Interesting. (but nobody cares because it's about a minivan)

"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
11/05/2015 at 08:17 • Filed to: None

Last night, I was behind a Buick Terraza and noticed something strange. It had IRS. I thought all the GM minivans were a solid rear axle, and later in the trip I confirmed this by getting behind an Uplander. Sure enough, solid axle. A bit of research tells me that the Buick did indeed get a different rear suspension than the rest of the rebadges (they pulled the IRS from the Rendezvous).

Though, to be fair, the other rebadges got IRS if you ticked the AWD box on the options list.

This has been your pointless trivia for the morning, you may now resume your day.

DISCUSSION (10)

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 08:21

My life is richer for having this knowledge. Thank you.

LongbowMkII > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 08:29

the rear suspension of the GM minivans always annoyed me. SO CHEAP. you seriously couldn’t have IRS on your FWD minivan?

AMC/Renauledge > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 08:39

Yup. And it worked because the Rendezvous/Aztek was a development of the GM U-body minivan platform, just as the Terraza was a version of the Crossover Sport Van version of that same platform.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > LongbowMkII
11/05/2015 at 08:40

Only if you stump up for a Buick. But: don't forget that these things came out as 2004 1/2 models. There was nothing unusual about solid rear axles, esp. on minivans, and tbh GM pulled it off better than it's biggest rival, the Caravan. We had a 2002 Montana. Solid rear axle. It rolled around a lot, but it handled pretty well. A Caravan of the same generation handled in the same manner would put you in a ditch. I honestly don't know why anyone chose the Caravan over the Montana. The Montana was more comfortable, better to drive, better looking...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 09:31

The only reason would be if they were able to predict the future and know that the 3.4s are spectacular cooling system leakers. Other than that, sure - the Montana is pretty great.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 09:33

Certain death in the event of a low speed fender bender may have swayed them away.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/05/2015 at 10:12

That's true. Ours eventually blew something at around 276000km and it wouldn't stop overheating (we'd already proactively done the head gasket at 150000km) and it wasn't worth fixing. Still, they also came with the 3.8, and either engine was nicer than the Dodge engines. Comes down to reputation, probably. Dodge being first in the field etc.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
11/05/2015 at 10:16

A young friend of mine has one that we’ve revived from... very bad shape indeed. We’ve chased most of the remaining leaks away (it blew a head gasket, got fixed), replaced a dead motor mount, replaced wheel bearings, seriously cleaned the interior... Of course, the dash is still lighting more lights than it ought to, but it’s running pretty well.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
11/05/2015 at 10:17

Moderate speed, but that could be it. But bear in mind that that era Caravan wasn't wonderful either.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/05/2015 at 10:22

One dash light I was always glad to see on was the ABS light. If it wasn’t on, that meant sooner or later it would come on under light braking in a parking lot or something and you would hit somebody. One of the first things I did when driving if the light wasn't on was to make the ABS come on. After that the light would come on and it would shut down the ABS for the rest of the ignition cycle. The worst part was we couldn't pull the fuse because it was on the same fuse as the PCM.