Venom 400 or JET PCM for 96 3.8l

[pogue]

Hey guys,

I have a 96 Firebird 3.8l Y87 w/ all changed out exhaust (Rksport headers, random cat, edelbrock catback), ram air, etc and I'm thinking about getting either the Venom 400 or the Jet PCM

Does anyone have any experience with either of these and can give me some feedback? Thanks.

[StillSmokin]

Stay away from the Venom, its garbage.

[pogue]

Stay away from the Venom, its garbage.

Why is that? Can you elaborate?

[Hotrod]

Personally I wouldn't use one period. I hear they're OK for trucks but it's too expensive for what it does. All it's gonna do is really retard the timing and a few minor things (shift points, fan switch, ect.) which isn't gonna just blow your HP through the roof. However if you're sold on one of these Perfermance Chips I'd definately use JET. If you plan on heavily modding your car I wouldn't get one but if you just want something basic to add a few HP and then leave it alone it will work. I've heard several people say that the Venom wouldn't replace everything back to stock after removing it. I know one guy who removed the Venom Chip and the car wouldn't start without it.

[pogue]

Personally I wouldn't use one period. I hear they're OK for trucks but it's too expensive for what it does. All it's gonna do is really retard the timing and a few minor things (shift points, fan switch, ect.) which isn't gonna just blow your HP through the roof. However if you're sold on one of these Perfermance Chips I'd definately use JET. If you plan on heavily modding your car I wouldn't get one but if you just want something basic to add a few HP and then leave it alone it will work. I've heard several people say that the Venom wouldn't replace everything back to stock after removing it. I know one guy who removed the Venom Chip and the car wouldn't start without it.

That's for the input. The JET has two different modules, one for stock cars and one for modded cars.

# Stage 1: This Power Control Module (PCM) is designed for stock engines with no other modifications. The Jet Stage 1 PCM is programmed to maximize power increases based on stock parameters
# Stage 2: This Power Control Module (PCM) is designed for modified vehicles with low restriction exhaust and low temperature thermostats. Unit takes advantage of these modifications and pushes your engine for maximum power

My car is heavily modded, including the two they mentioned - I have completely redone my exhaust and I have a low temp thermostat (160), plus many other mods.

I was hoping someone who has used these could give me some feedback. Jet quotes 15-17 HP increase for the V6 fbodies (I'm sure that's an exaggeration). But, none the less would probably equal out into a few HP increase in the real world, which is probably as much as I could get with a modded PCM - unless someone has some dyno results showing otherwise.

See chart:
http://anonym.to/?http://img514.imag...acchart1ch.jpg

That's too bad to hear about the Venom, because one of their claims is you can switch it back and forth from modded mode to stock.

[quicky06]

first of all exausht and intake does not mean taht you are heavily modded.

second of all save your money and get hp tuners

[pogue]

first of all exausht and intake does not mean taht you are heavily modded.

Ok, define heavily modded for me.

I have done just about all the mods that are available for my model & engine.

second of all save your money and get hp tuners

Unfortunately, that is out of my price range, nor do I have the equipment necessary to use what's offered by that company. Because of this I am looking for objective feedback from people that have actually used these products, including the PCMforless service.

So, far, on all the boards I have asked about this I haven't heard from anyone who have tried either the JET or Venom mods.

[quicky06]

Ok, define heavily modded for me.

I have done just about all the mods that are available for my model & engine.

do you have new heads? cam? pullies? rockers? lifters? forced induction?

its not heavily modded until you atleas have to pull off the valve covers

and no you havnt done just about everything. you could put 5 grand into a half way decent engine

[Hotrod]

Depending on what mods you currently have, I would spend the money on a different mod that is going to really benefit the car. I'm not sure what you are wanting from the car but I can tell you first hand that the 3.8 liter has A LOT of mods available outside of a performance chip that would better help you add some HP. Here is a list of mods I had on my 3.8 liter V-6. Obviously money is probably an issue so some things you might not wanna go with but some of them are just as expensive as a chip and more beneficial.

PaceSetter Headers
CatCo High FLow Catalytic Converter
Flowmaster Muffler
Flow Tech Cutouts (which I left open, and is why I just bought a Flow)
3.73 Gears
Limited Slip Differential
Ram Air Intake
K&N Air Filter
Comp Cams VS-Cam
ZZPerformance Stage 2 Heads
ZZPerfoamnce Stage 2 Intake
MSD Ignition System
NGK-TR6 Plugs
Nitrous Express Wet Kit (ran 100 shot)
Nitrous Express Purge Kit
MSD Window Switch

Hope this helps make a better decision on what to spend your money on.

[pogue]

do you have new heads?

RK sport headers

cam?

Don't make em

pullies?

Don't make em

rockers?

Just saw SLP get these in for my model. No idea how much they cost, but will probably not get them.

lifters?

forced induction?

Not paying $5k for a supercharger that requires rebuilding every 6 months

its not heavily modded until you atleas have to pull off the valve covers

If they don't make it for my car I can't buy it. I've bought just about all the mods they have available for my model. I've spent over 10k so far on the mods I've made. They make very few mods for the V6, and as someone else mentioned in another thread, they are much pricer than the V8 mods.

and no you havnt done just about everything. you could put 5 grand into a half way decent engine

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a lift, a way to take the engine out, or 5grand. So, I'm looking into cheaper mods.

Again, if anyone actually has anything specific to say to answer my original question I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[pogue]

PaceSetter Headers - I have RKsport headers
CatCo High FLow Catalytic Converter - I have a random tech high flow cat convertor
Flowmaster Muffler - I have an edelbrock catback with exhaust tips
Flow Tech Cutouts (which I left open, and is why I just bought a Flow)
3.73 Gears - I have the Y87 package which has 3.42 gears instead of the stock 3.08
Limited Slip Differential - I have this
Ram Air Intake - I have a Suncoast creations Ramair hood w/ working ram air (including of course, K&filter)

Comp Cams VS-Cam
ZZPerformance Stage 2 Heads
ZZPerfoamnce Stage 2 Intake

I'm not familar with these three. Can you point me to a link with some info about them. Thanks.

MSD Ignition System - Kind of out of my price range for the benefits it would give. I'm not really sold on this item.

NGK-TR6 Plugs - I have performance wires (I forget what brand) and bosch platinum +4 plugs

Nitrous Express Wet Kit (ran 100 shot)
Nitrous Express Purge Kit

Not gonna do nitrous.

MSD Window Switch

Not heard of this, could you give me more info?

Hope this helps make a better decision on what to spend your money on.

Thanks. I have most of what you mentioned. I did most of the mods for my car several years back when it was younger when they had even fewer selection of mods than they do today. Along with the ones you've mentioned I have a mostly completely redone suspension, brakes package, tranny kit, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting.

I'll check into those other products you mentioned, but I am still interested in a PCM mod. I think it's a pretty sound idea and I'm still searching around for feedback on anyone who actually used either of those products, or the PCMforless service.

I don't have a large budget and I'm not planning on doing any more work on this vehicle soon, so I was looking for a small purchase item that would be easy to install and give me a few extra HP. I'm not dragging the vehicle or looking to improve my point time, this is just an everyday driver car that I work on for kicks.

[quicky06]

heads and headers are 2 compltely diffrent things. header are exauhst and bolt to your heads. heads contain your valves and such.

they make everything that i listed and more especcially cams.




heres a list from fullthrottlev6 of cams

Normally Aspirated Camshafts

Description Duration @ .050" Lobe Lift L.S.A. Centerline

Stock L36/L26: 182/192 .413/.413 115 N/A

CompCams 76-800-9: 192/200 .480/.496 110 N/A

CompCams 76-801-9: 200/206 .496/.480 112 N/A [ Malice

Supersix Motorsports: 204/204 .460/.460 112 N/A

Supersix Motorsports: 206/212 .512/.520 112 N/A

Grand Prix Store L36: 206/212 .512/.520 113 110

ZZP GT1: 210/210 .507/.507 113 N/A [ Seppo(111LSA)

Super Six L36: 210/214 .450/.450 112 N/A

Crower(regrind): 210/214 .445/.445 112 108

Crower(regrind): 210/214 .445/.445 113 109

Abbott Racing: 210/220 .512/.512 112 N/A [ FloydSummerOf68

INTENSE Stage 1 N/A: 212/204 .515/.477 113 109

CUSTOM: 212/212 .523/.523 112 110 [ Bird_Of_Prey

INTENSE Stage 1X N/A: 212/216 .523/.514 113 109

Supersix Motorsports: 214/220 .510/.510 112 N/A [ usd2sing/DaniCammed8

ZZP GT2: 216/216 .507/.507 111 N/A [ Joe

CUSTOM: 216/216 .507/.507 112 N/A [ InSaNe6

CUSTOM: 218/218 .528/528 112 110 [ RallyRed98

CUSTOM: 218/218 .528/.528 114 [ Linx

CUSTOM: Custom 221/223 .541/.525 113 [ NotAV8

INTENSE Stage 2 N/A: 222/224 .540/.523 112 108

INTENSE Stage 3 N/A: 222/230 .542/.530 110 106

ZZP GT3: 224/224 .536/.536 113 N/A [ AnotherScreenName

Power Adder Camshafts

Description Duration @ .050" Lobe Lift L.S.A. Centerline

Stock L67/L32: 182/192 .413/.413 115 N/A

GPS L67 Cam 1: 200/212 .504/.504 115 N/A

Stattama ST1: 206/206 .512/.512 111 N/A

Custom: 206/206 .526/.526 114 N/A [ Pector55

ZZP VS: 206/216 .504/.504 115 N/A

Comp Cams: 206/216 .512/.507 115 [ Sleepr
ZZP HL/GPS L67 Cam 2: 206/218 .512/.528 115 N/A

INTENSE Stage 1 Blower: 209/204 .488/.477 113 108

CompCams 76-802-9: 210/220 .512/.512 115 N/A [ 13secV6

Abbott Racing: 220/220 .512/.512 114 N/A

INTENSE Stage 1X Blower: 210/221 .514/.526 115 111

Stattama ST2: 212/212 .520/.520 112 N/A

ZZP XP: 212/224 .520/.536 116 N/A

INTENSE Stage 2 Turbo: 214/206 .530/.512 116 110

INTENSE Stage 2 Blower: 214/222 .531/.541 115 111

ZZP XPZ: 217/225 .563/.533116 N/A

Stattama ST3: 218/212 .528/.520 113 N/A

Stattams SS4: 218/230 .528/.544 116 N/A

Custom: 218/230 .528/.544 115 N/A [ Pector55

IPS Stage 5/ZZP NIC: 220/230 .507/.507 112 N/A

INTENSE Stage 3 Nitrous/Blower: 220/232 .539/.562 116 112

Thrasher Race: 222/222 .566/..566 114 N/A

INTENSE Stage 3 Blower: 222/228 .541/.550 115 111

INTENSE Stage 3 Turbo: 223/214 .541/.531 116 110

CUSTOM:224/215 .536/.534 116 110 [ Viper04af

Stattama ST4: 224/218 .536/.528 116 N/A

INTENSE Stage 4 Turbo: 226/218 .549/.554 116 110

INTENSE Stage 4 Blower: 235/238 .600/.602 116 112





zzp isnt a sponsor so we cant link them search it on google.

you dont need a lift to pull the engine it just helps.

i just dont like it when people think that intake exausht and a hood is heavily modded.

they make everything and anything for our cars. from stroker kits to heads, to lifters and rockers.

if you want to know where to get em pm me and ill send you links

[Hotrod]

ZZPerformance & Supersixmotorpsorts has everything that I got. Sounds like you have a pretty intense car. I saw that you said you don't want nitrous which if that's the case then I'd go ahead with the chip. The reason I was saying don't get it cause most people on here want or have nitrous and you can't use a chip and nitrous together. Again, I would go with the JET chip, but have you looked in to a Power Programmer instead of the chip? Not sure if they have one for your year but they allow you to do much more stuff than a chip appears to. Based on your intentions for the car I now say that a chip is a good idea for a daily driver not interested in dragging it all the time.

Oh, and a MSD Window Switch is a programmable device that controls what RPM your nitrous sprays at. So if you get the urge, trust me nitrous is FUN!!!!

Good luck man! Post some pics of your car if you have them, it sounds bad-a$$

[pogue]

i just dont like it when people think that intake exausht and a hood is heavily modded.

they make everything and anything for our cars. from stroker kits to heads, to lifters and rockers.

if you want to know where to get em pm me and ill send you links

I understand. When I first started modding my car there were hardly any mods for it, so I did what I could and then I sort of got out of it. From what you're telling me now there are a lot more people making mods for the V6, so I will have to check into that.

Thanks for your input.

[pogue]

ZZPerformance & Supersixmotorpsorts has everything that I got. Sounds like you have a pretty intense car. I saw that you said you don't want nitrous which if that's the case then I'd go ahead with the chip. The reason I was saying don't get it cause most people on here want or have nitrous and you can't use a chip and nitrous together. Again, I would go with the JET chip, but have you looked in to a Power Programmer instead of the chip? Not sure if they have one for your year but they allow you to do much more stuff than a chip appears to. Based on your intentions for the car I now say that a chip is a good idea for a daily driver not interested in dragging it all the time.

Oh, and a MSD Window Switch is a programmable device that controls what RPM your nitrous sprays at. So if you get the urge, trust me nitrous is FUN!!!!

Good luck man! Post some pics of your car if you have them, it sounds bad-a$$

As far as I know, Hypertech doesn't make a power programmer for my year (they do for all the others for some reason) and that is the only company I am aware of that makes them. I just emailed PCMforless to see if they offer anything for my car. It is OBD2 and state inspection requires that, so I'm not sure if they can help or not.

I'll check out the companies you mentioned and try to take some pics when my car is clean.

It's white and has the ram air hood as I mentioned. The wheels are stock aluminum 16", but I have wider Yokahama z rated tires which lower it about an inch or an inch and a half. I have borla exhaust tips and the only stickers I have on the car are from Reflective Concepts. I have the Ram air decals on the hood and the pontiac logo on the back (stickers are black). They look really good and are very nice. I would recommend them to anyone who owns an Fbody.