Rental/Program Car tune on PCM?

[Trunkmonkey]

I recently purchased a used 2007 G6 GT from a local Pontiac dealer. During my conversation with the saleman he told me that the car had been a "program" car that had been on loan to an exec somewhere as a test unit, which was then returend to GM and sold to the dealer at auction.

Since this car was not sold through the normal channels initially, I believe the PCM has been programmed with the same tune the car manufacturers use for rental car companies (detuned at low end to prevent people from burning out the tires/transmission, etc). I am basing this on my observations of the many rental cars I have driven over the past few years while traveling for work. Many of them have been similar to my personal cars in the past, and I have noticed a significant difference in their performance on the low end over my own car (which was completely stock).

What I would like to find out is A) has anyone had any experience with this and B) how difficult would it be to get the dealer to re-flash the PCM back to "normal" so my GT runs as it was meant to?

Any feedback is appreciated.

[ElecBlueG6GT]

My 6 was a rental, sold as a Certified used. I didn't experience the low power you are posting about. Anyway, Vector tuned my pcm.

[TLS2000]

They don't program cars differently for rental fleets. What happens is that the car learns your driving style and is more aggressive/passive as a result.

Reset your computer by unplugging the battery for 20 minutes and then have it relearn your style, or just drive like you would normally drive and the computer will adjust.

[Hudson]

mine was a rental too and it runs par with al the other V6 base sedans. What TLS described is totally true

[jerrodmann]

They don't program cars differently for rental fleets. What happens is that the car learns your driving style and is more aggressive/passive as a result.

Reset your computer by unplugging the battery for 20 minutes and then have it relearn your style, or just drive like you would normally drive and the computer will adjust.

this explains why I seem to get better gas mileage the farther I drive with long distances....

[jerrybeav]

the car learns your driving style and is more aggressive/passive as a result.

Really. I would have never thought, but what do you mean by it "learns"?

[TLS2000]

I mean that that car keeps track of how it is driven, and that it adjusts things automatically over time to reflect that.

[Convert]

"Program" cars are not rentals. They are one of the perks that the upper echelon get. These are cars that used to be driven quite hard. Following the allowed upon miles being reached they are offered for sale. Either to dealers or employees at discounted prices. My brother got a new vette with 7500 miles on the clock and and big bucks off of the sticker. There is no programming done on these cars to knock the performance down.

[Swampassjr]

hmm, mine was a rental too and performance wise it doesn't really feel all that fast, i mean for crying out loud an older neon (2.0L) kept up with me when i had a full car load, you would think 100 more hp should be enough to make up for the extra passangers... idk, maybe i just got use to this car and it doesn't seem that fast, or else maybe it's the altitude. What ever my reason may be, i hope what you said isn't true regarding rentals

[newbiestyle]

hmm, mine was a rental too and performance wise it doesn't really feel all that fast, i mean for crying out loud an older neon (2.0L) kept up with me when i had a full car load, you would think 100 more hp should be enough to make up for the extra passangers... idk, maybe i just got use to this car and it doesn't seem that fast, or else maybe it's the altitude. What ever my reason may be, i hope what you said isn't true regarding rentals

Well, you didn't state if the Older neon was stock or had been modified. that makes a difference, also what model neon and what year? The 1st gen neon r/t came with a 150hp 4cycl I think, which coupled with a 5spd stick is pretty quick for an econobox. Also was it a stoplight drag or an on highway race? With a stick you can get a much faster off the line launch. An on highway/at speed race is much more fair cause it negates some of the advantage of a stick.

Lastly, wieght can make a huge difference in performance. I should know seeing as what my work truck is(look at my avitar) If the neon had only a 1/4 tank of fuel and just the driver, whereas if you had a fuel tank of fuel and 3 passengers plus the driver and trunk full of luggage it can make a big difference.

But thats all IMO.

[Swampassjr]

it was modded, stick, was only him. i had 3 other passangers, a stereo system and a full tank yes, it was also a rolling race (started from like 5 mph) but i pulled very hard away from him in 3rd

[newbiestyle]

ok, make sense. most "average" cars, ie- family sedans, econoboxs, etc are about the same up to 35-40mph so with him have the stick he had an advantage of 1 extra gear over the 4spd auto. PLus you had a lot of wieght in the car.

If you want to see what a difference a couple of hundred pounds makes, just look at the 0-60 for an 06 g6 gtp sedan with the 3.9 auto compared with the 06 chevy impala ltz with the 3.9v6 auto. The g6 does it in something like 6.6 secs and the impala does it in 7.3 secs.

Of course now someone will post saying that I don't know what I talking about and how theres a big difference. but thats IMO.

[Swampassjr]

i have the 6 speed auto, so I have the 1 more gear advantage

[ragingfish]

hmm, mine was a rental too and performance wise it doesn't really feel all that fast

Try clearing the program as mentioned above. Disconnect battery for 20-30 minutes, then reconnect. Computer will "relearn" your driving style.

[Fawkes]

I bought a "program car", and it turned out that it had been previously owned by Hertz. In my experience, these cars are usually not maintained well and/or treated like rentals, i.e. "it's not mine, so I'll beat on it".