First of all let me wish everyone here, and those that are absent visiting relatives and friends, a happy and bountiful holiday weekend.

Now... on the the meat of the matter (no pun intended). My car is a 97 GT sedan with 79k miles on it, CAI and U-Bend delete and the cooler thermostat, etc. but no major mods like exhaust or ECUs. New water pump, belt, and battery, fresh fluids, and that's just about it for mods.
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Unless I happen to have some business to attend to in the next lane, I'm not one of those people who uses (abuses?) WOT in first gear, and hardly beyond about 4000 rpm in 1st, either, nor at over 3/4 throttle.

What I like to do is back off a little and let it get into 2nd before I mash it WOT and let the grins begin.

I can really feel the extra grunt from the CAI and U-bend delete at WOT in 2nd, and I love those quick blasts up to around 5200rpm. Fells good, sounds good, and I like it.

The problem is this:

If I quick-shift out of first too soon, and then hit it too hard in 2nd, of course the tranny, doing what it does for a living, will quickly downshift me to 1st again and there I am with a WOT thrashing going on at 5300 rpm going on in 1st gear. I feel like this is just unnecessary wear and tear when all I'm doing is pulling out onto the highway anyway.

Or I'm leaving a stoplight where the speed limit is 60 a few hundred feet down the road.

So I don't consider this a fault with the programming or activity of the vehicle, it's just trying to help all it can.

What I would like to have is the ability to "lock out" first gear at WOT in 2nd at any rpm above about say, 3500rpm or so.

That would give me the ability to get on it pretty good in first without beating up the reciprocating mass, then when it shifts to 2nd really hammer it and enjoy it all the way up to 5300 rpm in 3rd gear.

I know a Monte SS driver that told me I could do that with a PC tuner, but then he told me the price of such a piece of software, and I'm just way too close to retirement for such stuff.

Does anyone see what I'm trying to ask? I probably put too much detail into my posts, but basically I don't want the tranny to downshift back to first if I'm above 3500 in 2nd.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

James.

(PS: If there's some wise acre over in the other lane in a V6 Ford Fusion, or some loud 4x4 pickup, then I of course want to keep WOT right on up to 5300 in 1st if they're feeling sporty. )

So you are asking about lowering the rev limiter for 1st?

There is no need to limit it. Don't be afraid to spin that motor. The only time you want to keep the revs low is when there is no load on the motor. 1st gear has plenty of load. If you keep it from downshifting 2nd to first all your doing is killing your accell.

As stated, you could program that, but why? It also sounds like your manually shifting. Just let the tranny/pcm take care of itself. By shifting down to first when it needs too, it is preventing itself from lugging the engine. Occasionally hitting high rpms is good anyway, it prevents carbon deposits.

I must be carbon deposit free then... dangit you lead foot

I completely understand what you're saying. I love the 2nd gear, and have already addressed this 'issue' with my tuner. Basically now whenever my shifter is in 2, it will stay in second as long as I'm over 5mph. So usually if I want to use this feature, I'll accelerate lightly and let the car shift into 2nd like normal, then I'll pop it in 2nd and go ahead and throttle it, and I won't shift back into 1st like anyone else would. Fun stuff. And if you rev it all the way from 5mph to redline in 2nd, it really is like a rocket, accelerating harder as the RPMs rise.

1) No, I'm not manually shifting. 2) WOT in 1st up to 5000rpm attracts the attention of any local gendarme sitting around the intersection.

I want to do what zuulmusic does, just get it rolling good, up to maybe 20, in 1st, then hammer it all the way up to redline in 2nd and 3rd, which is where all the fun is at in my n/a car.

zuulmusic, will my car do that, or did your tuner set that up for you?

Hell, if I wanted to I guess I could start driving the Malibu back and forth to work. That old TH350 will do just about anything in the world you want it to, especially with about 350hp on tap, except turn itself into a 4-speed overdrive tranny. Oh, wait, premium is 3.15 a gallon and the Malibu gets 9mpg if I can keep my foot out of it, which is a physical impossibility. I should'a gone with 3.55 gears instead of 3.73, I keep telling myself........

Anyway, the Grand Prix is a true blast to drive in and of itself. For one thing, my 4-door really doesn't look as quick as it is, and it's fun in the hilly, twisty roads we have here in East Tennessee, and I think it has classical good looks that I never get tired of being seen in, other than the poor trim quality on the interior it's reliable and steady, cruises smooth and silent at 75mph all while returning 22-24mpg on my daily work commute, depending on how many wannabes I have to blow off along the way.

Plus, there's still tons of inexpensive improvements I can still make. Strut tower braces are next, then some new KYBs, and after Saturday I'll be able to report to you how the 235/55-16 tires act on the car.

Some nice person on the board sent me a link to a direct CD replacement for my factory casette deck, $40.00. Cheap enough. And all the steering wheel controls will work as normal, except for the PRESET button will scan the CD tracks instead of flipping the tape reverse.

So basically I'm just carping about the car not being absolutely PERFECT for my style of driving, when in point of fact I have very little to bi..h about. The GP is a great car and I'm very proud to have mine, especially in the excellent condition it's in, and I look forward to getting in it every time I have to go somewhere. And I just love that sound the CAI makes when you first start it up, but it does make me wish I had a blown car and not an n/a.

I still have supercharger envy.

James.

I used my powertuner to make some adjustments. A local powertuner user may be able to make the quick tweak for you. Otherwise the units are $380 and wouldn't have much use on an unmodified car.

I don't know how the 2nd gear low end would feel N/A,... with my type of SC it gradually builds boost, adding to the accelerating effect. GTPs with the M90 and the slower gearing feel different too.

I can relate to what you are saying. Many times I'll start off slower and let the car get over 30mph on part throttle the slowly go to WOT...the growl from the intake is sweet music as the revs build on the way to 70-75mph.
I use this techinque often merging onto the hi-way with my wife in the car so I get to play a little...if I go to WOT and the car downshifts hard, I get an immediate harsh reaction from the passenger seat

But being thrown back in your seat when it suddenly downshifts is so much fun...

Not so much in an n/a GP, but probably a genuine blast in a supercharged car. About all you get above 5100 rpm in my car is some pretty unsavory noise.

From about 2600 rpm all the way up to 5300 it feels fantastic, and sounds nice on the way up there, too.

I can catch about 7/8 throttle at 3200, then I can generally go to WOT about 3600 without downshifting back to first, and from there on it's a typical fantastic Grand Prix experience.

Hold WOT all the way through 3rd and it takes a long time to get the grin off your face.

Or get the ticket paid for, if you happen to be having an un-lucky day.

My gf in her substantially modified 2004 Moustang V-6 was thrilled the day she could hit 100mph from a stop sign to a certain point on this lonely, straight back country road we drive.

The best I could get to was 94, then the cold air intake got that up to 96, now with the U-bend delete I can get to 101 (speed limited?) at the same point. She's devestated and is looking for some way to add HP to her car, because she can't stand it that my 10 year old GP with triple the miles is faster than her 3 year old Mustang with the long tube headers and the CAI and all the other mods she's done to it.

Pedigree. Pontiacs have it, her's doesn't.