Just a brief synopsis of the history of the TR. I know you have a TTA but your car wouldn't be what it is without the TR. Not everything of course, but probably more than you want to know and hopefully a whole lot more accurate than some of the stuff posted by Facebook experts. This centers mostly on the '87-year model and I think I covered most of what should be taught in school, and yes, I think I would qualify as a fan boy, lol.
TR is just short and informal for turbocharged Regal which can refer to any of the Regal variants to include GNs, GNXs, T-Types, Limited's, WH1s, and WE4s, regardless of the year model. It's kind of complicated, (especially for '87s), as there is some debate as to which variant is either an option package or a sub-model, but they are all Regals and all powered by 3.8 Litre, V-6, turbocharged engine. In '86, all non-GN cars had a T-Type emblem as an identifier but in '87, it went away and was replaced with just a T on the fender. Based on this, most people call non-GN '87s a Turbo-T, which to my understanding is technically incorrect as the only literature where GM referred to the name Turbo-T was in reference to the WE4 package. All other references that I have seen refers to the other non-GN 87's as a Regal Turbo or a base Regal with a turbocharger. Funny thing about the T-Type and T emblems are that they did not stand for turbo. They stood for the sport touring suspension package that was required on all TRs. That's why you can find V-8 Regals with the T emblem because they had the same suspension. The options package v/s sub-model is another differentiator. To begin with, Grand National was an option package on a base Regal and was verified by SPID (service parts ID) label codes, but IIRC, it was in the early '87 production run when the Grand National ceased to be an option and began to have it's own separate VIN code. Limited's also have their own vin code, so these two are usually considered separate models while the WE4 is still considered an option package since it is SPID coded. I believe the 547 GNX cars were pulled from the production line to be modified so they have GN VIN's.
Other than GNXs, all TRs are mechanically identical, and Buick advertised the Turbo-T/WE4 as lighter and therefore faster than a GN. Truth be told though, depending on how the luck of the assembly line went, any one TR, may perform better than another, except for the GNX of course. (It wasn't long though before tweakers had the regular TRs running faster times.) The main differences between a GN and non-GN is the GN is all black, it has a two-tone interior, a spoiler, a console with shifter, and chrome steel wheels and of course the badges. The Regal Turbo and Limited were available in various colors with chrome bumpers and turbine style alloy wheels, no spoiler, a solid color interior and may or may not have had bucket seats and a floor shifter. Like the GN, a WE4 was all black to include the bumpers but the rest of the car was the same as the other Regals but only came with gray interior and a console with a shifter. There were much fewer non-GN TRs made than GNs, but it's the GN that has the reputation, so it is the one most people want and they bring a higher selling price. GNX prices are stratospheric. To add more confusion, the first GN's came out in '82, they were not black, and it is argued if any of them were actually turbo cars or Sports Coupes as they were called. The all-black turbo GNs were made from '84 to '87 with the intercooled cars only in '86 and '87. Buick also used the GN and T-Type names on several different models other than the Regal body style.
The actual production numbers I found for the '87 model year are:
1987
Base Regal w/Turbo 4,268
GNX 547
Grand National 20,193
Regal Limited w/Turbo 1,035
Turbo T /WE4 1,547
Source:
Buick Turbo Regal Production Figures 1978-1987
As far as the Syclone, if you don't know what that is, it's an entirely different animal. Other than being inspired by the TR and being a turbo V-6, it shares no actual DNA with it's Buick cousins. But like the GNX and the TTA, it was GMC's 1991 halo truck and the quickest production vehicle out of Detroit that year.
