• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

Best program?

hammerline81

hammerline81

New member
Hey there, I'm looking to do some mods to the car. I'm going to be putting a down-pipe without the cat. I'll need to either buy a PCM to bypass the O2 or get it deleted. Both are going to cost me money and if I bring it to a shop it'll cost me $500-$600 to get it deleted.

So I may as well buy the program and then I can make changes to the car after I learn about how it works. Anyone have any suggestions on what program to buy? ZZP offers a program, is it something a guy should spend $500 on? Or is there a better program that's the best bang for a buck?
 


Those things seem like they're tough to find. Did they discontinue that product? I've just been reading up and looking for one.
 
buying a DHP and selling it...yes it is for free in the end, but very few will be able to figure out how to tune their car. from the OP's avatar he has an 04+ and they don't always respond well to removing the rear O2 anyway. see post about rear o2 tuning and cat test. it is said a spark plug non fouler is a better option.

DHP and the free ware tiny tuner allows more options then the alternative (hptuners)
 


Thanks for the info everyone. Would it be a dumb idea to get the cat deleted if my car can't handle that very well? I have an o2 sensor that's gone on the car and I'm 95% sure it's from the cat being plugged (227,000k on the engine). I just hate screwing around with o2's. My idea was to order a 3" off-road down pipe from ZZP, get colder plugs, better wires(I do have NGK's, but stock spec's), throttle body spacer and then either Overkills PCM or try to tune it myself. I know nothing about tuning so I was going to try to get as much input from everyone on here to help me, but I'm not sure that's the best idea? I'm just looking to add some cheaper horses for now and then eventually get into the bigger HP gain as I learn more about the car. Any input on that?
 
What engine do you have? Letting people know your motor and future goals will help people give advise.
 
If you get a DHP I could help give you pointers and help you with the first few tunes via email. there are lots of write ups floating around you just need to search here and a few other forums for info. Learning to tune is the best option for anyone who is willing to read and learn
 
It's a 04 GTP(L32) with a K&N CAI, so practically stock. Right on! Really appreciate the offer. I've been doing research on the car since I bought it back in February, so I'm more than willing to learn about tuning it. I'll try to find aDHP as soon as possible.
 
tms8582 said:
What engine do you have? Letting people know your motor and future goals will help people give advise.
Click to expand...

I forgot to answer your second question about future goals. I'd eventually wanna get as much horsepower as this engine will allow me to. But I'd like to add 40 to 50 HP for now so that my buddy with a '12 Impala LT stops blowing my doors off, lol. I know rockers, cam , valve springs and all that jazz will get me there but I'd like to just start with the basics, like colder Tstat, bigger wires, colder plugs, downpipe, bigger exhaust, pully drop, stuff like that. Cheaper HP mods for right now. I just became a dad last week so I'm trying to balance the spending money on the kid, woman and then me... Seems like the woman gets most of it, but of well lol.
 


The quickest cheapest way to add some horse power would be headers, intake and probably a 3.4 pulley. A scan gauge is important to check for kr so you don't damage your motor. If your motor and trans has 227k and the car is your daily driver id be cautious with adding much more power...
 
tms8582 said:
The quickest cheapest way to add some horse power would be headers, intake and probably a 3.4 pulley. A scan gauge is important to check for kr so you don't damage your motor. If your motor and trans has 227k and the car is your daily driver id be cautious with adding much more power...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm also the third owner of the car and have no idea how this thing has been treated which sucks to think what kind of hell it may have been through. That's why I'm keeping it simple for right now. I'm looking for a totaled Grand Prix on a salvage site to get a car for parts and then I could go to town on that engine once I get it out and put it on a stand. I have dreams lol. Any suggestions on headers? I've read up on some forums and people say that there's no need to get fancy headers like SLP and similar name brands to that, what's your and others opinion on that? What would I need to do with the intake by the way? Would a TB spacer be any benefit or are they just for show with these cars?

P.S.
Im sure you figured out that I'm a green horn when it comes to this car, lol. Sorry for all the questions.
 
I went with slp headers because they are ceramic coated and come with everything and bolt right up to the stock cat back. They were 800 bucks tho.... Most on here go with cheaper speed daddy headers and weld in a higher quality flex pipe from what i read. intakes are the easiest mod you can do. Just remove your air box and replace it with a tube and cone filter. I have my cone filter in the fender well for cooler air but many will argue that a filter in the engine bay is just as good. Google zzp, intense, w body store and 3800 performance and look for headers and intakes. Congrats on the new arrival btw
 


Yeah, those SLP's are pricey but you get what you pay for. I was looking into the Pacesetters, they have good ratings but have some issues with leaks unless a guy gets ZZP's additional package. I'll have to think about it. I've got a K&N 57 series cold air intake if that's what you mean. So that's off the list. From what the two sites I've been going back and forth from say that I can drop down to a 3.6" pulley once I've got the headers/downpipe, intake, then after the smaller pulley is installed, the shorter SC belt. Then that brings me right back to tuning the car, lol. Thanks! It's pretty cool being a dad, tiring as hell though haha!
 
I think you could probably go a little smaller than a 3.6 but to be safe you might want to start with the 3.6 and after scanning try a 3.5 or 3.4. The important thing is avoiding knock because people blow pistons getting greedy for boost lol Regarding the tune... to be honest with those minor mods I'd just get a mail order tune from intense. Those guys have done hundreds of tunes with just about every mod you can think of.
 
I'll try a 3.6 for now cause I'm pretty cautious when it comes to this car, like I said, she's seen some pavement and I just don't know how well it'll hold up to some smaller pulley drops. I've been trying to figure out what's a good scanner but people never answer that question with all the forums I've been reading, any suggestions? Yeah, I'll go with that for now I think and maybe get a DHP Tuner when i know what I want to do with the car. I wonder if I do the top end like rocker arms, retainers, springs, push rods, cam, etc. If that would save the engine a little bit or it would make it worse? I'd put performance stuff for sure but I'm worried about the rest of the engine.
 
Just about everybody on here including myself uses an Aeroforce gauge which scans kr and a ton of other things on your car. I bought mine from ZZP. If you put high ratio rockers and or higher lift cam along with stiffer springs you could go smaller with the pulley and gain more power but the lower end and trans will still have 230K....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top