tweeking the 3800

[jry]

i cannot believe the improvement that a couple of cheap mods have made to my 2003 pontiac bonneville. its a 3800 series two engine. 1. Amsoil synthetic oil 2. K&N air filter 3. Taylor hi performance spark plug wires. man, the acceleration is incredible. the sound out the back and under the hood is a little stealthier too. i am not blowing smoke here. it is truly noticable. i'd like to know where i can get the car tested (in the detroit area) for torque and horsepower. i think the factory spec on this is 205. i was going to put on a borla muffler but i am not sure how much more you can do to improve it. i am running 89 octane, now.

[NOS2006]

Add a Magnaflow catback exhaust if applicable to your car. I have one on my 3800 Series II Camaro and it sounds great in the low RPMs. Edited September 24, 2005 by NOS2006

[jry]

nos....did it do anything to the performance?? is it better than the borla? where do i find one?

[quantum110]

IMO, Borla's sound better, but Magnaflows may be a little cheaper. Both are going to do about the same performance wise, just make sure you get a high flow cat and mandrel piping to go along w/ it. Don't go too big in diameter...probably nothing more than 2.5". There's a lot of parts out there for these motors...although for as long as these motors have been around you thing the price of headers would have droped below $700 by now.

[jry]

IMO, Borla's sound better, but Magnaflows may be a little cheaper. Both are going to do about the same performance wise, just make sure you get a high flow cat and mandrel piping to go along w/ it. Don't go too big in diameter...probably nothing more than 2.5".
There's a lot of parts out there for these motors...although for as long as these motors have been around you thing the price of headers would have droped below $700 by now.

[post="19746"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

you mean i just can't cut the old muffler off and slap on a borla?

[NOS2006]

I don't think they make it for the Bonnie. Damn. But it sounds and flows well. I've raced other STOCK V6s and beat 'em with it and free intake mods..

[quantum110]

you mean i just can't cut the old muffler off and slap on a borla?

[post="20389"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Your could, but really your only doing half the job.

[NOS2006]

I'm with Quantum...

[NOS2006]

As a matter of fact, find me a pic of your engine bay. A Home Depot CAI may be a good thing.

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

As a matter of fact, find me a pic of your engine bay. A Home Depot CAI may be a good thing.

[post="21133"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

cept when ur getting ur car's emissions tested
:P

[NOS2006]

Why would that change anything? There's still a filter on it...

[Sixty8panther]

I can't believe no one has said the most obvious thing: TURBO. Maybe not super cheap but it's about as effective as making a hole i the ground wiht a nuclear bomb.

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

Why would that change anything? There's still a filter on it...

[post="21144"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Uhhmmm cause its illegal? altho i guess in some states they wouldnt care...

[ponchoman49]

i cannot believe the improvement that a couple of cheap mods have made to my 2003 pontiac bonneville.
its a 3800 series two engine.
1. Amsoil synthetic oil
2. K&N air filter
3. Taylor hi performance spark plug wires.

man, the acceleration is incredible. the sound out the back and under the hood is a little stealthier too. i am not blowing smoke here. it is truly noticable. i'd like to know where i can get the car tested (in the detroit area) for torque and horsepower. i think the factory spec on this is 205.
i was going to put on a borla muffler but i am not sure how much more you can do to improve it. i am running 89 octane, now.

[post="19396"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Interesting cause I changed over to fully synthetic Mobil 0W-30, K&N filter and those same wires with my 98 Grand Prix 3800 series II and didn't really notice any difference a couple of years back. Did you do anything else besides the 89 octane gas? I have heard that the engine used in the full sized cars uses a different cam and is tuned for a bit more power too so maybe those engines like the higher octane better.

[NOS2006]

I've never heard of them getting a different cam. They make/made the same power, right?

[Achelous]

I've never heard of them getting a different cam. They make/made the same power, right?

[post="67656"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

They make 205 hp as opposed to 200 in the Grand Prix, Impala, etc...

[04monteintimidator]

i havent touched my engine yet... tho i have a few things in mind... i really want to get the horse close to 300... but sumthin i did do that made much more of a difference than i thought... tho it could be bcuz i have the L67... is switched from 89 to 93 octane... the change in sound and throttle response was crazy...much more than i expected...just thought id give some input

[76ChevyTrucker]

As far as the Buick 231 90* V6 is concerned, the car only gets 205 horses in the Bonneville because the PCM is programmed slightly different to deal with the Bonnie's bigger platform as compared to the Impala, GP, etc. The engines are internally the same as any other Series II 3.8L. As far as exhaust systems for the FWD "K" code cars, good luck finding one. Since the exhaust system on our cars (2001 Impala LS 3.8L) crosses over the transmission, it'll be hard finding headers for them, but a cat back might be applicable if there's room under the car (which from what I've seen under my Impy, there is). Another good investment is a set of MSD coils for the car, and possibly an upgrade to the existing Ignition Control Module would help, but the biggest thing you could do is invest the 400.00 in getting a reprogrammer for the car (yes, they have them, I've already checked) That way you can change things like shift points, enginge cooling fan cut on temps, timing advance, etc to really maximize any changes you made to the vehicle. By the way, as far as CAI systems for the cars, K&N has one out, I've looked in my catalogue at work and gotten the part number. If you guys can wait till this afternoon, I'll be able to get the part number and bring it home with me so that everyone else will have it and not have to make the Home Depot CAI.

[Bizz]

As far as the Buick 231 90* V6 is concerned, the car only gets 205 horses in the Bonneville because the PCM is programmed slightly different to deal with the Bonnie's bigger platform as compared to the Impala, GP, etc.  The engines are internally the same as any other Series II 3.8L.  As far as exhaust systems for the FWD "K" code cars, good luck finding one.  Since the exhaust system on our cars (2001 Impala LS 3.8L) crosses over the transmission, it'll be hard finding headers for them, but a cat back might be applicable if there's room under the car (which from what I've seen under my Impy, there is).  Another good investment is a set of MSD coils for the car, and possibly an upgrade to the existing Ignition Control Module would help, but the biggest thing you could do is invest the 400.00 in getting a reprogrammer for the car (yes, they have them, I've already checked) That way you can change things like shift points, enginge cooling fan cut on temps, timing advance, etc to really maximize any changes you made to the vehicle.  By the way, as far as CAI systems for the cars, K&N has one out, I've looked in my catalogue at work and gotten the part number.  If you guys can wait till this afternoon, I'll be able to get the part number and bring it home with me so that everyone else will have it and not have to make the Home Depot CAI.

[post="106942"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

headers have been out for the fwd 3.8 for a few years. TOG with either 1 5/8 or 1 3/4 primaries (now practically dead, tho, snag a set if you can find them), SLP and S&S make sets.

several cat backs are available too, from gmpp, slp, borla, dynamax and even corsa. but, the biggest restrictions in the factory exhaust are the "u-bend" just after the cat and the double-walled section of the downpipe prior to the cat followed by the resonator and the cat itself. cat backs will help some, but spending that money on replacing the above items will net more gain. btw, dont ever replace the resonator with straight pipe, it will sound worse at WOT than stock. stick a bullet muffler or glasspack/cherry bomb in there. please! :P on an l67 car, DP and ubend mods are good til mid to high 13s.

the stock ignition system, in good condition, except the damned platinum plugs, has been proven good enough for 11 and 10 second passes. if you are on a budget, you will see far more gain spending money elsewhere. keep your coilpack terminals clean, good wires on the car and proper heat range copper plugs (in an l67 car, plats are fine N/A) and your ignition system is good to go.

DHP is the pcm editor to get, but for a lightly modded car, one of their reprogrammed pcms is a good choice, too, especially with the new price (100).

IMO, the KN intake is inferior to other airboxes on the market which cost less. the smooth intake tube is nice, but not worth it since the filter is exposed to radiant engine heat. the "home depot" DIY fenderwell intake can be made for a tenth of the KN price + filter cost and draw much cooler air in.

a guy i know owns this store: http://www.wbodystore.com/wbody/

nice guy, with a lot of good shtuff at good prices. if anyone is looking for more performance from their 3800, i suggest emailing them and/or joining a 3800-dedicated forum for info.

[scharmer05]

i know what you mean, on my impala (3400 though) i put a k & n filter in and did a custom magnaflow cat-back dual exhuast kit that a magnaflow dealer made up for me and just welded it all in there.....made a WORLD of difference. its a lot more responsive at lower rpms, plus sounds great compaired to stock....nothing loud but you can here it if you listen. I lost a lot of mileage with the exhaust though, but got some of it back with the k & n.

[76ChevyTrucker]

I'll have to check into he wbody store, I know i've looked for the headers for my car and haven't been able to find them, so I apologize for saying there are none. As far as the MSD coils, it was a suggestion, and the factory unit on the car is just about as good as you can get without going into really expensive stuff to move the coils to a place and use REALLY long spark plug wires to cut down on engine heat sinking into the coils and control module and causing signal breakdown due to heat.