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1987 Buick Grand National vs 2018 gt

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schmeky

schmeky

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I contacted the GN guy Saturday morning, but he could not break away from doing National Guard Duty.

Then the bottom fell out Sunday, weather wise.
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I contacted the GN guy Saturday morning, but he could not break away from doing National Guard Duty.

Then the bottom fell out Sunday, weather wise.
NG duty? A salute to him. Keep us posted!
 

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A friend of mine had a 1989 turbo Trans-Am pace car that had the GNX engine in it. He would always bring up an article, might have been Motor Trend, that stated in the road test it was the fastest 50-70 mph car they had ever tested. The problem with that car was the transmission didn't seem to be up to the task. He went through 3 transmissions while under warranty. After the third one Pontiac told him 'don't come back, you're done'. :facepalm:
It was the fastest factory Trans Am ever made at one time and still might have been when the Trans Am was discontinued.
 

RaceHorseV8

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It was the fastest factory Trans Am ever made at one time and still might have been when the Trans Am was discontinued.
I wouldn't doubt it. It was a real mover. One issue that I haven't heard the GN people mention was the excessive turbo lag. It was hit the gas, adjust your mirrors, then hold on! Kidding, but there was a noticeable delay before the power came on big time. It was a unique vehicle for its day.
 
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Just an update on this. I am about to give up. I have given this gentleman plenty of notification, tried to set up a day that would work more than once.

Not sure what the hold up is, but it's not on my end.
 

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Inthehighdesert

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It could also be with what’s going on in the country a match race is the last thing on his mind currently.

There's gonna be some ass wuppin' and your friend doesn't want to be the one providing the ass!
 

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Just an update on this. I am about to give up. I have given this gentleman plenty of notification, tried to set up a day that would work more than once.

Not sure what the hold up is, but it's not on my end.
He's waiting for cold air. That will give him 100+ more horsepower.

I had an 87 Turbo T
Me too! And I sold it to a guy in Ohio... could it be?

A friend had a Syclone back in the early 90s, which used the same drivetrain as the GNX. It was incredibly easy to get that thing to run low 12s.
I took my (totally stock) Turbo T to the drag strip only once, and I beat everything that ran up against me except for the Cyclone. AWD kicked my butt.

My last run, the car wouldn't get out of second gear, and I limped all the way home and to the dealer for a tranny rebuild. Worth it.
 

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He's waiting for cold air. That will give him 100+ more horsepower.



Me too! And I sold it to a guy in Ohio... could it be?



I took my (totally stock) Turbo T to the drag strip only once, and I beat everything that ran up against me except for the Cyclone. AWD kicked my butt.

My last run, the car wouldn't get out of second gear, and I limped all the way home and to the dealer for a tranny rebuild. Worth it.
What classics. Growing up and living near Flint, mi I grew up with those being all around me. We have weeks long cruises (dream and back to the bricks) here every summer where those classics come out in force. See them driving around all over town.
 
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Whether I pulled him or not, does not matter a whole lot, I was just looking forward to a run. I thought an older hopped up classic versus modern tech would have been interesting.
 

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Whether I pulled him or not, does not matter a whole lot, I was just looking forward to a run. I thought an older hopped up classic versus modern tech would have been interesting.
Technology is a mofo. I think you will win relatively easy unless he’s highly modded.
Just think in 2010 the Mustang GT made 305 hp, 2011 the Mustang V6 made 305 hp, 2015 the Mustang 2.3 ecoboost 4 cyl made 310 hp.
 

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I thought an older hopped up classic versus modern tech would have been interesting.
My brother has a 1970 450hp LS6 454 Chevelle SS, turbo 400 transmission, weighs around 3800 lbs without him in it. Only mods are Hooker supercomp headers & 275/60R15 BFG Comp T/A Drag Radials. He runs it on C12 fuel Cause it's like a 11.25:1 engine. Few times we went at it it's not even close, from a dig or roll he had no chance.
 
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Wildhorse,

Amazing you mention the 1970 Chevelle Big Block 454. When I was a teenager, myself and most of my hot rod friends thought the 70 Chevelle 454 was one of the fastest, bad-ass, most affordable muscle cars ever. My first car was a 1969 Chevelle Malibu with a 350, 4 barrel carb rated a 255 hp. Had some great times in my 69 Malibu all the way through college.

My 18 GT can blow the doors off that Big Block 454.
 

ctandc72

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I've never met anyone who owns a STOCK GN since they were sitting on used car lots. "Bigger Turbo"? LOL - that means every other thing he broke, got upgraded. Don't underestimate them. And if it's set up correctly and he knows what he's doing, it will launch ridiculously well - because unlike the S550 - the beefy 8.5" 10 bolt under the GN will take abuse. After owning a few T-Types (basically the same thing except for old man woodgrain trim on the interior and super 80's era interior colors) I can tell you that the trick is to challenge him to the best out of 3. The odds of him breaking something favor you. Especially if he's running the stock 200R4 transmission.

Muscle Cars - stock muscle cars - aren't as fast as most remember. We're spoiled right now with what we can go buy without breaking the bank and go FAST and still have PS, PB, cruise, AC etc. I miss the styling of many 60's and 70's cars, but don't miss the performance.

Granted many of them FELT VERY FAST....because driving at moderate speeds on crappy, skinny tires they had plus the old suspensions with tiny swaybars (if you were lucky) plus drum brakes made you feel like you were going twice as fast as the speedometer indicated. My first car in '87 was a '67 SS Chevelle 4 speed car. Before I sold it years later it broke into the 10's. That was fast THEN for a street driven car. It was also REALLY sketchy with skinnies up front, no front swaybar and worn out front shocks (Weight transfer at the track). It was also geared ridiculously low, sucked down leaded premium like Rick James did cocaine, and drum brakes all around called for a very specialized technique when trying to slow down quickly at high speeds (pump and pray).
 

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A friend had a Syclone back in the early 90s, which used the same drivetrain as the GNX. It was incredibly easy to get that thing to run low 12s. That's with 25 year old technology. With today's turbo technology and electronics, 10s would be easy.

An interesting side note... I wanted to buy my friends Syclone about a year or two later. I called him and he told me some guy from Sweden saw it in his driveway and offered him top dollar for it so he sold it to him. I started looking for other Syclones and heard the same story from everyone I talked to. I tracked one down at a small dealer about 20 miles from home. I told the guy I would be there around 10:00 on Saturday. The guy from Sweden beat me by an hour. Apparently some guy from Sweden was buying up all the Syclones he could find and shipping them back to Sweden. There were damn few Syclones around for sale after than.
I owned 5 Syclones over 25 years, from mild to heavily modified. The Syclone did not have anything in common with the GN/GNX.. it was based on the 4.3 truck engine that was basically a stock LB4 with hyprutectic pistons and nodular iron main caps, 700r4 transmission with a modified valve body, Borg Warner 7742 xfer case, and stock s-10 rear end. Syclones were fun on the street due to their AWD, but a significant investment was needed to make one go 10's and survive. From a dig at a light it is very hard to beat even a stock Syclone if the driver put a couple of pounds of boost against the foot brake.

The Syclone was inferior to the GN in just about every way, the Turbo 3.8 was a much more robust and well-thought out platform. The Syclone was cobbled together with parts that generally already resided in the GM parts bin.

BTW.... Your story about the Syclones going to Sweden is accurate, I was good friends with the guy who did a lot of the shipping for them. I believe the fastest AWD title still resides with Robert from Sweden - 8.9x as I recall.
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