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Re: looking at 87 900T auto Posted by Ari [Email] ![]() ![]() In Reply to: looking at 87 900T auto, geoffh, Wed, 5 Sep 2001 03:22:10 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I don't believe the gearing is any different from S to Turbo, and even if it were, three speeds is still three speeds. The turbo car will still be buzzy on the highway with the automatic. It will be faster than the S, but the automatic will still sap a lot of power, and with the choice of only three speeds, you'll be limited.
If your preference is a manual, by all means wait for a manual tranny car. It will be faster AND get better gas mileage. Reserve automatics for those that either prefer or require an automatic.
As to the 'cool-down' of non-waterjacketed turbos. This isn't a big issue. If you've been driving the car very hard and you stop, you'll want to let the engine idle for 30 seconds or so. But under normal conditions, it's not necessary. For example, if you're at boost on the highway off-ramp, drive like a maniac through the mall, and power-slide into a parking space, the turbo will be both hot and spinning fast. Letting it idle will be a good idea. But if you have been driving with a light foot for a minute or so after tromping the crap out of the car, cool-down isn't necessary. And even if you have a water-cooled turbo, a cool-down after very hard driving would be a good idea. What's more important with any engine, especially a turbo, is to keep the power down until the car warms up - it's the cold starts that kill engines.
As the cars got newer, they just got better, up until the 2.1l engine, which I would avoid. In '88 they got the newer bumpers, and went to the 9000 type brakes. I'm pretty sure the '88 was commonly available with ABS, whereas the 87 wasn't. ABS is a mixed blessing - a very good thing to have, but if it acts up, expensive to fix. Of course, if it does fail, it fails so that you just have regular brakes. Just pull the ABS light and get on with your life.
You can retrofit the auto seatbelts (mad mechanical mice) with regular seatbelts.
About the only thing I would avoid would be the 2.1l engine. Not much else changed that wasn't an improvement, except for the 'strange time' of mandated autobelts.
posted by 140.157....
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