delay in acceleration when stepping on the gas

[hphurley]

I drive a 2001 Buick Regal LS, 3.8L (not supercharged), automatic, with 190,000 km on it. I've recently encountered a problem - when i press the gas pedal to speed up quickly (i.e. on an on-ramp to a highway), the car delays before "accelerating". The acceleration itself is very jerky, and the only way i can fix it is by taking my foot off the gas, and accelerating slowly. It only seems to struggle when I hit the gas hard. I don't plan on fixing this myself, but I would like a diagnosis, if possible. Is she dying?

[BNaylor]

Welcome to AF.

Possible what is called fishbite or chuggle maybe caused by a secondary ignition issue or torque convertor clutch issue. How old are the spark plugs and ignition wires. Last tuneup?

Any SES/CEL - check engine light?

[richtazz]

This could also be a bad catalytic converter, as excessive exhaust backpressure will cause hesitation on hard acceleration. GM extended the converter warranty to 7 years/120k miles for just this issue on 01-02 W-bodies which includes the Regal. At 190k kilometers (that equals about 118k miles), you're still eligible for a free converter if it is the issue.