Help! Car is acting all f--ked up.

[Big Bad James]

Alright, last night, I was driving home, doing about 100 KMH (62 MPH) and wanted to go and pass someone. So I opened up the throttle, only to have the car downshift into what I believe was second gear, and not have enough power to bring it up past the 4k marker on the tach. My speed would also drop to about 55 MPH. The sound reminded me of hitting a rev limiter/fuel cutoff. I had to let off the gas to get the car into the next gear, and the max speed I could get it to obtain was a 'blistering' 76 MPH. :(

I came to a complete stop, and then floored it. Sounded like the engine was pulling a goddamn fire-truck. And the performance was as lethargic as it too.

This sounds like an engine problem to me. I originally thought that it might be a transmission problem, but that was dispelled when my acceleration had turned to ****, and the engine sounded like it was about to die.

Any ideas on what this problem might be, or if anyone has had it before, what was it and how much was it to repair?


** and I figured I should add, no SES light either. **

[Phillip McCaffrey]

i had a similar problem happen to me back in my days of the Grand Am. Is it downshifting smooth or hard? Does it upshift smooth or take a while to reengage. These problems led to my clutch's going bad. It cost me about 350$ to get it fixed and it shifted great...

[redbird00]

sounds transmission related...

merlin

[Big Bad James]

I thought it might be transmission related, as I had said, but further investigation disproved that. I started the car just 15 minutes ago, popped the hood, and opened the throttle using my finger. The car is not running on all cylinders. And for the record, it has gotten worse since I posted.

So it's either
a) spark plugs (they're the originals, sadly, despite what my profile says, I was told something different at the dealer, then upon my own inspection found otherwise)
b) spark wires (still original, ignore profile)
c) coil packs (two are factory, one of them was replaced by the dealer a week after I bought the car because it kept cutting out)

So, my questions:

1. If it is found to be the spark plugs, what plugs would you recommend I use to replace my current plugs?

2. If it is found to be the spark wires, would the 8.8 Taylor wires be of a good value? If I'm replacing the plugs, the wires will be replaced as well.

3. If it is found to be my coil packs, I'll be replacing all three of them, plus the plugs and wires. Which coil packs would you guys recommend I replace my factory coils with?

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

MSD-8224 For use on GM vehicles with 2-tower coil packs, 40,000 V, Blaster replacement coil...
$39.88

$119.64 for all 3 from summit