I'm surprised that we don't see many Fieros. Does anyone know why? They ought to have good f/r balance and the V6's have decent power. Maybe the suspension mods are limited.

Just thinking about it. My sister and I were thinking of building a dedicated race vehicle for next year and the Fiero came up.

So what do you guys know about them?

Also, what do you think would be the best car for autocrossing?

We're looking for a 10+year old car so that it will be cheap, lightweight, good balance, preferably RWD, short wheel base and narrow for tight courses. Gonna gut the interior, install roll bar, pump up horse power, install super wide race tires and mod the suspension like crazy.

Most of them caught fire.....

The only ones that seemed to be worth having was the 1988 Formula Fiero that had a suspension that was done by Lotus. I'm not sure how good that car really is, but it was regarded as the only one worth looking at. What can you expect from the front of a Citation grafted onto the front of a Chevette.....

I don't have much background with them and that is all of the input I can provide. I'm sure someone will build on that (or tell me I'm nuts).

As for the Lotus suspension... if you read closely, it was not done by them... they just used a Lotus design of suspension and the big thing became a marketing scheme... same thing for the Impulse.

I owned a 1985 V6 Fiero "back in the day". It had nice gentle understeer then *SNAP* oversteer - not as balanced as you might think stock. I put the car on it's roof once... The rear suspension was mostly comprised of Chevy Citation parts and I forget what GM econobox the front was mostly comprised of. The suspension was redesigned in 1988 (the last year) and I am told that handling greatly improved though I never got to try one.

Met a lot a girls with that car "back in the day"...

I still like them.

I've pondered this as well for a future race car. You can put any Chevy small block (not Gen 3 LSx's....yet.) into one, even possibly a 383 LT4 :drive: , with just a engine mounting kit. www.v8archie.com

There's a kid up here with one... he doesn't RR or AutoX. But he did put a 3.8V6 in it - and a BFT (Big F.... Turbo). It's PDQ.

I think they are great for what you want.

Basically a production based race car.

FWIW I think they are a good fit in AP and probably FP autoxing as well. AP min weight is 1,800-1,900lbs 16x10's with slicks, and a swapped in 4.3 V6. Which under prepared rules should make around 300-375HP.

I've thought of the same project myself

A Fiero club just had a mountain cruise/ get together event in my area. There was a one Fiero at that {I was told, I didn't actually see it} event that had a LS1 in it. There was also several that had small block Chevies and I saw two that had Caddy V8s {Northstar maybe?}in them. Several with all manner of V6s, some turboed,,, some blown {3.8L Buick I think}.

Several seemed to be rather well setup for curves, wide wheels and tires,,, flares ect... There were several that I would have like to have. One of the guys with the Caddy engines said that he dynoed something like 270HP at the wheels. One guy with a regular SB Chevy said he put down something like 370 or so if I remember right. I reckon that would have to be a pretty spunky ride.

Front suspension=Chevette


I missed that part.

thats odd you posted about this b/c i was just looking at http://www.fierolt1.com like yesterday that guy put an lt1 in his. then i thought that an LS1 would not be that much of a step up in difficulty plus you get a lil more power and a weight advantage. then i thouhght that Leigenfelter 427 would be real nice in the back. heh heh ohh yea.

try to convert over a porsche 914 suspension (just cause similar size car) or elise sus. that would be a bad machine. for only 50,000

on an off note i also saw in a hod rod mag, i belive, there was a Nash Metroploitan with a 383 that put down like 390 and 10in rear tires. those cars make the fiero look big that sucker would be quick straight line.

or this i saw at street rod nationals here in louisville
http://www.studiogui.com/studiogui/Persona...nal/tinyrod.jpg

There's a local guy (a mechanic with his own shop) who has a Crosley roadster with a V8 stuffed in it. That's a small British convertible from the late 40's or early 50's, I think. It looks similiar to the early Sprites.

Unfortunately it's set up for straight lines.

That thing was SICK!! That was one of the loudest cars I saw at the whole show. That thing sounded insane, let alone weighing probably next to nothing. A blown big block in a body about the same size as the engine and slicks? I wonder what it can run on a 1/4 mi? :drive:

I met a guy at a local meet that had a LS6 and t-56 stuffed into a 3rd gen Rx-7. He said it went in with "minor" modifications, whatever that means, but did mention that the drivetrain bolted right with a shorted driveshaft ran somewhere in the 11's n/a

The answer to the original question is that the Fiero was/is a favorite "donor car" for a large number of "kit" cars. A large number have been cannabalized for parts. Same fate has taken many late model mustangs- check out the literature for the Factory-Five "Cobra" kits. Next victim in line appears to be the C-4/C-5 Vettes.

Here is my experiece seeing a Fiero at the track. I don't think it has sound though.

http://www.smittysspeedshop.com/videos/fierro_spin.wmv

Yeah maybe you could build a Fiero into a good autoX car, but stock they suck. They have a lot of reliability problems that have to be sorted out first, then the suspension has to be totally reworked. My father-in-law had one, and he claims the suspension and spring rates were set up more like a front engined car, which made it unbalanced since they are mid-engined.

A friend of mine has one that he built up with a forced induction system, but he doesn't drive it, it just sits. He says it has cooling issues, not legal for the street, and it's too twitchy to race.

We've got a couple of guys who run Fieros in autocross and open track down here. They're both stripped, full cage, Hoosiers sticking out what past the bodywork and highly modified, one's got a supercharged V6 and the other has a Chevy small block in it. I thought they looked like a blast and toyed with the idea of buying a beater and doing the V8 swap. Click on the link below there's a couple of pictures of them from last month's event in Tucson, by the way the white Camaro on page 4 is mine, and yes that is a U.S. spec Lotus Elise in the pictures.

Tucson event

The only Fiero to have is the '88 Formula. And it ain't bad. I've driven a few of them and the real trick is (of course) in the shock valving.

I had the same grudge with them... never drove one that didn't push like a tank and transistion like a motorboat. Then I drove one on Koni's that were actually setup well and started wondering if the car still couldn't run well in ES with the 2nd generation MR2.

They run pretty well given the torquey V-6 and all, and the '88 Formula's got all the suspension right...... then they killed it.

That's EXACTLY what I had in mind. You wouldn't by chance have a way to pass on my email address to them would you? I'm looking to start this build as soon as I can since I'm currently without an autocross car. If they have any tips, pointers, or even to say "RUN AWAY!!!" that would help in my decision.

thanks

chjesthe@cfl.rr.com



Wasn't the formaula just a GT in disguise? Do you sell any shocks for 'em Sam?



I'm really leaning toward the Fiero. I appreciate everyones input. I know some of you recommend against it. I still appreciate your comments too. It wouldn't be the first time I tried to swim against the current.

Koni makes shocks for the car still.

I say go for it! I always thought about doing that too... or a V8 in a 914 or Miata.