Pontiac Firebird 1967-2002 - Torque off the line

Hi gents,

I'm new to the fourth gens here as I just got my first one a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what all came stock with it, since it has a WS6 hood and different rims and what not. What I can tell you is that it is a 3.8 V6 (not for long, want to go 383 and swap out the drive train to what I had in my 77 vette) and it has 2nd gear start. Here is the problem. When I step on it to get off the line, it has absolutely no pick up. It moves pretty decent up to 30 mph...but generally will get smoked if someone else steps on it. Am I just used to driving a V8 with awesome torque off the line? Or is there a problem with the torque converter here? When I watch the tach it shoots up to about 4 grand and sits there til second gear. It jolts the car into second around 30-35mph and then its smooth sailing from there on out. Any ideas? And thanks for any help.

hurry and get that 383 in there :drive:

My old v6 used to have known issue where after highway cluises it would lose overdrive, and then jolt into second after switching back to city driving. Over time, first would slip really bad when it was cold. The rough 1-2 I was told can be fixed with a shift ket, its a valve body issue in the trans. If its actually slipping like mine did...I needed a rebuild.

As far as the torque... the 3800 just isn't gonna have it compared to modern day v8s.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense as I'm in Chicago and we've been in the 20s and 30s the past few weeks. It does feel like a little bit of slippage. Good thing I know how to rebuild a trans.

Do you know what gearing is in the rear end? The problem may be a 2.73 gear ratio.

Honestly, I'm not sure what it is back there. The thought has crossed my mind though. I've heard from a few other guys that their birds were really slow off the line. The dealer apparently told them it has something to do with the 2nd gear start and all that jazz

Maybe cause its a 200lbs torque v6 pushing around a 3600lbs+ car?

Since you have an auto , chances are you have a 3.08 rear end unless you have a Y87 car with factory posi and 3.42 but I doubt that. .
Anyway , its no V8 but even a stock geared car shouldnt feel like its THAT gutless . I mean I know it is but something might be wrong with your trans I dont know , mine wasnt that bad :secret2: