So this won't be the last question I ask here, and I am sure there are other V6ers like myself that I hope have the same questions as me.
So first question...:

Is a programmer chip really worth it?
It says it can give me up to 35+ HP
up to 30% more torque
Faster acceleration
better MPG
and other things?
Who has tried this?
Any first hand responses on the plug n plays?

Here is what I was looking at getting

Stage 1 GTE Performance Chip ECU Programmer for Chevy Camaro V8 V6 | eBay

 

no its not worth it.

FYI, 96 v6 pcm's are not tuneable you will need a pcm form a 97, and if you can get one thats close to yours there will be less to change.
like when i got mine it came form an A4 with 3.08 gears, so only my gear ratio needed to be changed and not my whole trans table.

mail order tunes suck, or at least for me it did, luckily they refunded my money since it wouldn't run.

hptuners is the best but expensive, its best to find someone close to you that has hptuners and see if they will let you use there's, then you just need to buy 2 credits to access your car $100 for both. Then you can do what ever/needs to be done, as many times as you want or that they will let you borrow there cable....lol



http://www.hptuners.com/products/

http://pcmforless.com/

 

My best friend has one of those super readers that takes the different cartridges and different chips to read the check engine lights and all that? It is the one of SUPER nice ones that cost 1200, so is that kind of what your talking about?
So all I would have to do is buy the cartridges and chips for my car and I'd be set?

 

The reader is a Genisys OTC

 

No that's not the same thing, and you will still need a 97 pcm before you can do anything. Go to hptuners site and read up on it.

 

it has to be a 97 3.8 pcm to work right? not a z28 er anything like that(i know stupid question still learning)

 

Yes it needs to be a 3800 PCM but none of that matters. Unless you have done stuff to your engine then tunings not going to get you much more then 6-8hp. The mail order tunes should be ok for bolt on addons like headers, port and polish. If you go Cam, port polish, rocker arm the whole ball of wax you should get the car Dyno tuned. In a perfect world you could get a Dyno tune with a place that uses HP tune. Then you would have your own file.

The problem with HP tune is going to be the leaning curve. To tune a car you have to understand the effects of what you are changing. Bad tune can damage a motor.

Now if car is stock you should add some headers and install a 180 deg thermo and head over to PCM for less (linked above) you could see 20 ish HP but your 96 will wake up at 3000 RPM because you current exhaust manifolds suck. PCMs for less will supply you with the PCM. You can not use yours as a core. The good part is you still have your original PCM as a backup.

 

I've heard they quiet doing the 96-97, to many problems like mine. here they dont even list it anymore 1998-2002 Camaro/Firebird 3.8L V6 Mail Order Tuning guess you could email them and find out.

 

Ok, i don't know if they make it for our cars but I live in an area that eats in the teens during the winter(don't worry I don't drive her in the snow), but should I get a 180 thermo or a 160 thermo, would the 160 be bad with me living in an area that gets so cold(if they even make the 160) and what brand is the best to get of the thermos?

 

180, but you still have to tune for it, or it does no good. An 160 is way to cold, you heat want even work, I know, I tried and it sucks.