Were 1980s cars really that bad?

[earntaz]

Originally Posted by flyingn

of ALL the cars of the 80's THIS F body was far and away the fastest and best handling. Had the 1LE brakes and suspension.

Those were fine looking Pontiacs ...

[ZAPPER68]

Interesting thread...as mentioned the ad is hilarious. Back in the day I was talked into buying an '80 Turbo Trans Am, WS6, T tops and 3 little amber lights (on the hood) to tell you the turbo was giving you the ride of your life. Not!

It handled as one would expect with the WS6 suspension but was the most gutless V8 car man had devised. The car would corner like it was on rails but was an absolute slug! Buyer beware...

[markinnaples]

Originally Posted by flyingn

of ALL the cars of the 80's THIS F body was far and away the fastest and best handling. Had the 1LE brakes and suspension.

Always loved those 1989 TTA's; I had my Camaro out over last weekend and one of those pulled up next to me in traffic. Looked to be a DD and wasn't particularly clean, but I'd loved to have owned it.

[old5.0]

Originally Posted by The Boss

You do know that most of that was due to tire technology right?

My Pure Stock 71 GT-37 ran a 13.25 this weekend at Norwalk and still has more in it if the driver can get better - there is no way in stock form your IROC (or mine for that matter) will ever do that.

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Understanding that there's a difference between Pure Stock and actual as-delivered-off-the-showroom-floor vehicles, a Pure Stock legal roller cam 5.0 will run low 13's, so what is it about the TPI Chevy that would keep it from doing that?

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by old5.0

Just out of curiosity, why is that? Understanding that there's a difference between Pure Stock and actual as-delivered-off-the-showroom-floor vehicles, a Pure Stock legal roller cam 5.0 will run low 13's, so what is it about the TPI Chevy that would keep it from doing that?

Off the top of my head, Pure Stock allows an added point and a half of compression, gear ratio changes, bigger exhaust, carb tuning, bigger tires, etc.

[old5.0]

Originally Posted by Chazman

Off the top of my head, Pure Stock allows an added point and a half of compression, gear ratio changes, bigger exhaust, carb tuning, bigger tires, etc.

That's my understanding as well. A roller cam 5 speed Fox coupe with those mods could crack 12s with a very good driver before the factory Goodyears become an insurmountable obstacle, so I'm curious as to why a TPI Camaro can't at least get in the bottom half of the 13s.

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by old5.0

That's my understanding as well. A roller cam 5 speed Fox coupe with those mods could crack 12s with a very good driver before the factory Goodyears become an insurmountable obstacle, so I'm curious as to why a TPI Camaro can't at least get in the bottom half of the 13s.

Here's a Motorweek road test of an '89 G92, dual cat, LB9, 5 speed with a 3.45 gear.

This is the fastest one I've ever remember seeing from the day and may not be representative of the typical production car - but they got a 13.9 second 1/4 mile.



https://youtu.be/aCL-odNmuGA

There were a number of free/cheap mods on the TPI back in the day, (similar to the 5.0 Mustang), which could REALLY wake it up.

[old5.0]

Originally Posted by Chazman

Here's a Motorweek road test of an '89 G92, dual cat, LB9, 5 speed with a 3.45 gear.

This is the fastest one I've ever remember seeing from the day and may not be representative of the typical production car - but they got a 13.9 second 1/4 mile.



https://youtu.be/aCL-odNmuGA

There were a number of free/cheap mods on the TPI back in the day, (similar to the 5.0 Mustang), which could REALLY wake it up.

Yeah, I remember back in the late 80's MCR testing a 350 Iroc and running a 14.2 or 14.1, and all that jibes with the fastest 5.0 road tests I remember from back then:

85: Autoweek, 85 GT 5 speed car with A/C, 14.38@92

86: Car Craft, 86 LX coupe, 5 speed, no A/C 14.33@97 (with 2.73 gears)

87: Cars Illustrated, 87 LX hatch, no A/C 5 Speed radio delete, 13.73@101(?)

I also recall SSDI going 14 flat at 100 mph in a stock 87 hatch with air and Hot Rod (maybe) going 13.9x in a stripper LX coupe.

I suppose you could argue that those results aren't typical, but you could make that argument about things like 12 second Hemi cars, as well. Depends on how they're optioned, maintained and driven. I've been messing around with these piles of junk for the better part of 30 years, and putting a near stock Fox into the 12's just isn't particularly difficult. I can't imagine what would make it so hard (or near impossible) on a 3rd Gen, but I don't know near as much about them.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Chazman

Off the top of my head, Pure Stock allows an added point and a half of compression, gear ratio changes, bigger exhaust, carb tuning, bigger tires, etc.

It does, but mine is pure stock - other than running a 3:73 rear gear (available) and playing with the weights & springs in the transmission governor to shift at 5200rpm, there are no tricks or changes from stock in my car.

My comparison above was intended to be stock vs stock & I maintain that although they may run with the older cars, the older cars will beat them on a strip (no way in the curves).

[Chazman]

Originally Posted by The Boss

It does, but mine is pure stock - other than running a 3:73 rear gear (available) and playing with the weights & springs in the transmission governor to shift at 5200rpm, there are no tricks or changes from stock in my car.

My comparison above was intended to be stock vs stock & I maintain that although they may run with the older cars, the older cars will beat them on a strip (no way in the curves).

I don't know, that depends. So many people are under the impression that cars of the era were all super fast like an LS6, 4 speed, Chevelle or Hemi 'Cuda or other "hero" cars. The fact of the matter was that the majority of "muscle cars" of the day were more or less of the milk toast variety and could barely run in the 15's.

But I get you point, Chris.