I really want to get a pcm or at least reprogram my stock one to give me added acceleration but I really can't afford to use premium. Is there anyway to increase my acceleration without having to use premium gas?

Premium is about $2 more per fillup. If you can't afford that, then you shouldn't be wasting gas by flooring the accelerator.

yea...what he said lol

He's got an SE, would that even require premium?

times 2 on what everyone said ... if you cant afford to spend the 2$ extra then i wouldnt be driving the car like you stole it ... if you grandma it then you wont have to worry about filling it up as much

what up with the sign unleaded only on the dash... well at least its on mine...

all fuel now days is unleaded .. back in the day they used leaded fuel because it helped lube some of the internal parts ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Lead look at this ... but all fuel is unleaded now... you can buy lead additive for older cars... when i drive my 51 ford i have to use lead additive in the fuel because otherwise the valves smash on the seats and ruin had the chance to crush the valves and crack the block

wow i had no clue about that... thats nice to know... thx...

Only $2.00!!!!! You sure lol. See it may only be two bucks but the fact that I have to fill up every two days makes that alot of money in per month.(and if you can't tell I hate to part with any money lol)
So is there anyway to not have to use premium with a reprogramed pcm?

Considering what you put in your sig, it's funny to read all the stuff you're saying now.

What about how I hate putting gas in it unless I have to lol. Only problem is that punching it is just so much fun lol.

if you dont like to part with your money on the gas then dont buy a pcm ... that will also make you use more gas ... so if you dont like to spend the cash then 1 pcm costs money ... 2 then you spend more money on gas ... 3 then you are upset about buying gas ... ... or learn to deal with it because it horsepower costs money no if ands or buts about it lol

Ya I want to go fast and have fun but soooo much money needed and the fact that i have to drive from Cobourg to Whitby and back everyday(about a 80-100km trip one way)just means I get to fund sunoco even more lol. Oh well I'll live.

Ok so I will live with the price of premium since I really love going fast lol. Now what company would you recomend for a pcm (keep in mind I'm in Canada so looking for one that won't kill me on shipping). Or is there anyone near me who can tune my stock one for cheap with a powertuner?

Here ya go: Overkill Performance Maybe you could drive there and get an in-car tune...

It's actually a little closer to $3.00, but who's counting.

$0.20 x 17 gal tank = $3.40

That's if you're going empty to full though.

If you ever plan on owning a high performance car, you will need to get used to the idea of buying premium gasoline.

Waaaay too many premium threads going on.

Stock GT's don't use it.
Modified/PCM'd GT's use it.
GTP's use it.


Anybody thinking they don't want to spend the extra money on gas needs to forget about modding their car, or do some calculations. I'll guestimate one for you: the extra cost of premium fillups for 9000 miles is about the cost of the PCM itself.

98gpse dont waste ur time with 91 octane, ur car will not benifit out of it. U want to go faster!! Should think of engine work to be done, or buy a PCM off line. And remember u have a SE not really a race rocket.

His SE is probably a 3.8... so it's the same as a GT. Remember, '97-98 SEs had the 3.8 as an option.

As for the calculations on cost of premium over 87, I fill up at 2/5 tank. Always have. In my Strat, 10gals is lasting me about 2 weeks of driving.

This thread could of been ended by saying "You gotta pay to play!" Since I have learned a few things now, I would recommend getting ahold of someone with a Tuner. Tune your car so you get better acceleration and better gas mileage so the premium doesn't hurt your budget!

x2.....it pays to play but if ur worried about 3 bucs dun mod!!!

LOL well you see it's not so much the $3.00 that worry me it's the fact that I keep going to gas stations around me and take a look at the price of premium. It seems the gap between regular and premium prices seems to keep increasing. When I first got the car I assumed that one day yes I would need to run premium but then gas started going up but what ever I thought I would still bite the bullet and pay but now that the gap is increasing I am wondering if it's worth it but who am I kidding of course it's worth it lol.
Also my SE does have the 3800.
After looking into Overkill Performance I am definitely willing to drive to the GTA that’s only like a 2-3 hour drive from me.

I've heard nothing but good things about Overkill Performance. A little pricey, but good.

kind of .... they want 250 just for a pcm ... but that includes the core ... but you can buy a powertuner and do that kind of stuff ... that is extreamly pricey lol

Ya I don't know I kind of like the look of the Intense PCM but the PCM will have to wait. I went out started my car and just before closing the door I thought I smelled something. I bent down and realized that it was gas I smelled. I looked under the car and my fuel lines have rotten almost right the way through so fun fun fun. That being said it definitely explains my bad mileage. I was kinda suspicious because my dad used to have the car and got great mileage and I know he was having fun with it. Now that I know that my lines are gone the 3 bucks a tank may not be so much when I don't have to fill up every two days lol.

Yeah it is... have you looked at any of their other stuff too? Their cams are like $550-650, one even says call for pricing (meaning it's ridiculously high) and the N* TB setup is over $400... its like jeez.

I don't know anyone running any of their products except for their PCM's, because they are too freakin' expensive.

Well is there a cheaper one that has similar performance?

Nope not really. Overkill tunes for your car specifically, as versus Intense/ZZP with their off-the-shelf tune that's one size fits all.

Although, long ago I had a DHP PCM and it was pretty good.

i am thinking about buying a pcm from zzp or something .... i would love to buy a powertuner but thats the last thing i need is to mess something up on my tune and have my car not run right

Ya I agree with 4drgt. The thing is though that unless your doing massive upgrades(top end swap,cam etc.)a generic one should do. I just want a little more kick out of a daily driver with 200,000km on it so all I'm going to do is u-bend delete, glasspack, intake,and a PCM. For now that should be good.

when you first get your PT, upload a copy of your stock GT bin file, and if you ever have a problem, reload that file.

Also, wouldn't hurt to pick up a spare PCM to use in case by some random chance you fry yours

A generic one won't do!!! I got ZZPs, I post this just a few posts ago on this thread, and you really have to Tuner for your cars needs. They had me way too rich down low and way too lean up top. I gained much mileage and performance after a few tunes from a buddy. I kept my stock PCM just in case I had a problem.

I would rather tune my PCM but tuners are ridiculously priced and I don't know anyone near me that can do it for me.
I could save up and get a tuner I guess but for what I want to do to my car at this point the cost is way out of proportion with the gain.

if i got a tuner i would talk to ed or my local junkyard and get another pcm so i can keep my stock for accidents and such and then i could use my new one to tune ... i would love to have a tuner but i wish i had someone close to me to sit down and look at what i am doing with the tune

All I gotta say is, its a v6 front wheel drive car. I don't complain about the gas milage.

I smile when I am beating on my car and see 20.5mpg on the DIC.

If you wanna save gas money, buy a honda.

Or better yet, drive my truck around. $85 a week and I get my gas .10 cheaper a gallon cause I can run 20%ethanol.

As long as we have cars that need somekind of fuel we will always think we pay too much for it.

Its just like when my mom saw that cigarettes went up to $.68 a pack. She said "Thats it, I am NOT paying that much" and quit. Look at the prices now.

Ya it's sad I saw 97.7 cents a Liter today and went "CHEAP GAS!!" then I realised hey wait cheap was when it was 80 cents a Liter lol.

This is for everyone who is always asking about premium and extra costs.

At $2 more a tank (US that is) 5 tanks is only an extra $10. If you can't afford that then stay away from the mods.