If you ever see a clean Turbo Daytona for sale, and you're sure it's not a hallucination, BUY IT! Have a safe and happy 4th of July. Find us on your TV @ www.motorweek.org/about/statio...
I scrubbed toilets and cleaned office buildings for 2 years in high school so that I could buy a used 84 Turbo Z in my junior year in 1988. I drove that thing like a madman. Being 17 years old and blasting my way from Michigan to Daytona Beach, Miami, and Key West for Spring Break 1988 was something that I hopefully never forget. I drove the piss out of that car and loved every bit of it. This video definitely makes me smile.
These were great in the snow and on ski trips, the front drive went up hills and snow storms like a snow plow and it was fun to drive. We had a dodge lancer ES turbo and after the rebuilt transmission slipped out of warranty, we thought about keeping it for winter driving as back up but found the heads were cracked at 159k, so we reluctantly let it go. what a fun car it was, the hatch back on these could carry with seat folded down , a great car with memories! On the freeway, they could surprise many a corvette and v8 pony car. Loved the digital dash too!
Mine was the 85' Chrysler Laser XT with digital readout dash, 2.2 Turbo, T tops, 5 speed, with an awesome sound system. It doesn't run anymore, but I still have it.
For those complaining about its performance, you obviously didn’t live through the 80s. A Fiesta ST is just as fast, and handles and brakes better than an 84 Corvette. Let that sink in.
I wonder why tuner culture never seemed to bother with these, now that we live in the age of turbo-charging for performance. that might be seen as a blessing as exteriors wouldn't be littered with trendy design add-ons that really showed their time, but what about tuning and handling improvements.
I was stationed overseas when this came out. PCS's back stateside and wanted to buy one. No dealer had one. So they let me order one to my spec's, no charge. Yep, that car was built just for me! I love that car, it was fun to drive and got great gas mileage.
*Yes me too b bab, As I had an ''1986'' red on black Dodge-Daytona model, with rear hatch window louvers! And although not, the fastest little ride she was easy on the eyes !*
These were great cars. Especially with the 2.2 Turbo II later with forged internals and an intercooler. 175hp in 1987 (ish) was very good as long as you got the 5 spd stick.
Strong Tower Lawn Care my dad had an '88 LeBaron convertible with the 2.2 Turbo. Terribly unreliable, but still a great car. Surprised it had a drivers side airbag like Mercedes did back then
Strong Tower Lawn Care Ours had 216k miles. But the odometer wasn't working for years. It probably had closer to 300k. And a salvage title. Guess I can't complain. But that thing broke down on a monthly basis. Fuel pump, head gasket, you name it. My dad sold it and ended up buying an identical one a few years later, except it was a 1993. Much more reliable than the 1988, but still crappy lol
I had an 85 Dodge Shelby Charger with the same Turbo I at 142 HP. Then an 88 Daytona Shelby Z with the Turbo II at 174 HP = both were great cars and I had no trouble with either. For the day, they were fast, sleek, and I felt that a FWD 4-banger was the way of the future ... which was certainly faster off the line than a 5.0 'stang or an IROC-Z. Yes, they'd catch you at higher speed, but you would destroy them in an 1/8 mile sprint! Some folks made a big deal out of 'torque steer', but I never found it to be an issue at all. My '88 Daytona had the optional enthusiast driver's seat, which had dropped the pump ball and had an electric control panel on the front right seat bolster to move the front and back bolster 'wings' in or out, and air adjustments for the lumbar or front seat to be adjusted up or down = it was really the nicest seat I have ever been in ... better than my NSX too, and that was very comfortable. Nothing but good memories about those 2 cars for me.
Unfortunately the guy I bought it from had it sitting in his yard in the grass for a while, which totally screwed the metal underneath the car. After a few years it started falling apart...very sad, as I loved everything about that car. The feel of the turbo pull as the RPM's climbed..also the big boost gauge that "redlined" to 10 psi for 10 seconds or whatever it was before falling back to the usual 7.5 psi. The trip computer, the 80's styling that was so stuck in its time but so damn cool because of it.
I've had 2 Dodge Daytonas. 1988 base model 5 speed I bought new in Oct 1988 and a 1989 base model 5 speed I bought used in 2002, with 120k miles on it. Both cars were near bulletproof. Enjoyed them both!! That "expensive" trip computer could be added to any Daytona, if you had the part. Added it to my 89 Daytona for about $50 back in 2003. Plug and play.
Such a cool car, love hearing that buzzing 2.2L again...it's been a long time! In the real world, these things were very quick at a "stoplight drag". As you saw this thing would smoke the tires in 1st gear...I got dusted more than a few times in my old 305 carbed Camaro!
I had an 85 turbo 5 speed as my 1st car back in HS. My best friend back then had an 82 Iroc 5.0 G code 4bbl auto. He'd get me off the line every time, but by 3rd gear, I'd pass him like he was standing still. And that was bone stock at the time...Eventually with mods, I got the car down to 0-60 in 6.8, and the quarter at 14.4 at 96 mph.....
Makes perfect sense. A pony car is a reasonably fast yet affordable and economical 2+2 car that Lee Iacocca invented. It wasn’t just a V8 car (the Mustang always had a six cylinder or four cylinder option) and RWD was only a convention of the 1960s. Performance was not far off, either... a 1964 1/2 Mustang does a 16 second quarter mile with the 289.
@@danmccarthy4700 the datsun is more of a proper sports car being more refined and the geo storm doesn't have the performance of other pony car rivals of the era I guess you could call it one but its an economy car at heart
The Daytona was derived from the K platform, which was a total economy car. Just sayin. Hell, the original Mustang was a rebodied Falcon, which was Ford's economy offering at the time.
@@danmccarthy4700 but those were performance and sport oriented versions of a car on that platform, and once again they kept up with their year to year rivals for the most part, The only rivals the geo faced were Saturns sunfires cavaliers and neons, the camaro mustang etc were all too high performance the daytona just barely kept up, and for the 80s was kinda quick Imagine it like an 07 monte Carlo ss or pontiac GXP Grand prix they have v8s and powerful ish v6s but they can still be considered sports cars by some. In the end its mostly semantics
I drove an exact copy down to the color inside and out. The seats were very expensive looking, and very comfortable. The 0-60 time was about 8.5 to 9 seconds. The msrp was more than what they say. I think it was around 14k.
I concur on your 0-60 estimate, their 16.9 1/4 mile is about a 9 second 0-60 time. I had an '87 Sundance coupe, Turbo I, 5 spd., and it ran 16.7s in the 1/4 mile.
Thanks alot for posting. Loved watching this show back in the day and had an 84' Daytona turbo when they first came out. I've had several Daytonas since, all turbos and they were all great cars.
I had an 84 Dodge Daytona Turbo with 5 speed manual, I got rid of it after 2 years. The car had the super low profile tires to make it handle better because of the crap suspension & steering. I went through 12 tires in the 2 years I owned the car. I had enough & I traded it in for an 86 Dodge Lancer Turbo with 3 speed auto and 60 series tires. Installed a turbo inter-cooler & that car FLEW. With raising the boost from 9.5 lb for first 10 seconds to steady 7.5 after that without the inter-cooler I beleive was actually 147HP, with inter-cooler initial boost controlled to 14lb for first 10 seconds then steady 10lb the car screamed. Garage estimated 170 to 185 hp really great at the time it was about equal to the GLH's. Still a K car though. The GLH's used race against the Mustang GT's & win!
Had a 87 lancer es turbo with digital dash head gasket and transmission died same time at 130 k miles . It was 16 yrs old as used car. Hated getting rid of it, could cruise in snow and had a huge trunk area and great handling but couldn't find another head to machine and add new valves too. Wish I kept it. Still have the keys to it and Lancer ES badges for memories.
I had an 89 Shelby Daytona turbo. It was pretty quick. 1 of 157 ever painted silver with red interior. Sadly it’s long gone. I bought it to save it from becoming a dirt track racer. The guy I sold it to ended up parting it out, though there was nothing wrong with it other then needing a clutch. If I only knew then what I know now.
@Canadian Cuck Fighter My 1st car was a well worn 73 Ford Pinto with the 1600cc motor, some nostalgia there but I sure don't miss it...other than it was my youth. Topped out at 85 mph on the flat with a tail wind. Fave today is BMW E92-M3 which I haven't found the balls to approach it's top end of 178 mph, but it's rock steady and capable all the way up.
I was in high school when these debuted...and I remember reading the long lead intro in one of the car magazines either Motor Trend or Car and Driver....they also were previewing the new minivans. I think the spring of 1983, we started to move toward a post malaise era. Performance today, makes these cars look quaint but considering where we were the previous several years, this really was the start of an optimistic new age.
I had a 1984 VW GTI with a 90 HP 1.8 liter non-turbo four cylinder engine - it was tested by the major car magazines at 9.6 seconds 0-60 because it was a super light 1800 lbs. That was the original pocket rocket.
I owned the Chrysler Laser, 5 speed, turbo. I missed the EVA so I found a junk yard module and made sound files. I had a lot of fun and good times in that car. I'd like to have another one today.
I had a 89 Shelby Daytona 2.2 intercooled with some very basic mods it was running 13.7 1/4s @ 103 mph.. Head gasket and eventually the clutch had to be replaced other than that it was a good car, gone but not forgotten.
I had an 85 Daytona turbo 5 speed for 10 yrs. My dad special ordered it in 84, drove it until 91, then gave it to me when he special ordered a 92 Daytona Shelby Iroc 2.5 turbo 1 5 speed. 0-60 was about 8 secs, top speed was 123, stock. I put the now extinct Mopar Performance logic module in it, plus a modified cold air intake with K and N filter, and 3 inch cat back exhaust on it, and ran it at US 44 dragstrip in Indiana. Boost went from about 8psi, stock, to 11.5 with the new computer. On a cool night, 0-60 was 6.8 secs, quarter mile was 14.4 @ 96 mph. Fast for the early 90s. However, the std A525 manual trans didn't put up with that long.. I broke 3 of them before switching to the Getrag A555 hd and bigger halfshafts. I also switched to the larger 2.5 turbo motor mounts. Torque steer was stupid. I had to hold the wheel about 12 and 6 o'clock left to keep it straight under full throttle. As stock, the car handled ok but would understeer when pushed too hard. Brakes were good for the time. I wanted to convert the rear drums to discs, but never did. Rust killed that car, as the rear hatched leaked like crazy... Still, if I could find a nice example today, I'd buy an 85 or 86 to play with.
I think MW's acceleration times would be quicker across the board if the test driver didn't always rev the cars to near redline, dump the clutch and do a mean ass burnout for every launch lolololol. Love Motorweek tho
Cody Clark most of the testing done for serious numbers is done without the cameras rolling just because it can take a while to achieve the best numbers. Then we shoot it for camera...so the run you see isnt the officially timed run and its also usually a spinning tire for added drama...back then anyway. Thanks for watching
I was just getting out of college and so excited about the G-body and L-body Mopars that were coming to market. So glad the Iacocca was able to save the brand and seeing more than K-cars was very exciting to me. The Pepperoni wheels on these G-bodies were soooo stylish and different at that moment. You had to think they saved a lot of weight and that the engineers were more involved than the bean counters. 142 HP was amazing for a FWD 4-banger. The 1984 'vette that year was 205 HP, but certainly wasn't any faster 'stock'. I laugh seeing the 0-60 times or the 1/4 mile ... and though not able to keep up with the Buick GNX or Grand National, these little Mopars were a lot of fun and offered good bang for the buck. My new '85 Dodge Shelby Charger had a sticker of $10.4K, and I paid $50 over the dealer's cost at that time ... I couldn't have been happier! I ultimately bought a new 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z, which was so much more refined than the '85 DSC. But I loved both cars and never once wished I had a 5.0 or IROC-Z instead. Thanks for posting. That was a fun blast from the past. Some folks think these cars were/are a POS, but the '80's were a tough time for Detroit and all of the Big 3 struggled with performance, fit, finish and reliability. That is why the '5-50' (5 year - 50,000 mile warranty) was a game changer of that era. The National Speed Limit was 55, and the speedo on most cars only went up to 85 mph because Washington didn't see any reason why folks would ever want/need to go faster. It had a decent stereo and cassettes of all my favorites, gas was under a buck / gallon, and I enjoyed every mile in my 4-banger Mopar!
Water cooled turbo in 1984, from Chrysler. This was cutting edge stuff. If only they had DOHC, VVT, and GDI, it'd be well over 300HP. The 2.2L could get alot of horsepower with modification. They were raced in SCCA,and IROC
My neighbor in high school has a second generation “Laser” with a turbo. That thing was crazy agile and quick, and almost got him into trouble a few times because it was so easy to rev and get up to speed
My friend had a Shelby in 1996 as a first car. So slow but it looked good. Always took a while but he'd eventually pull away from another friend in a manual Accord.
I remember riding with my dad in his new Daytona while he was running it through the gears saying wow dad this is fast. “it’s only sound son only sound” 😂
Reminds me of back when I worked at a rental car outfit right out of high school. And after that, at a Dodge dealer. We did all kinds of crazy sh** to cars. That's usually how we'd come to a stop, though. LOL
My mom had an 84 turbo Laser. We really thought it was hot stuff. Looking at those acceleration numbers along with the power and torque figures. Holy cow were they slow. Today's econo boxes would blow the doors off that, forget modern pony cars like a Mustang or Camaro or today's sporty Chrysler product, the Challenger. And yes, I'm well aware that from 72 untill the late 80's cars were gutless. From the late 80s to today we've been in a horsepower war/race. And I love it!
I got a used base model Daytona as my first car. Was kinda fun for a first car but as it was older it had it's problems. It was just ok as a beater. The breaks where a issue if you did not know the car. Spun the car on Industrial heading towards the Spring mountain entrance, the car would always fishtail.
