ok guys your being kinda hard on the young man. first figure out what u are going to do. headers, cold air intake, high flow cats and cat back that kind of stuff. then have a computer tune done here,,,
http://www.pcmforless.com/index.php?...d=16&Itemid=38
the chip is not the path i would take. anyways welcome to the forum and i think the guys are through razzing u.

 

CAI and exhaust are easy standbys for a little more speed but you have to remember that the 3.4 (and the 3.8, for that matter) are not fire breathers. Accept that your car is not that fast but gets good fuel economy. The 3.8 has more room to grow than the 3.4 but both require a lot of money to rival the power of the LT1.

Z28's go pretty cheap now. You would be much, MUCH better off selling your V6 and getting the Z28 if you want speed.

 

2002 3.8 Liter, dynoed bone stock at 152 RWHP
Since then:
Aurora Wires
NGK Platinum Plugs
Ported Air intake
K&N Filter
Flowmaster Exhaust
Tune from PCMforless running on 91 Octane
Power Difference? Very noticeable
Cost? Under $500
Check out ZZP Perfomance
They have a rocker/cam setup that will run me about $750 and put another 50 at the wheels.
Cold air intakes really don't seem to be worth it unless you are trying to squeeze everything out. For the power returned, they aren't cheap.

 

have you had it dynoed since these mods? what kind of power are you making now?

 

What?! My bone stock 2002 3.8 outputs 215rwhp. How did you manage to only get 160?!

 

Because your bone stock 3.8 puts out 200 h.p. at the crank, not 215 at the wheels. At the wheels is more in the neighborhood of 170 (figuring an approximate 15% loss).

 

Yea, there is no way he is getting 215 RWHP out of his sotck 3.8. That's what an LT will be putting down. Luciora, I would bet your bone stock car is putting down in the area of 160-170.

The place I got it dynoed at is known for low readings. Don't ask me how that all works, just saying what I got.

Spartan, when I chatted with the guys from PCM, they said to expect 40-45 crank hp with the 91 octane. I am going to guess the car is making around 240-245 hp at the crank. Once I get the cat removed, I will dyno it again.

Afterall, removing that cat should give me another 400 horsepower!

 

Removing the cat isn't a good idea. V6's need back pressure. When I bought mine the guy before me gutted out the cat. I put a high-flow Magnaflow and it made a world of difference.

 

i have heard so many opinions on that, not sure which to go with. backpressure definetely is needed, but will removing the cat cause power loss? i don't think so. if it helps the engine run cooler, i am all for it.

to the OP, hope you've gotten some ideas for stuff to do out of this. the cheapest way would probably be to wait and buy a V8. if you want to be a little different, and make some power out of the V6, you do have options you can use. good luck.

 

Mine's a 5spd, so I don't know if deleting the cat would open up an automatic more?