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Saw the "got turbo" thread and it reminded me of the 1987 turbo Buicks. The speed of these turbo Buicks were outstanding. Between the Regal Grand National or GNX down to the Buick Skyhawk turbo T-Type they were fast. Never owned or drove one. Heard that some owners had problems with their turbo over time. I'd be amazing to imagine how Buick would have turned out if they continued developing their turbo technology especially after GM aquired Saab. It could have continued to be the luxuary sports brand of GM. Now there's talk the new Ford Taurus coming soon may have a turbo V-6 SHO edition to bring the Taurus performance back where it once was.
Didn't the FBI order Grand Nationals? I seem to remember something along those lines...
NICE cars! I did get the chance to play with one and was impressed with the handling. The little motor could squirt right along!
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But the supercharger and turbo are different setups. That motor would take 29.4 psi stock or 3 times atmospheric pressure which made them so desirable in terms of people looking for performance. Basically what by today's standards would be considered bulletproof.
Didn't the FBI order Grand Nationals? I seem to remember something along those lines...
NICE cars! I did get the chance to play with one and was impressed with the handling. The little motor could squirt right along!
I don't know about the FBI but back in the late 80's some of the highway patrol men were driving Grand Nationals since they were one of the fastest cars on the road at the time.
Can't say I've heard too much about turbo's going bad on the Buicks. After awhile, sometimes the turbo might leak a little oil into the exhaust side. Then again I think a lot of people swapped out their stock turbos for aftermarket ones to go even faster.
And yes, Buick has always been the under rated car that most associated with elderly people. I think the two milestones for them were the 1970 GSX 455 Stage I which made more torque at a low rpm than any other engine.....and the 1986-87 LC2 3.8 turbo V6 which only made 245 hp/355 tq stock, but are capable of making well over 500 hp on just tuning alone, and have been known to push the Grand National/T type cars well into the 9's and even 8's in the 1/4 on a stock block, fitted with some high dollar parts of course.
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
1987 Buick Turbo
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