Poor performance or normal!?!?

[sandmanusd]

I just bought a 97 AT, When I accelerate, unless I pound on the pedal, it seems to just whine and not jolt me forward... I used to have a 99 Camaro SS, and when I barely stepped on that, it jolted me forward.... The C5 seems to have a huge hesitation and it seems like its not nearly as strong as my SS... is it the gearing of the C5 that is making me think its got a problem or is this normal? or what? PLEASE HELP!! Should I take it in and get it tuned and service my fuel injection first to see if that is it?

 

[JOV]

First of all poor performance in a C5 is not normal. How long since its last tune up, fuel filter , ect. ect. I would see if you have any trouble codes from your vehicle 's computer and go from there. Also remember that the C5 is drive-by wire, there is no throttle linkage. Also there are 2 gear ratio's for the A4 , the performance ratio is 3:15 and the standard ratio is 2:73 and yes you can feel the diffrence between the 3:15 and the 2:73 My buddies 97 with an A4 and the performance ratio 3:15 runs 13.7 at 104mph in the 1/4 mile . He is stock except for the Blackwing set-up........Just my $.02 cents

 

[sandmanusd]

Well, just took it to the Chevy dealer and had one of the old salty Vette salesmen drive it.. he said it was purring like a kitten and couldn't feel a thing wrong with it.. I think my gut feeling was right.. the lack of power was just due to the normal driving conditions in Overdrive.. when I slipp it into 3rd and drive around town, it feels more like my Camaro SS... At 40 mph around town in OD, it is at about 1200 RPM.. shift it to 3rd and it bumps up to around 2000, A LOT better for that instant acceleration at lower speeds.. more like my SS!!!

 

[1g1yy]

If you have the 2.73 gears it will feel sluggish! And even with the 3.15's it will not feel like it has the crisp throttle response of an SS because of the drive by wire.

 

[sandmanusd]

If you have the 2.73 gears it will feel sluggish! And even with the 3.15's it will not feel like it has the crisp throttle response of an SS because of the drive by wire.

what is drive by wire exactly? Im new to this stuff

 

[JOV]

what is drive by wire exactly? Im new to this stuff

The C5 is drive-by wire, what that means is that there is no throttle linkage or cable from the accelerator pedal to the throttle body.
The accelerator pedal position ( APP ) sensor is mounted on the accelerator pedal assembly. The APP is actually 3 individual accelerator pedal position sensors within 1 housing. Three seprate signals ground and 5.0 volts reference circuts are used to connect the APP and the TAC modules (throttle actuator control) The APP sensor 1 voltage should increase as the accelerator pedal is depressed, from below 1.0 volt at 0 percent pedal travel to above 2.0 volts at 100 percent pedal travel. APP sensor 2 voltage should decrease from above 4.0 volts at 0 percent pedal travel to below 2.9 volts at 100 percent pedal travel.
APP sensor 3 voltage should decrease from above 3.8 volts at 0 percent travel to below 3.1 volts at 100 percent travel . All this info along with the info from the TAC and TP (throttle position) is monitered by the PCM which sets the mode of operation of the motor. Hope this helps....

 

[JOV]

what is drive by wire exactly? Im new to this stuff

Here now is a better condensed description;

The throttle actuator control (TAC) system uses vehicle electronics and componets to calculate and control the position of the throttle blade. This eliminates the need for a mechanical cable attachment from the accelerator pedal to the throttle body. This system also performs the cruise control funcitions as well.