Buick Motor in Chevy's Flagship !!

[Don B.]

Chevy finally broke down and used the 3800 series II supercharged

motor in the Monte Carlo. Years have gone by with Chevy being beat

by Grand Nationals and GMC Syclones/Typhoons. Now more recently front

drive GS Regals (with worked stock motors and trans.)are running 12sec

in the 1/4 mile, and the new GTO with a projected 400hp for '05.

The really good news is with Chevy using it, after market and

factory performance parts will be more available.

The muscle car days may be back, so pick up those Rivs, Regals

and Park Aves. Then make a trek to the Chevy parts dept.

Now if they just put the 3800 series II supercharged motor

in the Rendezvous the soccer moms can fun too.

[padgett]

SUVs are top heavy enough without adding enough power to really get them in trouble. Keep hoping the craze will be over soon (only good thing about rising gas prices) so I can drive on the turnpike again without having my vision blocked by a sea of tailgates.

In the sixties and seventies, 400 hp and a 4-speed had some rationale for passing on two lane blacktops. Today with interstates and limited access highways the norm (my drive to work is four miles of residential followed by nineteen of limited access). E-pass on the tollways means no need to stop.

Consequently, today, the only reason to leave cruise is for relief/replenishment (recently drove from Orlando to New Orleans. Reached the E-W four miles north of my house and the next time the vehicle came to a stop was for gas 326 miles out).

Further, city traffic affords little opportunity to use excessive power, accelleration from lights is limited by the econobox in front and often busses are quicker of the line.

There may be places where truely high speeds are possible but not in my daily driving and have the Judge for that & can afford 16 gallons of premium every six months or so even with 11 mpg.

So what I look for today is "enough" power and an efficient high-speed cruise on 87 PON.

[Guest tempest68]

Yes, they put the Series II in the chevy. But all the while putting the Series III in the Indian (GTP). I dont know all the specifics about the III, but do know its rated 20 hp higher than the II.

As far as parts, there is already a thriving parts bin since the go-fast crowd has taken to the GTPs'. Thrasher, 3800Performance.com, zzperformance.com, Intense, DHP to name a few.

And Zoomer from zzperformance recently broke into the 10's still using the M90 blower. He just wanted to see if it was possible using the original-style blower.

I like the fact that for a couple of hundred dollars these motors can be made fairly quick, and for a couple thousand they can be rediculously quick!

I just advise rebuilding the tranny to withstand any performance mods as you'll end up rebuilding it one way or the other.

[Rawja]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Now if they just put the 3800 series II supercharged motor

in the Rendezvous the soccer moms can fun too. </div></div>

Actually, they just made available the brand new 3.6L VVT DOHC V6 with 245HP & 232Lbs/ft torque that can be installed in lieu of the 3400 engine. It's standard on the Ultra and optional on the CXL. It's also used in the Cadillac CTS.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

The Monte Carlo is fugly as hell! Doesn't deserve an engine let alone a 3800. Am I correct that the 3800 was first used in the Grand National?

[reattadudes]

the 3800 engine is exclusive to front wheel drive vehicles only. the Grand National used the 3.8.

Mike

[2seater]

The 3800 is an evolution of the 3.8 Buick that goes way back and it came out in 1988, after the demise of the GN. The internal design of the engine was changed to include a roller cam, different head design and a balance shaft. In between, there were 3.8's in FWD applications (in parallel with RWD of older design), that incorporated some of the later 3800 features, such as crank driven oil pump and different cam sensor.

[padgett]

The 3.6 "Global" is all aluminum AFAIR but they have revamped the GMPowertrain Page and it does not seem as informative as before. You also get the feeling that the 3800 is being phased out since it gets none of the new gee whiz stuff (OTOH you do not need variable valve timing with a boosted engine).

[BQUICK1]

That 3.6 sounds like a gutless wonder. 232 torque? S/C 3800 is 280 at lower rpm.

One of the reasons the 3800 gets good gas mileage is the TORQUE. I can get 2-3 better that a friends 95 Nissan Altima with a 4 cyl/auto.

Bruce

[Guest kc-griz]

The 3.8l SC motor is one of the best motors I've had in a car. The wife has it in her 97 Riviera with just over 37k miles on it to date. On the highway, doing 75-80mph, we were getting a solid 29mpg between tanks. GM will have to do something amazing to improve on that and still deliver the performance it dishes out on demand.

[padgett]

One of my criteria for a street car is operation on regular (87 PON) gas. It offends my nature to have to use a gasoline that costs 20% more and is harder to refine (less per barrel of crude) for no more BTU per gallon and its main virtue is being harder to burn.

Will admit my Judge likes 93 PON plus additives to run right even though Pontiac used considerably lower compression ratios than Chevrolet, but that is a toy and not a daily driver (and have some nice 6X heads in the garage should I ever need them).

All thast said, has anyone ever plumbed a Reatta for about a 50 hp NO2 shot ? What happened ?