jedi@drutx.UUCP (CrumpleyR) (05/07/85)
>skin deep. Let's take a look under that plastic... > >Front Suspension: Borrowed from a Chevy Chevette! >Rear Suspension: Borrowed from a Chevy Citation! (X-body suspension) >Hi-Tech Interior: Seats are from a Pontiac J2000 (Chevette Twin) >Engine: 2.5L "Iron Duke" - modified version of > an old Chevy Vega Engine This could be interesting -- the front suspension from a rear-wheel drive and the rear suspension from a front- wheel drive. No wonder it is a dog -- you must have to operate this car like Fred Flintstone did his, with your feet hanging through the floor!
adb@houxk.UUCP (A.BERENBAUM) (05/07/85)
Ok, Ok, let's try and be reasonable. Although I agree that the Fiero suspension is not all it could be, tre is nothing intrinsically wrong with the front end off of a Chevette -- it's an independent suspension of a fairly standard design. As for the front-end of an X-car, flipped around, this technique has been used before (I think). Again, unless you can point a finger at a problem with the geometry, there is nothing inherently bad about it. Perhaps the base seats are similar to those on a J2000 (which is *not* a Chevette clone), but the upscale seates (which most Fieros come with) are rather nice. The "Iron Duke" may be something' of an antique, but the Chevy V-6, cast-iron block, pushrods and all, puts out more horsepower per liter than a lot of more "sophisticated" engines. I grump too that the Fiero is not quite the car I wanted, but let's give credit where credit is due. If the country didn't like the car so much, inadequate as it may be, perhaps the changes would come in faster. By the way, Road and Track reports that the 2.9liter turbocharged aluminum V6, which GM told Pontiac to scuttle because it was "too powerful", has been seen inside of prototype Fieros. With 200+ horsepower, the Fiero outdrags Corvettes and Porsches. Alan Berenbaum houxk!adb
mary@bunkerb.UUCP (Mary Shurtleff) (05/09/85)
> The "Iron Duke" may be something' > of an antique, but the Chevy V-6, cast-iron block, pushrods and all, puts > out more horsepower per liter than a lot of more "sophisticated" engines. > If you're talking about the 2.8 liter 6 that puts out 140 HP, you're wrong. It puts out 50 HP/liter. There are lots of cars around that do much much better than that. To name only a few, the Nissan 300ZX(160HP, 3 liters), and 300ZX turbo(200HP, 3 liters), Volvo (2.1 liters, 110 HP) and Volvo turbo (2.1 liters, 160 HP) ,Saab (110 HP, 2 liters) and Saab turbo (160 HP, 2 liters). If you start talking about big bucks, look at some of Porsche's engines, such as the one in the 959 (2.8 liters, 400+ HP). The Fiero has a long way to go before its engine will be either powerful per liter or sophisticated. M. Shurtleff