Are you gonna keep trying for 10s, since you didn't break anything (I assume) or are you done with this?

well, im convinced by now that my tranny is junk again. It has about 150 miles on it. I think that this thing has been through so many times that its just wore out. So first im going to buy a stock tranny and throw it in there and raise up the pressure and see how long it lasts. Maybe itll make 1 pass. I still want a 10 second pass, but im about to give up. This thing just takes too much time and energy from my already busy schedule.

Thanks for the update...

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Choptop WideBody GT 1 of 1
4.9L-V8-Auto---almost finished

quote Originally posted by fieroX: I think ive decided to find a 1978-1981 Pontiac Le Mans. Theyre lightweight, the aftermarket for suspension parts and brakes etc is huge and I think it would be a killer sleeper setup. On a sidenote, im taking it to the track tonight for one last attempt at something great. I'll either break the record, or break the tranny. I guess we'll see soon enough what happens.

Too bad you didn't determine that a few months ago. I had a 1979 Pontiac Grand Le Mans. It's tranny was going out of it and it smoked bad too but I was originally wanting to put in a 502 cube engine in it. Took it to the junkyard instead :P

So you lock up the convertor in 3rd gear. How does it respond to that? I have the option of setting WOT lockup in my PCM but have been afraid to try it fearing the lockup convertor would come apart under WOT. I know the GN guys do it, but haven't heard of any FWD guys doing that.

I have a switch, because i dont want it doing it, unless I specify to do so. No its not so good on the converter, but whats the big deal if it shortens the life of my converter by 50% when my tranny will last only 2% of the converters life? I have an intense 4000 stall also, it has a carbon clutch inside, that wears pretty good.

I pick up about 4 mph in the 1/4 by locking the converter. Also I dyno'd 30 more hp at the wheels. With a 4000 stall, youre losing quite a few rpm through the converter. This equates to lost power. Yeah in the lower gears it helps you with the launch, but in the upper rpm's it just slows you down. Kind of like a slipping clutch in a manual. No good.

And along comes another tranny update. A good friend of mine has been talking to a tranny shop (and other auto repair, but mostly trannys) that he does alot of business with. His dad and the owner are good friends, and hes been throwing my name around for some time. Theyve seen my car a few times, and they all know about my tranny problems. Well he finally talked them into sponsoring my car with a transmission. They want me to pull my tranny out the way it sits, because they want to dissassemble it and see what all has been done and see if there is anything they can do to make it work. We told them that if they could build me a tranny that would hold for 10 consecutive passes without failure, I could sell 50 trannys for them in 1 year. Personally I dont think it will last more than 2 passes, but more power to them. The head master tech down there thinks he has the answer. I said go for it. So now im in the process of finding a bone stock tranny to throw in there. Im thinking maybe, just maybe, turning the boost down to 7 psi or so, and taking it to osage beach for the cfogi show in august. Then letting the tranny shop have the one thats in my car now. They arent going to charge me 1 cent, they just think theyre the sh1t and I told them lets see how bad you guys are. Heres the challenge of the year.

quote Originally posted by Darth Fiero: Every reason... Because I said HI-SPEED stability and handling. The Fiero's wheelbase is far too short to have good hi-speed stability. My 87 GTA with it's factory installed WS6 suspension will out-handle ANY Fiero above 60mph, and I would be willing to put money on that. Now below 60mph, the Fiero's weight advantage can help in the twisties but anything faster and that ungodly rear weight bias the Fiero has becomes a huge burden. Aside from that, my 87 Fiero can whup the crap out of my GTA.

Hi all,

I don't want to get involved in this dispute...Cuz I have no techish knowledge of stabilty at high speeds, which I hate by the way...... Though I think that at least this should come out... How much time was spent on the fiero in wind tests, or tunnels?? Vs any other car by GM....Personally though, with my ludicris knowledge of not obeying the law I think, while it could use a lil bit of aftermarked help, meaning larger wheels, the fiero is pretty solid above 60.......I mean who wouldn't want to see a race prepped fiero take on a race prepped GTA or any other car for that matter...

A nice sentiment I know, but hey it could happen...

quote Originally posted by fieroX: Im thinking maybe, just maybe, turning the boost down to 7 psi or so, and taking it to osage beach for the cfogi show in august. Then letting the tranny shop have the one thats in my car now.

That sounds like a hella good idea. Bring Amir with ya...

quote Originally posted by pavo_roddy: Hi all, I don't want to get involved in this dispute...Cuz I have no techish knowledge of stabilty at high speeds, which I hate by the way...... Though I think that at least this should come out... How much time was spent on the fiero in wind tests, or tunnels?? Vs any other car by GM....Personally though, with my ludicris knowledge of not obeying the law I think, while it could use a lil bit of aftermarked help, meaning larger wheels, the fiero is pretty solid above 60.......I mean who wouldn't want to see a race prepped fiero take on a race prepped GTA or any other car for that matter... A nice sentiment I know, but hey it could happen...

Not sure about the testing done. but I have done 138 in a GT Fiero that was pretty stock except for a turbo and some motor port work. The sussprension, wheels, brakes, body, all were stock. I will note that it was in good mechanical condition all the way around, but it actually felt pretty darn good at that speed considering how old the engineering is, and the fact that 90% of all Fieros camewith 85mph speedometers. surprisingly the stock wheels really did not feel to squishy or wobbley

i think the first concern most Fiero owners have when they reach speeds close to 100mph are the headlight doors flying up and either snapping, or scaring the crap out of you. the second happened to me in one of my GT's

quote Originally posted by pavo_roddy: Hi all, I don't want to get involved in this dispute...Cuz I have no techish knowledge of stabilty at high speeds, which I hate by the way...... Though I think that at least this should come out... How much time was spent on the fiero in wind tests, or tunnels?? Vs any other car by GM....Personally though, with my ludicris knowledge of not obeying the law I think, while it could use a lil bit of aftermarked help, meaning larger wheels, the fiero is pretty solid above 60.......I mean who wouldn't want to see a race prepped fiero take on a race prepped GTA or any other car for that matter... A nice sentiment I know, but hey it could happen...

The only reason why I made the comment that I did was because of the context in which I was making the comparison. Long wheel-base cars are inherantly more stable at higher speeds than shorter wheel-base ones. With that aside, lets talk about aerodynamics and weight. While my 87 GTA has more frontal nose area than a Fiero, it has a ton LESS drag. The fiero's vertical, flat back window causes a lot of drag as well as lift on the back of the car. The rear weight bias of the Fiero does help to counter-act this to some degree. My GTA actually has better weight distribution some people may think, although I did have it weighed with a 12" sub box in the back "trunk" area. Total weight is 3594 lbs with 54.4% of the weight in the front and 45.5% weight in the back. I can tell you that the design of my GTA's body causes a lot of downforce to plant the car, front and back, at speeds above 90 mph. I recently ran the car up past 150mph and it was extremely stable, much more so than any Fiero I have been in at speeds approaching 120mph. Now maybe your Fiero is more stable than the ones I have rode in at these higher speeds, I couldn't tell you. All I can comment on is my personal experiences.

[This message has been edited by Darth Fiero (edited 06-23-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Darth Fiero: The only reason why I made the comment that I did was because of the context in which I was making the comparison. Long wheel-base cars are inherantly more stable at higher speeds than shorter wheel-base ones. With that aside, lets talk about aerodynamics and weight. While my 87 GTA has more frontal nose area than a Fiero, it has a ton LESS drag. The fiero's vertical, flat back window causes a lot of drag as well as lift on the back of the car. The rear weight bias of the Fiero does help to counter-act this to some degree. My GTA actually has better weight distribution some people may think, although I did have it weighed with a 12" sub box in the back "trunk" area. Total weight is 3594 lbs with 54.4% of the weight in the front and 45.5% weight in the back. I can tell you that the design of my GTA's body causes a lot of downforce to plant the car, front and back, at speeds above 90 mph. I recently ran the car up past 150mph and it was extremely stable, much more so than any Fiero I have been in at speeds approaching 120mph. Now maybe your Fiero is more stable than the ones I have rode in at these higher speeds, I couldn't tell you. All I can comment on is my personal experiences.

You dont have to convince me Ryan, my 82 Z28 was quite stable at over 170mph, lowered in front, headlight covers, ground effects, 255/50/16s front and back where as my 88 coupe, lowered in front was getting light up front and starting to twitch at about 145 mph. I attribute my Z's stability to its longer wheelbase, less drag, no dead air behind the back window and the weight bias. I am sure I could improve upon my coupes aerodynamics but without some radical changes I would not be able to match the F bodies stability at high speeds

HI all,

I can understand everyone's own opionon and this will be my last post on this subject....The ferrari 355 is only 3 inches longer than a fiero...True it has a better design all around than a fiero but how many would choose a firebird over this car....Especially concerning handling......

quote Originally posted by fieroX: Besides my junk ass brakes not holding crap off the line. i need a vacuum pump for the brake booster.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/048271.html

You ought to be able to fab those brackets pretty easily. The rest of the parts come to less than $200.

Will, thanks for the info. I have some brackets for the corvette brake swap, but just havent had the time or extra money to put it together.

I am on to something though. The ultimate fiero brake upgrade without having to modify the actual mechanics of the braking system. I mean think about it. 4 wheel disc brakes are pretty decent on about any other car in history. Hell my 73 firebird with rear drums stops faster than my fiero, and it weighs almost 700 lbs more. What gives?

I will reveal my findings soon