Member Engine Poll (3 of 3) Power Output

[smog7]

horsepower isnt everything for a sports car. thats exactly why the miata, elise, exige are so awesome. and thats why i think my next car will most likely be a miata less weight = better agility, turning ability. thats why i think its stupid when car manufacturers are trying to sell "sporty" 300hp 5000lb suvs. maybe they go fast in a straight line, but they are not sport cars in any way. as you can tell, i HATE suvs. consumerism is a bitch

[JackBauer]

your right, HP isn't everything. I've taken guys with 100 or so more HP than me.
Torque however is

[Tinton]

My best friend used to have a Red 86 Fiero GT with Flowmasters and some other minor stuff done to it.

He took it off the road at 80mph and screwed the suspension and barely missed hitting a tree. I never drove it but I sat in it and that shifter would drive me NUTS !!! Its like you have to lift your hand up to get to it...And it was all loose and stuff. I don't know what the deal was. It sure sounded cool, though.

The stock shifter is a little high, so I got a short shifter that's about an inch or 2 lower. With the stock shifter you did have to reach up slightly. Now its comfortable for me. It sits on the center console and the gas tank is directly underneath, so there isn't much room and it has to sit kinda high. The suspension/steering components take up the front, the engine/transmission take up the mid-rear, and the far rear is the trunk, so the gas tank has to go in the center. So the shifter sits a little high:

Stock:

1" Short-shifter:


I was thinking of going about 2" lower than that, but I wasn't sure about going with such a short shifter with 20 year old shift linkage. Shorter is not always better, it might make it harder to shift, even though my shifting might be a little faster.

What do you mean by "loose"? I've driven other cars and they feel the same to me. .

[six]

as you can tell, i HATE suvs. consumerism is a bitch

Amen.

[Johnf514]

your right, HP isn't everything. I've taken guys with 100 or so more HP than me. Torque however is

So true. Torque and being able to put that torque on the road. HP helps more at high speed.

[eaglecatcher]

My best friend used to have a Red 86 Fiero GT with Flowmasters and some other minor stuff done to it.

He took it off the road at 80mph and screwed the suspension and barely missed hitting a tree. I never drove it but I sat in it and that shifter would drive me NUTS !!! Its like you have to lift your hand up to get to it...And it was all loose and stuff. I don't know what the deal was. It sure sounded cool, though.

The stock shifter is a little high, so I got a short shifter that's about an inch or 2 lower. With the stock shifter you did have to reach up slightly. Now its comfortable for me. It sits on the center console and the gas tank is directly underneath, so there isn't much room and it has to sit kinda high. The suspension/steering components take up the front, the engine/transmission take up the mid-rear, and the far rear is the trunk, so the gas tank has to go in the center. So the shifter sits a little high:

Stock:

1" Short-shifter:


I was thinking of going about 2" lower than that, but I wasn't sure about going with such a short shifter with 20 year old shift linkage. Shorter is not always better, it might make it harder to shift, even though my shifting might be a little faster.

What do you mean by "loose"? I've driven other cars and they feel the same to me. .

I would either get a knob, that fits lower on the shaft, or cut it, and rethread it, or get a shorter shifter. It just looks a little high to me.

[Tinton]

My best friend used to have a Red 86 Fiero GT with Flowmasters and some other minor stuff done to it.

He took it off the road at 80mph and screwed the suspension and barely missed hitting a tree. I never drove it but I sat in it and that shifter would drive me NUTS !!! Its like you have to lift your hand up to get to it...And it was all loose and stuff. I don't know what the deal was. It sure sounded cool, though.

The stock shifter is a little high, so I got a short shifter that's about an inch or 2 lower. With the stock shifter you did have to reach up slightly. Now its comfortable for me. It sits on the center console and the gas tank is directly underneath, so there isn't much room and it has to sit kinda high. The suspension/steering components take up the front, the engine/transmission take up the mid-rear, and the far rear is the trunk, so the gas tank has to go in the center. So the shifter sits a little high:

Stock:

1" Short-shifter:


I was thinking of going about 2" lower than that, but I wasn't sure about going with such a short shifter with 20 year old shift linkage. Shorter is not always better, it might make it harder to shift, even though my shifting might be a little faster.

What do you mean by "loose"? I've driven other cars and they feel the same to me. .

I would either get a knob, that fits lower on the shaft, or cut it, and rethread it, or get a shorter shifter. It just looks a little high to me.

Yeah I was originally planning on getting it rethreaded, but I was getting work done to it during the summer and didn't get time. Its my DD, I still gotta use it to get to work and college. The "short-shifter" that's in there is simply from an '84 Fiero 4-speed, its an inch lower than those from later years.

This is a friend of mine's car. He also has a '84 shifter, but he trimmed it an extra inch or 2 IIRC:


I've driven it, its smooth as butter between the gears. Mine is a little...rougher. I think I could use some new shift linkage before I try something smaller.

[violinandbass87]

scion_xA might be getting a short shifter...he said he'd know b/c his car is gone...

very smart. i told him to put it on himselft...he declined. i'm like...jomo did...he's like who??? *sigh*

[Brakefade]

161 HP for me.

[dklkse]

Man, those Fiero steering wheels are pretty damn big. Are they off of big rigs?

I'm kidding, of course they aren't, but they're huge compared to the small wheel in my Mazda. Would take me some time to get used to that...

Go 80s!

[Tinton]

Man, those Fiero steering wheels are pretty damn big. Are they off of big rigs?

I'm kidding, of course they aren't, but they're huge compared to the small wheel in my Mazda. Would take me some time to get used to that...

Go 80s!

Hey, post a picture of your steering wheel! I wanna see how small it is in comparison...

[dklkse]

Man, those Fiero steering wheels are pretty damn big. Are they off of big rigs?

I'm kidding, of course they aren't, but they're huge compared to the small wheel in my Mazda. Would take me some time to get used to that...

Go 80s!

Hey, post a picture of your steering wheel! I wanna see how small it is in comparison...

I am at work right now, and I don't have any pics of my car on this PC. I drive an '05 Mazda3. Here is a picture from Mazda's website. I'll change out this picture for one of my own car later.



EDIT: Hey, those HVAC knobs are different than the ones in my car! Must have been a future revision...

[OzZyMaN2438]

I also have another thing that is a testament to the Fiero...at least the suspension, anyway, cuz they are prone to..um..start on fire...lol

About a year ago, my buddy that I spoke of was a dumbass and was blasting down the road at a buck.20 and flew off the road at about 80mph and barely missed a bunch of trees. They managed to drive it up out of the ditch somehow, and hobble back home. The suspension was royally screwed up though, I guess. I never thought that anything from the 80's could take that kind of abuse. Maybe he was just lucky, but I'm not gonna take my car off the road like that.

[eaglecatcher]

I like small steering wheels. I feel like it get more precise turning, but maybe its just a conception.

[Tinton]

I also have another thing that is a testament to the Fiero...at least the suspension, anyway, cuz they are prone to..um..start on fire...lol

About a year ago, my buddy that I spoke of was a dumbass and was blasting down the road at a buck.20 and flew off the road at about 80mph and barely missed a bunch of trees. They managed to drive it up out of the ditch somehow, and hobble back home. The suspension was royally screwed up though, I guess. I never thought that anything from the 80's could take that kind of abuse. Maybe he was just lucky, but I'm not gonna take my car off the road like that.

lol....if mine haven't started on fire in 18+ years, I highly doubt they're just going to spontaneously combust tomorrow . I carry a bag of marshmellows and a stick in each car just in case though .

Humor aside, from what I've heard the 1984 (first model year) Fieros had bad connecting rods. That was only on the 4-cylinder engine (4cyl was only engine avail in 1984). Apparently if you let the cars run low on oil, they'd throw a rod through the block and by virtue of the mid-engine layout, in most cases the catalytic converter would be right there....oil+VERY hot catalytic converter=big flames. Supposedly the FWD cars with the same engine had the same problem with the rods, but the cat was in the rear of the car in those cases, far away from the oil.

...Are you sure he was going 120!? Because, that's about the top speed in these little cars, lol. What a n00b, no wonder he wrecked . I'm surprised he didn't die, hitting a tree at that speed would totally wrap it up into a nice little package. I'm surprised he managed to drive it at ALL after going off the road at 80. I bet the car was totaled, or else he would have had to replace the entire suspension and who knows what else.