there is this kid at my girls work that drives an old buick grandnational turbo, and the only mods he has on it are mufflers. i hear this kid is pretty race happy and i dislike him, so i would assume that one these days i will run into him. but i have no idea how these things perform. can anyone give me some specs and times, or just personal experience. not sure on year but an older grandnational turbo w/ mufflers. i have a 96' auto with CAI

 

0-60 in about 5 secconds, very fast

 

You will be owned... Especially if it says GNX at the back!

 

yea man, we were discussing racing against newer mustangs earlier, GNXs are a whole 'nother ball game. be very very afraid. low 13's are common (stock). most of them in my area are easily into the 12's with minimal turbo mods. sometime's i'd pick them over supras; they're that drag race compatible. these cars were the sleepers in their day. they are turbo powered, RWD V6s. today's GTP is nothing like GM had in mind back in the 80's.

 

My best friend has a Grand National. Those cars can be extremely fast with very little mods. For instance, his car is completely stock except for an air filter, three inch exhaust and three inch downpipe from the turbo. His best time is a 12.70 and he still had a bad sixty foot in the quarter. You definetly have to watch out for those cars unless you have plenty of nitrous and a supercharger. Even with all your bolt on mods(which would be probably high 14's), a stock GN would run 13.90's to 14.50 in the quarter. If they turn up the boost, forget about it.

 

To my understand, you should stay away from the '86-87 Buick Regal t-type. they are more of a sleeper. They look very much like a stock regal but have the engine of the GN. And come in all the colors available. We have one in the paper around here for $5500. I'm actually thinking about it because that can be a fun project...hmmm

 

Do me a favor dont get near the Grand. Please, please please.

 

My brother had a Buick GN. There's lots of bolt on's which make that car scream. He had upgraded injectors, bigger Turbo, suspension mods, tranny mods.. He was in the [b]low[b] 12 second area at the track with that car. Nothing could touch it on the road. Untill you get in the twisties with it.

 

i heard just changing the chip was good for another 20-30 hp!!!

 

lol...I agree, you will get owned. Even if he give you a good head start, you'll still lose.

 

It will own you.

I had the distinct pleasure of working on a GN...it was fun. I was supposed to drive it but then, lucky me, he decided to swap motors...again......

 

DTR Max - man, you must race like, three times a night for money or something. Just in one search on the 4th-gen forum, I've seen you ask about preludes, a couple integras, accords, dakota R/Ts, corvettes, Grand Prix GTPs, Grand Ams, RSXs, Probes, Monte Carlos, Bonnevilles, Camaros, and now Grand Nationals...and those are all from 6/21/02 and newer!!

In the name of anything left on this world that's at least somewhat sacred, if yer gonna street race, either go out there and 'just do it'® , or do some searching on the internet to find out the info you need about the other cars.

I mean, no real flamage meant, but what have you got to lose out there on the streets? Just take it for what it is. Have fun, and be safe.

 

the grand national is plain nasty. i have seen bone stock ones run 14.2's and lightly modified ones run low 13's. these cars are nothing to mess with. personally if i could find one at a decent price i would be all over buying one. of course i would keep the max though!!

 

good luck.....rode in one about five years ago that had turbo mods and exhaust. once you ride in one you know better than to attemp to race one unless you have a $hit load of mods...including boost.

 

Hehe!!! The terrible thing is that you don't know how GN's or GNX's perform. These cars are out of your league so don't even bother racing him.

 

These cars touted to be the fastest "AMERICAN" production car ever made up until that time.

can you say vet killer?

 

Doesn't look stock to me.

 

It was faster than the Vette in the 1/4. I remember the gov wanted to ban production of the Regal GN because there was a guy racing through the streets with one which cut a limo in half and killed the passenger.

 

I agree with you totally on top of that he only 16 No flame intended

 

GN's are always Black, and t-types are always white....most knew the GN's were fast, but few knew of the t-type.

My brother was an engineer at the GM proving grounds near mesa arizona, and an engineer buddy of his had GN that was streetable and was running high 8's! They were running liquid nitrogen through the intercooler, filling it before and draining it immediately after each run. Engineering types that get involved in cars....sheesh!!

 

you'd better get a 1970 Chevelle SS LS6 if you want to compete with that buick.

 

I had the pleasure of owning an 87 white turbo-t and it would eatup anything in my area including my corvette
i had it easily into the 12's and the wife was afraid to drive it so we sold it.
the guy that bought it has it in the low 11's and is shooting for 10's
don't go near those cars.(they fly even stock)

 

they came in grey too

 

Which one, the t-type? Never seen a grey one of either....now THAT would be a sleeper! I would think to myself "ha, this guy has an 85 regal and slapped some GN (or t-type) wheels and a logo on there and thinks he is a badass, (domestic rice)" and think I would show the guy how dumb he was, and then get myself COMPLETELY smoked!!!!!!

 

Just go out and do it. If you are supposed to get your a$$ handed to you , oh well!!!

 

Go and try...but you will get raped hard...those car's were heavily underrated at 245hp, and something like 350lb ft of torque or so...GM had to undderrate them because they didnt want them to look more powerful than their so called high end sports car, the corvette....but they will destroy most corvettes, especially around when they were introduced. If it is a GNX, do not even try...mclaren technology in those things.

 

The GNX isn't that much faster than the GN. The GNX is EXTREMELY rare and if you see a real one on the street, consider yourself very lucky. Keep in mind there are plenty of guys driving GNX "knock offs". The GNX pushes slightly more boost from a better turbo, runs a larger intercooler, heavier duty tranny internals, heavily modified suspension, special black honeycomb wheels, sticky tires, large fender flares, front and rear spoilers, and a revised interior. The GNX were tested to run ~mid 13s in the mags. The GNs were running low 14s. Remember that a couple non-stock tweaks easily drop a few tenths, but that's not stock. Is it? If I keep my Maxima and get a project car, it will be a GN or gray T-Type.


Dave

 

I would love a GN too, young kids don't know about them....so, for them it would be a sleeper.

Even kinda beat GN's are bringin more than they originally sold for....

 

My buddy has one and it's extremely fast.

 

I say race him and find out. Yes we all know how fast they are. We know they can whoop some ***, but you should race him anyway. First reason to race him: You will see how fast one of things is in real life. I love comparing faster cars and seeing what theyll actually beat me by. second reason: THis kid is probably young and it is a possibility the turbo isnt producing full boost. If thats the case it could be running 15's maybe slower. Depending on the mechanical condition. If you win its a big hell yes I took a grand nat. Oh by the way Ive seen several running 9's at the track and they werent trailered there. Be afraid be very afraid muhuhahahhahahaha.

 

thanks guys, i think i know more about the GN then this kid does, haha, anyway, are grandnational turbos hard to get, cuz of money, cuz this kid doesnt have a lot. and his car is grey, so is it possible he put turbo emblems on it??? his car says nothing about regal or GN it just says turbo on the back and on his hood there is a bit of a slotted raise and it says turbo along the side, and then his cubic inch engine number. is it possible its not a turbo???

thanks for the help gentlemen

 

Only one way to find out. If its not turbo you'll kill him. If it is turbo you're going be left. Any one of those with a turbo will literally leave you in blue smoke when the auto shifts to 2nd. It was the world's fastest productsion car during the mid-late eighties. Very unreliable but I'm sure that the ones still running around have had any potential problems remedied and are ready to rock.

 

my uncle used to drive a regal t-type and it was dark blue. it did have the turbo, and he chipped it and put exhaust. he used it when he was on patrol (he's a cop and they can use unmarked cars here). it was really fast until it blew up.

 

race him.....if you like looking at Buick Regal taillights.

 

I saw one running in the 10's at the track. cool ****

 

could be a t-type....i still wouldn't race him.

 

I own an 87 Grand National and have also owned an 86 T-Type. They are both a lot faster than my 02 Max auto. The 84 and 85 Grand Nationals were slower than the 86 and 87. An 02 6 speed Max and a tired 84-85 Grand National might be a good race. The turbo regals were available in all colors. The Grand National was only in Black.

 

WOW!
What a garage! Post it up here in this thread.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=136272

 

i say race him, do some modding to your car, maybe take out the passenger front seat, the rear replacement tire, and all the junk in the trunk if any. weight reduction would help. Also the GN's have a 3.8L or a 4.1L (3.8 ovebored stock) engine if it says anything else it might be a knock off. the turbo also make a whining sound when it spools if you hear that you'll know. I have a hybrid of that engine in my olds ('89 231cu in. 3.8L V6) and it's a powerful SOB try to get him off the line. I'm thinking that it's not a well maintained car, i know i've put a lot of work into my olds and it is just great. so thinking on that note it would probably put him and you on equal grounds - to let the skills deside the winner. i think it's good to do some research on the guy you'll be racing puts you in an "insider" perspective. D@mn i think my corporate job is finally getting to me.
Be Serious, Give It Everything You've Got, Have Fun, and Smoke Him.

 

The GN was THE fastest production car in 1987.
245 hp stock and the GNX had 276, but they have a top speed of 125 mph, so theoretically you could eventually beat him right What's the top speed for your max? I know mine isn't governed and it will go straight up to around 140 mph.