I've got a 2k2 SE Auto, and slowly but surely have been trying to get all 255 VQ ponies back in line.

Symptoms: doesn't matter if its cold or warm. car idles fine. car will rev cleanly to redline. Feels like its short about 50-75hp. Flooring it from a standstill will still smoke the tires, but highway passing performance (say 60-80mph), the car barely keeps up with my Odyssey minivan but can't get past it (yes, had the wife help test). I've got a short 4 mile commute, and will take longer drives on the weekend, so the car gets about 280 miles before the low fuel light comes on.

So far this is what i've done

- injector cleaner
- seafoam
- new plugs
- 91 octane exclusively
- deleted both precats (1 was dead)
- reset ecu/tps
- pulled negative terminal and let ecu drain overnight
- cleaned the MAF
- air filter is clean
- engine runs 10W-30 mobil 1, and does not burn a drop
- replaced rear primary 02 sensor (before realizing it was a bad precat)

only mods on the car are GAB and GReddy exhaust.

So whats left? compression test? I would think that it'd be burning copious amounts of oil if compression was low.

Bad MAF? It doesn't stutter and revs cleanly.

Bad fuel filter? But wouldn't that cause other problems?

I'm totally at a loss.

 

What about the main cat? Might want to order a test pipe (someone got one for around $50) and see if that helps.

Mine feels down on power too (getting a P0420, aka stoner code) but not as bad as what you describe.

 

what do you mean deleated both precats?.... maybe your afr is way off..

 

Main cat sounds very reasonable. If it's restricted to hell, it'll give a ton of torque down low. I was able to roast tires by just starting in 1st gear. I would release the clutch slowly and less than the normal amount of throttle. If I didn't let off the gas (make it bog) after the clutch fully released they would spin like mad (on hot days with sticky tires). I hope yours isn't that extreme, though lol