thinking about an SSEi purchase

[ptrfair]

My first car was a 92 Bonne SE, green on tan and i loved it. I loved the body style. I bought my 01 because it was a sweet deal and a decent car. Now that it's paid off (as of tomorrow around 12 noon woohoo) im thinking about buying an SSEi the same style as my 92 SE.

I've always wanted a supercharged car and like the look of the 90's models, especially the 96-99 model year.
Any particular model year that was problem free that i should look into. This all rides on if i can afford one.

[2000Silverbullet]

97 - 99

[00Beast]

Agreed. S2 and 4T65E. Not that the S1 is bad, just much harder to mod compared to a S2, mostly due to the GP market.

[Water 97SSEi]

Yeah I can speak for the 97 SSEi. Almost 170,000 miles, I'm the third owner, and a lot of the miles put on before I got it were city miles in NYC. The car was owned by a business at first, who did put some rough miles on the car. No major mechanical failures, almost all repair work has been routine. Still pulling strong. They really must be pretty well built cars.

[dbeast420]

Be prepared for the premium prices when gas goes back up

[Barry]

I'd like to get a '98 or '99 SSEi also. I'd hate to part with my SSE though.

[ptrfair]

im just looking around now...there are NO 97-99 models within my area 19047 100 miles atleast.

How hard would it be to supercharge the SE? im sure its a nice $$ tag to do that.

[Allmachtige]

99 is a fantastic year. I wouldn't recommend trying to SC an SE.

[olblueeyesbonne]

If you're going to the work of boosting the SE you might as well go turbo. You wouldn't be satisfied with the gains of a basic SC setup for all the pains of the swap.

True -97 to 99 are great cars. 96 is a great car too.... if you aren't in it for performance.
Dan (96BonnevilleL67 when he was a member of the old site) had a 96 SSEi and hated the shift points that were setup the same as the Series I's so that the 4T60E HD didn't get over revved. This didn't allow for the Series II to get the engine high enough to keep well into the power bands before AND after the shifts.
Dan, just picked up another 96 SSEi (spitting image of his old 96, except it has DARK graphite instead of the tan interior his last Majestic Teal 96 SSEi had) and he is once again complaining of the low shift points and how no-one programs 96 PCM's other than Sinister Performance.

[GoldenBullet]

if you go 92-95, go with a 94 or 95...20 more hp.

[ptrfair]

do they make a turbo that will fit on the L36? what would be the difference from the turbo's on the Grand National 3800's and ours? we have a GN in the garage and i really cant tell the difference. Again, im not an engine guy.

[nicklikesmilk]

i liked my 96, although i'm not much of a boost guy. The NA motor was powerful enough for me, especially with the 3.0x gear ratio. I really liked the styling of 96-99 gen bonnies, so i think 97-99 would be good too.

I don't know of any specific turbo kits for the 3800 motor, it's really not that popular of a mod. I'd say if you really want boost, look for one that comes supercharged from the factory.

[alec_b]

Take my '96 for $2k cash. 201k fresh trans and ignition module. Needs a little maintenance but I take perfect care of it, OC every 2k miles. I'm a little far from you, though... haha.