Misc. "Q"uestions

[Repo Man]

In another thread I questioned Hitman's post where he said the '91Q had 325hp. I was under the impression that it's rated hp was 278. Sultan said it was underrated, which is certainly believable. Can anyone expand on this? That thread was locked due to some apparent rivalry getting out of hand.

I am seriously considering buying the '91Q listed in the classifieds. I have read through many Q-related threads and have learned much, but I was wondering if the Q owners here could give me some subjective input on the car. I know stock Q's run the 1/4 in 15-15.5 in the low 90mph range and have a top end of 155 before hitting the limiter.

Those are hard numbers, but what about say, the ease of pulling away from a pack of traffic? Passing? Any problems dusting off 5.0's above 100mph? What about handling on on/off-ramps?

I guess I'm really looking for opinions on driving impressions rather than straight statistics. Thanks for your help!

Andy

[DenverQ]

In my experience the Q has been the best balance between comfort, power, speed and handling. I love to drive it, i look forward to cruise and to that WOT on the onramp where i hit 80 before entering traffic. It by far has been the best car I have ever owned. Yes it will pull away from almost anyhting at 100+ , I have enver has a problem passing.

Yes the early Q's were underrated and had more power slowly going down to the rated 278 in 96.

Just remember is not cheap to own the Q, unless you dont care about safty or comfort.

[Repo Man]

Just remember is not cheap to own the Q, unless you dont care about safty or comfort.

What specifically are you referring to? Maintenance? The car I'm looking at has been completely redone, including an engine rebuild.

Insurance? Fuel? Speeding tickets? Hehe.

[DenverQ]

Im refering to tires, in the Q u can feel the slightest vibe.

also maitnence isnt cheap how many miles? I bet the shocks and all the rubber parts are shot. Also if it doesnt have a transmission cooler and been taken care of your also lookin at a new transmission.

I would go through and try to read most of Q45techs posts youll get a good understanding on the cost to maintain the Q

[Repo Man]

Im refering to tires, in the Q u can feel the slightest vibe.

also maitnence isnt cheap how many miles? I bet the shocks and all the rubber parts are shot. Also if it doesnt have a transmission cooler and been taken care of your also lookin at a new transmission.

I would go through and try to read most of Q45techs posts youll get a good understanding on the cost to maintain the Q

The car has 98k, 1k on the new engine. I'm not sure about the transmission though. The rear shocks have been replaced, it has new tires plus Blizzaks on the factory wheels. Big laundry list of maintenance that I'll go through again and I'll read up on those other posts.

[DenverQ]

Oh!!! I just realised what Q you were talkin about. Thats Q looks to be in great condition and such. If you do buy it I would recoomend getting the transmission flushed with syn and install that transmission cooler, also flush the coolent, brakes and PS fluid. I went to the site and that is one pretty Q!!!! also is has what we Q owners like to call stealth technology (ie dark grey) to hide under the police radar LOL

[AZhitman]

Buy the damn car, Repo.

NOTHING you'll drive for that $$$ has the damn near frightening pulling power from, say, 40 mph on up. Punch it at 80 and you're at 120 before you realize what you've done. Feels like a freakin' locomotive at those speeds. 120 to 150 is equally effortless. I take my favorite 25mph cloverleaf at 70 every day (a little quicker each day - hello, guardrail!) and getting onto a freeway onramp is a joy. Mustang GT 5.0's? Please. They'll getcha from a standstill, but from a rolling start (40mph) they're seeing taillights. Solid factory sound system, great seats, and tons of the "what the hell just whipped my a$$" factor from other drivers.

You're a handy guy - the maintenance shouldn't scare you. The car is like new, and has been well-maintained. It's got another 200K to go on the engine. Get a factory service manual (can be gotten on CD-R for $25), and stick with the guru's here at NICO. The price is fair (although I'd try to drop it by $500) and it's just a sharp-looking ride overall.

Where else can you get so much enjoyment (and join a pretty exclusive club) for under $7K?

[VimyJ]

Insurance? Fuel? Speeding tickets? Hehe.

Yes to all three, especially the last one.:rolleyes

[AZhitman]

My insurance didn't go up significantly (from a 94 Civic Si).

Fuel costs? 25% higher or so depending on the weight of your foot.

Speeding tickets? I choose not to respond on the grounds that I may incriminate myself...

[Repo Man]

Buy the damn car, Repo.

I've sent two emails and haven't heard anything except what autostick posted in that thread. I'm trying to work out a time to go see it in person. It's about three hours from here, so I'll have to see when he can meet. It looks like Sygerwulf may buy my 240 and I would need the $ from that to fund this endeavor.

Quite honestly, I have been fascinated by the Q since I've been on this board and have learned a few things about them (and tried to keep up with Palmer down in KY!). I really like my 240 but I guess I'm getting older and yearn for more creature comforts and more power. Maybe it's that I grew up with powerful Buicks and owned them previously. They have serious power and all the creature comforts. So I guess I'm used to having my cake and eating it too

[paintwgn]

Totally agree with AZhitman on Q qualities. My 91 has effortless, seamless power-just wants to go. They are the just the right size too. Only the very early models had so much power they start out in 2nd gear and had the quicker steering ratio. Perfect combination of power and handling not to mention they're rare -very few old Q's to begin with and even fewer in excellent shape. I live in the Philadelphia area and see mostly beat-up old Q's. Hoping some day they might be a collectors item.

[greg_atlanta]

Those are hard numbers, but what about say, the ease of pulling away from a pack of traffic? Passing? Any problems dusting off 5.0's above 100mph? What about handling on on/off-ramps?

The car is fast off the line, and fast at highway speeds, but around town it can be pokey... it'll drop into 1st gear if you're under 20-25 mph and take off, but if you try to hit it going 30-40 mph you won't be that impressed. You'll be in 2nd gear, and 2nd gear redlines around 80-90 mph.

But once you're going 60-70 mph you've got plenty of power. It'll still drop into 2nd gear if you floor it, and after 2nd gear redlines there's still plenty of pull in 3rd gear.

Handling is impeccable as long as you have good tires and the rear shocks are in good shape (rear shocks wear out faster and can make the car very floaty if they're bad). Sway bar is cheap mod to make handling better ($200-300).

Everything about the Q is geared towards highway speeds. Don't expect to impress too many people just running around town.

[1qckser]

Get the car and dont look back, it is awesome, everytime I pull my 91 out of the carage it still gets my blood pumpin, the car is deadly from 40 mph on up, hit it at 70 and it drops down to 2nd gear and before you know it your doing 120 and counting, the cars are very stable at high speeds and though its not a 1/4 mile car she will smoke the hell out of the tires when put in 1st and floored from an idle, also one more thing, they do some of the wildest burnouts, 4300 lbs going sideways down the street gets a ton of attention. ( not that I did this or anything):rolleyes