Need some help with HP upgrades

Alright basically I have around $900 to play with for my car.

My car:
2001 Grand Am SE (3.4 Liter V6)

What I am looking to do is put in cold air intake, possibly a performance chip, and a possible new exhaust system.

The cold air intake I'm looking at is one off of ebay.
( something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7997366325&fromMakeTrack=true ) I have seen the ones at doctorspeed.com but I have been told they will give almost the exact same as some random ones on ebay.

As far as the chip I want I have absolutely no idea. (I have heard jet is the best as far as they go and I would want a very high end one) (also how much HP gain can they really give?) If I was going to replace the chip I would probably want to replace the starter and plugs as well.
(I would love suggestions here big time)

Also I was told if I were to upgrade my car with my chip I would probably need to replace a few things to adjust for how much more strain I would be putting on my car. (what exactly would I need to be replacing)

Also as far as exhaust goes, do mufflers really give you a HP gain?

How much would a whole new exhaust system cost, and would it be worth to put in?

The 170 stock horsepower was fine for a while, but now I'm ready to get me up higher.
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This is my first post here, so don't be harsh.

welcome rockfan0005. A cold air intake(CIA) is a great place to start, and the link you gave looks nice for $70.

The chip. Well first off it will give you MAYBE 20-30 hp gain for what, around 300-400$. a waste of good money i say. A chip is alot better if you hav other things going on like the 62mm throtle body and the ported intakes, turbos and superchargers, headers etc. When you modify the engine the chip helps customize the ingnition and timimg the fuel ratios to get the most out of your Mods. Without some serious mods you'll just waste gas.

mufflers dont give much horse power, they just keep the exhaust from puting alot of back pressure on the motor, keeping those poneys inside locked up. Now if you buy a entire exhaust kit, Borla is great by the way, with the CAI you'll gain around 30+/- Hp. thats not exact, but is close i'm sure.
You need a performace/high flow Catylitic converter with the exhaust. I think the Borla is the most expensive I've seen for around 600$, but i'm not sure if it comes with a new converter or not.

So to recap, go for the CAI and a performance exhaust. i think your $900 should cover it.

I hav a 99' SE w/3.4 and I done alot of stuff to it before i bought a chip. Also i hav an 01 SE 3.4 but i havnt done much to it just the CAI, I bought some nice big performance brakes. And i forgot the rims, they wont fit over the brakes. so i wasted a couple thousand on breaks i cant use till i get a couple more thousand for some biger rims.

and one more thing your GA is more like 175-180 HP. it veries from car to car.

Welcome to the forum, rockfan. Sorry Xero, I really have to disagree with some of the stuff you said.

Alright basically I have around $900 to play with for my car.

My car:
2001 Grand Am SE (3.4 Liter V6)

What I am looking to do is put in cold air intake, possibly a performance chip, and a possible new exhaust system.

The cold air intake I'm looking at is one off of ebay.
( something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7997366325&fromMakeTrack=true ) I have seen the ones at doctorspeed.com but I have been told they will give almost the exact same as some random ones on ebay.

The intakes will generally be the same; you'll be fine going with a CAI from ebay. There's many different variants of intakes from either places, and many different tweaks / setups you can create, but without going into detail, I'll say go ahead and get the CAI from ebay.

As far as the chip I want I have absolutely no idea. (I have heard jet is the best as far as they go and I would want a very high end one) (also how much HP gain can they really give?) If I was going to replace the chip I would probably want to replace the starter and plugs as well.
(I would love suggestions here big time).

Jet doesn't make a PCM or "chip" for our car. The only relflashed PCM available for our car is made by Digital Horsepower. Here's the PCM:
http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PFYC&Product_Code=GA3010&Product_Count=18&Category_Code=GAUNDER
The PCM alone without any other mods on your car would give you a solid 5 to 7 horsepower gain.

Also I was told if I were to upgrade my car with my chip I would probably need to replace a few things to adjust for how much more strain I would be putting on my car. (what exactly would I need to be replacing)

Nothing. You don't even need to worry about extra wear on anything when adding that little of horsepower. Our entire drivetrain / trannies don't experience any issues until 250 hp. You'll be fine. Don't even worry about it until you get into more significant mods.

Also as far as exhaust goes, do mufflers really give you a HP gain?

Yes. Just upgrading the muffler with a stock exhuast should net you about 5 hp. Our stock mufflers are very restrictive. However, I would reccomend getting a full SLP exhaust system w/ muffler included rather then soley buying a muffler.

How much would a whole new exhaust system cost, and would it be worth to put in?

Going with an SLP exhaust system (muffler included); it would cost 458 $ from pfyc.com

http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PFYC&Product_Code=GA5004&Product_Count=5&Category_Code=GAEXH

I have heard of countless guys that have installed SLP exhaust, and everyone loves it. That exhaust system, without any other mods on your car would get you about a 10 hp gain.

And as far as "needing a high-flow cat"; you don't need one. Our stock cats flow pretty nice, and paying 150 dollars to have a high-flow one installed would only bring you about 5 hp max.

So that being said, a CAI (100-ish $); a PCM (215 $) and SLP exhaust (458 $) would be a grand total of roughly 800 dollars max, and a hp gain of about 20 to 25 hp max.

thats fine Ridenour, i was guestamating on the Hp ratings and the costs. But anything you do, CAI or exhaust it will improve performance and little by little you will gain several ponys. And 20-25 hp for $800-900 is probley well worth it, you wont be dis-apointed i'm sure on that.

See when you think ahead you can spend your moneys wisly. I done several things without thinking it through, but in the end it was all good and well.

Thanks for the imput guys.

I have officially ordered the ebay CAI. As far as the exhaust goes, I'll probably order it within a week or so. But for the exhaust exactly how hard is it to install? I mean on the site posted it give it a 3/5, good for hard first project. What equipment would I need?

Everyone has really said the right stuff.

You're looking at a maximum horsepower of around 230hp if you push it with timing and premium fuel.

Go here: http://www.andysautosport.com/cgi-bin/t.cgi?a=407261

They have a RSM supercharger kit for the 3.1 and 3.4 liter that can push 280hp at 10 psi which will do everything you wanted and then some and the 280 is literally the starting point.

Thanks for the imput guys.

I have officially ordered the ebay CAI. As far as the exhaust goes, I'll probably order it within a week or so. But for the exhaust exactly how hard is it to install? I mean on the site posted it give it a 3/5, good for hard first project. What equipment would I need?

That does look like a nice CAI from ebay rockfan0005, Esspecially for the price.

The exhaust can be a pain if the bolts are rusty. You deffenitly will need to jack up and secure the car on jack-stands or a lift. The higher you get the better it is(that didnt sound right). Most of the exhaust is just bolted together and hang from rubber mounts under the chassis. A few good wreches or socket/ratchet and some penitrating fluid(WD40) for the crusty bolts and nuts. Fairly easy to bolt on the new exhaust.

I found a jet chip for my model:
http://www.performancecenter.com/products/searchtype_d/sortorder_DAA/productcategory_Chips+~+Modules+~+Programmers/category_Engine+~~+Performance/sf1_PONTIAC/sf2_2001/sf3_GRAND+AM/sf4_3.4l/

As far as superchargers go, I am planning on doing it after minor upgrades and when I get the money.

Thanks for the help guys.

rockfan i take it you want a high hp car.. but its like ridenour said...
"Our entire drivetrain / trannies don't experience any issues until 250 hp"
so you might wanna up grade your drivetrain and all that before you get a supercharger... but all in all.... should be a kick ass car ... wish you the best with it

I found a jet chip for my model:
http://www.performancecenter.com/products/searchtype_d/sortorder_DAA/productcategory_Chips+~+Modules+~+Programmers/category_Engine+~~+Performance/sf1_PONTIAC/sf2_2001/sf3_GRAND+AM/sf4_3.4l/

As far as superchargers go, I am planning on doing it after minor upgrades and when I get the money.

Thanks for the help guys.


The Jet chip you linked to is a plug-in module. Not an actual chip that replaces your factory one. But it should help tune any of the mods you ad to the car. I hav one simular to the jet on my 99', but i've had other alterations with software/add-ons to fine tune and keep it in tune.
Hav fun with your Mods rockfan0005, and remember safty first.

I found a jet chip for my model:
http://www.performancecenter.com/products/searchtype_d/sortorder_DAA/productcategory_Chips+~+Modules+~+Programmers/category_Engine+~~+Performance/sf1_PONTIAC/sf2_2001/sf3_GRAND+AM/sf4_3.4l/

As far as superchargers go, I am planning on doing it after minor upgrades and when I get the money.

Thanks for the help guys.

The supercharger comes with the ECU mod.

The base supercharger only makes 260hp so you can enjoy your mod before upgrading it later to the 300hp range.

I'm just saying be careful because those chips aren't worth the miniscule horsepower they create and the CAI and chip are pointless if you plan to supercharge it because the one I listed comes with both already.

We're actually upgrading a '99 now and this is one of the debates that came up and after much discussion he acknowledged that exhaust and supercharger were all he needed.

Later on he would upgrade the suspension.

Still, the supercharger cost around $3500, thats alot for a 75-80hp gain. A high milage 99' is only worth about $5k.

I have the SLP exhaust on my 1999 GA 3.4 and I love the sound. I also have an aftermarket air filter. Do you need the venting from grill, that some GA have by default, for the cold air intake to be truly effective?

Here's an update. I am going to put off the chip, if get it at all.

My CAI will be here by next friday.

I haven't bought the exhaust yet, but will soon.

When I get the money I am going to get this hood:
http://www.pfyc.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PFYC&Product_Code=GA1003&Product_Count=4&Category_Code=GAEXT

Would good headers make a difference in HP, if so how much?

the next thing to come will be either be headers or an upgraded drivetrain to upgrade before the supercharger.

It should take me about a year before I make the money for the supercharger and drivetrain upgrades, so that the CAI will do for now.

The SD hood looks great, rockfan. I've seen a couple guys with that hood. You'll deffinately see an increase in horsepower with headers, ( here's a link to help you understand why: http://www.ssheaders.com/header.htm ) as well as an increase in mileage. It will give you a slightly beefier exhaust note as well. If you run the headers on your engine completely stock, you would get roughly a 10 to 15 hp max gain. Headers are deffinately a good compliment to your exhaust and CAI.

thumbs up on the hood. Headers are great. my engine ran cooler with headers, rather than stock.
Upgrading the drive train is a good idea. they are weak to begin with.

Nice article on headers there Ridenour, never heard it put more simple.

thumbs up on the hood. Headers are great. my engine ran cooler with headers, rather than stock.
Upgrading the drive train is a good idea. they are weak to begin with.

Nice article on headers there Ridenour, never heard it put more simple.

Thanks. Yeh I agree - I thought it was great when I stumbled upon it a while back, so I bookmarked it.

What kind of headers are you running XI; SS or Togs? Did you get any coatings or ever have any issues with cracks or seal leaks?

i dont know if they are ss or what, i bought them from RSM http://www.rsmracing.com/Lrg_Images/3400headers.jpg
with the nickle coat. I made sure the flanges were welded up good and not bent or twisted before i even started. Havnt had any cracking or leaks, been on the car for over 1yr. Well I guess the flange that connects to the converter blew out the gasket about a week after installed. I just put in another one and made sure it was tight, along with everything else. I hate exhaust work. XI

Do they make manual transmission kits for my car by the way?

i dont know if they are ss or what, i bought them from RSM http://www.rsmracing.com/Lrg_Images/3400headers.jpg
with the nickle coat. I made sure the flanges were welded up good and not bent or twisted before i even started. Havnt had any cracking or leaks, been on the car for over 1yr. Well I guess the flange that connects to the converter blew out the gasket about a week after installed. I just put in another one and made sure it was tight, along with everything else. I hate exhaust work. XI

Sweet. As far as the gasket goes; you mean the gasket that mates that flexible flange on the downpipe up with your cat blew? Was that brought about by the headers? And you haven't had any problems since I assume.

And no; Rockfan; there are no manual transmision kits made for the car. You would have to do a DIY manual swap; which is a giant pain-in-the-ass; entails of changing too much stuff; and is totally not worth it. That engine was never available in stick. You'd do so much work with finding a tranny that would fit (I think the 65te would fit); changing stuff like the PCM and so much other stuff; it'd be easier to buy another car :)

Ya know, I'm not sure, I havent seen any transmission parts at RSM. So you hav a 5spd in a 2001 with 3.4? Trany parts are hard to find, but if you dig deep, you can find about anything. Or if you hav the $$ so someone can make custom parts.

I was right, i knew the 3.4s werent ever with a manual trany.

Ya Ridenour, the down pipe(w/O2) had a gasket blow at the conv. Probley didnt tightin it up enough, should hav welded the damn thing. i dont hav to much Flex in anything under there. I wraped the headers w/heat protec and put the stock heat sheilds back on to keep the heat contained. So if anythings cracking, i havent heard/seen it leaking. I'd just tig them up at that point, i believe the warrentys up anyway.

Oh well, guess I'll have to go with the auto. Not too bad though.

My friend was surfing the net, and he thought this would work in it:
http://www.en.getrag.de/179/179

I have no clue if it would or not, they don't have my model listed though.

Probley wouldnt work rockfan0005. Its even tough to find any ungrades for the Automatic trans.

An aftermarket transmission cooler really improved my trans. performance on 99'. It was tricky finding fittings so I wouldnt hav to cut my trans lines up. They're like the power steering hoses, rubber with metal compression fittings. I'm sure yours is the same way. A 5-6 spd manual trans. would be sweet though. XI

what do you guys suggest for the trans upgrades before the supercharger then?

Alright basically, I'm looking for a chip (or whatever it would take), that would take off the 105 MPH cap on acceleration. (Meaning it would be able to go past 105 MPH).

But I don't want some kind that will require premium fuel (91 octane) because gas prices are already terrible.

If you guys have anything that will do this, please let me know, thanks.

EDIT: By the "cap at 105" I mean the governor.

DHP makes a relflashed PCM that will remove the govenor. But it's there for a reason - that's what your tires are rated for. If you're going to be exceeding your govenor speed, you'd better get some speed-rated tires, or else your going to have one blow out.

I hate to be a nitpicker, but high performance and cheap don't go together.

You'll never find a chip that doesn't require '91 octane and if you did it would cost more than the regular chip would only give a tenth of the performance gain and the chip comes with the supercharger also, so instead of spending the $260 on the chip just buy it with the supercharger when you get there.

Trust me, if you guys go to a performance shop and walk in with the chip asking for less than '91 octane and asking how cheap it's going to be they're going to point you to the door as they heckle you out.

If you can't afford it in the long run you may want to rethink your upgrading plan to something a little more conservative. It's just good planning.

rockfan, if you put premium gas your GA will go a little over 105mph. Heres a programer/chip its not cheap. You search around, you can find a cheaper one with the same capabilities.
http://www.autopartsperformance.com/performance/basket.php?makeid=22&modelid=244&year=2001&partid=176&brandid=189&skipped_brand=true

You can buy a GT chip get it flashed for less and your limiter would be 120mph. But as Ridenour said, tires arent made for that fast. A Z-rated or above, they arent cheap either.

My SE has a GT chip, I used a computer program on my laptop to tune/modify/adjust the setings to my liking. I like HP but I dont like 18mpg, maybe 20mpg w/premium.

If it were me, I'd sav and get the SC w/programer. I hav spent way over $3500 on my motor and I hav no where near the HP a SC would give. Now if I put on a SC, I'd hav way to many HPonys for the trans. to handle.

Thanks again for the replies guys. Yeah, I was needing new tires soon as well, so might as well get the tires made for those speeds. I'll probably end up going with the chip that does take the 91 octane or higher, just wondering if it was possible without it.

Here's an update on what's happening:
I installed the CAI...works great.

I'm ordering the exhaust system tonight.

EDIT: I officially ordered the exhaust.

The exhaust sytem was a pain in the ass to install. I worked on it for two days. The only real problem I encountered was unbolting the intermediate pipe (right after the catalytic converter. The bolts were so rusty that they were IMPOSSIBLE to get out. So basically we had to saw/torch through them. With no tourch and the saw not being able to cut through them this presented a huge problem. Basically I spent about 4 hours the first day, lifting it up getting the parts trying to get the fricken thing out, and taking it down.

I eventually gave up and decided to call Meinike. They torched the bolts for $30. I told him exactly how I wanted it and watched him do it.


Then I drove it home, it being to late I would have to work on it (today) sunday. When I lifted the car (non hydrolic lifts, no stands so I have to hold car up with huge bricks which was another pain in the ass). So basically I looked under the car expecting just one bolt that he put there, like I told him to so I could take it home and get rid of the thing. Basically he had gotten them all except 2/3 of a bolt
(I had seen 3 bolts drop, I just now figured out that one of the bolts was only 1/3 of a bolt= bad)

Meinike not being open on Sunday and me wanting this to be over with today I had to figure out how to get a 2/3 of a bolt basically welded onto the pipe out.

I retried cutting it with the saw zaw, did not work at all with the bold. I tried a hack saw, I tried shaking it violently. Nothing worked. When I was about to give up on it I decided to go with a desperate attempt and grabbed a screw driver, shover it in there, and pulled really really hard. The bolt was cut in half (yay me and my incredible strength).

The rest was cake except the bolts they sent didn't fit so I had to go buy more.

Overall it took way too long it took around 10 hours because of 3 rusty bolts.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I love the new exhaust though, it's so loud and deep throat :) I guess it was worth it

Ya rockfan, I knew the bolts would hold you up too. I sprayed wd40 on the bolts a couple weeks before I attempted to remove anything. So did you use stainless steal bolts when you put it back together? If you didnt they'll crust up quite quick, and hopfully you wont need to take it apart.

Yes, they were stainless steel.

Thanks for the help so far guys, the cars running great.

I'm pretty sure the next mod I'm gonna put on is the PCM.

So I was searching ebay and I stumbled upon this thing called a TB Bypass Kit, I have no idea whether it was legit or not, but the reasoning behind it seemed logical.
Here's a link to it, if you guys could tell me if it would actually help please let me know:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-03-Grand-Am-V6-3-1-3-4L-TB-Bypass-Kit-6-8hp_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQitemZ8003748 892QQrdZ1

So I was searching ebay and I stumbled upon this thing called a TB Bypass Kit, I have no idea whether it was legit or not, but the reasoning behind it seemed logical.
Here's a link to it, if you guys could tell me if it would actually help please let me know:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-03-Grand-Am-V6-3-1-3-4L-TB-Bypass-Kit-6-8hp_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38634QQitemZ8003748 892QQrdZ1

Instead of me going into detail, I'll just give you the link for this good read:

http://www.60degreev6.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=13

It's a worthwhile mod, as it will keep your TB cooler; but you could do it for cheaper if you just bought the hose and 2 clamps yourself.

Thanks for responding again Ridenour the article helps, and I might as well do it, I'll probably just the hose and 2 clamps myself, I don't imagine it would be too hard.

no problem. Yeh it's worth it. If you ever want to remove or upgrade your TB, it will make it easier too, because the 62 mm one doesn't have a coolant line through it. Just make sure your cars completely cool so there's no coolant pressure, clamp the hoses by the plastic mother-line, and pull open / slide the white clamps back and pull off the hoses ( you'll loose about a quart of coolant ). Good luck.

i had by-passed the throtle body coolant lines before I got the 62 mm one. I just bought a ft. of hose from the auto parts store(2-3$) and by-passed the TB, used about 6" of the hose.

It performed well even in the freezing cold. The 62mm TB doesnt hav lines to it, and I havnt driven it yet in the freezing cold weather to see if it ices up or not. Hoping it doesnt freeze on me.

I don't think you'll have any issues. There was a guy over on another Grand Am forum that was from one of the canadian provinces, (I think manitoba) that had ran his car in -50 deg F weather with no problems. You shouldn't have any problems with it unless you plan to drive ontop of the polar ice caps :)

no polar ice cap driving for me, thank you.

Alright I was planning on doing it either today or next weekend, what exactly do I need to do.

I am planning to buy the tube and the clamps and do it myself.

would the bypass kit work better than a TB heat shield,, or do they basically just do the same thing? (the bottom of this page) (http://doctorspeed.com/grand_am/grand-am-other.html)

No applebonker the bypass kit disconnects the water lines that go into the TB. The heat sheild would keep abiant heat from soaking into the TB and or the air intake system. I hav a home made sheild, alittle bigger than the one on the Dotors web site. It attaches to a couple studs on/under the TB. pretty simple to make, just use a cardboard template and remember to leave some tabs to bolt it up.