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RE: The Fiero. I think the Fiero was actually a good car, and the final models rectified what was wrong with the original version, but the damage had already been done. Both that car and the C4 Corvette are examples of very good designs that were ruined by corporate idiocy, and exemplify everything that was wrong with GM in the 1980s.
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Jul 27, 2013 21:36
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I think the Cadillac Cimarron is what represents 80s GM failure the best. In today's money it cost $30,634 for a loving J-body.
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Jul 28, 2013 01:15
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animeliker posted:Every time I see "A/C just needs a recharge" I have an aneurysm. Even when it's true...why exactly do they think it would need to be recharged?
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Jul 28, 2013 01:21
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G-Mach posted:I think the Cadillac Cimarron is what represents 80s GM failure the best. In today's money it cost $30,634 for a loving J-body. There are far too many cars that represent 80s GM failure. Let's not forget that GM killed diesel cars for an entire generation of americans.
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Jul 28, 2013 01:21
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animeliker posted:RE: The Fiero. I think the Fiero was actually a good car, and the final models rectified what was wrong with the original version, but the damage had already been done. Both that car and the C4 Corvette are examples of very good designs that were ruined by corporate idiocy, and exemplify everything that was wrong with GM in the 1980s. I think the later C4 Vettes with the wrap-around lights are incredibly good-looking. Supplied with an LT1 or LT4 they are potent enough to be fun as well.
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Jul 28, 2013 01:37
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I would love a post-facelift C4 with an LS swap.
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Jul 28, 2013 01:38
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G-Mach posted:I think the Cadillac Cimarron is what represents 80s GM failure the best. In today's money it cost $30,634 for a loving J-body. The Cimarron, along with most of the garbage from that decade, were never good cars. The Fiero and early C4 were pretty good despite having being designed during Roger B. Smith's tenure; but even then they had their flaws (4+3 Transmission on the Corvette, the general quality, performance, and reliability of the Fiero until the 1988 Model Year.) Yes, the Post-1989 C4 Corvettes were very good looking cars, and had even better performance. The Fiero had good styling too. Human Grand Prix fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jul 28, 2013 |
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Jul 28, 2013 01:43
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animeliker posted:Every time I see "A/C just needs a recharge" I have an aneurysm. The compressor has seized, there is an enormous hole in the condenser, and the lines are all corroded and plugged with stop-leak. And it just needs a recharge.
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Jul 28, 2013 03:01
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I'm a big LT1 fan and am thinking about a backup car. Actual gold? http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/ctd/3921471434.html 
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Jul 28, 2013 05:04
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"low miles" is craigslist code for 300,000
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Jul 28, 2013 05:06
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Powershift posted:"low miles" is craigslist code for 300,000 Looks like 300,000 well-maintained miles, if the picture is any indication.
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Jul 28, 2013 05:07
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slidebite posted:Don't care what anyone says, to this day I'd love a stock 88 GT I drove an 88 and it was decent but nothing amazing. I haven't driven many mid-engined cars, but the Fiero was the least mid-enginey. I wonder how much worse the pre-suspension revision Fieros drove.
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Jul 28, 2013 05:09
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From what I've read/heard, basically like a Chevette mixed with an X-body.
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Jul 28, 2013 05:10
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Close, the Front-end of a Fiero was taken from a Chevette and the rear was basically the front-end of a Celebrity IIRC.
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Jul 28, 2013 06:20
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Citation. X-Body.
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Jul 28, 2013 06:54
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So it is, could have sworn I remember reading otherwise though. Looking it up though led me to find claims that GM was considering putting the Quad 4 in the Fiero in 89 if they hadn't ended up axing it after 88. That makes me really, really sad...
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Jul 28, 2013 06:59
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Powershift posted:There are far too many cars that represent 80s GM failure. Let's not forget that GM killed diesel cars for an entire generation of americans. GM killed diesel cars?
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Jul 28, 2013 07:13
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cormorant posted:GM killed diesel cars? They made a couple that were so horrifically bad that it took decades for diesel passenger cars to gain even the slightest bit of mainstream recognition as something other than slow, stinky, smoke-belching turds.
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Jul 28, 2013 07:44
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Q_res posted:So it is, could have sworn I remember reading otherwise though. Also, 200HP+ DOHC V6.
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Jul 28, 2013 08:50
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Why does parts-binning a sports car always turn out so badly for US automakers? The Prowler, the Capri, the Fiero (at first at least), the Solstice/Sky (not as good as they should have been, and that hilarious trunk). The Viper might be called a success if you call building a car around a truck engine parts-binning. Meanwhile, Miata.
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Jul 28, 2013 09:26
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Yeah the MR2 is basically a backwards Corolla and it turned out great. The Fiero did turn out well, but it took 4 years.
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Jul 28, 2013 09:33
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I think the sky is a great car, whats wrong with the trunk? I despise tops with electric motors to put them up and down, and it has the advantage over the miata of the top being protected from the sun and elements by the bodywork. Miata tops dont usually last long as a result, although there are exceptions
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Jul 28, 2013 15:04
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Plus its insanely easy to make good power from the 2.0L turbo LNF motor.
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Jul 28, 2013 15:24
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MattD1zzl3 posted:I think the sky is a great car, whats wrong with the trunk? I despise tops with electric motors to put them up and down, and it has the advantage over the miata of the top being protected from the sun and elements by the bodywork. Miata tops dont usually last long as a result, although there are exceptions The trunk has a great big hump in the middle for the differential. It looks like a regular-sized roadster trunk that comes 2/3 pre-filled. It basically has the trunk space of a Fiero, or MR2 which is to say, not completely useless, but considerably less than its FR competitors. Maybe it has comparable volume on paper, but only if you're trying to haul that volume of sand.
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Jul 28, 2013 16:04
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cormorant posted:GM killed diesel cars? the Oldsmobile 5.7l V8 diesel. This train wreck was a converted gas motor that was around from the late 70s to the mid 80s. It was a pile of poo poo, and became common enough that that's what your average american thought is meant to have a diesel in a car. It was an underpowered, smokey, leaky, breaky pile of poo poo that was under engineered and rushed out the door in response to the 70s fuel crisis.
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Jul 28, 2013 16:21
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I seem to recall reading that they were good blocks for converting to gas and running as drag engines, though.
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Jul 28, 2013 16:24
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^Yep, an Olds 350 block with a poo poo-ton of extra webbing cast in.VideoTapir posted:Why does parts-binning a sports car always turn out so badly for US automakers? animeliker posted:Yeah the MR2 is basically a backwards Corolla and it turned out great. Consider the parts bin. Chevette/Citation/Cavalier/whatever =/= Corolla. Ever seen an '80s GM interior?
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Jul 28, 2013 16:34
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VideoTapir posted:The Viper might be called a success if you call building a car around a truck engine parts-binning. The V10 they made for the first Viper was an original design, not an off the shelf truck motor.
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Jul 28, 2013 16:46
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Motronic posted:the Oldsmobile 5.7l V8 diesel. This train wreck was a converted gas motor that was around from the late 70s to the mid 80s. The Internet says that the LF9 was only based on the 350ci gas V8, not actually converted from it. The block was completely different aside from bore/stroke and external dimensions, was made from high-nickel iron and had space for a much fatter crankshaft etc. http://www.sub5zero.com/great-moments-crappy-engine-history-oldsmobile-350-diesel-w-video/ The real downfall was the crappy torque-to-yield head bolts that were used and particularly re-used (very bad idea) by mechanics who didn't know better. It's not a bad engine design as such, it just had one or two really glaring faults that killed it off. With a couple of modifications, it's a decent enough and relatively fuel-efficient engine for the time it was made.
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Jul 28, 2013 17:47
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VideoTapir posted:The trunk has a great big hump in the middle for the differential. It looks like a regular-sized roadster trunk that comes 2/3 pre-filled. It basically has the trunk space of a Fiero, or MR2 which is to say, not completely useless, but considerably less than its FR competitors. Maybe it has comparable volume on paper, but only if you're trying to haul that volume of sand. all the golf bag and trunk chat reminded me of this little tidbit I learned recently about the last gen RS6.  "Vell, let us put ze battery in ze trunk for superior weight distribution!" "OK, I put it in the trunk, now what?" "Now what what?"
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Jul 29, 2013 01:47
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The battery in the Cobalt SS and IRL (not sure about the base models) is in the trunk under the floorboard next to the spare tyre 
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Jul 29, 2013 05:20
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Tusen Takk posted:The battery in the Cobalt SS and IRL (not sure about the base models) is in the trunk under the floorboard next to the spare tyre Yeah, but Pontiac and Saturn also came up with this.  Dunno where the battery is, but I'm guessing they couldn't fit it in there. edit: Oh. 
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Jul 29, 2013 06:07
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I think that would be great for carrying around Legos and that's about all I can think of.
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Jul 29, 2013 06:09
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Sure, trunk space obviously isn't your first consideration if you're shopping for a roadster, but the Solstice/Sky is pretty comically bad on that front.
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Jul 29, 2013 08:15
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My old Stratus had a battery in a ridiculous location (pic not of my particular car).
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Jul 29, 2013 09:26
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JaysonAych posted:My old Stratus had a battery in a ridiculous location (pic not of my particular car). The 98+ intrepid had it in the same basic spot but on the passenger side. It.couldn't be removed like that though, you have to remove the airbox and then wiggle it up and out while trying not to ground it out on the metal. Veeb0rg fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Jul 29, 2013 |
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Jul 29, 2013 09:54
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KozmoNaut posted:The Internet says that the LF9 was only based on the 350ci gas V8, not actually converted from it. The block was completely different aside from bore/stroke and external dimensions, was made from high-nickel iron and had space for a much fatter crankshaft etc. IIRC they didn't use a filter for the fuel system that took the water out of the lovely diesel that was prevalent in the US at the time which made things decidedly unreliable. Surprised no one's mentioned the Cadillac's L62 with the 8-6-4 cylinder deactivation system that was so unreliable most dealers disabled it from the factory.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:56
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Get ready to projectile vomit from every orifice as what I have today for your view displeasure is not just your regular misshapen modified BMW e30. Nope, for just less than $40,000 you can own a BMW neoclassic abortionmobile. http://www.autotraderclassics.com/find/vehicle/vehicleDetail.xhtml?adId=1164124&conversationId=683183     
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Jul 29, 2013 16:50
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Oddly what surprises me about that is how little they changed the sheetmetal. The rear is very obviously still an E30 and the profile is a disjointed trainwreck. By that I mean, more of a trainwreck than those types of kits usually are.
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Jul 29, 2013 16:55
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JaysonAych posted:My old Stratus had a battery in a ridiculous location (pic not of my particular car). Those rotors. 
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Jul 29, 2013 17:17
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