A Normal Day in the Oil Tanker

[JMH1950]

Nobody ever gives me crap about driving a grandad's car. Then again, I'm 59 and look like I belong in a Bonneville.

[jdronzek]

Nobody ever gives me crap about driving a grandad's car. Then again, I'm 59 and look like I belong in a Bonneville.

[nicklikesmilk]

i got some for driving a bonneville. when i first got it, my buddy (camaro driver) said "oooohh, you're such a badass in that car". then i lit up the tires. i've also been laughed at when i said i was going to race a 2003 eclipse GT with a few mods. that same friend didn't laugh so hard when i told him i beat the eclipse with my "hoop d".

strangely i barely got any for my buick. my same friend with a camaro just noted that i like big cars (which i do)

[jwillia136]

When I first got my SSEi, my friends just thought it was a "boat" and that it was only supercharged just so it could move. I took them for a ride, jumped on the freeway and opened her up. The shift-down at full-throttle and the fast climbing speedometer made them change their ways.

Then this one day, sitting at a red light, this guy pulls up beside me in this Honda Civic that's punked out. Our windows are down and he looks at me and says, while revving the engine, "Take your mom's car back home and get something with some power." Needless to say, when the light turned green, he ate some Bonne-dust.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

People get surprised when my Buick does 30-70 rapidly. Woot 3-1 downshift and raised rev limiters!

Of course if I have to do 30-70 rapidly that means I F-ed up observing what's around me.

[RJolly87]

Am I the only one that loves what the series 1 and 2.84 gears does with the 40-65 highway entry?

[jdronzek]

When I first got my SSEi, my friends just thought it was a "boat" and that it was only supercharged just so it could move. I took them for a ride, jumped on the freeway and opened her up. The shift-down at full-throttle and the fast climbing speedometer made them change their ways.

Then this one day, sitting at a red light, this guy pulls up beside me in this Honda Civic that's punked out. Our windows are down and he looks at me and says, while revving the engine, "Take your mom's car back home and get something with some power." Needless to say, when the light turned green, he ate some Bonne-dust.

Wish I had some power. You guys all have superchargers though! How about a guy with a regular L36! Superchargers are nice.

[SLEighride03]

my wife says my '03 is an old person's car, and has no style. HA!

This coming from a woman who tools around in a silver 2005 Ford Five Hundred. UGH!

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Us L36 folks have some power, and low-end grunt. It needs to be let free. Stock the L36 is a wee bit of a dog. Throw even a canned tune in there and it's a much different story. Couple that with a tuneup and a few inexpensive/free mods and you went from slow to wow!

[jdronzek]

Us L36 folks have some power, and low-end grunt. It needs to be let free. Stock the L36 is a wee bit of a dog. Throw even a canned tune in there and it's a much different story. Couple that with a tuneup and a few inexpensive/free mods and you went from slow to wow!

Like what?

[sandrock]

Well, you've already done the airbox mod. You have the ported lower intake in the works, right? Throw on a ported front exhaust manifold, skew front injectors 5%, and a tune...you'll have a decent mover in no time.

In fact, I surprised this riced-out Tc early this morning. He beat me in the topend, but ONLY because of the one thing I DIDN'T change when I tuned my PCM...the 107 mph cut-off. Needless to say, THAT'S getting changed.

[gonzo4191]

i can vouch for series 2 and 2.86 gears for the highway pull with an FWI, ported manifolds, and tuned pcm....

and do i get crap.....yep, always stopping to card other Bonneville's, relentless acceleration to get from one red light to the next , driving to WISC for a meet without telling anyone....modding a car with hubcaps....sitting on Pontiac Bonneville Club for more than 1 hour at a time

[jdronzek]

Well, you've already done the airbox mod. You have the ported lower intake in the works, right? Throw on a ported front exhaust manifold, skew front injectors 5%, and a tune...you'll have a decent mover in no time.

In fact, I surprised this riced-out Tc early this morning. He beat me in the topend, but ONLY because of the one thing I DIDN'T change when I tuned my PCM...the 107 mph cut-off. Needless to say, THAT'S getting changed.

Well im still not sure on the plim. All these manifold mods scare me :sad5:

[Sadden]

Well..
My freind has a 03 GP GXP and is allways giving me *shoot* bout my car "why would u dump money into that when u can go buy new and get a way nicer car"

My reply is always... "It already is a nice car. If i spend half as much money on this thing as u spent on that gongshow i will have an amazing car"

[putertopia]

I get quite a lot of crap for mine, but I also get a lot of very nice comments on the way it looks. Friends are always just joking when they say anything of course, because they know I'll kick their asses (just kidding!)

My buddy had a 91 Camaro Z28 and he called my car a slow boatmobile. With his upgraded gearing and brand new Crate 305/auto trans, I stayed a little ahead of him up til whenever my car shifted into 3rd, then I smoked him :D. My car isn't fast, it has MANY problems including lots of KR (powerband is very on/off), surges/shudders in tc lockup, needs new suspension, transmission is very very finicky and does not shift like a 'cadillac', but guess what, it starts and runs every day and only place I've really put a lot of money is the audio system. Audio is my thing, I can't stand a shoddy audio system in a car.

But guess what, 95% of the time it starts and I think it sounds *dang* good inside and out. I'll stick with it til she don't start no more and enjoy bathing myself in my luxurious 'boat-mobile' that gets a lot of stares and a lot of compliments until then.

[laxmangl]

modding a car with hubcaps....

LOL

My car completely stock has no problem hanging with most of the ricers around me (most of whom dont even know how to change their oil...)


And I only get crap from people till I tell them my 9 year old full size family sedan gets 32 mpg hwy

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

And I only get crap from people till I tell them my 9 year old full size family sedan gets 32 mpg hwy

Truth. Or higher if you work at it.

[jdronzek]

What mod of yours did you notice the most power from. How the one guy said his head jerked. What was or is your best mod for performance

[JMH1950]

Truthfully, I have to laugh at a lot of these comments. Most of you youngsters have no idea what a "full sized" car is. True, the Bonneville is one of the larger cars in todays world, but when I was a lad, a full sized car ie: Cadilac, Buick, Oldsmobile, etc were big enough to house a family of 4 with room to spare. Mom, dad and 4 kids could travel in roomy comfort.

I remember a neighbour that used to go camping with his Buick, he and his wife would sleep in the trunk and not be crowded.

OK, back to the regular progaming.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Best mod of mine so far was the Intense PCM/180* thermostat. It allowed access to the power already there.