I have looked at a bunch of chips and they all seem the same.....is the X cal 2 still the best one for 97GT AUTO...i dont have PI heads, but i have a transgo shift kit and flowmaster cat back...what kind of power can i expect to gain and will it still be okay to use the tuner with the shift kit?

 

don't expect much hp/tq gain... maybe 10hp and a few tq. don't up the shift firmness since you've already effectively done that. Other than that... enjoy. X-Cal2 would be my choice

 

:stupid:

I only gained 5RWP and about 5RWTQ with a custom dyno tune on my 01 auto with PI heads. Mods also included full SLP exhaust and BBK CAI.
I did it more for the shift points than anything, but you've pretty much done that as well.

 

just to clarify my earlier statement...

while a tune may not gain you any appreciable power it will help your car to run more efficiently at whatever power level it's at. That's good for engine life and emissions parts life. It also usually has a net positive effect on gas mileage but again, not much.

The first thing to do is get the X-Cal2, then buy a PI swap and slap that on. You'll be over 99+ stock power right off the bat and all your future mods will be more and more worth it. Alternately, you can have a set of non-pi heads heavily ported and larger valves installed and you'll get roughly the same effect if not nearly so dramatic.

I have a set of NPI heads in the garage that could use a home.. you can take those to your favorite engine builder and have him hog them out and give them a valve job, slap in some XE268H or XE270H cams and you'll be in hog heaven.

You're in California, so am I, so shipping should be minimal and I know some head porters down there that do really good work.

 

how much would that run me alltogether with an average shop price?

 

xcal2 = 400 dollars
dyno tune = 100 dollars an hour for up to 3 tunes.

that's the shop by me