DEADLIEST CAR IN THE WORLD

Pontiac Fiero

Have you guys heard about the deadliest car in the world

Meet the first and only mass-produced mid-engine sports car by an American automaker.

The Pontiac Fiero is a mid-engine sports car Pontiac introduced in 1983. It was a highly successful model in terms of sales, despite its image of unreliable car

During the production of 5 years total of 370,168 units were manufactured.

It is a rear-wheel drive with two petrol engines a base four-cylinder 2.5-liter motor and a 2.8-liter six-cylinder motor with three different transmissions.

what makes it deadliest?

On paper, it was a killer car – small, relatively light, and entertaining.

 At first, it was very well accepted by customers, who praised it for its handling and affordable price. It was sexy and economical, and – most importantly – made in America. But after a strong first impression, it took only about two years for the car enthusiasts to literally begin hating it. 

In a decade full of lovely sports cars from many manufacturers, the Fiero felt like an imprecise mixture of parts that were available at General Motors’ development center in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
That’s not all, of course. 

The Fiero was very expensive for maintaining – especially its complicated independent suspension due to the use of multiple suspension pivot and attachment points. The cooling system was also very capricious – it was vulnerable to air bubbles thanks to its long pipes connecting the front-mounted radiator and the engine.

Speaking of which, initially Pontiac wanted to equip the base model with a high-revving 1.8-liter engine, but in the end the cheap 2.5-liter Iron Duke unit was selected just because… it was already available and required no further investment from General Motors – after all, the Fiero was supposed to be an affordable sports car. And this engine was awful – heavy, noisy, slow-revving, and underpowered.

 The bigger V6 variant was quite a performer, but it started at $13,489 for the 1987 model year – about $5,000 more than the base model.

Next problem – the car’s innovative body structure with space frame and plastic panels was expected to keep the weight under 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms), but the complete structure ended up just as heavy, or even heavier than, a similarly sized car with steel monocoque. 

Thanks to its weight of more than 2,500 lbs. (1,135 kg), the Fiero was slow, really slow. Real road tests performed by Car and Driver in December 1983 showed an uninspiring 0-60 miles per hour (0-97 kilometers per hour) acceleration in 11.3 seconds and a top speed of only 105 mph (169 kph) for the base model.

And then Fiero’s nightmare came to life – the Honda CRX with its super light body, compact sizes and engines, and simple structure. Despite being less powerful than the entry-level Pontiac, the CRX was faster from a standstill, had the same top speed, and was more pleasant to drive. With a drag coefficient of 0.33 versus 0.377 for the Fiero, the Japanese car was also more fuel efficient.

Early Fiero models were also famous for their flammability – according to the NHTSA, a total of 135 cars were reported to have had engine fires with 122 of these occurring during driving.

 Shockingly, Pontiac engineers were allegedly familiar with the problem shortly after production started in 1983 – and GM eventually admitted in 1988 that test have shown that running 1984 cars with low engine oil level can “cause connecting rod failure which may lead to an engine compartment fire.”

 Ten minor injuries were reported in connection to this issue.

What makes it the best?

Judging the Fiero by the 1984 model is like judging David Bowie by David Bowie, his debut album. It’s hard to come out of the gates with something that is very different and also very good. Sometimes it takes some stumbling around to find the right place to be.

Despite its freshman debut as an overweight sports car with less horsepower than a 1984 Kawasaki Ninja, the Fiero sold well and improved every year of its five-year production. The desperately needed V6 option was added in 1985, the fastback GT came a year later, and the 5-speed manual showed up in the middle of 1986. The 1988 models came with a new suspension design and vented disc brakes all around, giving the car handling and performance that better matched its sporty looks.

By the time the ‘88 GT and Formula trims came around, the Fiero was better in many metrics than the Ferrari 308 it was often compared to (and sometimes transformed into). Also, less likely to catch on fire. It was a nimble, fun, good looking sports car that really was different. It is a shame the car didn’t make it a few more years to get the 3800 V6 (though if you’re handy, you can (and should) swap one of these in.)

Pontiac did something different with the Fiero; It had radical styling, plastic body panels, and if you threw a belt, the repair cost was “Pontiac” and not “Molti soldi.” It was the first mass-market mid-engine American car, and still the only one until the C8 starts production.

Like many things new and different, the Fiero took some time to find its place. But once it did, it was exciting, inexpensive, and different in all the right ways, making it one of the best cars of the 1980s.

Finally, from this article leave your point of view in comments.

REGARDS

ENCHANTRESS