I have a 93 Park Ave with a 3800 series engine with a supercharger. I know , I know, your thinking "why does this guy want to put a performance filter in a grannie car?" I have read that it will improve mileage and performance. For a big car it does get out of its own way pretty well. Would one of the performance air filters be worth the $70 or so that it would cost? Does any one have experience doing this? I read that one of these filters works well with the super charger by increasing hp in relation to rpm's but dosnt do much at the low end, till you get moving a little. The mpg now is in the high 20's, as long as I use at least 92 octane. It seems pretty good for a full size buick, but could it improve? and could the performance improve a little? If such a "fix" is so simple why dont they come from the factory that way? Rick

I love those 3.8's...

An air cleaner is a popular mod on the 3800SC, seems to help performance. I think the big three modifications are K&N air cleaner, chip, and pulley. Personally I'm a bit nervous to mess with those motors too much, but I know more performance is available with some research and $$.

BTW, a little known trick - you may actually be losing some gas mileage and performance by using the higher octane fuel, try going to a lower octane rating. (If you have modified the engine, or the owners manual requires 93 octane, then use 93 octane - otherwise stick with the lowest octane rating the car is allowed to use).

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org

a kn&n filter will definatly help - i installed one on my 97 riviera sc and have had good results but you need to stay with the high test gas according to the manual. i haven't really found any aftermarket chips for that engine but i have found the pulleys www.pulleyboys.com (http://www.pulleyboys.com)


andrew

Andrew
Thanks for the reply. I continue to use the 93 octane and get better milage and performance than with regular. What kind of improvement have you seen with the performance filter? Better milage or more power? Maybe both? The k and n filters I have found run around $70 give or take and I'm wondering if the cost is worth the expense. Was it for you? Right now the car gets around 26 or 28 mpg consistently on the secondary hilly back Pennsylvania roads that I travel. On the four lane it gets a little over 30 mpg. That's really not too bad for a big comfortable boat. I'm thinking that with a new filter the highway milage could improve but I don't travel on the four lane very often. Any info is more than appreciated. Thanks, Rick

Bob,
Thanks for the information on the performance air filter for the 3.8 sc. I do stick with the 93 octane, the car seems to get bette mpg and loses power with regular. I have tried the lower octane a couple of times and could tell that it didnt work as well. I'm intrested in the performance filter because it won't require modification. I'm wondering if anyone knows how much difference it can make? I get 26 to 28 on secondary roads now and its pretty consistant. Will a k&n make enough difference to justify the cost of $70 or so? I have gotten 30 to 32 on the highway at 70 to 75. Im thinking that could probably improve more than the everyday driving. Any info you can give is appreciated. Rick

K&N filters generally give you about 10-15% better gas mileage and they're supposed to give you up to 10hp at the wheels. I can attest to the gas mileage part, but I can't say anything about extra HP.
Another modification which you may be interested in is a flowmaster muffler. You're probably thinking that im talking about a loud, sometimes annoying performance muffler.
The 50 series by flowmaster actually doesn't change the sound of the car very much, it just deepens the sound a few octaves but will save you A LOT of gas, especially in a big car.
I went on a roadtrip last year just after installing a flowmaster and i got 8mpg better gas mileage with a full load in the truck and 3 guys in the car that i would have with an empty car and my factory muffler.

syndicated

Thanks for the k&n information, 10% increase in mpg sounds like it would be worth the cost of a new filter. the muffler sounds interesting also, I will do some research on them, thanks for the advice, much appreciated rickg

i've had a decent increase in the gas milage from 25 to about 28 or so and highway to over 33
i've also noticed a little bit of an increase in horse power but the flowmasters work great in conjunction with the k&n filter

flowmaster is good choice for 3,8 engine and you can put there little bit bigger K&N performance filter thath stock needs.I dont no thats illegal or not there put its good to take off catalytic converter

B&M shift plus kit its too good choice and easy install .B&M electronical shift improver kit is too good.