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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:08 am
by tankinbeans
80-85 mph speedo = true #doublenickle

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:58 pm
by theholycow
Teamwork wrote:The horizontal speedo didn't seem like a terrible concept but didn't they only go up to 80-85 mph?
Most speedometers back then only went up to 80-85mph, regardless of layout. My Deville couldn't really go much faster than that anyway, though the digital readout sometimes said I got up to 100 (which I doubted).

Here's the round one in my Buick:
Image

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 2:05 pm
by tankinbeans
My 91 LeSabre had the hor speedo. The car topped out at 90.

With 160 horsepressures it was a bit slow.

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:25 am
by potownrob
Teamwork wrote:I wouldn't mind owning a car like the one Cow or PoPo posted with the oldsmobile 98. I would definitely prefer the front bench to be cloth though... the only experience I have with a front bench is in the 1990 Taurus and that was literally the best thing (and only thing) that was really great about that car. The horizontal speedo didn't seem like a terrible concept but didn't they only go up to 80-85 mph?
poppa popo's 86 olds 98 was uber comfy. too bad those cars are almost nonexistent these days. we like to think they all went to mexico where they became taxicabs. 8)

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:27 am
by potownrob
tankinbeans wrote:My 91 LeSabre had the hor speedo. The car topped out at 90.

With 160 horsepressures it was a bit slow.
i think dad's 98 put out around 140 horses and maybe 160 foot pounds with it's 3.8 litre. dad always said it was quick, but this was in the late 80s and early 90s when most cars were slow. he later had a 90 or 91 riviera that was definitely quicker (though it was surely slow compared to many cars today). the sound of that 3.8 was intoxicating. :D 8)

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:52 am
by potownrob
potownrob wrote:
tankinbeans wrote:My 91 LeSabre had the hor speedo. The car topped out at 90.

With 160 horsepressures it was a bit slow.
i think dad's 98 put out around 140 horses and maybe 160 foot pounds with it's 3.8 litre. dad always said it was quick, but this was in the late 80s and early 90s when most cars were slow. he later had a 90 or 91 riviera that was definitely quicker (though it was surely slow compared to many cars today). the sound of that 3.8 was intoxicating. :D 8)
edit: can't stop drooling over that olds 98 dash and interior. too bad i am not keen to owning a 30 year old car (if i can find one)... http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside ... l-subject/

Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:54 am
by theholycow
potownrob wrote:
tankinbeans wrote:My 91 LeSabre had the hor speedo. The car topped out at 90.

With 160 horsepressures it was a bit slow.
i think dad's 98 put out around 140 horses and maybe 160 foot pounds with it's 3.8 litre. dad always said it was quick, but this was in the late 80s and early 90s when most cars were slow. he later had a 90 or 91 riviera that was definitely quicker (though it was surely slow compared to many cars today). the sound of that 3.8 was intoxicating. :D 8)
The '87 Deville and '80 Buick both had/have 4.1L engines making 125hp and ~225ft-lbs. The Buick is a carbureted V6 completely devoid of computers (not even the computer-controlled carburetors that were common in the 80s) while the Caddy was a primitive digital throttle body injected V8 that did produce more usable power...though that car was heavier (3500 vs. >4000 lbs curb weight). Neither one would qualify as "fast" by today's standards but they were reasonably quick for their time, and grunty for having so few horsies.

The late 80s and early 90s legal/social climate was all about fuel economy and emissions, before technology caught up with such laws/trends. Some of the best fuel economy ever was from that era (despite technological shortcomings), when fuel was incredibly cheap (but people still remembered the fuel crises from the late 70s). When I had the Caddy in the mid/late 90s gas was under a buck a gallon and the economy was booming and I was basically able to treat fuel like it was free.