New Riv Owner - Questions

Hey everyone,

Just picked up a 96 Riv with the SC 3.8, and had some questions!
The car has a 3.6 pulley, 180* tstat, colder plugs, and a CAI (which doesnt seem effective). The car does however need a new wheel bearing or abs sensor on the passenger side since the TC and ABS light are on. The car has 113k miles.

My big question is why the car seems slow. 0-60 in roughly 8 seconds, sometimes feels quicker but I only timed it once. Also it barely chirps the tires off the line! I know the rivs are big cars but based on other 3.8 cars I wouldve thought this to be similar! It has been closer to 85-90 degrees out where I live though. Any thoughts or inputs as to why it seems slow and if the abs stuff affects these cars like my 98 caddy did or maybe Im just paranoid so far.

Thanks!

96RivZzZ wrote:

Hey everyone,

Just picked up a 96 Riv with the SC 3.8, and had some questions!
The car has a 3.6 pulley, 180* tstat, colder plugs, and a CAI (which doesnt seem effective).  The car does however need a new wheel bearing or abs sensor on the passenger side since the TC and ABS light are on.  The car has 113k miles.

My big question is why the car seems slow.  0-60 in roughly 8 seconds, sometimes feels quicker but I only timed it once.  Also it barely chirps the tires off the line!  I know the rivs are big cars but based on other 3.8 cars I wouldve thought this to be similar!  It has been closer to 85-90 degrees out where I live though.  Any thoughts or inputs as to why it seems slow and if the abs stuff affects these cars like my 98 caddy did or maybe Im just paranoid so far.  

Thanks!

96 Riv with 3.6" pulley, colder plugs, 180 tstat and CAI generally needs reprogramming to perform better. You may or may not want to do that, look in the 'engine tech' section of this forum for details.

The supercharged Riv goes 0-60, stock on a flat track, in 7 seconds.

You barely chirp the tires off the line... mmm-K... try fixing the wheel sensor(s) that have the ABS/TC trouble lights on, *then* try your 0-60 with TC *off* (and no codes).

Thanks for the quick response! Realizing I maybe shoulda put this post somewhere else (new to the forum)! I was planning on getting some tuning done from Sinister Performance. I will try replacing the wheel speed sensor and trying again on a cooler night!

Do you have a way to scan your car?  Something seems off for it to not spin the tires from a stop.  With the traction control off the car will easily spin the tires.  I would fix the wheel bearing and do some preventative maintenance on the car.  You really need a scanner if you don't have one to check boost, timing, long term fuel trims and KR levels.  You can get the torque app and a cheap Bluetooth obd2 plug to use as a scanner.

Any suggestions? Ive seen those bluetooth plugs but never used them

I think sticking front calipers might be an issue, cause the car doesnt seem to move after letting off the brakes from a stop, and my front wheels seem to be gettin extremely dirty with brake dust 🤔 The wheels have only been on for 2k miles, and theyre absolutey filthy up front.

96RivZzZ wrote:

Thanks for the quick response!  Realizing I maybe shoulda put this post somewhere else (new to the forum)!  I was planning on getting some tuning done from Sinister Performance.  I will try replacing the wheel speed sensor and trying again on a cooler night!  

Wheel speed sensors are integral to the hubs, and you have to figure out which is bad unless you have a GM scan tool that reads them one by each. I think the FSM tells you how to check with a voltmeter but I could be wrong.

96RivZzZ wrote:

Any suggestions?  Ive seen those bluetooth plugs but never used them

Just realized your car is obd1 and not obd2. The below scan tool won't work for your car.

I used this obd2 device with the torque app to scan the car.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NLQAHS/

This one is for an android device so if you have an apple product you'll have to search Amazon for an equivalent device.

how do I post a new thread?  kenny462.

kenny462 wrote:

how do I post a new thread?  kenny462.

In each forum, there is a "new topic" tab, top left corner.

You were correct the first time, it is obd2, to my knowedge 96 was the first year for obd2