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| Found a hilarious anti-Fiero comment posted recently on YouTube (Page 1/4) |
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Patrick
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NOV 30, 11:59 PM
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I was reading the comments below WORST CARS IN U.S. HISTORY! on YouTube, and the following post made me laugh. I responded, which has led to the following exchange (so far)...
| quote | Originally posted by Robert Monger:
The Pontiac "Fiero" belongs on this list. I had an 84 that caught fire 3 times before it had 3,000 miles on it. A rear engine car with the radiator in the front (trunk) meant you could roast a turkey along with whatever luggage you happened to be carrying and could even get hot enough to pop the spare tire. There was no airflow into the rear engine compartment so heat would build up and melt the wiring harness. The fuel tank was inside the console between the seat so the last fire mine had made me feel lucky I got out before the whole thing turned itself into a puddle.
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| quote | Originally posted by Patrick:
LOL... never heard some of this nonsense before. Spare tires popping and wiring harnesses melting from the heat. Ha ha, funny stuff!
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| quote | Originally posted by Robert Monger:
The last time I saw that car was just after the positive battery cable's insulation got soft enough to split and short to the metal clip holding it to the chassis-thus causing a general conflagration in the engine compartment that took out the entire wiring harness.
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| quote | Originally posted by Patrick:
So, it was actually a fire started by a shorted battery cable then that melted your wiring harness? Was it this same fire that popped your spare tire? Sorry, but having owned several Fieros over the last 25 years, I've heard about every bogus claim made against them. For anyone who wishes to learn some FACTS about the Pontiac Fiero, check out Pennock's Fiero Forum. Pennock's has been THE Fiero resource to turn to for the last 22 years. (Can't supply a link as YouTube will delete the entire post.)
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| quote | Originally posted by Zach Renner:
WOW! I'm pretty sure you (Robert Monger) did not own a Fiero and are just vaguely aware of the mechanics/physics of automobiles. Let me explain: The burst pressure of a typical tire is around 200psi and it takes an increase of about 50degF to increase the pressure by 5degF…. Do the math; you be closer to melting the tire first. At which point all the weaker rubber coolant hoses fail first among a host of other things. And since in a Fiero the spare tire is mounted in a sealed compartment apart from the radiator. This has NEVER happened. Having the radiator mounted in the front actually provides additional cooling capacity and prevents heat soaking (from engine heat) in low speed and idle conditions.
You also appear to be unaware of the large vents above the Fiero engine bay that allow for natural convection cooling while still which then becomes forced at speed by the vacuum created by the notched rear area.
The center tunnel area was one of the strongest parts of the car and the safest place for the fuel tank. This being one of the many reasons it received such high crash test ratings, only to be beaten by one model of Volvo with air bags.
The battery cable fire (in your other comment), while plausible, is also likely fabbed given the factory cable had a fusible link and cables don’t just get soft and split unless the owner let it get severely corroded with battery acid.
With a little Fiero knowledge you could have easily came up with a better story and said you had one of the early ‘84s with the incorrect dip stick that led the ol’ Iron Duke to starve itself of oil, split and catch fire…
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| quote | Originally posted by Patrick:
Zach Renner, you nailed it. Good post. It's rather pathetic how people who've never owned a Fiero love to post utter BS about them.
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[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 12-06-2021).]
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cvxjet
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DEC 01, 01:17 AM
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It never ceases to amaze me the amount of BS-crap out there about our Fieros; "They all catch fire!!!!", 'Fieros have the worst quality", "Fieros have the worst safety record", etc
A) The Fiero has a better fire safety record than the average for all cars. Only 260 caught fire from the factory defects- all 1984s.
B) Only ONE Volvo had a better safety rating in the 80s than the Fiero.
C) The Fiero was the first US-made car to use the Deming TQM system (The quality system an AMERICAN taught the Japanese)
D) The Fiero performed as good as a Normal-asp RX-7 and BETTER than the NA 300ZX.
Car & Drivel was the main source of this BS- Their shtick was to "Hate anything American" David E. Davis, head editor, was berated by the publisher for saying good things about the Lincoln MK VII when it came out- so he quit CD and started Automobile magazine.
I show people the 1987 R & T Sports and GT special edition magazine Fiero GT test by Peter Egan and they always state "I never read this- it makes the Fiero sound like a good car!" Link; https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/099448.html[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 12-01-2021).]
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da.slyboy
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DEC 02, 10:55 AM
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When people make these wild claims, I often assume they have never owned a Fiero and are just trolling based on poor google searches to attract views.
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jmbishop
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DEC 04, 03:05 PM
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Story tellers exist everywhere. They often pick niche things like the fiero because it already has a stigma and they are much less likely to be fact checked. If you ever want to identify these people (there are likely some here that will try to respond and argue) one of the best bait topics that they can't resist is paintball. They all froze paintballs or know someone who did despite that not being the case. I've definitely known a few story tellers that grew out of it, but some never will. [This message has been edited by jmbishop (edited 12-04-2021).]
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Valkrie9
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DEC 05, 03:20 AM
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InTheLead
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DEC 05, 06:26 AM
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I've run into many of these types, I choose to ignore them usually. The Fiero was catapulted into 'easy territory' for haters when Ralph Nader used the Fiero for his political gain.. unfortunately. I've been putting up with these pissant plebeians ever since. There's always some loud mouth, no matter where you go, that knows it all and declares the Fiero a fire hazard, a death trap, a Chevette with plastic body panels and on and on..
But even worse I find is within the community, either current owners of Fieros and or people who'd previously owned one, that constantly troll and belittle, devalue and basically insult any and everything in what's left of the community. At the end of the day I just *usually* ignore it.
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Patrick
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DEC 05, 04:28 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by InTheLead:
The Fiero was catapulted into 'easy territory' for haters when Ralph Nader used the Fiero for his political gain...
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I was unaware that Ralph Nader had made an issue of the Fiero. 
Ralph Nader's book, Unsafe at Any Speed, was published in 1965, and targeted the Chevrolet Corvair.
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Valkrie9
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DEC 05, 05:42 PM
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cvxjet
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DEC 05, 07:12 PM
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Ralphy "Naidir" wrote his book- basically a hate book about GM and American auto industry. He centered most of his hate on the Corvair, which was dangerous because of the rear-engine design and swing-axle rear suspension. Never complained about the VW bug (Same lay-out/suspension) or the 911 (Rear engine)....
In 1973 the NHTSA tested the 1st-gen Corvair against the '73 cars- The Corvair was better handling and SAFER than all of the new cars!
And good ole Ralphy- He never had a license, never drove a car! Can you spell.....I*M*B*E*C*I*L*E?
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Skybax
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DEC 05, 09:56 PM
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