The SLP magic continues into the new millennium with these 2001 SLP modified F-Bodies. Show 2021 | Original Airdate 01-17-2001 Follow us on social media: Facebook ( / motorweektv ) Twitter ( / motorweek ) Instagram ( / motorweek
Man, I miss Pontiac. Imagine how cool the T/A could've been with today's technology. Imagine a WS6 along the lines of the ZL1 or that amazing Z28 GM put out a few years ago.
Or the sleeper sedan G8. if it was still being made I'd imagine it on the caddy Blackwing platform with all the power but knock a quarter of the price off.
Look up Trams Am Depot of Florida! They are you tube They Produce Trans Am Firebird with LS7 & They do Twin Turbo Stick shift transmission if you want & Supercharging LS7
Trans Am Depot Company has done a nice job with creating a modern Firebird from modifying a Camaro SS inside & out! I wish Pontiac was still around. GM held that division back so much that it backfired on them when they needed that Bail Out money from Uncle Sam. I still remember being shocked when hearing about GM Permanently Shutting Down the Pontiac Division. I was sad about Oldsmobile but understood it. I wasn't surprised at the rest either, Saab, Saturn were given a good start but lost their identity within the GM Parts Bin as time passed. There were a few more divisions that were money pits and I thought for sure Buick was one of them even though it was their 3800 Supercharged V6 Engine that helped Pontiac sell cars. That's when I found out that Buick sold more vehicles overseas (China) than Pontiac sold in the States. I wish it was possible for Pontiac to return. Pontiac was never allowed to compete with Chevrolet. They could never have their own version of the Corvette. The Fiero was supposed to be the start in that direction but man did ol GM Kick em in the balls on that attempt. I had an 87 Fiero GT and I dropped a 3800 series 2 Supercharged drive train in it along with some other small mods and that car was fun to whip around... it was cramped for interior space but that car handled great. Still the cheapest & easiest restoration project for beginners available.
yep. i sold my 2002 Sunset Orange Z28 this last october for $15k. 132k miles, 6 speed, full bolt ons, cam, center mount exhaust, SS Spoiler, VFN Sunoco hood, Billet Specialties Street lite wheels. Bought it 8-9 years prior for $7500... Wanted something different and decided to move on from it
Let's put it this way, the 4th Gen F Bodies, that's what these cars are, is styled much cooler than 5Th Gen Camaro, which looks chunky and upright. The 4Th Gen cars are low and sleek like a fighter jet! What car mags said at the time, and I know because I rode in a friend's 1994 Formula!😁🤟😄
Sometimes their times are meh. I watched bone stock Z06s, the 385 horse LS6s, running mid-12s. And SS Camaros were breaking into the very high 12s. It might just be the track they use, because other times, their times seem like they got factory freaks(or ringers...).
SLP's products were ridiculously overpriced, and delivered very little real world improvements. Making more hp on the dyno does not equal faster track times. Their HQ in NJ was often vandalized by disgruntled customers.
As an owner of a 2002 Camaro SS, thanks for posting this. 4th gen is best looking F body. In it's run it dominated the Mustang in performance. Last REAL F body
@@camarochevrolet9387 for me the 2nd gens are the best looking F body followed by 1st then 4th then 3rd. But I love them all. GM knocked it out of the park every time with the styling on those cars. Only exception is the 4th gen Camaros, never really cared for their look.
@@camarochevrolet9387 Right. GM finally allowed a manual trans with the 5.7 in the 4th gen which was a rediculous restriction in the timeless looking 3rd gens. And obviously the drivetrains got better too :) Too bad they never put the LS6 in the last year 2002 as special edition. There was talk but never happened
Ahhh. Cars I wish I could buy new today. Even though they were not built the best, they were very sinister cars, and about the best value for performance out there. I miss Pontiac.
Thats what I always remembered was the rims, the were painted inside the spoke. How I found my Firehawk was I saw the 5-spoke wheel , and I imm knew, and sure enough it was a Firehawk which I own!
That's $53,000 in 2022 dollars. They were fast for the day but built on a chassis that debuted in 1982, had numerous cost cutting measures in suspension, cooling, and brakes, and relatively spartan inside. Compare that with what the modern versions are offering at pricing in the mid $40ks. Msrp on a ZL1 is only $63k.
I bought a low mile mint 94 Z28 2 years ogo. Never winter driven, senior owned. T-tops full load. Like new. Such a great car to own. The LT1 is under rated and sounds great in factory trim. Love these 4th gen F bodies.
I’m sorry John, but I believe the 01 FireHawk is a 6 speed car, not a 5 speed. In fact I believe even in this very video if you look closely I think I can see the 6 speed pattern on the shifter bezel when the interior is shown. But it should have a Tremec 6 speed and an LS1 combo in 2001z
I did catch that mistake. The 4th generation V8 F Bodies had 6 speed manuals. There was a 5 speed manual available in that generation but it was only offered on the V6 engines.
I had a 2002 SS Camaro and also a 1995, both 6 speeds. I wish I still had either. They were the reason behind the Ford Cobra, cause the GT couldn't hang with the GM! Lol
@My Pronoun is WTF lol I had roller rockers cam intake headers and the best run I got before my t5 trans flew apart was 14.2 @98 mph.. 🤣🤣🤣 those ta s would run low 12 high 11 with slicks and a kn filter
Don't feel too bad, mustangs did pretty good considering it was a 5.0 vs GMs 5.7. The Saleen models were pretty cool too but those LS f bodies were tough💪
I find it interesting when the phrase, “the aging F body,” is part of the piece. It was a great version of the F body, but by 2001 it was clear it was a little behind the times.
@@zacharyrussell6983 agreed, the 03/04 Cobra ran very similar to stock LS1 cars and the first gen Coyotes in 2011 also ran similar. Way ahead of their time for sure.
My dad had a F Body Camaro in Green convertible he drove it to Mazatlan Sinaloa from Draper Utah in 2001 his stability bar went out and he stopped in a very small town in Mexico and a mechanic welded it for him in one of those holes in the ground that lets you see the under carriage of the car lol. When he was in Mazatlan he remembers a little girl asking him “Is that a power ranger car?” Imagine having a Camaro in Mexico that’s not more than 5 years old.
Check out Trams Am Depot on You Tube ! They did a Limited Production of The Car Burt Reynolds was there ! They make Trans Am up to1,200 Horsepower! Supercharging& Turbo & Stick Shift to your order !
Love the 10th Firehawks. SLP should have done it in 2002 instead since that was the last year of the Firebird and more collectors/enthusiasts waited until then which reduced the sales of the 2001 Firehawks. It would have been the best combo - last year of the Firebird + anniversary Firehawk so the last and best. I certainly would have bought one but I ended up waiting until the last year. Even though a few 1991 Formulas were made into Firehawks, 1992 was pretty much the 1st year you could get a Firehawk. Love Motorweek since the 80s!
@@bhcamaro2002 Right I know and likely SLP didn't want to compete with it so they released their special version in 2001 instead of waiting until 2002. Even still, a lot less 2002 Firehawks were produced than the 2002 yellow Collectors's Edition. And far less 2001 10th Anniv Firehawks were made than either :)
The Pontiac products were ALWAYS a little quicker and faster than the Chevy brother, the Ram Air hoods superior airflow is to thank for that😳…….I loved my WS6 trans am! 🤷🏽♂️
@@bhcamaro2002 SS had a functional hood from 96-02. The two vehicles in this video should have identical performance if ordered with the same optional equipment.
Man the 4th gen Firebirds are the hottest looking cars ever built. I miss the Firebird. It'd be cool if GM brought it back under the GM brand and on a completely different platform from the soon to be axed Camaro. No more retro muscle cars please. They've outgrown their welcome.
SLP was founded by Ed Hamberger, whose previous claim to fame was making second rate oil pans. So it was no surprise to any of us in New Jersey that this outfit was "all fluff, no stuff". There WAS an honest to goodness company focused only on making products that REALLY woke up the TPI motors of the time, called MRP (Modified Resource Products). SLP would use their high-powered lawyers, and got MRP to change their name to Performance Resource, but they ultimately had to fold. I was there, in the late '80s / early '90s, at Raceway Park -- their products were getting trashed. Identical cars with simple bolt-on's were faster than those with their exotic intake manifolds. I vividly remember one rich kid, with an '88 GTA notchback, saying how he was going to take Chuck Jenks (SLP's lead "engineer") home in a body bag, because after all their mods, his car was SLOWER THAN STOCK ! The company was in the right place at the right time, but thankfully anyone with a TPI car back then could turn to Lingenfelter to make their cars truly faster.
I actually saw one of these Firehawk a couple of years ago otherwise a truly rare sight. Both cars look good, but the Firehawk is nicer. I know this is crazy, but put the Mustang interior in it.
I have been saying for almost a year that Brandi would kill Cody's career. They both seem to have a sense of self-exaggerated importance. I have a trademark application for that term, use at your own risk.
These cars must have been early model '01 cars, or they are actually '00 cars because '01 and '02 LS1 engines came with the LS6 intake and no egr provision.
All the V8's came with a 6 speed. Only the v6 Firebirds and Camaro's had the optional 5 speeds. My brother had a 95 Formula, Trans Am and a 01 Firehawk with the factory 6 speed.
As stated above, slightly more horsepower and cosmetic differences. However, the main difference only really popped up after Pontiac ceased to exist as Firehawks go for significantly more money than a base Trans Am. Although, best bang for your buck today would be the WS6. Still very affordable, good bit more power, generally people who got WS6s optioned them out more (what limited options that were available), and you get that sexy red badge on the back. Edit: this coming from a 98 WS6 owner
@@dr.jillalicecooper2587 While it's true that it did make less power, you also have to keep in mind that the 2001 firehawk had been designed to be less exclusive in order to increase sales. The 1991 Firehawk had a cost of over 53k. Which in today's money is over 100k...for an F-body.
You can tell thats a prototype due to the EGR valve in the ls1 intake and its not an ls6, also all the v8s were all 6 speeds. They need to make sure he knows what hes talking about
MMFF mag tested a stock z28 back then, it ran 12.8's in 95 deg heat....lol Even published the article to show how lame the current mustang was in comparison.
If you google it (youtube won't let me post the link), they're still selling off parts, but they're not actively developing any new products from what I can see.
I love the Trans Am & Camaro, but I never really liked the FireHawk TA. I prefer just the normal TA WS6 RamAir. To me the TA WS6 RamAir looks more aggressive than the FireHawk.
I really see no point in these cars after the initial third gen Firebird. I understand that those first cars were really expensive but considering what you got for your money I think it would have been worth it. If you wanted a V8 fourth gen just get a stock car and slap on some headers and and exhaust. That's about all SLP did. Really and truly SLP should have installed the C5 Z06's LS6 heads and cam. A 405hp F-body would've been something in 2001.
@@Len1977gt 😂 not just F bodies, pretty much all domestic cars from the late 70s to the late 2010s. They discovered plastic and ran with it. They are good fun cars for what they are.
A high revving v6 is a completely different driving experience even if they are close in 0-60 and 1/4 mile. From the sound, torque and low end pull etc.
GMC should have gotten the Axe, not Pontiac. It literally makes the same trucks but more wood, better audio, slightly differently styling and maybe slightly better technology that can just go straight to chevy anyway.
Not even close! MotorWeek has never been known for their ability to get accurate track times especially on f-bodies. These cars especially the Camaro run stock 12.70’s-13.3 1/4 times. Depending what model and package you have.
@@austinfrazier7325 You're cherry picking. Of all the google hits, only 1 claims 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and that's (surprise, surprise) a *dealership* website. (Obviously has an incentive to embellish if they want to move the metal). All of the independent tests from car magazines show 0-60 times in the 5.6-5.8 second range. Which is still respectable for a front-drive family sedan. But there is no way it's going to keep up with the lighter and more powerful Camaro/Firebird.
@@bhcamaro2002 I was talking about the difference between the Firehawk and the Camaro but yikes, for $4k less I'd be taking the ws6 as well. IMO the ws6 is a nicer looking car.
@@bghoody5665 definitely not worth it when buying one new, but from a collector's stand point it might be worth a small fortune in a few years. But these cars are meant to be driven
The gears are notchy because because uses auto tranny fluid, I use royal purple and it's smooth as butter,Dump that GM crap out. If you own one of these car's.
