Message edited by: 91Firebird ]</p>

[Trunks]

With gas pedal all the way down it takes about maybe 9 - 10 secs to get to 60 from dead stop

but if its at like maybe 50/55 i press the gas pedal down and it seems like doesn't accelerate too fast, it takes like 5-6secs to get to 70/75 around there, i will time it again tho

[ February 25, 2003: Message edited by: Trunks ]</p>

[3.4 slow to go]

governor is part of PROM programing. replace w/aftermarket or have custom one burned.

[92birdy]

My car gets up to 115 by itself but after that i have to be going down hill, then it will govern around at 118. I notice the same thing with my car. i can take stay with anyone at the start but once i get going about 60 and put it to the floor it hard to keep up with other cars.

[Colin]

Myself, personally, I've only gotten mine up to like 97 mph. I got stopped. I've noticed that my car's not too fast off the line, but when I'm goin' about 42 in 4th gear and sittin' at about 1300-1400 rpm, I can jump up to 60 or 70 pretty quick with a decent push back into the seat. Of course, mine's not stock anymore, though.

[ February 26, 2003: Message edited by: Colin ]</p>

[Trunks]

91firebird i tested out the accel on my car today and it takes between 10 and 11 secs to get from 0-60 (blegh) (i'm glad i might be buying a 350)

[Darknight]

This is interesting. A stock 5.0 82 Trans Am could do 0-60 in 9.2, and my '88 Series I 3800 Olds Delta 88 with 316,000 miles on it can do 0-60 in 9.19. Then again, it's not your ordinary Olds, (sport version with FE3 suspension, etc...) with speed limiter kicking in at 124. Due to its gearing, without a limiter, it can hit right around the 150 mark, I am told. I'd like to keep working on it until one day I get it to the 6s for 0-60. Since we don't have a dragstrip close by, I can't worry too much about 1/4 mile times. It'd be a lot quicker to 60 if it were geared a little differently. The 50-60 range kills it. 0-50 is superfast, and 60-75 is pretty awesome too. They love to build those Olds's with maximum passing power, and they don't dissapoint. I've heard of some people putting superchargers on them and running with some pretty good competition.

Sorry to ramble on about my Olds, but this is the closest place to a home for the 3800 that I can find, even though it's a different series. I love the series II also, and I love F-bodies.


DK

[ February 26, 2003: Message edited by: Darknight ]</p>

[3.4 slow to go]

not to discourage from coming here, but try www.clubgp.com . good stuff there for us/other fwd vehicle drivers. I peruse there for my 99GPGT.

[Darknight]

I've been to all the 3800Series II FWD sites, but they don't have the kind of discussion that goes on here. Thrasher used to have a lot of useful info, though. Besides, I like it here. [img]smile.gif[/img]

DK

[Army_F_body]

My 92 governs out at about 115 mph. But unusually at about 110 mph it drops into another gear and continues its acceleration to 115, usually pulling about 2600 rpms. This really confuses me as it has a 4 speed automatic. Could this be some kind of 5th gear double overdrive? I've done no modifications to the transmission, and bought it used in 97 from a local Chevy delearship. Its coded as a stock 1SA Firebird, but looks more like a Formula for performance options with a 6 cyl in it, WS6 suspension and all. Creeps me out sometimes; first time it did it I thought I blew the transmission (she blew a governer gear and I was out driving her around to test the repair out when the transmission did this little "trick")!

[3.4 slow to go]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> I've been to all the 3800Series II FWD sites, but they don't have the kind of discussion that goes on here. Thrasher used to have a lot of useful info, though. Besides, I like it here. <hr></blockquote>

yup. I've driven my grand prix about 6 mos now, and that's 6 mos more than the firebird. I have like 20 posts over there, and like, 1 or 2 here :rolleyes:

[David Blalock]

The stock governor is 118 and only way to fix that is a new PROM or get yours reburned. I've personally had mine to 110 and man I love the way these cars handle over 60-70 they're practically stuck to the road. Army_F_Body, that may have been the torque converter locking up. When I first got my bird I thought it was slipping but it was really the torque converter locking up in each gear. Under full throttle it kicks a little and drops the revs a bit.
David

Soon to be gone...