ELECTRONIC POWER BOX

[FORMULA FANATIC]

I've seen on various shows on the speed channel and others, several types of electronic boxes that you hook up to your computer system to gain power. Is something available for us F body guys that is similar???? Just hopefull..........LOL.

Phil

[Dave M]

There are a number of companies that make reprogrammers for the f-bod. You have a 95.... if it's an OBD I car, they have replaceable chips. You can just buy a new, performance oriented chip. If yours is an OBD II car, you'll need a reprogrammer. They can correct for changing gears, raise shift points and red lines, correct for tire size changes, but they aren't really known for giving great performance enhancement. If you really want to do it right, you can send your whole unit out to have it reprogrammed specifically to your mods and driving style. Others on this board can point you to some good reprogrammers. You can see significant gains this way.

[FORMULA FANATIC]

Sounds great........I'd appreciate any help that can be offered. Thanks guyz.

Phil

[Dave M]

Get yourself a summit catalog or log onto their website (www.summitracing.com) to check out the reprogrammers if you decide to go that route. Most run for around $300. If I were you though, I'd wait til you've done some significant mods, then have your unit sent out for reprogramming. Much more potential that way, and it's customized for your car. Other guys here can give you some names. This is, of course, assuming you have an OBD II car, which you probably do. Most 95s were.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

94s & 95s & later don't have replaceable chips. They are OBD1 - 96 & later is OBD2. They all need reprogramming. There are some little devices that can be plugged in to the harness (like Jet), but they just offset some of the parameters and not as good as a reprogram to the computer. Best is a custom reprogram from a tuner, but wait until you get some mods first.

[fastTa]

Yeah, dyno tuning isn't the cheapest thing in the world. I would also wait until I have at least a full bolt on setup and then go get it dyno tuned.

You can send your PCM out to someone to reprogram but I would advise against that. It is not as accurate as actually tuning the car while strapped to a dyno.

My 5 cents. (You know...............inflation!)

[Injuneer]

Just to clarify... ALL 1995's are OBD-I. They confuse a lot of people, because they have a 16-pin, OBD-II style ALDL connector. But the PCM is OBD-I, and that is confirmed on the emissions label on the radiator cover.

ONLY the 1993 had a replaceable chip.

The "power programming" in the Hypertech Power Programmer is not worth any HP. Many people, and at least one F-Body magazine have proved on the dyno that they can LOSE power. They are very handy if you want to change the rev limiter setting, if your car did not come with Z-rated tires and you want to alter the top speed limiter, if you change rear axle ratio or tire diameter, and if you want to change shift RPM and firmness on an automatic tranny.

They will also reset the fan on/off temperatures to allow you to run a 160degF thermostat, which might actually gain you a little bit.

Even on a stock engine, a "mail order" tune can pick up some HP. The wide open throttle (WOT) A/F ratio programming in the stock PCM is way too rich for peak power. Just leaning out the target A/F ratio in "power enrichment" (PE) mode can pick up a quick 15HP. A mail order tune also allows you to over-ride some of the issues that can cause trouble codes/SES lights - deleting EGR, skip shift in the manual tranny cars, etc.

[Dave M]

Thanks for the clarification Fred, I guess I was confused with the OBDs.... I thought the chips were OBD related, guess not.