Am I insane?

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa) 03/10/2016 at 21:59 • Filed to: None

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The Riviera looks like the XKR’s inbred cousin.

Chariotoflove > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:07

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Former Riviera owner here. You’re insane. but I also kinda see it.

1111111111111111111111 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:14

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Yeah, the southern cousin. Now that I thought about it kinda want one. A southern cousin that is.

wafflesnfalafel > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:18

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Those Rivieras are cool - good looking, blown 3.8, what’s not to like.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:19

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That’s selling it a tad short, but yeah, I concur.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 03/10/2016 at 22:24

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It has the perfect amount of derp.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > wafflesnfalafel 03/10/2016 at 22:24

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And they’re cheap as DIRT. Also, despite being rated at 240hp and 260 torques, many people have dyno’d totally stock 3800 supercharged cars at 275+hp to the wheels . One of the more underrated engines GM has made.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chariotoflove 03/10/2016 at 22:25

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How did you like yours? Was it SC or NA?

ranwhenparked > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:25

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I kind of see it. You’re not the first one to make the connection between Jaguar and Buick’s ‘90s design language, it was remarked upon in reviews at the time - especially with the Park Avenue.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > ranwhenparked 03/10/2016 at 22:35

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Motortrend, I believe it was, compared this to a Jag when it came out.

I really don’t see it, but whatever. To be fair, Buick kinda beat Jag to their own aesthetic.

1995 Buick:

1995 Jag:

But then!
Jaguar 1996:

Which was also the last year of this:

1111111111111111111111 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:36

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Here’s one near me:

https://eugene.craigslist.org/cto/5485379663…

Did they make a manual?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > 1111111111111111111111 03/10/2016 at 22:38

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Sadly no factory manual was offered. The trans from the Pontiac G6 (?) can be swapped into 3800 powered cars if you know what you’re doing and drop enough on the trans, but, meh. It’s an American pseudo-GT car. Not terribly worth it.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/10/2016 at 22:52

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It’s the fenders that wrap up and over the top of the headlight. That’s a Jaguar design cue.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > 1111111111111111111111 03/10/2016 at 22:53

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Red on red color combo. Yes.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/11/2016 at 07:16

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I’m getting more of this:

But I kinda see your thing too

shop-teacher > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/11/2016 at 10:45

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I can see that. It’s pretty thing, but it’s there.

A good friend of mine had a ‘95 Rivi in grad school. Quick and cool car, but kinda feel the hell apart on him. We were driving along one day, had the power steering pump spit the shaft with the pulley on it right out! That was just one of it’s many maladies.

What a honey of a motor that supercharged 3800 was though.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > shop-teacher 03/11/2016 at 11:45

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Yeah, late 90s GM build quality wasn’t exactly superb. I’ve heard of stock rivieras dynoing at upwards of 270hp to the wheels. The L67 3800 is supposed to be a hellaciously underrated engine. Probably so that, on paper, it doesn’t look better than the V6 Camaros.

Chariotoflove > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/11/2016 at 13:06

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It was SC. I liked it fine, right up until the engine grenaded at 86K. The radiator went somehow, and the fix was more than the value of the car. So I got rid of it. The interior was nice, but there were some let downs in the fit and finish and materials quality areas, per ‘90s Buick.

ETA: it was a great highway cruiser and very comfortable. Sitting in the back seat was no penalty. The trunk was huge. The Delco stereo system was quite good; you could listen to opera and symphonic pieces pretty well. All in all, a great road trip car. The turn radius was laughable. The steering was very light. The supercharged engine did a good job of accelerating. I never had problems merging or passing.

Chariotoflove > 1111111111111111111111 03/11/2016 at 13:08

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This is really not a car that lends itself to a manual. It’s a large cruiser. It’s great for what it is, but driver engagement is not one of its strong points.

shop-teacher > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/11/2016 at 13:30

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Yeah, especially with the cars. My mom had a ‘95 Aurora that was an absolute POS.

V6 Camaros back then were completely pathetic. Until ‘97(?) when they put the NA 3800 in them, they had the pathetic 3.4. I think they only had something like 160ish HP.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chariotoflove 03/11/2016 at 16:24

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Buick always had good sound systems. Something I noticed about my LeSabre was that the audio quality with the stock head unit trumped many modern Bose systems. I’ve heard out of all of the 3800-powered cars the Riv has some unique suspension that’s supposed be more grand-tourey but has some decidedly awful handling characteristics.

Chariotoflove > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 03/11/2016 at 19:34

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You know, I give it a pass on the handling because of what it was intended for. It handled exactly as they designed it. It was a big luxury coupe. Sure it couldn’t hold a candle to the RX-8 I drive now, but no sane person would ever compare the two. The suspension wasn’t at all floaty, and body roll was not excessive. But then again, I never tracked it. Now that would be fun to see!