Brown isn't usually a good sign if its Transmission fluid. If its the original trans it could be possible that its nearing the end of its life.

And BonneMeMN is right, 160,000 miles is just broke in for a 3.8L :P , hell mine is at 157,000 and the engine and its components are in awesome shape!
But the symptoms you are explaining really make me think there is a problem with the exhaust, even though it is new. Look over the car really well, pull all the spark plugs out, inspect them, check your air filter, change the fuel filter. Sometimes its alot of small things combining to make one big problem. Also, scan it for codes, you never whats stored in there!

OK another thing i noticed today was that when its doing its wierd little thing my boost gage is bouncing up and down, never noticed that before. could it be a bad */c instead of tranny or what?

Belt slippage, boost control solenoid or boost dump/timing pull due to KR.

how do i tell if its one of those? and how do i fix that?

if you have something wrong with the exhaust it could be setting off the boost dump.

Even though your cat is new.. it could be numerous things.. first your cat can blow in less then 2 days and all the crap gets blown thru and clog @ the muffler


no thrown codes either when it happened to me.. tap the cat and muffler and listen to hear if you hear anything jarring loose in there.

I have to agree with most here that it maybe exhaust system/cat and clogged.. first you said you saw your rear manifold hot red.. that could also be cause you have too much unburnt fuel pass thru the system and gets burnt from the heat of the cat and manifold.. and when you dump a lot of unburnt fuel thru the cat.. the cat will give out and break into pieces. Another reason I think it'* a clog ( probably the cat or caused by it ) is you said when you get on the throttle it acts up and dumps boost.. well when it'* clogged it can only pass so much exhaust out and when you pass that it will build back pressure. Definitely check for clogs ASAP first as it'* the number 1 cause of exhaust valve failure cause of the back pressure and heat.

ONLY PUT IN OEM ATF (automatic tranny fluid). Synthetic/performance stuff FUBARS your tranny up. Putting in over a quart a week, and having high speed issues narrows it down to the tranny IMO.

Well i found out 2 very interesting things, i took out my spark plugs and 3 of them had broken off tips and were completey $#^&*@ up, replaced them with ngk iridiums and i saw a difference immediately, 2nd, i took my car to a transmission shop and they told me that i messed up my dry clutches or something dont remember the term, so i think im gonna buy a used tranny, is that a good idea or no?

sounds like the car went lean in at least 3 cylinders. This could have been the clunk you heard as the engine ate the tips. if i were you I would borrow/rent/steal a boroscope and get a look at your pistons. If they are chipped the engine may continue to eat plugs until a cylinder goes so lean it detonates taking the engine with it.

Not trying to scare you but i definately would not WOT this car or drive it hard until you find out whats up with it. Tips of plugs dont just come off for no reason.

It'* a clogged convertor. Your supercharger seems to be working fine, but with a clogged exhaust (which is what you have), you can force only a second or two of boost with extra fuel before everything downstream corks up, the overpressure opens the wastegate (which is the weird new whooshing noise you're hearing) and relieves the backpressure in the exhaust. Be glad it does; the alternative is a lot messier. Your Boost gauge is showing you the pressure fluctuations followed by a plummet back down when the wastegate opens.

Get the convertor off temporarily and road-test to see if your symptoms have gone away. I think it'll drive normally (although incredibly loud) once the clog is cleared from the exhaust this way.