https://uncletonysgarage.com/2018/07...chine/zz-stop/

 

He liked the Formula a bit better.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/hist...drag-test.html

 

He was kinda not wrong, but I think he had a bit too high of an expectation.

Good read though, I laughed quite a few times.

 

Oh, I don't know......... I get the feeling he secretly admired it.

 

Ouch, I do feel the same way as he does about the digi dash, overhead console and the tpi air intake from 85-87. The GTA was never ment to be a boy racer formula, it was ment to cruise in style..

 

The GTA is no doubt heavy. It doesn't have the quickness of a '90 Formula I had with the TPI 5.0. That Formula could really be thrown into corners; the GTA handles well, but you feel the weight and it's not as nimble. But I remember reading reviews when it came out, and it was intended more as a cruiser, not as the top performer of the Firebird line. That articles says that the GTA weighs 3,950 pounds. That's huge! I seem to remember my Formula registration card for my first 5.0 TBI Formula saying something between 3,300 and 3,400 pounds. That would make a quite a difference.

When I bought my GTA knowing that it was meant as the more luxury end of the Firebird line, it was kind of surprising. I didn't buy it for any sort of pampering luxury features and I'm not disappointed at all with what I have. But I guess I did expect a better appointed ride than it is, based on reputation. You really don't get much for the GTA premium and it's really not much better than the Formula interior, though the seats are pretty good, very adjustable, even with power lumbar and bolster on both driver and passenger side (I find myself surprised that the power adjusters all still work.). Other than that, I'm not sure what qualifies it as the more luxury-oriented Trans Am.

Mine probably wasn't all that well equipped. It doesn't have that overhead console. I remember thinking how silly those reminder numbers were, where you can spin the dials to set reminder dates. Mine has the premium radio of the time, but no powered subwoofer, which was also available in non-GTAs. It does have the steering wheel controls.

I do have the digital dash. I'm of two minds about it. I was glad to buy the car with it. I bought online and never actually saw the car in person. The digital dash looks cool in pictures. When it was delivered, it was night and I really looked forward to the spectacular display. Turn the key and..... well let's say "underwhelmed." It all works. It's actually quite impressive how it doesn't fade out in sunlight. I like the digital speedometer a lot. But the rest of it is just underwhelming. It's all perfectly functional, but they just could have made it a lot flashier. Being flashy and different was really the only reason for a digitial dash to exist. I'm glad that I have it just because it is relatively rare and never fails to draw a reaction from people. It's kind of a cool late '80s museum piece. But honestly, the standard Firebird gauge package was better. I actually always liked the layout with the four big, round instrument pods in my Formulas and thought that it alone gave the interior a really good look. Love that orange backlighting.

 

I don't care how fast it might have been. If you want a Dodge "Shelby" Omni GLHS, there's just something wrong with you. It had better be quick, because you'd want to get away before anyone sees you in that thing.

His summation of the GTA in the last couple of paragraphs is really pretty good, and is the reason that I might have bought one in 1987. But $20,000 was a lot of money at that time and certainly more than I had.

 

I had the normally aspirated 1984 GLH. It was a quick, fun car and actually surprised some V8s of the day. But it's build quality was low and it started disassembling itself after 40K miles.

 

He must couldn't drive. My stock TPI 305 auto Trans Am run 15.3s I remember a friends bone stock 89 350 GTA running 14.6s One thing that also hurt the Pontiacs was the air induction, Camaros had a much better design. Weight was another thing man the GTA was heavy. In saying all that though damn it looked good..certainly better than an Omni or ugly *** Mustang LX.

 

For me, looks always meant a lot. I didn't want a slow car, but I didn't care if it was the fastest. Who was I racing? I was never drag racing and clocking quarters, and outside of bragging rights over what some magazine clocked your car at, fractions of seconds mean nothing in real life.. It may not have been so fast compared to others in 1987, but it wasn't a slow car. And if you wanted a quicker Firebird, you could have bought a Formula.

 

Very cool.article.

 

Totally agree, and the GTAs were soooo much better looking than anything else out there. Id rather have a handsome nice car that was slower than a junky hot rod.

 

There was the question of cost, though. I remember the sticker on my '84 GLH, it was $7350. A 5.0 LX was like 11 or 12. A GTA was $20 or over.

 

I thought the LX was an ugly car but those things with a 5spd were formidable for 11k! Used to get worn out by them but I could usually dust off the auto GTs with my 91 Z28. I had the original paperwork on my 91 Z28 it was 20k new. Was a lot of $ those days for sure now u cant buy a new Kia for that Lol

 

This GTA at $20K was a lot of money in 1987. That's $45,000 today.

 

The rich guys drove the GTAs. Maybe Tony held a grudge?

 

I can't quite understand what makes the GTA that much heavier than the Formula. The bodykit/ GFX is pretty flimsy and I can't see 100's of lbs there. Okay the ultima seats are pointlessly heavy but again not 100's of lbs over formula seats. The cars share the same heavy spoiler

or are we comparing a stripper 1LE formula to a fully loaded GTA in which there's many variants inbetween

hmmm...

 

The tail light spotters guide is a riot.

 

So, basically the cost of a new Camaro 2SS today? Or the cost of a new Mustang GT Premium? Or, the cost of a new Charger/Challenger Scat Pack?

 

I heard some of the engine components were heavy like the alternator. Dont know if that is true.

 

Right.

I've been involved on discussions on another site about 6th gen pricing. Most people seem to think it's way too expensive, but in reality it's not so different than it was years ago.

 

That had me head scratching as well. The GTA seats are 100lbs a pair, I'd bet the base seats are maybe 60lbs a pair. The ground FX should only add a 100-150 at the most.. The GTA wheels are several lbs lighter than the formula wheels.
My 89 ttop formula weighed 3340 mostly stock iirc and my 89 formula asc vert weighs 3500.

If they weighed a base formula 5speed with no AC and no fuel vs a fully loaded ttop leather GTA and full tank of fuel I could see a difference but not sure about 600 plus lbs.

 

Maybe he's just wrong about the weight. Just doing a very quick "trans am gta weight" search, I found a couple ofsources claiming 3,450 pounds, which seem light to me, and another claiming 3,600 pounds, which sounds more likely.

This site claims 3,460 = 3,530 pounds. There's a lot of good information throughout this site.

http://www.gtasourcepage.com/techspecs.html

 

A friend of mine weighed his 2nd gen 81 turbo trans am and it was 3900 lbs, blew me away.

 

When the 3rd gens debuted, they were praised for being lighter. I didn't realize that the 2nd gens had gotten that heavy. But the only time I drove one was a 6.6 '79 Trans Am,it it really did feel like a tank.

 

My car was originally a Formula. PO put aftermarket ground effects on it and when I later painted it I put back OEM ground effects except for the front bumper and a lighter aftermarket rear spoiler. Seats are still base Formula seats. I put mine on the scale and it came in at 3420 w/o me in it.

 

Old road tests vary a little, but 1/4 miles times in the 15s were pretty common. Tony wasn't too thrilled with that, but I don't think it was his driving. That was what Hot Rod and other magazines time too.

In the real world, 1/4 miles times and 0-60 both don't mean a lot, but 0-60 would be more relevant to most drivers since you experience some of that every time you merge on to a highway or take off at a red light. GTA times that I've seen were in the 6.5 - 7.1 second range. Today, that is slow. In 1987, that was one of the fastest cars you could buy. Times have certainly changed.

 

Yeah, 15 second 1/4 times were very common. If you look at the Formula 350 story on the second post, they started off with a 15.2 second baseline, and then proceeded to do better and better with free mods. They basically applied the lessons learned from the "10 minute tune up", on their 5.0 Mustangs from CARS Illustrated. It seems all of that applied to TPI cars too.

 

I would be angry if I had a 350 car run in the 15s. Like I said my 87-305 T/A turned a 15.3 and I almost immediately pulled it and put in a 350 Lol. That stuff doesn't matter to me much anymore, I will take a 15 sec GTA anyday.

 

Like the Fox 5.0 cars, the TPI cars were just a "10 minute tune up" away from a full second gain in the quarter mile.

 

Oh yeah. getting my car completely cooled down and the old icing the plenum trick used to get me a few tenths by itself.