Possibly buying a lumina?

I am thinking about buying a Lumina, but have a couple questions.

First, engines: I want something bigger than the typical 3.1L. I have always bought cars for good gas mileage or good power, I've never compromised before. Is the 3.4L that's available in some the "big 3.1L" or the DOHC, or are both available? Also, is the 3.8L that's available in the LTZ supercharged, either standard or an option?

Second, suspension: I have driven dozens, if not hundreds, of Luminas. Most feel very loose, wander all over the road, and bounce more than desired (but not necessarily to the point the struts are definately bad). Are there different factory suspension packages, or are the ones I've driven just neglected? Up until a couple days ago when I test drove a Lumina after replacing the lower intake manifold gasket, I had never considered wanting one of these things because of how they ride/handle. After driving that one, I realized that the owners of all the other ones had probably just been letting things go to the point where they drive like they do.

I am thinking about buying a Lumina, but have a couple questions.

First, engines: I want something bigger than the typical 3.1L. I have always bought cars for good gas mileage or good power, I've never compromised before. Is the 3.4L that's available in some the "big 3.1L" or the DOHC, or are both available? Also, is the 3.8L that's available in the LTZ supercharged, either standard or an option?

Second, suspension: I have driven dozens, if not hundreds, of Luminas. Most feel very loose, wander all over the road, and bounce more than desired (but not necessarily to the point the struts are definately bad). Are there different factory suspension packages, or are the ones I've driven just neglected? Up until a couple days ago when I test drove a Lumina after replacing the lower intake manifold gasket, I had never considered wanting one of these things because of how they ride/handle. After driving that one, I realized that the owners of all the other ones had probably just been letting things go to the point where they drive like they do.

Well, depends on year you are thinking about in my opinion, example, early 90's? id rather buy a Buick with a 3.8 than a 3.1 lumina, a lot more refined, runs better, rides better, and so on.
The Z34 Lumina is nicer looking, usually 3.4 auto, tho some did have a manual tranny. Runs better than a 3.1. Though the 3.4 is not much more than a 3.1 engine block with different top end. Has more power because of the heads and dohc, etc. But harder to work on.
Newer stuff i am not fimiliar with enough to make a guess.

Well, depends on year you are thinking about in my opinion, example, early 90's? id rather buy a Buick with a 3.8 than a 3.1 lumina, a lot more refined, runs better, rides better, and so on.
The Z34 Lumina is nicer looking, usually 3.4 auto, tho some did have a manual tranny. Runs better than a 3.1. Though the 3.4 is not much more than a 3.1 engine block with different top end. Has more power because of the heads and dohc, etc. But harder to work on.
Newer stuff i am not fimiliar with enough to make a guess.

to work on a 3.4 dohc,is not hard at all,its actually pretty straight forward(its not rocket science)
i bought a 91 z-34 2 months ago,and i absolutly love it
fastest car ive ever owned,the only thing that bothers me is when you are cruising,you dont realize you are doing 40 over the speed limit,very nice ride
but if the road is all fucked up,what do you expect?
lots of power,good handling,good looks,lots of room in cab and trunk,good on gas,and did i mention it goes like a bat out of hell?

I forget what year they stopped putting the DOHC 3.4 in them...personally I don't think all the complexity and service issues are worth the extra HP, but that's me...you get 10 hp less out of the 3.8 N.A. and none of the headaches...

No blower available on a 3.8 Lumina...sorry. Would be a relatively easy (but expensive) upgrade...

Mine ('97 LS) handled well until the struts all went to hell in the last couple of years...I gotta replace them. Steering is not real precise, but was not intended to be either...

There is a radius-type bushing in the lower control arms that allows a lot of deflection and unwanted motion that can be replaced with an aftermarket control arm that has a ballstud-type joint rather than the soft rubber bushing that is supposed to give much more precision....that may be where a lot of the ponderous feeling comes from in the W bodies...

Personally I grew up driving huge RWD V-8 land barges and got pretty good at making them do things that they weren't meant to...so a mid-size rack and pinion steered FWD still feels pretty capable to me, regardless of what it is...

People who've tried to keep up with me in the curves say I often hike an inside rear wheel a couple of inches off the road when cornering hard...for a four door sedan to do that under deceleration and still be planted without a hint of understeer is pretty impressive to me..a little more roll control in the rear and/or a progressive spring rate in front and it would probably be perfect...

I run Yokohama AS430's on stock LS alloys...

Yes there are different suspension levels...look at the RPO codes...FE1 is the soft, FE2 ride/handling package, FE3 is sport tuned....

Thanks for the input everyone.

I forget what year they stopped putting the DOHC 3.4 in them...personally I don't think all the complexity and service issues are worth the extra HP, but that's me...you get 10 hp less out of the 3.8 N.A. and none of the headaches...

No blower available on a 3.8 Lumina...sorry. Would be a relatively easy (but expensive) upgrade...

I agree about the complexity of the 3.4 DOHC, it just doesn't seem right to have to remove the intake to replace the plugs. Not that I can't do it, but on my own car I don't want to fight anything. It's one thing if I get paid more to do it, but it's different if I'm doing it on the weekend. I think I'll be looking for one with the 3.8L unless I find a great deal on a 3.4.

I was thinking about finding a wrecked low-mileage car with the supercharged 3.8L and installing the supercharger in the Lumina. A question there... I assume I'd have to change the MAP sensor to one that reads pressure... any other changes?

Another question, are there manual transaxles designed for the power of a blown 3.8L? I love manual transmissions, and I don't think I'll ever own a car that doesn't have one. I know there's a lot of work involved in changing to a manual transaxle (especially in a vehicle that wasn't designed to have one at all), but since it's hard to find a M/T car nowdays it's looking like that may be my only option. That's one thing I'll never understand, everyone's looking for better gas mileage, yet they choose a transmission that costs more and gets several MPG less :screwy:

Thanks for the input everyone.



I agree about the complexity of the 3.4 DOHC, it just doesn't seem right to have to remove the intake to replace the plugs. Not that I can't do it, but on my own car I don't want to fight anything. It's one thing if I get paid more to do it, but it's different if I'm doing it on the weekend. I think I'll be looking for one with the 3.8L unless I find a great deal on a 3.4.

I was thinking about finding a wrecked low-mileage car with the supercharged 3.8L and installing the supercharger in the Lumina. A question there... I assume I'd have to change the MAP sensor to one that reads pressure... any other changes?

Another question, are there manual transaxles designed for the power of a blown 3.8L? I love manual transmissions, and I don't think I'll ever own a car that doesn't have one. I know there's a lot of work involved in changing to a manual transaxle (especially in a vehicle that wasn't designed to have one at all), but since it's hard to find a M/T car nowdays it's looking like that may be my only option. That's one thing I'll never understand, everyone's looking for better gas mileage, yet they choose a transmission that costs more and gets several MPG less :screwy:
just a dumb question,but who the hell told you that you need to remove the intake to change spark plugs on a 3.4 dohc?
i just changed my delco pugs and i sure in the hell did not have to remove my intake.im sorry man,but who ever told you that might have been on cheap drugs,or has never actually done the job,or they are like a robot and always do what they are told. lol P.S. sorry man