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Supercharged bonnyville

Russell

Russell

3/4 ton status
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Jun 23, 2000
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Location
Rocky View County, AB
What says the brotherhood about these cars?

I drive about 800 miles every weekend and don't want to rack up the miles on my duramax. I can get one (2002 I think) fairly cheap with around 110 000 miles on it loaded to the nines but needing a new supercharger (or to rebuild the old one). I can fix it for under 600 bucks.

I know they are quick and comfy, but how are they on fuel and reliabity?
 
the 3.8 supercharged engines are top notch in my book. I have a 97 GTP with 145K miles on it and the most reliable part thus far is the engine/tranny. BTW, b/c this is a supercharged engine, you will also have the better tranny.

As far as fuel mileage, if I maintain 65-70, I can easily achieve 28-30 mpg! However, b/c the car is fun to take off in, I average around 26 with my commute (mostly highway).

Not sure what fairly cheap equals, but I'd say these cars are pretty awesome.
 
Oh yeah, I bought mine as a commuter b/c i didn't want to put the miles on my diesel as well, ha! (mines an 06' cummins though)
 
When I was still married, we had a 2000 GTP and loved the car. It got great mileage for the size of it. Highways were always in excess of 30+ mpg. The supercharger was impressive for a car like these. It would get up and go pretty good. Never did have any trouble with it at all.
 
Make sure you change out the intake gaskets as they were prone to failure. There is an updated improved version. I think felpro makes them.
 
Hehehe dont tell anybody but the real reason GM put the supercharger on it was for emissions and mileage.

I guess the performance was a good plus.
 
Are you sure it actually needs a new supercharger? There is a cheap and easy-to-replace coupler in the snout of the supercharger that wears out. It will sound like marbles in a blender.
 
Stomis said:
Hehehe dont tell anybody but the real reason GM put the supercharger on it was for emissions and mileage.

I guess the performance was a good plus.
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If that were true, it would have been standard rather than optional.
 
Hmm, the symptoms certainly sound like it is the little coupler -- Fix it for under 200 bucks, haha

I can get the car for under 10k. The car is driven by a 70 year old grandma right now, she has had it since new. She is concerned it is going to become un-reliable after the supercharger made some noise and wants to sell it to buy a new Jetta TDI instead.

I figure it'd make a wicked little commuter car running between Edmonton and Fort McMurray every weekend :D
 
Buy it, I'm sure you'll love it. I used to want a GTP so bad when I was younger. Nice cars, lots of room, and plenty of power. Plus with a smaller pulley and a programmer, you can get a lot more out of it....
 
There is no weak spot in this engine and almost no compromises with the car. The coupler in the charger does go out, but it's only $30 for the UPGRADED version: http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=155&catid=106. You can swap it out in the driveway in about 30 minutes. I love the super 3800 and I like the looks of the Bonneville better than the 2005+ Grand Prix. There are no real intake or head gasket issues either - they run forever.

EDIT: In my GTP I *can* get 31+ MPG on the highway, even going 70mph, but that requires intentional driving for mileage. Traveling at 75 without worrying about it still gives 28-29, which is fine with room for 5 and 360 ft-lbs of torque on tap. As my commuter I only get 17MPG because a) I live 2.5 miles from work and the thing never warms up, b) torque is fun, c) this car understands my occasional need to be in front of some other car.
 
Blue85 said:
There is no weak spot in this engine and almost no compromises with the car. The coupler in the charger does go out, but it's only $30 for the UPGRADED version: http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=155&catid=106. You can swap it out in the driveway in about 30 minutes. I love the super 3800 and I like the looks of the Bonneville better than the 2005+ Grand Prix. There are no real intake or head gasket issues either - they run forever.

EDIT: In my GTP I *can* get 31+ MPG on the highway, even going 70mph, but that requires intentional driving for mileage. Traveling at 75 without worrying about it still gives 28-29, which is fine with room for 5 and 360 ft-lbs of torque on tap. As my commuter I only get 17MPG because a) I live 2.5 miles from work and the thing never warms up, b) torque is fun, c) this car understands my occasional need to be in front of some other car.
Click to expand...

The intake gasket failure may not be real common, but they do fail. If it were my car and I had the supercharger off anyway I would change the lower intake gaskets for piece of mind. The updated ones are aluminum, vs the stock plastic ones. They are great cars though, and the 3800 is indestructible.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1826697&page=1

*Edit
My grandparents have a non supercharged 2001 la Sabre with the 3800 and the lower intake gasket started to leak on it, it was repaired under warranty.
 
Stomis said:
Umm I'm pretty sure it was standard on 3.8s once they came out with it. Base model cars were 3.4 no?
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No, it was always optional. The W-bodies got the 3100, 3400 (same family, but different from earlier 3.1/3.4), 3.8, and the SC 3.8 motor. Large cars (Bonnie, Park Ave, etc) got the 3.8 or the optional SC 3.8
 
wow I wish I knew these cars got such good milage. I definately would have gotten a SC 3.8 over my 4banger s10...
 
I had an '87 Bonneville, non supercharged 3.8. Great car - it had sequential FI and hauled as*, great handling. I got 25+ mpg in L.A. traffic. On a trip from Lake Tahoe to L.A., I got 35 mph running at 85 to 95 mph. I'd jump on it if you can.
 
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