Euro spec 1992 SSEi

Saturn Simon · Post by **Saturn Simon** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:21 am

Further to the one I posted in the Introductions forum, here are a few more photos of my 1992 SSEi, including the rear, the interior, and the not-so-pretty side with the dent (hopefully the dent will be removed on tuesday)...

00Beast · Post by **00Beast** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:28 am

Beautiful car. The rear foglights do look a lot nicer on this one than the other guy's in Finland...

Spitzkindl · Post by **Spitzkindl** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:34 pm

00Beast wrote:Beautiful car. The rear foglights do look a lot nicer on this one than the other guy's in Finland...

Hey! It won't stay there! Hehe
I already ordered the rear center bumper reflectors ... I have a plan ...

But the car in the thread is really nice looking. Wooden interior? Gee ...

Post by **J Wikoff** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:41 pm

That particular wood dash was available in 92 only, then they went to charcoal. The column shifted dash was still woodgrain for another year or two. That two tone grey interior is 92 only also, along with the steering wheel that says "PONTIAC" and does not have an arrow.

Skippy1827 · Post by **Skippy1827** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:04 pm

Do you care what side of the car the steering wheel is on? Have you had both? Were you born and raised in England?

Post by **SSEi95** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:31 pm

I'd love to see closeups of the side marker and mirror. Also, that dent in the door, it doesn't looked creased int eh pictures. It is quite feasible that you could pull off the interior door trim and simply pop it back out.

Post by **SSEimatt93** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:55 pm

How much to fuel up the SSEi with Premium?
Very neat, I never would of guessed that they actually had a European spec for a Bonneville

Saturn Simon · Post by **Saturn Simon** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:49 pm

Thanks guys, yes I was born and raised in England. I have owned a mix of LHD and RHD cars. LHD: two Saturns and two Pontiacs: RHD: A Saab, a Rover, a couple of VWs, and a couple of Alfa Romeos amongst others. Given the choice I actually prefer LHD - it just feels more natural. It has its disadvantages though - slightly trickier to overtake, car parks with automated barriers are a pain, and drive-thrus are a no-no unless you have a passenger. On the plus side, there's no blind spot over your right shoulder when overtaking on the highway, and you get to step out of the car straight onto the sidewalk. Parallel parking is a bit easier too, as its easier to tell how close you are to the curb.

I will take some more photos tomorrow, including those detail shots, and the engine bay. The dent is bigger than it looks in the photo, and is very slightly creased at the top - it probably wouldn't show much if I was able to get it out myself. The steel seems pretty thick though and I really don't fancy taking the door apart - they never seem to go back quite as well as they come off.

It costs about UK £90 Sterling to brim the fuel tank. Not cheap! I've not been using Super Unleaded (which is what we have instead of Premium in the UK), I've been running on on regular so far, which it doesn't seem to object to. Our regular fuel is 95 octane though.

Post by **SSEimatt93** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:00 pm

Wow, thats $146 to fill up

95naSTA · Post by **95naSTA** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:18 pm

Wow.. That thing is freaking mint.

It's very cool to see the euro spec rear bumper too.

LeSabreUltra · Post by **LeSabreUltra** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 4:46 pm

Beautiful car, the interior is perfect...well the whole thing is really. Very impressive for any car, let alone one that is 19 years old.
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wake · Post by **wake** » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:18 pm

couldnt have said it better myself

amazing car, in beyond amazing condition..i Sir am jealous!

00Beast · Post by **00Beast** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:50 am

Saturn Simon wrote: Our regular fuel is 95 octane though.

Awesome. My dad said back when there was still leaded gas when he was a kid, Regular was like 93, Mid-Grade was 100 and Premium was like 103-105. And it was $.20 a gallon, lol. I can only imagine what kind of fun I could have with a car properly tuned for 95 octane Regular, or 100+ Octane Premium.

BonneMe · Post by **BonneMe** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:29 am

Nice! Do the rear fogs come on automatically with the fronts, or do you have a separate switch? I'm surprised to see them, are they mandated on such a conversion?

Do you use the headlight stickers to compensate for LHD headlights?

Gorgeous condition!

SSEiMan01 · Post by **SSEiMan01** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:39 am

I love that thing more every picture I see, I love the color...
Nice car for sure!

Ghosthawk · Post by **Ghosthawk** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:45 am

I'm not usually a fan of the gray-silver spectrum, but that is one beautiful machine!

BonneMe · Post by **BonneMe** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:05 am

00Beast wrote:
Saturn Simon wrote: Our regular fuel is 95 octane though.

Awesome. My dad said back when there was still leaded gas when he was a kid, Regular was like 93, Mid-Grade was 100 and Premium was like 103-105. And it was $.20 a gallon, lol. I can only imagine what kind of fun I could have with a car properly tuned for 95 octane Regular, or 100+ Octane Premium.

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

European Octane ratings do not line up to US ratings.

RJolly87 · Post by **RJolly87** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:31 am

Correct, but if I read that correctly, their regular fuel is the equivilant to our 91 octane.

Spitzkindl · Post by **Spitzkindl** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:05 am

RJolly87 wrote:Correct, but if I read that correctly, their regular fuel is the equivilant to our 91 octane.

In Europe it's abit different from country to country when it comes to naming fuel. That's ahy it's not a good idea to speak about "regular", "premium", "super" etc, but just mention the octane (Euro). There can be 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, or 100 in the pump, depending on country. And then we have this new really-really-stupid aspect that they blend alcohol in the gas. It can be as high as 10%! Not very good for cars (any) that wheren't built for that. Since we in Finland have the choice of 95 with 10% alcohol, 98 with 5%, and nothing else, I always buy 98. For all cars.

To convert from Euro octane to US, simply "reduce" 4 and you are close enough close. Eg. 97 Euro is about 93 US, etc.

Saturn Simon · Post by **Saturn Simon** » Thu Aug 18, 2011 11:19 am

Thanks for all the compliments - I'm overwhelmed by the response!

So am I OK running it on regular unleaded over here then? What is the mimimum octane requirement for this car?

BonneMe wrote:Nice! Do the rear fogs come on automatically with the fronts, or do you have a separate switch? I'm surprised to see them, are they mandated on such a conversion?

On this official conversion they come on with the fronts. Yes, rear foglights are mandatory in the UK, and probably Europe as a whole.

Do you use the headlight stickers to compensate for LHD headlights?

Yes, that's right. Otherwise they'd dazzle other drivers and it wouldn't pass the MOT - our annual roadworthiness inspection test. I prefer the stickers to the alternative, which would be to change the positioning of the lamps. That would just look odd.

PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Euro spec 1992 SSEi

Euro spec 1992 SSEi

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