While were on SUV's, Here's my '97 Lexus LX450, AKA Land Cruiser 80 Series. It's been called the bank vault on wheels for a reason. 120K and not a rattle. Will go pretty much anywhere. Heinous fuel mileage though. That's OK. I live in oil country. Keeps my friends employed.
What a shame - the Fiero was tanking because, aside from looking unique and cool for the time, the motors were crap and the performance low. Had Ford came out with a FIero-like Yamaha engined little beast, they would have made a name for themselves (like they did with the GT). It's cars like those that build a good part of a customer base, not the flashy crap GM always out out that broke down all too soon. There's a reason even the lowly Ford Taurus, non-SHO, was so popular - and it didn't have anything to do with its looks.
I drive one to work every day and am pretty active in the community. NorthStar cars are pretty popular and do not upset the car too much....problem with most of the convertions is getting a manual hookup for the car. I like the fiero and despite being held back by the folks at GM (chevrolet) it was not a bad car for having a truck engine for the "fast" fiero and an old 4 banger for the econo version.
But, then imagine your car with that Yamaha 6 cylinder of the Ford Taurus... That would have been a race car.
It was Yamaha Motor that designed and built the SHO engine for the first gen SHO. They also did a lot of design work and the major assembly of the 3.4L V8 in the 2nd gen SHO. However the original ZR1 LT5 was not built by OMC it was built by Mercury Marine. Yamaha Motor is now building the V10 for the Lexus LF-A. The funny thing about the 90's wasn't that there was a lack of power being made by the engines being put out it was the lack of power the transmission could handle. On several occasions I have read about engines developed to make in excess of 300hp and 300lb/ft of torque and the transmissions available couldn't handle it so they were forced to de-tune the motor for the reliability of the tranny. One of the most underrated cars of the 90's was the Buick Roadmaster Estate. They came with an LT1 tuned to 260hp and were totally a sleeper for anyone that drove them. A few simple engine modifications would really wake them up. I had a chance to drive one a few years back and laying rubber in a big ol wagon never gets old
Rut tried selling it on ebay a while back but it didn't sell so I guess he's keeping it for now. <object width="480" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.history.com/flash/VideoPlayer.swf?vid=7900514301"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.history.com/flash/VideoPlayer.swf?vid=7900514301" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="480" height="340"></embed></object>
look up Cleit Arschambol(?) .. He did the first ones back in the 80... he had some things figured out...
Yes it would...I remember talk about the quad 4 going into the car...more power then the truck engine and lighter too shame Chevy had it killed...still the only car in GM history that was killed because of projected losses
V8Archie.com He laid the foundation of what the Fiero should have been. Slap an Aluminum V8 in there and you have quite the rocket car. I was really close to buying a Fiero to do a V8 swap into many years ago. I bought a new motorcycle instead.
yep I remember when he did the first proto type.. He used it to set up and SBR SCCA trap rally back in the day.. holy crap... that was a fun rally ... I forgot he had that web site.. I think it is time to drag the Fitch covair out....
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/custom-built/1989-ford-shogun/ There was a pretty ugly (but apparently quite functional) homebrewed version in the GRM $200x Challenge a few years back.
Yep. That was the story w/ the supercharged Buick Rivieras of that era. Best with 3 pedals! Quite a few of 'em out there with the T56 6-speed conversion. Kits available here, http://www.f2bkit.com/ Go to the Impala SS forum for more info. http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/index.php & check out the Roadmaster and Wagon sub forums. In fact there's one on Craigs right now. http://ottumwa.craigslist.org/cto/2905738147.html 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon- 110,000 miles. LT1 350. all stock runs great and leaks zero fluids. 9 passenger. Full T56 six speed swap installed out of a 96 Camaro with an F2B kit. Brand new clutch hydraulics.trans was rebuilt with new synchros. Spec billet flywheel and stage 1 clutch. Denny's 3.5 inch aluminum driveshaft with heavy duty u-joints. Clear image automotive tubular crossmember. Clear image automotive driveshaft loop. motive 4.56 gears. Eaton locker. 18 inch coys wheels with good tires. new axles. hurst shifter. hotchkis lowering springs. Billstein shocks. Stock exhaust with Flowmasters. Computer re-flashed for the 6 spd...all mods have less than 4000 miles.the only things it needs are the power locks fixed and it's missing one trim piece on the passenger side pillar. set the cruise and run down the highway in 6th gear all day long.. E-mail or call/text six four one seven nine nine two one two three. looking to sell or trade <!-- START CLTAGS --> <!-- CLTAG GeographicArea=Ottumwa --> <!-- END CLTAGS --><TABLE summary="craigslist hosted images"><TBODY><TR><TD align=center></TD><TD align=center></TD></TR><TR><TD align=center></TD><TD align=center></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Otis
I worked in the undustry in the late '80's. I had blueprints on my desk showing the Fiero with a 3.4L double overhead cam V6 installed. Too bad it never happened, probably would have been a Corvette killer, never mind the Camero/Firebird.
I owned one of those 3.4L V6's in my Grand Prix GT. Supposedly that motor, which was based off the quad four, was making 275hp during development. In production form it was 215hp.
I miss my quad-4. Say what you will about it, the Beretta GTZ, or that piss poor example of a rally car, but it was still a hell of a lot of fun. (Car and driver called the GTZ an M3 with a $20k rebate. )