Talk:Buick Reatta

Terminology

I doubt that a single buyer of the Reatta would have said "coupé," so in keeping with the wiki rule that the dialect of English used should be appropriate to the subject matter, I think "coupe" is more appropriate. RivGuySC 03:18, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Reatta

In the past it has often been the "failures" that become collectible. It is likely that in the future, the 88-89 Reatta will become interesting because of its "excessive" electronics.

As new cars become more and more computerized, the Reatta and Buick should be recognized as the leading edge of this movement that GM pioneered with digital engine control in 1981. With nine major digital modules, numerous other modules stuffed everywhere under the hood, inside the car and even in the trunk, its own LAN, and a touchscreen control (which, for some functions, presents a digital keyboard) Buick took digital automotive electronics to a whole new level.

Too much and too far, it was decontented somewhat each successive model year losing the touchscreen after 1989 models (perhaps because sunlight readable CRTs were not available when the convertible was introduced). In any event, after the first two years, the Reatta became much more conventional.

Paradoxically, all of the electronics make the first Reattas very easy for a knowlegable person to work on since every major module has its own self-diagnostics that allows easy pinpointing of faults. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.210.57.64 (talk) 22:07, 6 January 2007 (UTC).

The coupe/coupé issue again

I question the last edit by NaBUru38, for the same reason noted in my comment of last March above. European usage is not suitable for an American subject (and vice-versa, of course). RivGuySC 03:03, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I will revert it. --Sable232 04:22, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

More pictures

The one picture shown is of the later restyle, with the more rounded back end. The original version had a back end identical to the Buick Regal and even used Regal taillights with the R logo.

The rear end was the same for all four years, and never used the Regal tail lights. Interestingly, the Reatta had the largest one piece taillight assembly ever produced. Wws (talk) 03:23, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Poor weight distribution

The Reatta had a very poor front-rear weight balance, with 79% of the weight on the front wheels, according to various car magazine test reports of the car's production years.

RWD test versions

Buick produced a few rear-drive test versions with various engines, including some with turbocharged 3.8L V6's from the GNX and rear suspension derived from the Chevrolet Corvette. These were very popular with the automotive press, but GM cited (amongst other reasons) "poor packaging efficiency" as reasons why they wouldn't put an RWD Reatta into production. At least one FWD GNX engined Reatta was built, and crashed into a wall at a test track by an automotive journalist. Buick hadn't fitted equal length axle shafts to the vehicle and it had horrible torque steer under acceleration.

The above comments are from what I recall from various magazine articles during the years the Reatta was in production. If you want specific cites, go dig up the back issues at a library that never throws away anything. ;)

Hand made?

The emphasis on the car's "hand-made" quality seems overblown. --Dylanfly 02:21, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Automatic Only

A major feature in the demise of the Reatta was that it was only available with an automatic transmission, suitable for a traditional Buick luxury cruiser but not a sports car. This deficiency should be noted in the article. No manual transmission, no sports car.2601:247:4001:9F20:DC15:6C25:7A0:9D2F (talk) 02:16, 25 December 2015 (UTC)