Today, just out of curiosity, I test drove a '95 SSEi. I loved all the options(HUD, adjustable suspension, etc.), that my bonnie doesn't have... yet. It was my first time driving a supercharged car, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I'm pretty sure that something was wrong. When I floored it the first time, I distinctly heard the supercharger kick in, but the car didn't feel that much faster than mine... in fact it felt slower :? After that I floored it again, but this time - no whine from the supercharger, and even slower acceleration. Cruising around at very light throttle levels I noticed that the boost guage was fluctuating quite a bit. It maxed out when I was lightly pressing the throttle. On the next straightaway the supercharger kicked in again. Another thing - everytime it kicked in, i felt something like turbo lag before I heard the whine. Isn't the power supposed to be instantanious with superchargers? What surprised me even more is that the car only had 140,000 km on it(at least that'* what the digital odometer said). Anyways, I was just wondering if anyone knew what the problem might have been, just to feed my curiosity... I'm not really thinking of making any car purchases at the moment.

sounds like an ECM issue or Boost control solenoid..or heck even exahust..cat converter/EGR modual lol
hard to pinpoint with these cars, why I love em!

ssei'* are slow anyways...

you can also have vacuum leaks somewhere

Look for 96+ SSEI.. series II baby I'm having boost issue of my own.. and it'* got a lot of things you will need to check to pin point it.. I say just move on.. unless the car is a steal. Then you will have to calculate in Wat if factor of things that might be wrong with the */c then see if it'* worth it

No, as I said, I wasn't thinking of buying the car. I just started this topic out of curiosity. Plus, even if I was looking for a newer Bonnie - the one I drove has been in quite a few accidents (one or two serious ones), had that engine/supercharger problem I mentioned, and a few other things, and the asking price was $5000 canadian... so it wasn't worth it even if I did want to buy a newer Bonnie.

Well I just thought that a car that has nearly 80 more hp than mine should have felt a liiitle faster... but it didn't :?

WOW.. you could get a cheaper SSEI.. but since you weren't lookin meh.. don't doubt the "i" I think the one you tried have issues.. when you went heavy on the gas.. did you keep an eye on the boost gauge? Did it fluctuate? Dump boost? Feel kinda hesitant? Before I had my boost issues thats on going right now.. damm thing would pull hard.. it'* not Corvette Viper.. I can't reach the $100 bill on the dash.. but hard enough that by the time you look down @ the speedo.. you're going 150km in a 60 zone hee hee.. don't try that. And torque steer.. oie.. mind you with SSEI the steering feels stiffer.. as Tamara has a 95 SE.. in which to me feels kinda floaty ( mind you I'm use to the SSEI thats why it feels floaty to me ).

If you want to really feel the "i" just go out for the heck out of it and test drive a 96+ SSEI just so you know for sure.. I use to do that a while back.. I would have a few hours to kill and I'd go test drive a few cars just for the heck of it.. thats how I wound up with the SSEI.. it didn't feel as heavy as STS IMO while driving even though the STS has more HP

The catalytic convertor was clogged. No question about it. The symptoms you describe are an exact fit for that problem. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Sounds like a good diagnosis to me. I think if it had been healthy, it would have knocked your socks off. Even a stock 95 SSEi is pretty impressive.