What makes a car handle the way it does (Buick LeSabre 1993)(+ Picture)?

Posted by Material-Beat5531@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 17 comments

Hi,

I recently bought a 1993 Buick LeSabre for $1300 and 100k miles on it. It was owned by two old people before me and wasn't really driven that much before me and well maintained considering its 31 years old \~ .I changed the power steering fluid (which was literally black) and Im planning on rotating the tires soon, changing the spark plugs, bleeding the brakes etc.

after changing the power steering fluid the car handled much better. It almost feels like I'm driving a stick of butter, so smooth and kind of floats into things, nothing feels sharp. I love how low the car sits too while I ride, so nice and tranquil.

I am not referring to misalignment or the wheel/tires being out of alignment. One time I almost literally died because I borrowed my Moms husbands extra car that he hadnt used/driven in years and hadnt been inspected for 3/4 years. driving that car felt like it was sliding on soap and almost like the frame was moving separately from the wheels kinda... I hit a bump on the highway doing 60 and I went into a crazy skid and almost rolled over etc, but i kept the wheel straight and fought the force... after i had to roll it off the highway and call AAA because it wouldn't even do 5mph without making a terrible noise and grinding.

What makes cars drive smoothly (or this one if yall have advice or experience driving similar model or year vehicles)?

Im planning on taking care of this car extensively and keeping up with the maintenance schedule and not burning a hole in the engine lol. Im almost done with the paint job and I think it looks really sick so far! I just need to repaint some areas and hit some spots with a smaller brush.

driving my car compared to my girlfriends 2023 corolla is a completely different experience, her car can make quick cuts but mine is more of a rolling feeling into a turn not a jolt/snap if that makes sense. Its nice in a different way. Im coming to appreciate it!

[-]

JEharley152@reddit

Weight—-

congteddymix@reddit

These cars are light, yes they weigh more then a Miata but they are like the same weight as a similar era Mustang or Camaro. 90’s cars as a whole are some of the lightest produced, hence why most of these cars are respectable performance wise even though they have pretty low engine power by today’s standards.

albertpenello@reddit

Handling is a complicated set of inputs. Amount of power steering boost, ratio of steering box/rack, spring and shock rates, tire sidewall, alignment settings, suspension geometry, sway bar sizes/rates, suspension bushings, etc. as well as stiffness of the chassis itself.

That said - most any GM car from this era can be setup to handle like a more modern car since GM used the same basic geometry and components across so many vehicles.

I wouldn't go crazy, but I bet for a reasonable amount of money you could get his Buick to feel a bit more modern. The huge sidewalls on those 15/16" in wheels are giving up a lot precision and steering feel. Stepping up 2 sizes to something like a 17" wheel with better tires will go a long way although I wouldn't go crazy in width.

Most likely, you don't have much in the way of sway bars either so upgrading the front and rear swaybars to something a bit more performance oriented will help a lot.

Lastly is shocks. I would leave the stock springs alone, but put in more performance oriented shocks to control bounce and rebound. Of course, make sure all your bushings and steering components are tight and in good working order. All the performance mods in the world are useless if your tie rod ends are loose or you balljoints are bad.

JCDU@reddit

I'd say it depends if OP wants to try and make it sporty - a big floaty barge is a nice thing to waft around in as long as you're not in a hurry.

I think what you’re talking about is ride and handling. These cars when new where sold to old people that wanted a nice ride and didn’t care about cornering performance, hence the engineers designed the suspension for a nice ride in mind and not much else. They also designed the power steering to assist a lot hence the easy lazy feel of the steering.

If you really want a different feel compared to your GFs car then get your hands on a 60’s or 70’s Chrysler product. Literally you can use one finger to steer the car, also really have to watch it when going around a corner at speed since you could steer to much and lose control.

Rover used to make similar "Grandad cars" which were also up-badged as sporty MG's, I heard one claim that MG stiffened the suspension something crazy like 800% in one model to go from grandad floaty ride to yoof sporty ride.

rudbri93@reddit

Soft springs lightly dampened, loads of sidewall, thin sway bars and lots of big rubber bushings. Makes for a nice comfy ride, if a bit unresponsive.

And weight

dwcanker@reddit

They only weigh around 3500lbs, not exactly heavy.

hickhelperinhackney@reddit

lol. ‘Unresponsive’ is doing a lot of work here. Drove one for years. Loads of understeer. The older it got, the more vaguely it responded

Yea my grandma had one id drive her around in. Was light floating over the road. Yea its down there, but theres a lot between you n the pavement and its whisper down the alley from tires to steering wheel.

4kVX1000@reddit

this! and also a slightly longer wheelbase to improve stability

Material-Beat5531@reddit (OP)

Very interesting, that’s above my pay grade but very cool!

Itsallanonswhocares@reddit

That color is downright sexy on that car, good lord.

Thank you! I sent a pic to my friend and she said it looks like something the boogie man would drive. She has no style point case and period. Glad someone else appreciates the vision 😎😤

Competitive_Weird958@reddit

What happened, you run out of paintbrushes?

I ran out of time. I still need to go to work lol. But I got smaller paint brushes to finish the smaller parts too