Dodge Spirit R/T vs. Lumina Z34 vs Taurus SHO

[thedguy]

Originally Posted by go4damo

I've read this same thing. Does that make the 3.4 engine a responsive engine to soup up?

Not much of an aftermarket for it. IIRC there are some rather irritating head(gasket?) issues with it as it's practically a 3.4l 60* v6 pushrod engine with DOHC heads shoved on it.

I wouldn't be surprised to find a set of cams to get the top end opened up (and matching valve train improvements) would do wonders for the engine.

[Mr. Nice]

A friend in High Schools Dad owned an SHO, it was a great car and great fun to drive.

[go4damo]

Thanks for the heads up. It's hard to find aftermarket information for these old 3.4s. They were run in 3 or 4 of GMs models, mentioned in the above article. I've never heard from an owner of the Pontiacs or Oldsmobiles w/ this same plant. The Euro 3.4s ran them, too, but you're guaranteed an auto. trans.

[tranceporter]

the spirit is kinda cool

[Wizegui]

I love the SHO. It's just such a neat looking car.

[_HighVoltage_]

Originally Posted by go4damo

I've read this same thing. Does that make the 3.4 engine a responsive engine to soup up?

If you are interested in tuning your car, you should join the W-Body.com forum - they are the experts on these.

But from what I've read, if you have an automatic car (which you will because it's a 93) you are risking blowing the tranny. The limit of this transmission is, as far as I can remember, around 250hp and that's risking it too.
If you are willing to do a manual swap, then you might be able to get more power by fitting a non-restrictive intake manifold.

[go4damo]

I have joined the forum, but haven't updated my profile or investigated the site in detail. Thanks for the advice. Not that I know from concrete experience, but from everything I've read, the 1993 models offered the manual trans., but not 1994. I would really want to do the manual swap, if I had the time. More information will help me make that decision, as I don't drive my 1993 Z34 in the winter salt of Ohio. Are there any beefier, compatible automatics or is there a way to improve the Hydromatic 4T60-E?

[ja404]

In addition to transmission concerns, I'm not exactly sure how business-wise it would be to have a 275hp Lumina outrun that year's Camaro and Corvette. I believe the Beretta was detuned for this reason as well.

[thedguy]

Originally Posted by ja404

In addition to transmission concerns, I'm not exactly sure how business-wise it would be to have a 275hp Lumina outrun that year's Camaro and Corvette. I believe the Beretta was detuned for this reason as well.

I doubt it would have REALLY mattered much. If anything they could have used the press to push out more Lumina's. If it canibalized sales from their Camaro then that just means they'd have had to try a little harder with those motors.

That is one of the many reasons GM has failed. Rather than produce a better product, they'd rather hamper a good one because it makes an inferior one look exactly like it is.