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Comments
There's flags all over the place that weren't there before.
(look at the comments previous to yours).
It is pretty amusing!
If a flag does not appear by your name, this means you have not selected a country in your profile - you can do so by clicking on the "My Profile" link at the top of the page.
I think this is way cool - if you see a flag you don't recognize, you can just put your cursor on top of it and the name of the country will display.
Just think - we can all learn LOTS from this.
:-)
Pat
Host
Sedans and Women's Auto Center Message Boards
I had fun just this week putting a TL type S to the test.
The GS was very much up to the test, on two traffic light to traffic light runs it was a dead heat, my GS was about a quarter car length up, but not by much. Each of us broke off at about 75 mph. The TL engine did not sound to pleasant on its high revs though almost like it was going to go into cardiac arrest.
I do not see Galapagos Islands. But there are some interesting choices.
Yes! The flag was raised just in time!
You're racing phantom TL Type S Acuras, my friend, it was officially released to anyone who owns one now on Thursday of this week. Perhaps you were racing a CL Type S, in which case is a little slower off the line than a TL Type S. I'm gunna take your word for it though, and it's interesting to see a post so soon of a GS vs. TL Type S race! Plus, the person racing you .. could you tell if he was... no you prolly couldn't .. whether or not he was using the sequential sportshift... oh well, my buddy and i are racing on Monday, I'll keep you posted -- especially you Mr. 141516.
However -- I'll easily have 1000 in a few weeks..
Oh, I was in his GSE last night again, and I noticed something:
When you accelerate (hard acceleration) the psi gauge goes from 0.0 to near 6.7/7.7 psi, but what I was curious to see is how many pounds it put out when you mash it at cruising speeds (40/50/60 mph) .. I noticed his didn't really go past 2.0 psi while still in overdrive, and then it very quickly dropped to 3rd gear (or 4th, i don't know how that car is geared .. well, since it's a 4-speed, then 3rd), and THEN the psi went up to 5.0. I thought that was interesting ..
Also -- it was equally interesting how his fuel gauge moved faster to Empty than my tachometer in my '94 ES300 moved to 7000 rpms at full throttle!! Wow, whutta gas guzzler. He says he averages 12.0 mpg in city driving.
You may have an advantage over the Buick; your friend's car may be getting tired from all this zoom-zoom action..
If you lose; seek help immediately and try to move on...
Or there could be something seriously wrong with his GSE. If that's the case, a win by tls over the gs would be quite hollow, wouldn't it?
As for accelaration, the GS ' torque definitely made it the quicker car. But on the flip side, the Acura had a much more refined interior. For $33K+, the CL Type S is attractively priced for what you get in return (incl. Nav system). The interior is put together flawlessly.
And again, for $26K+, the GS is a bargain in its own right.
PS - Does everyone here change their oil every 3000 miles?? And...is premium gas necessary?
Thanks.
Deadweight.... dry man....really dry.
Glad to see you're still lurking.
Thank you,
L8_Apex
Host
Sedans Message Board
There is just good competitive fun here with our GS cars and how they fair in the market place against other vehicles. Occasional visitors lead us a stray because they feel their cars may be better, this is a discussion room.....offering a chance for people to make choices...
OR am I missing something that is foul in nature that has been deleted, if so I apologize......if not lighten up a bit.
Yes I intend to change the oil every 3000 miles and your best bet is to use premium fuel. There is a brief discussion of fuel requiements, I believe over on the turbo buick site (3800 Supercharged discussion)
I purchase a used 1994 Buick Regal last August and it now has 80000 miles on it. It has the 3800. I was wondering if anyone had any performance improvements I can make to the engine. Ultimately to produce improved power and gas mileage if possible. If you could also direct me to some instructions or parts that I may need. I really have no complaints except for the ac compressor is shot and making a lot of noice but I am getting that replaced. Thank you for any improvements...
for some performance information.
The Trasher site is about performance modifications for supercharged Series II 3800 engine, 1997 to 2000 or 2001 Grand Prix GTP and Buick GS. The modifications are for race only: most of them are not street-legal.
On the other hand, mthoskins1 have a 94 Buick. Probably with naturally aspirated Series I engine. Not a good candidate for Trasher mods.
The car was bought used, now with 80k miles. Hard to tell, how it was cared for and used (or even abused) by the previous owner. The owner can be a parent, or trusted friend, or complete stranger. On the other hand, it is possible that stranger did all maintenance, while parents skipped some services...
The obvious "performance modifications" would be tuning, valve / injectors cleaning, transaxle liquid / filter service, new plugs, etc., according to 60k mile schedule - if not sure that the car had the service.
This is reasonable safe. Though things happens: I lost an engine (3.0l, 1988 Ford Taurus) soon after tuning it up. Probably, the first tuning in 110k miles. It was too hard for the old engine.
And not only with car. If you know substance from appearance so well when 24, most probably will avoid a lot of life problems.
Couple of words concerning the Regal GS. Well, in my experience the highway police does not get interested with the car either. Very probably, they do not care if this is a Regal, Century, 88, or Malibu, even less about the trims.
Not only police. Looks as nobody knows the car. Friends, neighbors, colleagues. Even mechanics.
When I changed oil at Firestone, my mechanic took the car in, drained the old oil, replaced the filter, lowered the car. Than opened the hood to put new oil - and almost run, agitated, to the waiting room. "Congratulations! What car! What engine! Supercharged 3800! Did not realize, till seeing it"...
The maroon color does not attract attention either. Stealth cars... I like it so much.
Supercharger very smooth, in fact, unlike a turbo, cannot even tell when it kicks in. Front end is sluggish, not as responsive as the Maxima, does not handle quite as well as the SE did. Power, yes, plenty. Rear seating space, smaller then the SE. Dealer/manufacturer issues read on
Small paint chip by mirror, nut/wing nut that hold the plastic cowling on the engine was missing, all four tires had different air pressure and spare at 45 lbs in lieu of 60. License plate not on tight (put on by dealer) supercharged emblem missing (had to order from parts) and at 733 miles I was leaking oil profusely. Dealer had to tighten all of the oil pan bolts, loose from the factory.
I hope that this is it, and police do notice it, I have a ticket to prove it.
Great car, tremendous value especially when buying a 2000 model in Feb 2001, the dealers are hurting, cannot give them away, well not quite that bad.
Who has had experience as to when the oil change light will come on?????
I was looking at the idea of a straight 30 weight racing oil from Kendall. I have found that this last very well after 3,000 and even more miles.
1992 Camry V6, every 7,500 miles 132,000 on it
1996 Mercury Mystique 4 Cyl, once a year filter at 6 months
1997 Isuzu Rodeo, V6, 59,000 miles, every 7,500
1997 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 Twin turbo, every 5,000 miles, only 14,500 total miles
All use Amsoil 10W30 except the Mercury which is on a 0W30 diet. All have synthetic tranny and gear oil fluids (Buick has not been changed yet)
Even Consuemr reports says that 3,000 mile changes are a thing of the past, even with petroleum oils.
Note, because of the oil change light on the Buicks they cannot void any warranty do to not changing your oil prior to the light coming on.
If you were asking about oil filters, my oil analyis over the years has said that there are a few that actually filter better then the OEM. These are Mobil 1, Amsoil/Hastings and the Pure One LIne of Purolator filters. AC Delco Gold is supposed to be good also. Frams are truly crap, poor construction, especially the anit drainback valve. Of course, on my GSE the filter is hanging straight down so this valve has little use in a this application.
The car will become the "family car" which means my wife will drive the baby around in it, and we will take the Regal on long trips.
Reliability is key so I don't want to buy a car that will give me a bunch of problems. I hear this car has chronic brake problems. Is this true? Are there other problems that will sneak up on me?
The car is in excellent condition so I want to go for it, would you'll recommend it?
Thanks!
I am planning to switch to Mobil 1 oil / Pure One filter at 8k miles with Regal GS. Just to be sure concerning the break-in. Changed oil at 2k and 5k with what oil/filter Firestone and dealer put in.
I am already using Pure One filter and Mobil-1 oil with my 98 Malibu. They are practically always available at my local Pep Boys. Learned late about synthetic, and started to use them toward the end of warranty, at about 35 k miles. Had only two changes with Mobil-1.
Now the car is approaching 40k miles. GM recommends to do transmission service at 50k miles with severe driving conditions (Connecticut is a hilly place), and never with ideal conditions. I decided to do it now, either at Chevrolet dealer or Firestone, and to switch to Mobil synthetic fluid. Though, do not know what filter.
AC Delco produces three kinds of filters: simple mesh screen, paper, and top-of-line composite:
http://www.acdelco.com/parts/1195_set.htm
but they have no catalog on-line for transmission filters. Hard to know, if all three kinds of filters are available for the Malibu (or other specific cars) and where to buy. Other manufacturers, like Hastings, offer one filter for Malibu.
http://www.twcny.rr.com/carplace/cars/00-acu-3.2/00-acu-3.2.2.shtml
Now, this is not a Type-S, so the power is a bit less at 225hp. However, I don't think there are any Type-S drivers getting into the 13's at the track with a near stock engine. On the other hand, here's a bunch of GTPs and a Regal with those honors:
https://secure.westserver.net/motorsports/menu_13_sec_club.htm
It doesn't take much to push a stock GTP or Regal into the 13 second club, and with some extra goodies, you'll be racing Vipers in the 12's. Better start looking at roll bars!
http://www.pureoil.com/pureone.htm
I had read before about the fluid capacity at GM site
http://www.gmpowertrain.com/transmissions/4t40_main.htm
(this is about Malibu, but the same with other transmissions). But it never came to me to flush the transmission. To the best of my understanding, without flush I will have a blend of new synthetic fluid and the old one. About 50/50 after the first change... To be more precise, 7l/12.5l = 56% synthetic to 44% dyno.
On the other hand, if the natural oil based fluid is good enough for 50k miles even with severe service conditions, and up to infinity in light service, probably this does not matter so much. The 56% of synthetic is any case better than 100% dyno. Even more, than after the second service 80% of fluid will be synthetic, and 91.5% after the third one. Then the car will have 100k on odometer, 8 year old or so...
So I will ask around about the transmission flush: availability, prices, etc. And how often they do the flush, how much experience. Probably better to have the service without flush at good place than with flush at "quick lube".
As to checking fluid level after service, this is very good idea.
Always need to check tire pressure. Every second time have to adjust to my preference, and once was way off high (inflated to the sidewall value!).
Used to check oil level too, but in my experience there was no problem except slight over filling - about 1/2 qt. excess - roughly every second time. This is no problem with me.