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Pontiac Fiero


Colin

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Small, mid engine two seater made from 1984 to 1988. the GT version had a Chevrolet 2.8 L V6 engine rated at 140 hp (104 kW) with 160 ft.lbs. of torque.

Always loved this car - but too damn small for my comfort and safety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Fiero

http://www.fierostore.com/

What was the body type? Didn't they use a new scratch resistant polymer resin mold, like the Saturns?

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Fiero's (4 and 6 cyls) had bad problems with heat build up and overheating issues in general. Engineers figured out how to fix it but GM didn't want to develop new parts. They had to use off the shelf stuff to build the vehicles. Consequently they died an ugly death but not before several recalls. I kinda liked the looks of them though.

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I have a 1988 Fiero Formula. It's the base coupe body style with the GT V6 drivetrain and suspension. Mine has 177,000 miles on the original drivetrain and is still driven regularly.

The Fiero is a great little car for it's time, but you'll find a LOT of misinformation out there about them. Many people think they're too small to be safe, but they had a 5 Star front crash safety rating, without an airbag. The only other cars of the era to do that were Volvo.

The body panels are made from "Sheet Moulded Compound" or SMC for short. It's the same material Saturn used, as well as Corvettes and some body parts on 4th Generation Firebirds and Camaros. I've never seen one have any panels distort from heat unless it was on fire. [;)] And no, they didn't all catch fire. [:P]

Check out http://www.fiero.nl - the world's largest online Fiero community. You can find a wealth of information there and cut through all the hearsay, rumors, and wive's tails and get to the real facts. Things like the '88 Fiero GT having a "Lotus Designed Suspension" - myth. Lotus never had anything to do with any Fiero. I don't know where the rumor started, but it's a common error.

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Reminds me of a friends Triumph TR 7.

And we all know that nothing should ever remind you of that. Triumph made some nice cars....TR-7 wasn't one of them.

Your right I liked the 6 better any way, but my favorite was one I had, 1969 Datsun 2000, 2000cc, 120ci 135 hp, dual 1barrel carbs, headers, overhead cam, 5 speed convertible and really fun to drive.

Looks like this one but red.

post-11804-1381949922394_thumb.jpg

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I had a Triumph GT6+ back in the 70's. Think Spitfire with a hardtop. It was an absolute blast to drive and fine to look at, but with all things made by British Leyland at the time, I was always tinkering with the electrical. Thinking about it reminds me of a common joke from "back in the day". "Why do Brits drink warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators."

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Didn't the GT's take some sort of strange engine oil weight (for the time anyway)? 20w50 maybe?

Nope, just regular 5w-30. Although I think 5w-30 was fairly new at the time, most cars still used 10w-30.

Mechancially there was very little difference between the Fiero and every GM front wheel drive vehicle. The 84-87 models essentially used a Chevette front suspension and Citation rear suspension, engine, transmission, etc. In '88 it got a redesigned suspension specific to the Fiero that vastly improved ride and handling, with improved larger vented brakes, redesigned suspension geometry, etc. But by then it was too late to save the car.

The GT engine - GM's 2.8L V6 was specific to the Fiero. It had a higher lift cam and better flowing heads than the regular 2.8 V6. It came from the Citation X-11 program that was working on a high output V6 starting back in 1980. The Fiero continued that and added multi-port fuel injection to replace the carbureator used on the Citation X-11. The Fiero GT was rated at 140 HP in 1985. By comparison, the base V8 engine in the Trans Am that year was a 5.0L with 145HP.

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Reminds me of a friends Triumph TR 7.

And we all know that nothing should ever remind you of that. Triumph made some nice cars....TR-7 wasn't one of them.

Your right I liked the 6 better any way, but my favorite was one I had, 1969 Datsun 2000, 2000cc, 120ci 135 hp, dual 1barrel carbs, headers, overhead cam, 5 speed convertible and really fun to drive.

Looks like this one but red.

I had one of those...wish i had kept it now. Still have a set of Dellorto side draft carbs and manifold from it.
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" I had one of those...wish i had kept it now. Still have a set of Dellorto side draft carbs and manifold from it."

Fun car, I wish I had kept mine also. My Dad worked on airplanes and helicopters and had the little thing you put on the carbs to adjust the flow of air to get them adjusted exactly the same. It was just like a ball in a vertical tube, but after he adjusted them it felt like 25 more HP. He liked driving it also, he would drive it to work sometimes, he would always liked playing with cars.

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