1990 Olds Cutlass Calais Quad 4 | Retro Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
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The Quad 4 was a huge performance milestone for American cars, this Olds still manages to check off all the cool boxes, I'd rock one.
Show 911 | Original Airdate 12-8-1989
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No surprise Quad 4 DOHC came from Olds, they were always the new technology division of GM...
Anyone else notice the hood almost fold up like a taco when he closed it?
That's exactly what I was going to say!👋😂👌
+1 here :)
Typical GM junk.
Yep. Looks like the hood folded into an egg roll 😂😂😂
I couldn’t wait to check to see who else noticed. 2nd comment. Good job All around llamas! Lol.
87 regal turbo t is a solid car that needs to be dug out of the review vault
Love the T Type. I recently saw the GNX review
Or the Lesabre t type review or any 80s buick riviera
And t-type
@@chesspiece81 i love theses GM cars 1980s and 1990s
0:30 - Look at the flex of the hood! Never change GM, never change haha
Flimsy throw away cars
It’s GM’s patented “Quad-Flex” hood system.
@@tylernewton7217 This quad 4 is great engine
My grandmother had one of these, i miss her so much :(
❤️
I can feel you on that as well.❤️
I won an Olds dealer sponsored autocross in 1990. The prize was this car for some period of time, a week maybe two. I remember how cool I thought i was driving this exotic quad 4.
Nice! Right out of high school in ‘89 I was selling new Oldsmobiles..I remember when the first Quad 442 was brought by our dealership by the Oldsmobile rep. She let us take it out and we thrashed it hard..at first I thought it was a joke, being labeled a ‘442’ but honestly it was a very fun car to drive. I seem to remember the 0-60 time being 7.5 seconds..hearing those prices again and remembering those cars...man what a deal.
Had a 90 4 door International series Quad 4 HO 5 SPEED.
Had AC, but manual windows and locks.
That car was quick.
With a K&N filter, Hypertext chip, and Thrush mufflers, it would outrun and Iroc on the highway.
Surprised a lot of Cameros and Mustangs back then.
Really loved that car.
Hypertech chip My '92 Beretta 3.1 had that and an intake, exhaust and AIT mod. Made about 170hp, 2800 lbs. decently quick
Imagine if they turbocharged the Quad 4. I always wondered what if
They did for the Oldsmobile aerotech concept car
It made 900 hp In it, give a look sometime, pretty cool stuff. Kind of wish Oldsmobile stayed around
It would break down sooner.
They turbo'd the later Ecotec 4... and put it into the sports car...
It would’ve been even less reliable lol
Always up for a Quad 4 review
00:30 ... Olds was always the 'technology' division of GM...
The official car of "I only smoke 3 packs a day"
Mr. Regular, is that you?
LOVE these. Love 80's and 90's gm cars.
John L, me too, GM cars 1980s and 1990s is my favorites
Owned a '91. Great car, only problem I had was after 100,000 miles the roller for the drivers side window failed, then after having it fixed it was still wonky.
Traded it in at 150,000 miles.
It got 32 mpg interstate speed (@70 mph)
My Mom had an 89 Calais (4 door) with the Quad 4. It went like a scalded cat when it wasn't in the shop. Unfortunately it spent alot of time in the shop...
Lol, I just drove my uncles 91' Calais, a wicked fun car to drive. A miracle it survived, with somewhere around 174,000 miles.
I had one of those, they are quicker then 8.8s 0-60 that is show in this review.
They can Run in the 7.1 to 7.5s 0-60 and High 15 sec Quarter mile Stock.. Lol
I always thought these looked nice when I was a kid. They sure didn’t last long though (I haven’t seen one on the road in years).
I had a 1989 Pontiac Grand Am with the quad four, basically the same car. Thing was falling apart by 1999 and was mechanically totalled by 45,000 miles. It was beyond terrible.
Same as others...had the Grand Am version...paint peeled and rusted completely out. One of the last GM vehicles before switching to Toyota. I didn't leave them...they left me.
Consumer Reports said their reliable was poor.
theres a few in mexico still they'd just look dated most places while JDMs stil look modern
I never knew these existed.
I had a W41 Calais one of my favorite cars
I love Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988 is my favorites
I have had three of the 204 made over the years. 100% my favorite driving Oldsmobile. So sad that hardly anyone can experience how special the W-41's were.
Strong engine, flimsy hood.
I was still 5 years from driving when this came out and I really wanted one. As far as my friends and I were concerned, a front wheel drive 442 was going to be the closest thing to a "muscle car" that we'd ever see again. I would have laughed at anyone who said that large V8 muscle cars would return in the 2000's.
By the way, the top of the line International should should have been the 442 with the lower model being a GT.
The Mustang, Trans Am, and Camaro was still in production. I wouldn't have thought near 800hp was possible. Now the reliable 6-10 speed transmissions and advances in EFI has been what transformed performance figures.
@@chesspiece81 Not all of the 10 speed autos are reliable. Ford has had quite a bit of trouble lately with their 10 speed auto. Six speed is plenty anyway.
@@jkeelsnc look at the difference in performance from 6 speed Camaro and pick ups to the 10 speed version of the same car.
The 442 was always the muscle car, it really ahoukdnt be optioned out.
8.8 0-60? This one must have been a press car that already had a leaky head gasket!! Even the heavier International model shown here should be well below 8 and the lighter 442 could do it in 7 sec flat if it was running right! 23mpg is about accurate tho haha.
Yeah 8.8 is unusually slow for those HO Quad4's when they were in good running order.
@303 Nitzubishi I was thinking the same thing. A 90 Z24 with the 3.1 and a 5 speed would run better than 8.8 to 60
Yeah more like 7.8 even the larger Achieva SCX was around 7 seconds when it had its 190 hp version
the I-series was a 15 second flat car in the 1/4 mile, along with the GTZ. those were the heaviest cars you could get a HO Quad4 in besides the one year only cutlass supreme i-series. it was more of a touring car anyways. the Quad442 and GA GT were high 14 second cars if you could drive at all, and the 91 W41 calais was a mid 14 second car.
the tester in the video is an idiot. you can clearly see him ROASTING the tires completely through first gear, lol.
I had a teacher in the 3rd grade who got a brand new one of these. She was still driving it, last time I saw her in 2003
180 hp and 160 ft-lbs? Dayyyyyam
Enough or not???
@@kamrankhan-lj1ng for a late 80s early 90s 2.3l 4cyl that's pretty damn good
So many hater comments wow!! Don’t look now Millennials a lot 80s and 90s cars are going for big money these days! There’s a reason for that!
I know right! spoiled bastards.
2:13 John: Driver information comes from a set of clear comprehensive set of analog gauges! LOL
I remember these cars quite well, thought this and it's cousin the Beretta GTZ exteriors looked good, and still do today. I also remember the terrible and typical GM build quality of these cars and the dubious reliability of the HO Quad 4 when it came to blowing head gaskets.
This car is the twin to the Grand Am, not the Beretta.
@@Jackmerius_Tacktheretrix It's a twin to the Beretta/Corsica and the Grand Am, as well as the Skylark. They're all N-body cars. They're all mostly rusted and gone by now. Good luck finding a Turbo Grand Am or a Quad 4-powered Skylark or Cutlass Calais.
@@jessebrook1688 incorrect, the Beretta/ Corsica were the L body cars, the Buick Skylark, Buick Somerset, Chevrolet Malibu/Classic, Oldsmobile Achieva, Oldsmobile Alero, Oldsmobile Calais/Cutlass Calais, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Pontiac Grand Am were the N body cars. One of my friends had a quad 4 grand am and that thing was quick (for its time). We had a blast in that thing.
@@Jackmerius_Tacktheretrix well to be fair the L body was based on the N body. But yeah they had different GM engineering project codes
Love the Key & Peele reference
@@matthewbowen5841 thanks. I loved that skit. We had a snack macbine that had a habit of taking your money, so we had a list of who the machine pwed and how much. We put some of those names on that list 😆.
I loved my Grand Am Quad 4 but man it was a turd with eating headgaskets at the rate of 4 per 100,000 miles, electrical gremlins and the manual transmission exploded which lead to its final death
My 88 grandam quad 4 locked up with head gasket problems and the cam busted in half lol
Yeah it’s a shame, all of these cars are really good looking with solid performance. They would be cool, cheap cars now if they had any reliability.
@@chadharmon5716 My parents bought a 1989 brand new and gave it to me in 1999. Absolute POS, totally fell apart. Died at 45,000 miles and we junked it.
My 93 grand am quad 4 is what made me a believer in duralube. Blew the head gasket. Pouring white smoke. Continued to stupidly drive it 20 miles home. (I was a dumb teen) It made it the whole way without locking up. No power but it still started and ran.
Wow that stinks
The quad 4 is GM's first twin cam 4 with an awesome 180hp without forced induction (love small na power!) Sorta GM's equivalent to SR20 or B18C.
Looks like the 2zzge
I had the 95 Grand Am GT Quad 4 5 spd. It was actually a pretty decent car for its time and especially when it stickered for $13.1k and I paid $12.k even including taxes etc.. Mine never suffered the well known head gasket issue but I only had it for 4 yrs when I traded it in for the 99 Trans Am.
I was gonna say the Trans Am was miles ahead of what you traded in.
Leased a 1997 Grand Am GT 3.1 liter, Sticker was $19,700! Dad worked GM, so no down payment, $187 a month for 4yrs. At end of lease they wanted $12K for this 4yr old car with 50K miles on it, NOPE! Before this I had a new 1989 Calais SL Coupe Quad 4, paid $12500 for that one. Both about same pickup and gas mileage but Calais went threw 5 Quad4 head gaskets in 98K miles.With 100K warranty running out I sold it after that last set was replaced
To be fair, it seems like the Quad 4 CAN be reliable but only if you NEVER ring it out and granny it 100% of the time(Which defeats the purpose of having a QUAD4 a little bit). You also need a little luck that GM Quality Control actually did their jobs... These head gaskets just can't handle the revs, it all depends on how you maintain it and drive it. These engines just burn out too quickly.
My mom had this car but not 442 and i remember how fast and loud it was lol!!! But it was fun zooming around town with her.
I had this same exact car, handed do to me from my mother who brought brand new off the lot. Except mine was white. And it went through head gaskets like crazy.
“Torque steer was plentiful!”
Imagine that - a car producing almost 200 hp and the manufacturer decides to put it through the front wheels.
@@bghoody5665 300 hp fwd impala ss, Toyota Camry v6, Nissan Maxima, and the Ford Focus rs500
I remember pounding one of those in the ground with my '92 Z24. The 3.1 had lots of low end in comparison which was great for light to light action.
I saw a lot of nice GM cars in the channel, but... What about the Cavalier Z24 3.1?
I had a Beretta GT with the 3.1 and a 5 speed it was a great car, I drove it till it literally rusted in half
@@forterierocks I'm actually complaining about the Z24 video because I have one 94 3.1. Almost same performance as the Beretta but cheaper quality hahaha. Hope to see the Cavy on Motorweek one day
My friend Dave had one of those back in the day. A teal one. It could do a burn out from here to Mars💯🤦😁
My "Fathers Oldsmobile" is still on the road.
Back when these cars were as common as park squirrels I didn't care for them. Now I miss them.
Had an '88 for 5 years. Went through 4 head gaskets. Surprisingly quick but loud acceleration. Got 30+ mpg when I had highway miles. Decent ride though. Leaky sunroof always... then at 80k other GM quality started to show: speedometer would stick (flick with finger would fix), windows broke, every part of the car started to rattle like it was possessed, trunk latch broke, etc. Traded in at 110k got hit on trade because (you guessed it) cracked head gasket found at inspection.
would love to own one of these with the 5-speed manual.
I agree! I only had a 3 speed automatic. I always got roasted when racing at highway speeds
Bought one Brand New, 5 sets Head Gaskets in 98,000 miles. Compared to most 1980's cars my Cutlass Calais doing 0-60 in 7 seconds felt like one fastest on the road. Though 6yrs earlier I had a Chevette, 0-60 in 18seconds
Yeah mine did 60 mph in 7 sec also. It was absolutely fast. Like a mustang GT. I raced those all the time. They were barely ahead. Like a half a car length. The test driver in the video spun the tires like an idiot. You don't measure acceleration times while spinning the tires.
The problem with the late 80s/early 90s was that this was a pretty ballin’ ride at the time.
Confusing acceleration times. My 88 Calais with the regular 150 hp Quad4 ran a 15.8. With well over 100k miles on it.
This driver was horrible.
@@economynotstable It's because those magazines use a correction factor. Meaning, they don't really get the times they report.
This one must have already had a leaky head gasket 😆
@@economynotstable you can see in this video the launch was horrible. Sounded like he rode the clutch for days
Those gm N body cars were nice looking and sold well. If you wanted good low speed acceleration and quiet hwy cruising, you were better off buying the 3.3 ltr V6. The Pontiac Grand Am was not available with a V6 after 1987 though.
the grand am had the 3400 motor in the next generation. I've had a 2001 SE and 2002 GT. Both are junky cars with lots of rust and bad trans.
I thought the 1987 grand am got the 3.0 back then
My 1st car was a Grand-Am Quad4 H.O back in 1999 and it was fast.
This is one of my favorite cars of all time. Simple, practical, easy to work on, fast, fun, and cheap. Most modern cars cant even touch this thing, or its faster Quad 442 counterpart. This was made when cars were meant to be admired and enjoyed.
I had this engine in my first car, a 90 Pontiac Grand Am. I lost my license bc I got too many speeding tickets 🤣🤣🤣
The QUAD 4 was ten years too late. Though this is one sweet Olds.
3:06 "Well I can't get the seatbelt to work, better bring a bag from the trunk, then!"
Another quality built-by-accountants GM product, starting with the 'they all flex like that' hood.
Love that red jacket John. Keep up the good work and can't wait to see next week's episode.
Did that hood just wobble as he closed it?
0:30 oh yes it did xD
🤫
Oh yes it did. Looks like the hood came straight out of a laminating machine at an elementary school lol 😂😂😂
You witnessed first hand the "awesome" GM build quality from that era.
@@johnjones393 😂😂😂😂
That vertical back glass!
A face and build quality only a mother could love
These were so cool. Was one for sale locally last summer.
I wish they’d kept the early eighties Cutlass look.
Like Broughams kept the same body just moved from sharp to rounded edges.
Nice, a review where I can hear the engine sing! Usually there's music over the drag strip segment
My 97. Grand am had the the quad 4 put 200.000 miles on it what a great engine
"Not your father's Oldsmobile..." Ain't that the truth. My dad had a 67 Toronado. Between that and this red box, guess which I would rather have had...
23mpg?? I remember these Quad 4 engines would rattle the dentures out of your mouth. Come on GM…
I get 35+ mpg out of my Beretta GTZ with the Quad4HO
That flimsy hood when John closed it fat the beginning. Lol
I had this car in grey, was the most fun I've ever had with my daily driver. Rust got him in the end :(
All that noise for a near 9 second time. My favorite part was when you couldn't even hear John over the noise that POS makes.
And before you say something, my parents were unfortunate enough to own an early Quad 4 in a Calais. You should have heard the thing on morning start ups. I remember because it used to wake me up in the mornings for school. Thing went back multiple times for quiet recalls to get it right. Never was.
The driver did a horrible job. They are faster.
@@moejr1974 Yeah the HO Quad4's were definitely much quicker than 8.8 0-60. They had little refinement, but the damn things were borderline fast when they ran right.
That is one beautiful car! Always wanted one.
Pretty decent looking car for the brand. Akin to the Buick Regal GS (Opel Insignia GSi) before they killed it off in North America. Very sporty, great looking cars incongruent with their brand.
@1:12 Those wheels look very similar to old school Saab 900 swirly three spokes
Because they were. GM owned Saab back then.
@@herbwheeler4470 exactly. I wouldn't be surprised if the engine design was heavily influenced by the Saab B234 engine as well.
@@AIRDRAC that is an absolute no. And in 1990 GM didn't own all of Saab, they had just purchased a share in that year
@@kirbyswarp good point, I remembered it as being earlier that they bought a majority share, my bad :)
@@kirbyswarp GM owned 50% of Saab in 1990, owned Saab completely 10 years later.
This was most definitely NOT your father's Oldsmobile, in either looks OR performance!!!!!
I forgot all about these! ❤️🔥
I came to see the hood flex comments. I was not disappointed.
You're right, its not my Dads Oldsmobile, he had a W31 with a 455 LOL! Quad 4? What a joke!
I had one of these in the early 2000s in my early 20s . Was a cool car or at least I thought it was . Fun to drive and ripped off the motor mounts a couple times lol . At the time spare parts where virtually obsolete and had to let her go.
That 442 is an amazing sleeper. Rip as much weight out as you can, stiffer dampers, rear disc conversion and you have a fwd go kart
The 442: 4 valves per cylinder, 4 cylinder, 2 cam shafts.
Funny to watch oldsmobile, building cars their base didn't want. The achieva was one of their best-looking cars, for someone the age of 28. Aunts etc. wanted an 88 or 98.
I had a 1990 Beretta GTZ with the Quad 4 HO. Fun car.
My first car was a 1991 Cutlass Calais.......it was a great choice!
The 1990 442. 4 tires, 4 cylinders, 2 doors.
Blown head gaskets were the Achilles heel of the Quad 4.
Lots of comments about "gm junk" the reality is that the Quad 4 was the bain of the N bodies and the reason alot of these cars rarely made it to 100k. I had a Grand Am that went almost 200k before I sold it (in great running condition) with the Buick 3.0 and my mom had a Grand Am that went to 270k with the Iron Duke before the transmission started slipping. Again in running condition when sold.The reason these cars are all long gone is because WE DROVE THEM and got every pennys worth out of them
The Iron Duke (though an unrefined and underpowered engine) was at LEAST somewhat reliable. The 3.0 V6 would last a while if it was not driven too hard (overheated) and maintained meticulously (like a museum artifact). They were not GREAT engines but far more reliable than the HO Quad 4 junk. They still couldn't compete with Toyota, Honda, etc at the time which were years ahead of this in refinement, reliability, engineering, build quality, fuel mileage, etc.
@@jkeelsnc they made the same or more power than the rivals and got the same or better mpg. real car guys generally dont give a rats ass about ReFinEmEnT as thats just ignorant salesman speak to lure in morons.
She: You said you drove a 442.
Me: I do.
2 words "rental car". This is what the character Dorothy drove in the golden girls lol
Good eye, Kip!
The Rubbermaid shift boot looks like it came out of a base S10 pickup.
1990 Calias Quad442...
4 cylinder
4 valves per cylinder
2 camshafts
Did anyone really keep those GM door-mounted seatbelts connected all the time? My dad had a Bonneville with those.
Had a '92 Regal years ago, had no idea they were an early "auto" seatbelt design. I just thought it was GM making use of space having it attached to the front doors. Always unlatched them when getting out.
@@buickboy92 They didn't even improve safety - in fact, they were more dangerous in a crash, because if the impact busted the door open, then there went the only thing keeping you from being ejected.
3:54 - nice
GM bought that dash in the Tupperware department.
Had a Grand Am with the quad 4 was a decent car until the head gasket blew, twice. This was my last GM purchase.
"More go fast goodies than a Groupe B rally car"....easy there John🙄🙄🙄
I always read Calais as Cialis
My first new car was a 91 with a 5speed 2.5 same price as a cavalier but was a oldsmobile had it f o r 12 yrs and 175k no issue's besides normal maintenance and a fuel pump at 125k great car for me at least.
Who remembers those old GM RPM gauges that wouldn't drop to 0 once you turn the car off? Remember it used to happen in early Cavaliers/Sunbirds as well lol
These cars are much quicker than shown here. The launch was not very good
With that and the poor gas mileage, I wonder if the engine needed to break in and loosen up a bit.
watch in 2x speed to give this car an impressive 360 horsepower
Ridiculous that they didn’t farm out a large capacity four cylinder family’s development to Opel. Even more inexcusable that they didn’t use an Opel or Isuzu engine in the Saturns.
i own a 91 Calais w41 442 love my car so much
Thank you for posting this GM video. It was good to see a Oldsmobile video. I enjoyed with the video.
Cara esse carro tá um arraso sensacional que tempo desse automotivo retrô na década de 90 🎤🎤 imagina se anos 90 2000 fazer carro como esse sensacional 👍😁🦈🦈
Never knew those door-mounted seat belts were supposed to be used like that...
Picked up the stripped version to save weight for performance 💪🤳
For an Oldsmobile I like that
I had a buddy with one of these. Quick for the time, but buzzy.
Oldsmobile always seemed to show their muscle cars to be fast, but not flashy. Take a look at the 68-70 Olds 442s.
replaced a lot of head gaskets on these. Never saw a turbo quad. i never understood why it wasnt offered as a engine option on/in the camaro. sure wooda ben easier to set the timing in a camaro. those calais engine areas were tight on the right side. i still wanna put one in my bmw
The girl tester looked like she "Boy-cutted" the 84' Olympics