Nickstock98t/a

Hi helpful people of ls1tech.com! I'm a newbie. I gave three questions if you guys/ladies don't mind:

1. What good is a tune up? what can it do for your car? does it boost performance? does it make acceleration better?

2. How can I make my acceleration better? i mean in the simple stock way. w/o nitrous, and new exhausts and stuff like that.

3. Last, my 98 trans am when i steer left at times she makes wierd steering noises, sometimes thugging when i steer sharp left. and same goes when i steer right but not as common as when i steer left

Thanks I appreciate all relies.

BrandonDrecksage

iTrader: (1)

a tune up won't give you mroe power..it'll just help you recover power that you have lost. The spark plugs in these cars are good for around 100k, same with wires. Just change the oil every 3k, rear at 50k and tranny at 100k and your good to go.

Any mods will help in going faster, but do you want to launch harder? Have a higher trap in the a/m...ect Also, what is your budget?

power steering pump on these cars sucks..horribly, most likely your problem.

Nickstock98t/a

well i bought the car a couple of days ago for $8900 at 48,400miles expecting it to hit 0-60 in 5.1 secs like the catalogue says. i have a pretty good budget to get it to feel like it should be at 48k. i mean its good as gold now but i just feel like i can make it feel better without having to soup or mod it up. its not my thing. i just want it to hit 0-60 in 5.1 secs like the catalogue for these cars say. i'm not sure if i drove it right when i timed my self but i think it hit mid 6 secs. i've yet to replace anything in this car yet. i just need some advice first. thanks

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

is it an M6 or A4. chances are if its an A4 it has 2.73's in it and your acceleration will suffer, if its an M6 you may need to improve on your shifting to hit 5.1 seconds. My M6 Z will do 0-60 in ~5.0 but my buddies A4 T/A w/2.73's averages around 5.8 or so according to the G-tech.

Nickstock98t/a

its an a4. whats a "2.73's"? is that extra seconds on top of 5.1? and your buddies trans am how does he get it to go that fast?is it moded or souped up? does he just leave it on D and stomp on it and start the count?

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

2.73's is the gear ratio in the rear diff. the wheels go around 2.73 times for every turn of the drive shaft. the higher (numerical) gear ratio the quicker you will accelerate. however you will lose some top end. what he does is puts it in "D" and mashes it, but feathers it to keep the wheels from spinning. remember spinning wheels arent getting you anywhere. another thing you may want to try is turning TCS off. basically when your wheel start to spin it kicks back on the pedal and reduces throttle to keep em from spinning, a lot of times it kicks back too much and kills your acceleration. turn TCS off and work the throttle yourself. you have better judgment than the computer. M6 cars like mine have 3.42 gears in the rear. also the trannys are geared slightly different. so M6 cars will generally get better acceleration times granted you can shift. if this dosent get you in the 5's then i would suspect a clogged cat, fuel flter or somthing along thoes lines. before you go tearing into that i would do a seafoam treatment on it. check the stickys at the top of the "General Repairs/ Maintinence" forum for instructions on how to do this. at 50k miles you shouldnt need a tune up, thats why i reccomend a seafoam treatment.

Smoke Panther

iTrader: (10)

2.73 refers to the ratio of teeth in the gear to the teeth in the pinion. the bigger the number, the harder your car will pull w/o any engine modifications. However, the increase in gear also hurts your highway MPG because your engine will cruise at a higher RPM. Don't fret tho, cuz your city MPG will increase proportionally. You have one of the smallest gears they put in our cars. Typically, auto's run 3.73's and manuals use 4.10 or 4.56 if they're hard-core about it...except me. I have 3.73's cuz I was able to buy them at a huge bargain

Nickstock98t/a

thanks will do that for sure. a tune up, fuel filter and sea foam treatment. will let you all know how it goes. right now im gonna go see what a "clogged cat" is. thanks people

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

a clogged cat is when a bunch of **** from the down pipes and the interior matter of the cat start to break up and collect in the screens of the cat. hence less and restricted exhaust flow, equals less power. jsut for ***** and giggles, i tried my car, 0-60 LS1 M6 3.42's i did it in about 6 seconds spinning when i hit second gear. btw cat=catalytic converter.

Nickstock98t/a

6secs to 60 sounds sweet! i guess like everypne says "the driver plays an important role to the car"

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

the driver does. its a direct relationship. if you miss a gear or in your case give it too much gas, launch at too high of an RPM its gonna spin and your not going to get there in time. if the car misses or breaks your not going to get there in time. you and the car have to work together as one. if you ride with me you will hear me talk to my car like im trying to get ***** from it. shes my baby and i love her. do your seafoam, change the fuel filter, do an oilchange with GC 0W30 (search for more info on the oil), clean or change your air filter, check your cats. if you have the stock cat-back then it may be difficult to get your y-pipe off to check your cats, but use that as an excuse to get a better cat-back. if they are clogged/damaged, dont go back to stock. get high-flo cats installed. you wont regret it.

Nickstock98t/a

will do all those you mentioned tomorrow for sure! I can't wait. Thanks for the tips bro. I'm taking notes.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

no problem. i learned all this info here. this place is a goldmine for information, any problem anytime there is always someone to help even if they are point out your stupidity.
post up with results or findings or if you need anymore help! good luck man. oh and a K&N oilfilter is a good idea also.

Nickstock98t/a

what oil do you recommend for the rear?

BrandonDrecksage

iTrader: (1)

where are you getting this 0-60 time?
If its for a m6, then you are comapring apples to oranges because your an auto. Also, track prep and tires are a big factor too.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

i understand that it is apples to oranges. i was checking mine for ***** and giggles. 5.1 sounds like an M6 time, a very liberal time at that. but still even an A4 with 2.73's shouldnt be pulling anything more than 6.5 seconds with good traction.
i cant reccomend a diff fluid because i havent had any first hand experience with any yet. i would search for it and find some actual testimonials.

WS6Rampage

Royal Purple has a good rear differential oil.

LS1Aggie09

iTrader: (25)

i had a bad cat when i bought my car with 74k miles but i got her for a good deal so its all good and they are free to replace anywho, the cat was changed at a dealer, then i did the fuel filter change, and had them flush the entire fuel system and clean the throttle body and crap and then seafoamed it and wow....i hadn't had it long but i could even tell a huge difference after all that.....next on the list is plugs

Nickstock98t/a

if you google this -> 1998 trans am 0-60
A bunch of webpages come up with a list of all cars model and make saying what their 0-60 time is. all info is from the factory themselves. So I assume their not reving up their rpm's or burning their tires for traction.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

they do it from a standing start. but they are also professional drivers. they have logged many many many hours behind the wheel of our cars and know exactly how they react.