Top Speed

chadwick_90 · #1 10-06-2006, 01:05 PM

Hey this is kinda a dumb question but does anyone here have any idea of what a 1990 Chevy Lumina euro 3.1 would top out at ??? please get back to me bye

jeffcoslacker · #2 10-06-2006, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadwick_90

Hey this is kinda a dumb question but does anyone here have any idea of what a 1990 Chevy Lumina euro 3.1 would top out at ??? please get back to me bye

I think about 115...that's where mine lays down. (1997 3.1 LS) Odd thing is according to what I've been told, that's wrong for an LS...supposed to be 98 or 96 or something...who knows. I have been paced by my friend with the 9C2 Caprice with certified cop speedo, he concurrs on the 115 figure.

I dunno though. Had a friend with a Z24 Cavalier (about 1993), it cut out at 124 (indicated).

Best way to find out, go grab a long stetch of blacktop and stand on it till it stutters...if you get pulled over just tell them I said it's OK...

chadwick_90 · #3 10-06-2006, 01:14 PM

lol

is it bad for the engine to go that fast ? the fastest i've gone is 100 and it seemed to have alot more to go i didnt want to tho because i didnt wanna damage any thing?

jeffcoslacker · #4 10-06-2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadwick_90

lol

is it bad for the engine to go that fast ? the fastest i've gone is 100 and it seemed to have alot more to go i didnt want to tho because i didnt wanna damage any thing?

As long as you got good oil and a healthy cooling system, and the motor is sound to begin with, it's not gonna hurt anything.

I push up into triple digits frequently when I think I can get away with it, when I go down to Springfield I come home late at night and keep the detector on high alert and the gas pedal on the floor...210 miles, my best time is 2 hours and 20 minutes, and that's with having to back out of it here and there for cops, traffic, etc. I don't like how the stutter feels when the governor cuts it, seems kinda harsh on the driveline, it's not a real "soft" governor, more like dropping the throttle and mashing it repeatedly...so I try to stay just short of that....but if you wanna see where the wall is, you gotta bump it once.

maxwedge · #5 10-06-2006, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

As long as you got good oil and a healthy cooling system, and the motor is sound to begin with, it's not gonna hurt anything.

I push up into triple digits frequently when I think I can get away with it, when I go down to Springfield I come home late at night and keep the detector on high alert and the gas pedal on the floor...210 miles, my best time is 2 hours and 20 minutes, and that's with having to back out of it here and there for cops, traffic, etc. I don't like how the stutter feels when the governor cuts it, seems kinda harsh on the driveline, it's not a real "soft" governor, more like dropping the throttle and mashing it repeatedly...so I try to stay just short of that....but if you wanna see where the wall is, you gotta bump it once.

118 should be top speed based on oe tire ratings, kinda tough on that 16 year old drivetrain though.

chadwick_90 · #6 10-06-2006, 05:30 PM

not bad lol I got my Lumina for $500 from my friends mom. I'm pretty sure she knows nothing about cars because it only had 140k on it and new injectors, new cooling system, brakes, exhaust, and pistons haha she gave me all the receits and it totalled to like 1200.

chadwick_90 · #7 10-06-2006, 05:36 PM

jeffcoslacker · #8 10-06-2006, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxwedge

118 should be top speed based on oe tire ratings, kinda tough on that 16 year old drivetrain though.

Yeah, I guess. I'm weird that way I suppose. If my motor/tranny is gonna grenade under stress I'd rather it did and get it over with so it can be dealt with.

Now that being said, I've bought a few older cars that had very cream puff, no silly-stuff existences until I bought them. I wouldn't dare run them hard until they'd been "weaned" back into aggressive style driving gradually. Some of the things I've seen under valve covers and in oil sumps on cars like that, combined with watching elderly customers give a perfect low mileage cherry to a younger relative and having it disintegrate in weeks have led me to believe some patience and a few oil changes are called for in advance of any clowning.

That '77 Mercury with 40,000 original I bought a few years back from the 92 year old original owner for example...funniest thing, the antenna stuck straight up until the first time I had it on the highway, then it developed the typical slight rearward angle...I honestly think that car had never been over 50 mph in it's life...woman was in her 70's when she bought it new...

I gave that car nearly a year before I really put the spurs fully to it.

chadwick_90 · #9 10-08-2006, 12:18 PM

I have the euro gauge cluster and I was wondering if it is bad to run it in the high 5000's low 6000's and if i floor it it goes to the red is that normal?

jeffcoslacker · #10 10-08-2006, 01:07 PM

In theory it should be able to tolerate brief periods of redline+ but the whole idea of having a redline is to stay under it...torque and horsepower fall off before redline so you aren't gaining anything by pushing that high, that 3.1 probably hits it's max around 4500 or so. If you put it to the floor you are probably getting a double downshift, like from OD to second, and when it makes the shift the car's speed at that gearing forces the motor into a slight overrev, which is wasteful and could be destructive if you do it too much. I'm betting when it does that it probably upshifts almost immediately to the next range up, right?

If I anticipate needing a quick burst (like passing a semi on a 2 lane, or putting an Accord in it's proper place) and I'm rolling, I'll drop it manually outta OD, and then press the accelerator just hard enough to get a single downshift if needed, sparing it the sudden shock of a drop from OD to second and back up to third. I can't remember if your year uses a transhift cable for downshift points, but if so, an adjustment there might be called for if your shift points don't seem quite right. Adjustment is very simple, but you have to do it correctly of you'll make it behave really odd...

Hunting in and out of OD on slight rolling hills is a common indicator that the transhift cable needs adjusting as well...

chadwick_90 · #11 10-08-2006, 03:04 PM

im pretty sure my OD is working good it usually kicks on when going about 30 to 35 if i wana get out of it all i do is push the gas pedal like halfway down and it goes out is that how its supposed to work

currly22 · #12 11-29-2006, 11:59 AM

actualy it shuts of between about 118 120 but if your speedo doesn't work you can race up to about 130-140 mphs befor red line mine down shifts at 120 to go faster you have to be raceing a car like an audi tt with a 160 mph speedo to tell how fast you are doing

gw84 · #13 11-29-2006, 01:11 PM

Do LTZ's have a higher "top speed" than say your basic Lumina(2nd generation)? It has the 3.8L instead of the 3.1, however the speedos both register the same.

gw84 · #14 11-29-2006, 01:11 PM

Do LTZ's have a higher "top speed" than say your basic Lumina(2nd generation)? It has the 3.8L instead of the 3.1, however the speedos both register the same.

maxwedge · #15 11-29-2006, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by currly22

actualy it shuts of between about 118 120 but if your speedo doesn't work you can race up to about 130-140 mphs befor red line mine down shifts at 120 to go faster you have to be raceing a car like an audi tt with a 160 mph speedo to tell how fast you are doing

Way off base here, the speedo inop will not affect the limiter unless the trans speed sensor is disabled. I am going to lock this thread it is old and off point, lets start a new one if anyone is interested.

POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD