Oh wow... I just got a 1987 Cadillac Cimarron, and in was running good now for a month. <<of course, I have only been driving it in the daytime.>> Well, Tonight, I went to take my son to see the fireworks..not, but 10 minutes after leaving the house it died. APPEARS to be the Alternator, or Battery??? Thought reading the reviews on here would make me feel better! Now I don't know what to think. Being a single MOM, it hard for me to be without a vehicle, but at the same time maintaining one hurts the budget as well! I usually buy cars outright so I have no monthly payments. My Buick Century kicked the bucket! So, I took my chance on the Cimarron! I will let you all know how it's working out!
I own a Cadillac Cimarron that is only 5 years older than myself and minus the typical repairs that need to be made to a car it is great. I did have a question though, I was wondering if someone could tell me what the governor is set at? These little cars have guts, but she cut out on me when I got the speed to circle back around to the 5mph. I just wanted to know how fast I was actually going. Thanks.
We can thank guys like the writer of the previous comment for the US government-mandated 85 mph speedometers the automakers were required to use up until just a few years ago.
"Ooh, look, the speedometer goes up to 120 mph. Let's see if we can make it go that fast... (boom) "
I must say, all cars and car makers have had their bumps. The Baby Caddy is just one of those cars. If you look back, even the Japanese. had trouble producing machines that were of great quality. Now, with that said, I am the now in company with a 1987 Cimarron, and I must say, it is a good looking little car. I had a 1987 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport (I am the one who wrote about one, the one that was wrecked) and that car was tough as nails. I know that the 2.8 liter V6 in both cars are similar, so I know my Cimarron will run well. The reason I say will run well, I currently have a hole in the radiator that is unfix-able by me right now, as money is tight. The car is in great shape, a few minor dings in the body, the leather is in decent shape, and everything works as far as I know. However, there is a minor electrical gremlin I need to find, but as it is, I can fix that no problem. Anyone that has a Cimarron, if it is idling rough, and getting horrible mileage, check all of your vacuum hoses for damage, my Celebrity, which was a somewhat bigger car, got up around 30 MPG on the highway, and that was me doing about 80 or so. Anyone that likes and wants to buy the Cimarron, my hat is off to you, lets keep these cars alive, there are other crap cars out there with a following, and so, to those that hate the Cimarron, just back off, we like the car, big deal, I am sure some of you have a car that I may think is crap that you like, but again, more power to you if you want to keep those cars going. I believe that all cars, crap or not, deserve a chance.
I am tired of people deriding the Cimmarron because it was derived from a Chevy Cavalier... Every Acura model is a glorified Honda... every Lexus is a Toyota with slightly cheesier and fancier trim and a different grille and tailights... why is GM the only company that is criticized for sharing platforms among different models when every major car company does it???
Because Cadillac stands for everything that the Cavalier does not, and putting a Cadillac emblem on a Cavalier is seen as a shallow ploy to hawk cheap cars to people who want to believe they can afford something better than they can.
Your comparisons, while accurate on paper, are way off the mark.
The Cimarron was built on a horrible horrible platform. It was sooooo bad that my parent's 1980 Buick Skylark (same platform) was essentially rebuilt by the time they sold it as everything kept breaking down.
And that caused my parents never to buy American again.
The Cimarron was the beginning of the downfall of Cadillac. In fact, as late as 1998 there was talk that Cadillac would disappear. The Escalade saved things as did the CTS and now SLS/STS, but the Cimarron will always be known as the first nail in the coffin.
The previous comment is slightly inaccurate. SkyHAWK was essentially similar to Cavalier, not SkyLARK.
But anyway... I've owned three Cavaliers in my life, and I can say that the Cimarron is SO much more than just a Cavalier with a Cadillac badge. Cimarron came STANDARD with a lot of equipment that Cavalier didn't even OFFER, and plus, Cimarron had improved drastically to become a real Cadillac in nearly every way by the end of its run, but it just wasn't selling. I own a 1988 Cimarron that I bought used with over 153000 miles, and I can say this car has been taken care of. That's what makes all the difference. I really nice car can be junk at 50000 or a cheap piece can be running fine into the 300000s, all depending on a little luck and the owner.
And to add to the collector's value of this car, the 1988 Cadillac Cimarron's production was limited to 6454 units.
I love my 88 such a fast car, since mine has a digital speedometer I can see myself doing 120 mph on the highway. I was shocked that the speedometer would go that high.
Sorry, but I don't care if they made 2 Cimarrons, these cars will NEVER be collector items EVER.
They were a failure from day one and had zero redeeming value other than to embarrass Cadillac and GM.
You also have to look at the reality of the marketplace.
The "hot" cars these days are muscle cars from the 60's and the 70's. Why? Because the rich people buying them now longed for them when they were new.
So let's look at what was hot in the 1980's, what young people wanted then. I lusted after MR2's, Porsches, Mazda GTX's, and similar in addition to "odd ducks" like the Corvette ZR1, Vector, etc. Not once did I or any of my friends say "boy, I hope when I graduate from college some day I'll be able to get a Cimmaron".
Just look at the tach. If you have an auto, it goes 39 MPH at 2000 RPM. So at 4000, you would be at 78 MPH, and at 6000, 117 MPH, though I doubt it'll ever see 117 without overdrive. If you have a 5-speed, it goes 124 MPH at 4000 RPM. I did that in a Cavalier once.
Sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong about tachs.
I've had cars on the autobahn in Germany and the rpms did not progress the way you state.
Gear ratios vary from one car to another. The car you had on the Autobahn probably didn't have the same gear ratios as the 1988 Cimarron. Different gear ratios will make the RPMs be different. One car may turn 4000 RPM at 124 MPH, or it may only turn 3500 RPM at 124 MPH, just depending on the gear ratios and final drive ratio. Larger engines tend to turn slower at higher speeds and have lower red lines. Not always, but they tend to.
Yes, different gear ratios and engine sizes vary RPMs, but I've had very small four cylinder engines from various manufacturers at speeds upwards of 90 mph and NEVER has one of them run at 6000 rpm as a standard rpm at high speeds. The poster is wrong or there is something seriously wrong with his engine.