1987 Buick Regal Grand National 3.8 Liter SFI turbo from North America
Summary:
The last true American Muscle Car
Faults:
Nothing has really broken on the car, but it does leak oil since I use only synthetic motor oil (previous owner used petroleum-based oil), but that is supposedly normal for synthetic.
Except that I can't keep tires on it (the rears mysteriously keep going bald!) :-)
General Comments:
This is the last true American musclecar, regardless of the fact that it's powered by a turbo V6. There are few cars that will keep up with it. it is cheap to modify if you want to go faster (which I always do), and the sinister monochromatic black paint is nothing short of evil-looking. No lie, when people see me coming up from behind, they move aside. Maybe it's because the CT State Police used to use GN's, or maybe they're just scared. :-)
It rides very well, handles decent for a car of its size, although it could use 4-wheel disc brakes (what car couldn't?) and full instrumentation with a speedometer that goes much higher than 85 mph. If I can keep my foot from dipping into the accelerator too often, I can get 25-28 mpg. Not bad for a car of it's size.
There is nothing better than taking off the T-Tops, turning up the stereo and spooling up the turbo, gotta love thaat whistle.
If you're looking for a performance car that will seat 4 paople comfortable at a reasonable price, find yourself a GN or T-Type and enjoy.
I'll never get rid of it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th April, 2002
1st Jun 2008, 11:13
Once you change to synthetic, you should not go back to conventional. On older engines, you could be getting some leaking from the synthetic because the tolerances are probably not as tight as in a new engine. Try going to a higher viscosity like 15W-50 if it's really seeping out. But also get a torque wrench and make sure that your valve covers are tightened down correctly, since those gaskets are prone to shrinking over the years and can allow some oil leaking.
6th Jan 2009, 07:57
If you start tightening valve covers with a torque wrench, you will only make it worse. Correct approach - replace valve cover gasket and do it as per the Haynes manual.
4th Dec 2010, 15:05
Synthetic oil leaking is definitely NOT normal, however a small leak with conventional oil may get worse due to synthetic's superior flow properties. Whatever you do, don't just tighten random bolts; do some detective work, find the leak and fix it properly, and every time you take a part off, put it back on with a new gasket, they're cheap. Oh yeah valvoline... LOL MOBIL 1 -- trust me, great car BTW.
6th Sep 2007, 11:56
Using synthetic oil does NOT mean the car should leak oil. I run synthetic in all my vehicles and none of them leak. Sounds like a gasket problem to me.