I don't own an owner's manual so I don't know what it suggests. I have been using regular unleaded but recently put mid-grade. I don't know anything about my car other than it's a 1989 Firebird V6. The car also has a chip. BTW, what exactly is the chip? What purpose does that hold. Any firebird owners out there?
2006-10-15 19:38:52 · 18 answers · asked by Charlie 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ Pontiac
http://www.freewebs.com/pontiac-firebird/
Go to that site to see a picture of my car. I inherited it from my grandfather. For a lower middle class sixteen year old, she's my ferrari.
2006-10-18 07:36:05 · update #1
Regular unleaded. And BTW, even if it's true you get better mileage on 89 octane, you'll never make up the difference in price.
2006-10-16 02:04:38 · answer #1 · answered by InjunRAIV 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your car has either the 2.8L or the 3.1L I would recommend putting in 89 octane that will make you get better fuel economy and a little bit more power but what ever you do don't put in 92 because it will make those engines ping like crazy I should know my sister had an 85 fire bird with a 2.8L V6 and it was the last time that she ever put 92 in that car. Even though your car has a chip in it your engine has low compression I think its something like 8.8to1 basically this means don't put 92 octane in it. 92 octane is only meant for high compression engines like 10to1or higher.(modified or high performance engines). And to answer the second part of your question. Your car has a computer in it and the computer controls how much fuel enters the engine and it controls spark timing (this is on older cars today the computer does a lot more than just these two things) So when some body ses I have a chip in my car they mean that they have taken out the old chip and put in a new chip in think of it like this you have a computer program and you don't like it so you take out the old program and put in a program that works better. Its that same thing basically except when you change the chip on your car you are doing this to make more Horse Power and torque.
2006-10-23 12:24:46 · answer #2 · answered by CAPTAIN GENIUS !! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have an 89 firebird V6, a 91 firebird formula with a V8 and i use 87 octane in both. I also have a 2005 pontiac sunfire and a 96 Mitsubishi 3000 GT. the chip is refered to as a "racing" chip. it is supposed to reconfigure the way the computer controls the way the engine runs. the only thing i run 93 in is the 3000 GT. then agian i don't drive the 3000 on a daily basis. i love my 89 firebird, it was the second car i ever bought, it's for fashion and not for speed or anything like that. you probably got that car coz you like the firebird and nothing wrong with that, i salute you for buying a good american car. run 87 octane and oil change every 3,000 miles and it will last you forever.
O&A Pest bigtoe4u77
2006-10-17 19:09:02 · answer #3 · answered by bigtoe4u77 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well this is a hard question to answer. There was a special addition Firebird with a Turbocharged V-6 in 1989. It is a very rare car and it if is in good condition it could fetch you between $25,000 and up. Most of the cars I have seen online that are turbocharged are going closer to $40,000 in good condition. There were barely a 1000 of these cars made and it was made for one year only. If this is the car you own you need to put Premium gas in it. The turbocharger is forcing air into your engine so you need a higher octane fuel to help with the ignition of the gas in the cylinder. On the other hand you could have a car with just a 3.4 liter V6 not turbocharged. If this is the car you have then you can put whatever octane you wish into it. This non-turbo V6 firebird is unfortunately not worth anywhere near the turbocharged version. However, you saying that you have a BTW chip in it suggest to me that you probably have a rare turbocharged 20th anniversary edition. You are a very lucky man if this is your car. I hope this helps. For more info on this car just enter Firebird 20th Anniversary Edition on a search engine. I hope this helps. Good luck with that.
2006-10-18 03:40:17 · answer #4 · answered by MightyRighty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pontiac Firebird 89
2016-12-10 16:22:27 · answer #5 · answered by carcieri 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My first car was a 1987 Firebird, used regular unleaded in mine with no problems, if it tends to ping when you accelerate then go to the next higher octane rating.
The chip is part of the engine control module, in car mags you'll see ads for boosting performance by replacing or reprogramming the chip.
2006-10-15 19:56:46 · answer #6 · answered by Kainoa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Un-leaded plus will keep your "in the family" ride happy! If you are "comfortable" with it , ride it. If not ,get an appraisal from a reputable source and sell it ,for a car "you" like! Fire-bird car engines vary,the V-6 in "your" car is a small block engine. Many v-8's/V-10's/V-12's are big block guy's! Good luck!
2006-10-18 15:04:52 · answer #7 · answered by Hank 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When it comes to using regular gas, the only difference between the higher grades is some can give you better gas mileage and keep your engine clean depending on the brand. I would suggest that you just use regular gas if you are getting good gas mileage already.
2006-10-16 06:34:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have an 89 firebird v6 it runs best on mid grade gas,they all have "chips" its part of the computer. mines red what color is yours? good luck with it!! they arent bad cars!
2006-10-17 13:52:57 · answer #9 · answered by ibaneztool 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as you don't get a spark knock upon acceleration (a pinging sound from engine) 87 or 89 octane should be ok. you'll get better miliage using the 89 octane though. good luck
2006-10-15 19:53:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋