Chip for audio enhansment & 140 MPH ?

[Old Man Jimbo]

Back about 22 years ago I bought my first Reatta. It was ether an 88 or 89 ( I really don't remember ). I was told then that it had a performance chip in it that not only enhanced the stereo system but also the performance. It did have a system none other than I have ever had in a Reatta.

I have told the story many times over the years that I took her 140 MPH on a country road before I stut her down. Sometimes we remember things that are far from the truth to boast and they become true in our head , this may be one of those times   .

I know without a doubt that the stereo system was stellar  so does anyone about this chip ?. Now , the 140 MPH , is that possible ?.

I want the stereo enhancement for the one that I just bought if anyone knows of such a chip . 

[harry yarnell]

Enhance the stereo? I think not.

I'm an electronic tech, and I see no way to 'enhance' the radio. What does enhance mean? Where is this chip? In the ECM? BCM?

Only way I see of 'enhancing the radio is with the tone/ equalizer controls.

[Old Man Jimbo]

I don't know Harry. It was a long time ago. It had unending volume and perfect sound.

[2seater]

1 hour ago, Old Man Jimbo said:

I don't know Harry. It was a long time ago. It had unending volume and perfect sound.

Did it perhaps have the Bose option? I think that may have only been in the Riviera's but it is in my FSM.

 

While 140 mph may be theoretically possible, it sure sounds unlikely to me unless in a steep downhill run with a strong tailwind. 

[KDirk]

Yeah, no performance chip installed in the ECM will do anything to the stereo.  There really isn't much performance enhancement that can be done on a 3800 with just a chip. One could adjust the cooling fan setpoints, and eliminate the top speed limiter. Changing the fuel map map doesn't really gain you anything without physical upgrades to the engine.  And the only way I can see doing 140 in a Reatta  is by changing the display to metric. Top speed limiter on a stock ECM calibrator is 125 mph. Even with that programmed out, I can't imagine the stock 3800 hitting 140 without a stiff tail wind on a downhill slope.

 

As to the stereo, it may have been upgraded by other means. I rather doubt the Bose system was used. It had a special radio module with no onboard amplifier. The amps were located in each speaker housing,  and were specially tuned to the cars interior. This was an option on the Riviera, but tuned enclosures were never specifically made for the Reatta and those from a Rivi  (or Eldorado, on which Bose was also available) wouldn't fit. Of course the stock Reatta radio when new was much better than the average setup in most domestic cars of the late 80's, as most automakers weren't taking audio systems seriously at that time. So perhaps it just seemed so good to you by conparison. Or maybe someone customized it,  but that would surprise me. 

[DAVES89]

I believe the stereo in the Red was "redone" by the original owner as the sound is better in that car then either the 'vert or the Black. I put Infinity's in both of the cars but the sound still doesn't deliver quite the same sound as the Red.

 However on the suggestion of others on this forum I installed a Kicker powered subwoofer and installed the leads in all my cars so I can move the subwoofer from one car to another easily. This was a great improvement.

[Ronnie]

I've heard Dave's radio and it sounds much much better than the one in my car. The kicker really makes a difference. The sound is just average, or maybe below average, in my Reatta because I used cheap replacement speakers. I didn't know about the Infinity speakers at the time. Both door speakers were busted when I got my Reatta and I just wanted to get replacements that would work. I wish now that I had spent a little more on speakers.

[padgett]

Can speak to the 140mph and did not happen with the stock ECM, Reattas came with H rated tires that had a 130mph limit and the MFR was required to govern to that so there was a fuel cut off. AFAIR it was set to 125 mph. That said it was just one byte in the PROM and easy to change.

[jonlabree]

And it is easy to change.

[Old Man Jimbo]

Well , when I had it , it did not have factory tires and wheels on it. It actually had True Spoke wheels and high performance tires on it. I do not know the internal upgrades that were made and when I started this question , I had said that in my mind I remember 140 mph ( in my mind ). I guess a new question is ......... would the Reatta speedo even register 140 ?.

That is the question

[KDirk]

With the top speed limiter programmed out, the speedo should show the actual speed up to a theoretical limit of 199MPH as that is the hard limit imposed by the available segments in the digital display (the first digit is a one, the second and third digits are both "8" capable of showing any digit 0-9, so nothing over 199 could be displayed in any case, irrespective of how fast the car is moving). To my knowledge, there is nothing in the ROM that governs the digital display output to put an arbitrary limit on what can be shown. 

 

Some older GM's 85-87 had digital gauges that wouldn't show anything higher than 85 mph, and when you hit that you could go faster but instead of showing actual speed, would continue showing 85 and blink the speed display as a visual warning. I believe the Seville and Eldorado did this,  as did some Buick models like the Skylark. This was done to discourage daredevils, and probably made a bit more sense under the Federal 55MPH speed limit cap.

[Old Man Jimbo]

Very good explanation K.

You know what , I vaguely remember having a car back in the day that the speedo did that but I don't remember what it was , I do remember how it annoyed me to the max though.... ha 

[padgett]

My Sunbird had an 85 mph speedo but remember wrapping it past the top and back to the stop at zero. I liked the 85 mph speedo because it was easy to read and over that was more concerned about the tach anyway.