My new car.

  • Thread starter Thread starter ilovethescudo
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ilovethescudo

ilovethescudo

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United States
None of your business
I have a new car.

A 1998 Chevrolet Lumina.

3.8 L V6. 4 speed automatic. It run's freakin great. But there's more.

It's the Police Package. Yep, it used to be an undercover cop car. It has a digital speedometer, included exclusively for the police package. And it can haul ass for obvious reasons.

Normally the speedometer is always lit, due to it being digital. However since sometimes police need to be, like, covert, Chevrolet had to include a switch which turned off the speedometer completely. Mine's got it.

Here's some pics:



Four tailpipes ^_^




Digital speedometer:
 
That switch also cuts the headlights and taillights, just not brake lights. At least so I think...

Otherwise, nice Buick-powered Chevy.
 
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Nice car! What power does the Buick V6 make in your car?

I can see lots of potential here, some nice rims, some cool paint, a sports exhaust.:D
 
Rotary, sorry to like prove you wrong, but that switch only cuts the speedometer. there's another switch for the headlights and taillights too.

This thing can peel out, stock.
 
well, yeah. Most cars can peel out if they are powerful enough. This is just the first car that I've ever had that's been able to peel out.

My mom's '97 Ford taurus can't peel out. My previous car, an '89 oldsmobile ciera couldn't peel out.
 
YES!

Its one of my most-favorite of the Police cars that everyone forgot about, the 9C1 Lumina. Does yours have the Recaro seats as well? I haven't seen many of these around here, so you've got a rare bird indeed...
 
ilovethescudo
Rotary, sorry to like prove you wrong, but that switch only cuts the speedometer. there's another switch for the headlights and taillights too.

This thing can peel out, stock.
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Ah, meh.

The SURV light on the police/FBI Impalas kills the exterior lights and the dash lights..

Well, the newer model with the bulls-eye taillights.
 
I commend you on your purchase.
And while I hate to throw a bucket of cold water on things....

I had a '97 Lumina, though not with the "cool cop stuff".
As far as it went it was a pretty cool machine.

It was also a nightmare to work on. Cramped quarters under the hood, questionable positioning of components, etc.
 
Try changing the spark plugs on one of those. :D It's a decent car, were those plagued by the intake manifold gasket issues like the 3.1's and other various GM engines? Not too up to date on those. Congrats! A police package car would definitely be a cool car to have.
 
Thirdeye
It's a decent car, were those plagued by the intake manifold gasket issues like the 3.1's and other various GM engines?
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On that note never ever pour anything other than dex-cool in it, if that is what it uses. In other words, don't mix different types of antifreeze.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
On that note never ever pour anything other than dex-cool in it, if that is what it uses. In other words, don't mix different types of antifreeze.
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Right, but you can drain and flush out the radiator and put regular anti-freeze in if you so desire.

===

Congrats on the car, it's always nice to get something new.
 
Rotary Junkie
1998 so 180-190ish.
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From a 3.8?!

Clarkson was right, what the bloody hell are the Americans doing with engines?! I know guys with Rovers from 1996 that can get 160 from a 1.8 :lol:

Still, nice car! You must be loving the police spec 👍
 
Aw yeah, i'm lovin it.

They took all of the cool stuff out though. You know, the light's, sirens, that cool backseat. Other than the digital speedometer and the speedo on/off switch, and a few holes here and there, which I suppose the police made to hook up their stuff, it just looks like a normal car.


I've already been in a wreck with it. A few weeks ago, someone backed into me. His insurance paid for the repairs.

The A/C hasn't worked since we got it. The condenser has a hole in it. That means there's no freon(or whatever that stuff's called) in the system because, obviously, it leaked out. My dad doesn't want to fix it though, since it would be useless this time of year anyways.
 
Moglet
From a 3.8?!
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Depends on the year and the model. During the mid/late '90s, they were still shaking off the restrictive emissions controls that they threw on back in the late '70s. That 3.8L engine has been around for quite a long time, and by the time they got rid of it (last year), I believe they were rating it just over 200 BHP.

At least for me, it wasn't exactly about the power output, but how it was delivered. Its got a lot of grunt down low, and its a very reliable engine overall.
 
YSSMAN
Depends on the year and the model. During the mid/late '90s, they were still shaking off the restrictive emissions controls that they threw on back in the late '70s. That 3.8L engine has been around for quite a long time, and by the time they got rid of it (last year), I believe they were rating it just over 200 BHP.

At least for me, it wasn't exactly about the power output, but how it was delivered. Its got a lot of grunt down low, and its a very reliable engine overall.
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Ah, OK. So why did they continue to put such large engines in? If it were due to emissions restrictions then why not just use a smaller engine, squeeze the same power out and give less emissions and better MPG?
 
The simple answer is that much like the small-block that has been around since 1955, GM saw no reason to replace the Buick-designed V6 that had been around since 1960. Considering that the engine went on for 48 years, its safe to say that they got their money's worth out of it. You've got to remember that R&D programs operate very differently here in the US versus Europe and Asia, and while squeezing more power out with more fuel efficiency may be a popular thing now, it certainly was not the case even 10 years ago.

I believe our Grand Prix (same car as the Lumina, same engine) gets somewhere in the neighborhood of 24-26 US MPG (29-31 UK MPG), which isn't too bad for the era. Yes, it may not make as much power as it should (the Grand Prix replacement has 252 BHP in a 3.6L unit), but it gets the job done.
 
Moglet
Ah, OK. So why did they continue to put such large engines in? If it were due to emissions restrictions then why not just use a smaller engine, squeeze the same power out and give less emissions and better MPG?
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Fuel was dirt cheap back then.
 
0-60: Roughly 8 seconds, with a folding table, and two folding lawn chairs in the trunk, and at least 20 lb's of carl's jr bags and Mt. Dew bottles.
0-100: Haven't tested.
 
What's the big deal with turning the lights off? ...can't all cars turn their lights off? My Neon has a knob to turn the exterior lights on/off and the knob rotates to dim/turn off the interior lights.
 
With this car, the speedometer is digital. It's one of those LCD displays, like those ones on digital alarm clocks. This is always on. Otherwise, you'd have no idea exactly how fast you are going.

The normal Chevy Lumina have the needle speedometers, but the police version has the digital version. It doesn't matter what position the light switch is in. If you are undercover, sometimes you need to be covert, and it's rather hard to do that at night with a nice bright LCD display illuminating half of the car.

Thats why Chevy had to include a switch that turns the speedometer on and off.

And uh, <3, my car can peel out too, so you have just been neutralized, or something.
 
will you guys stop talkinga bout who's car can peel out? it's honestly one of the lower priorities when talking about a police car pakage, so is the ability to turn the lights on and off.

really the only important thing is what foolishness you have done with it. My uncles are firefighters and one time they let me use thier government purpose taurus and i went into the drivethrough backwards and asked for courtesy water.
 
my illiterate brother.
Will you guys please stop talking about who's car can peel out? It's honestly one of the lower priorities when talking about a vehicle equipped with a police car package, and so is the ability to turn the lights on and off.

Really the only important thing is what havok you have created with it. My uncles are both Firefighters, and one time they let me use their government purpose Taurus. I promptly went into the drivethrough of the nearest fast food place backwards and asked for courtesy water.
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My brother is illiterate, so here's the story with added sense.
 
:rolleyes:
Stig is also illiterate, it seems.

There should be a period between the really and the the, havoc is spelled with a c, firefighters should not be capitalized, and drivethrough should probably be drive-through. Why did you feel the need to (incompletely, no less) correct somebody who is probably neither illiterate nor your brother?
 
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