What they could do with a modern Fiero using todays tech. Of course now that the Corvette is mid-engined, they would probably fear it eating into those sales.
boostedmaniac Did anyone ever actually take off the t tops? I’ve never once seen a t top car with them removed driving on the road ever. Almost no one used them, plus they take away from chassis rigidity and contribute to body flex, make the car less safe in a rollover crash and just don’t look as good as a normal roof aesthetically. I’m personally glad they don’t cars with them anymore, but hey, everyone has their own opinion.
@@ReallyRyan. yes, in all 8 or 10 F bodies I owned and all 4 Corvettes, I removed the tops when I could. For the month between summer and winter and back between winter and spring, they were rarely in. Not much over the summer as it gets 100+ here in SC and as hot when I lived in Alabama. I prefer T-Tops/targa over convertible as you can still run the AC in the summer and get cooled, or heat in the winter and stay warm enough.
Back in the day, I seen many new WS6's and SS's with the LS1 break into the high 12's. Most were low 13's. It was mind blowing back then to see new cars running those numbers.
HEMIFAN392 still stands the test of time. It’s what I like about most 90’s cars; they set the bar high with design and performance, they don’t age even after 20 years and won’t seem to show it for at least another 10-15.
Infiniti GTI In general I would say 1990s car styling has held up pretty well today, 20 years later, especially when you think about what a 1978 car looked like in the late '90s - also 20 years old at the time but even then looked like a dinosaur.
Ozzstar right there with ya man. I'm 42 and I wanted one of these for years. I did end up with my granddads 96 SSEi supercharged Bonneville after he passed in 06. That thing had 19k miles on it when I got it. I really miss that car. For a full sized front driver, there weren't too many cars that could match it in 96. :)
Also says it’s a WS6 but in 98, the exhaust only exited on the right side (the left was empty) and the iconic ram-air hood is also missing along with the extra 15hp. Only thing I see is the 17” wheels and the badge on the bumper.
benn454 The WS6 package had all of those things, not as an additional option in that package. When I bought mine in 00, it was a $3,156 package on top of the base TA. You either had it all or you didn’t have any. I don’t care what he said honestly, they have been wrong more time than I can count on these articles.
The most aggressive muscle car ever made. Period. Nothing has come even close to matching this cars looks. And its LS1 is highly modifiable, making it super easy to upgrade the car without breaking the bank. Add a couple thousand to an already fast stock car, and youve got yourself a 10 second pavement pounder that can only be rivaled by a $90k dodge. This truly was the best F body ever made.
LRulesTheWorld 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ not even comparable. Pulley,cat delete e85 and a small shot will put the demon in the mid 8s. Do cat delete small shot 75 and e85 tune and you’ll be lucky to maybe hit mid 11s
@@TheBb6prelude 18 years later. In 1998, Dodge made nothing comparable at all. The Stealth was from Mitsubishi, and could not hold a candle to it, and for a couple thousand the Trans Am ate vipers as a snack. LS was and still is one of the best, most reliable, most modifiable engines ever built. Anyone would agree. Even today, an LSA will give you 1500HP of reliable power for half the cost of a Hellcat engine. Let's be realistic.
I remember looking at a 2000 Trans AM back when it was new but passed on it for an Accord coupe instead. These TAs still look great though! Damn I miss Pontiac, they were really starting to make nice cars again before they were killed off.
I agree. Pontiac was on the way back, but GM had already made the decision to let it go. I still think killing Olds, Hummer, and letting Saab go was the right choice, but Saturn and Pontiac could have stayed. I would've let Buick go instead, but Buick is big in China so that was a no go.
You would've kept Saturn? Did Saturn EVER make a good car? Not that I remember...lmao Even the Saturn Ion Redline was a pile of shit compared to the Cobalt SS, especially the later turbocharged 260 hp ones. I'm not trying to be a dick, but Saturns all sucked and GM was right to kill them off. It was cool when they were cheap beaters that people bought brand new cheaper than a Cavalier, but when they started charging more for them and people stopped buying them because they could get a much better quality Kia or Hyundai (which are both killing the car game right now, in a good way) Saturns took a huge nosedive. I always liked Saabs, but there too they had many many issues with build quality and electrics. I owned an 87 Saab 900S turbo and had absolutely nothing but problems with it. Three turbos (the third one was taken out by the timing chain when the engine decided to seize), a $1000 windshield wiper motor, it blew fuses all the time even though there was never any short, and it was fugly. However, when it did run right it was fast and fun to drive. Hummer, loved the H1s and military versions, HATED everything else but the H3 pickup truck and even there I would've rather had a 4.8 V8 than that pile of shit Isuzu inline 5. GM got rid of the extra weight and burden of all of those subsidiaries to make a better product and most importantly, survive through an economic downturn in business for the big three. Ford has definitely stepped its game up as well in the past 15 years. Dodge is kinda straggling behind just limping by, but I still say that nothing beats a Heavy Duty Ram with a Cummins for pulling power. I have a 2014 3500HD and love it. I also have a 17 F550 Ford and I love it too. I have a 2011 F550 and hate it. It rides like dog shit and has no power at all for a 6.7 V8 turbo diesel.
Acc0rd79 how the hell u pass a up a Chevy V8 for a Honda Accord u must not know anything about cars at that time.I know u feel like a fool evey time u see one
This was my dream car in the early 2000s. My dad once woke me up on a Saturday morning and said he wanted to show me something. He got me the car and just started driving without telling me where we were going. We pulled up to a Nissan dealership of all places and I was like wtf are we doing here? A sales person pounced on us and my dad then said, "we'd like to take a look at the Trams AM WS6 you got in." My eyes nearly popped out of my head as the sales guy ran to retrieve the car. Moments later he rolled up in a black WS6 with the ram air hood and allowed my dad and I to test drive it. My dad had to drive while I rode shotgun, but it was one of the coolest things I'd ever done up to that point. After that test drive (we didnt buy it, we were poor) I lusted for one even more. While I'm not the American muscle car fan I was back then I still would love to have one of these. Even if I don't ever get to I'm still happy my dad surprised me like that and really made my week with that test drive.
I had this car in black, 6sp manual. It looked stunning and that LS1 engine was glorious. The interior was full of cheap plastics some of which broke off, but good ergonomics. I think it was the best looking muscle car at the time. I wish I hadn't sold it.
Man, this brings back memories. I had a 2000 Trans Am WS6 manual. It was fun to drive, but of course had its flaws. The driver’s side seat bolster had the classic worn and frayed stitching from constantly being rubbed every time you entered or exited the car. The power window motors could drive you crazy if not replaced (very slow and sluggish if they worked at all). The interior door plastic molding had a specific spot it would crack and split at, resulting in a big eye sore. The interior was acceptable, but bordered on cheap. The rear seat is comically small. Random unfindable rattles and squeaks were common. The “sticky clutch pedal syndrome” that plagued the manual cars would cause the clutch pedal to stick to the bottom of the floor when shifting at high rpms. The solution often included drilling out the clutch master cylinder to allow more fluid volume, replacing the slave cylinder, replacing the clutch pressure plate, or any combination of the three. The automatic 4l60e trans had its own issues, including developing slipping issues. Headlight motors and gears did fail and/or became noisy and clunky. The power steering cooler (in cars equipped with it) was notorious for leaking radiator coolant into the power steering pump. Lastly, the rear ends on these cars were plagued with leaky rear pinion seals that caused rear diff fluid to slowly drip on your garage floor. But I digress, it was still a fun car.
The WS6 is such a cool looking car. I always wanted one, but bought a early C5 Corvette instead -- and don't get me wrong, I made the right decision, but I still love the way that WS6 looks. It's over the top without being too gimmicky. It's aggressive without being comical. It's just a great looking car.
My papa had one it was maroon when I was young and he passed away my family sold it I but I remember always getting in it and acting like I was driving and now that I have my ford zx2 I really love the way the firebirds looked hopefully to get one for myself again for in memory of what my papa use to drive I think it would be unreal
Braking, 60-0 in only 104ft? Wow, that's actually very impressive. A 2016 Camaro and a 2016 Mustang are both at 110ft for 60-0. Remarkable that this is coming in with a number that low despite being a heavy sports car for the day.
I have one. Well, a 99 black firebird. It looks just like this style tho. It's a fun car to drive and I love it. These cars still look good for 20 years old. Still very stylish.
Pontiac was GM's "Excitement " division which meant their styling were more "sportier" than it's twin stablemates. Pontiac always usually used body cladding or deeper spoiler kits to differentiate between the two brands. I've always been pro Pontiac from the Grand Prix, Grand Am,Trans Am , the Gto, Bonneville SSE & the Can-Am! There's a rumor Pontiac is coming back??
@mike b Yes sir the 3800 series 2 platform from 1996-2003 I believe? .It was a Eaton supercharger generation 3 with about 240hp & 280tq not blisteringly fast but adequate for that era!!
The most hilarious description of this car was in Motor Trend's New Car Buyer's Guide that year, where they mentioned that the wipers had been redesigned "so it no longer looks like you have the carcass of a 6-foot praying mantis on the hood"!!!!
And what a stupid description. They were same wipers that were on the car since 1993. That made no sense. I wonder about these people who review cars professionally.
This has to be the most aggressively styled car that went down an assembly line in the 1990's. It also backed up the looks with serious power, it was faster than the then current C5 Corvette if you had the right tires and got it to hook off the line. I just love how the Trans Am really went out with a freaking bang.
I remember one of the major publications of the day (Car & Driver or Motor Trend) had tested the above non RamAir version and they had 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. I had seen 0-60 for the RamAir in 4.6 seconds. I would say that's still fast for today for sure.
I had a 98 Z28 Convertible and I ran a 4.6 0-60 and 13.6 1/4 at 106. Remember that the convertible is the heaviest model to boot. MW always has the slowest times. Road and Track ran a 4.6 0-60 and 13.4 at 107 1/4 in a 98 . Trans Am.
@@vetteluvnh Actually, that's why the horsepower numbers were different. The Camaro and Firebird had more restrictive exhaust systems. This was done to keep the Corvette on top. Again, GM's obsession with the Corvette kept other cars within GM from ever reaching their full performance potential!
Got an '01 Formula that was pampered, myself. Had 177,300 miles on it, when I bought it. Still runs and performs like a champ, and the interior is well preserved, with only the famous door panel cracking on both driver and passenger sides. I can live with that. Power to spare......
@@rustlinbustlin3018 Biggest thing I had to do to mine, was new valve cover gaskets, which were leaking like the Titanic, when I got it. When I would park the car after dark, I could see the oil smoke coming out from under the hood, by the headlight beams. Did that myself, and saved a bunch on labor. And, one week after I got it, the clutch and slave master cylinders went out, so I did that, along with a new clutch. Other than that, it's been fairly solid and dependable. And, though some love the T-tops, I drove approximately 165 miles to purchase mine because it is a hard top, and there's not too many of them around.
@@terrancerespress5787 Mine officially has 155,000 miles and is in my storage unit because the transmissions is down, but its still around and it’ll be back 😈
Motorweek has always been good stuff, but when it comes to 1/4 times, it's always been taken with a grain a salt. That grain being that the guys doing the runs weren't exactly good at the drag strip. The car reviews these guys produced though, are top notch.
@@King1614 absolutely not. The autos were always slower. This whole automatic is faster deal is new. In 98 of you wanted a fast car, you drove a standard. Automatics were slow to shift, and had problems. You could update them, put in a B&M shift kit, smaller torque converter, and still not beat a stick.
Without a shadow of a doubt the whole car and times were underrated. My friend had a completely stock 2000 automatic LS1 Camaro Z28 that did 13.7 in the 1/4.
I remember this episode, and I sure wish there was a way to discuss these episodes back in the day like we can now because there is SOOOOO much wrong with this one. 1. ALL 4th gen WS6 cars came with the Ram Air hood and air intake. 2. There were two different Trans Ams in this episode being used. One was a base 1998 Trans Am with silver 16 inch wheels and 1993 - 1997 seat headrests. The other Trans Am had polished 17 inch WS6 wheels, had the 'WS6' badge on the rear fascia, but DIDN'T have a Ram Air hood, which it SHOULD HAVE had. The GM press car crew really screwed that up!
the 98 only ws6 came with a single outlet exhaust....a friend of a friend bought one new and still has it...they also has bigger injectors..the 98 was the strongest and quickest ls1...F car
Timothy Cote You're right about the exhaust on the 98 WS6 (and SS), but the 28lb injectors didn't do anything for stock power over the 99+ years. The 98 had worse exhaust manifolds and were more difficult to tune.
Timothy Cote '98 having a slightly more agressive cam profile evens the playing field. The quickest bone-stock F-body on record was a '98 Z28 M6. 411 pcm's are cheap and readily available.
Hey, Motorweek! PLEASE upload your retro review of the GM U-Body minivans, affectionately dubbed "dustbusters." Ya know, the Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Trans Sport, and Chevy Lumina APV.
E Meyer No kidding?! Did you sell Pontiac in the early 1990's? I've been looking for a sub-100k mile example of a Silhouette or Trans Sport to buy (1st gen). And are you also seeing that blue Lumina APV in the beginning of these retro review videos?
I remember when these were new on the lot back in the late 90’s early 2000’s. My roommate had a Mustang GT and even being heavily modified we were always getting smoked by these and the Camaros. Those were the days, it seemed like everyone had a fast car. I loved the looks of these, to me they look better than the current Camaro by far
The current Camaro SS, damn that thing is ugly. The '16-18 looks awesome. What were they thinking? GM better fix this FAST. A great car still needs to look good (unless you're Honda, apparently)
They might have been dampening the numbers the same way they did with the horsepower on these and the camaro’s to not outshine the vette. The numbers here are even slower than the 99 Mustang GT they tested
While stationed in Germany, a co-worker of mine had one of these delivered new through the AAFES car buying program. It had "Euro" specs for driving on German roads. He told me it had better seals, brakes, tires, and no speed limiter. Got to ride in it on the Autobahn...155 mph and he "still had pedal left". It was like flying in an airplane on the ground. Germany was fun like that...
I specialize in F-bodys since 2002, The red car tested in this segment with the 17" Chrome WS6 wheels is a TRUE WS6, But a pre-production PRESS CAR missing the ram air hood !!! The Ram air hoods weren't ready yet at time of release for press, Those came from a supplier in Michigan or ohio I believe ALL factory retail production WS6 came with ram air hood or the Firehawk WS6 with flush firehawk hood
This car is definitely faster than what they recorded. Their test drivers blow if you ask me. Watch their other videos and you see their test drivers spinning the rear wheels for a good solid 2-3 seconds off the line.
Im a Miata owner and the typical weight reduction brah. HOWEVER, I still lust for one of these in black and throw all my beliefs out the window and bring fourth the spirit of 'Murica to drive this sexy beast!
2:21 "The Trans Am is a heavy Hot Rod..." I wouldn't consider 3,4xx pound rear wheel drive V8 "heavy" even by 1998 standards, its not like its competition weighed a lot less.
It's really hard to find one of these today that hasn't had the everloving piss beaten out of it, but when you do, holy shit, do you have a rocket on your hands. Literal monstrous power is easily attained with a bit of wrenching skill and a few bucks. That being said, these are the absolute best project cars of the next 10 years.
If Pontiac gets revived the new Firebird Trans Am must rival and defeat the Hellcat. Also must make cars to conquer M3, S4 and C63 performance. No mom vans or crossovers.
That’s an incredible point you made specially now that the Dodge Hellcat Red Eye has a similar hood scoop of the Olds 442. A 2019 Olds 442 revival would be a beast. That good ol’ natural muscle car engine crackle. Now it’s switches and buttons to make the engines sound louder.
14 second 1/4 mile! It felt quicker than that and that was quick for a factory car back then. Now we can go buy a car from a dealer that will run in the 9’s! But of course you will pay 6 figures for it. So maybe things haven’t really gotten much better, you could put 6 figures into a car back then and get a 9 second car too, just not off the lot with a warranty!
Looked at a '00 Trans-Am WS6 in '04 but the dealer wanted 21K for it, so I settled on a '02 F-Series for 5K less. Meh, got utility use out of the truck, but I wanted a V8 powered car. Couldn't get the T/A then but bought a '18 Charger R/T when the chance came around now and I have no regrets.
