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-   -   1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was... (https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/history-originality/757831-1982-turbo-trans-am.html)

Big&BadGTA 12-11-2018 07:33 PM

1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
1982 Turbo TA which almost was...

Drew 12-11-2018 09:10 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
For all the wishful thinking in that video, the 4.9T Pontiac was nothing to write home about. Until EFI really came into it's own, and the Big 3 finally discovered intercoolers, turbocharged cars weren't too thrilling. From 82-86 the 301T would have sucked just as bad as the LU5 or LG4, probably would have gotten stomped by the L69 cars. All while being more expensive to own, maintain, and warranty.

dmccain 12-11-2018 09:21 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
I had the privilege of driving a pace car Trans Am with the turbo 4.9 and....it was an absolute turd. Honestly my L03 car seemed much snappier, they should have just put 350s in these cars from 82-92 like the 4th gens did.

82tarecaro 12-12-2018 07:59 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by Drew (Post 6267837)
For all the wishful thinking in that video, the 4.9T Pontiac was nothing to write home about. Until EFI really came into it's own, and the Big 3 finally discovered intercoolers, turbocharged cars weren't too thrilling. From 82-86 the 301T would have sucked just as bad as the LU5 or LG4, probably would have gotten stomped by the L69 cars. All while being more expensive to own, maintain, and warranty.

You are right. I think if they had been able to keep the Pontiac engines, they would have honed that engine into something worthwhile. The Buick turbos were carbureted and not that special until EFI was added in 84. I think the 4.9 turbo would have gotten the same treatment, along with better breathing heads without siamesed intake ports. An intercooler added later on would have really made it special.

DynoDave43 12-12-2018 08:08 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
I'd love to have TTA Performance build me a 301T. With mods that are pretty mild in my book, they can pull 354HP and 511TQ at 3000 rpm.

https://ttaperformance.com/on-the-dyno

chazman 12-12-2018 08:31 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by DynoDave43 (Post 6268042)
I'd love to have TTA Performance build me a 301T. With mods that are pretty mild in my book, they can pull 354HP and 511TQ at 3000 rpm.

https://ttaperformance.com/on-the-dyno


Wow, cool!

Drew 12-12-2018 10:34 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
So if you took a 350, built it up and added a turbo, how would it stack up to that 4.9T on the dyno?

History shows that GM lacked the initiative to pair a V8 with a turbo well into the period after thirdgens. Everything from the 1.0L Sprint 3cyl, 1.8L Sunbird, 2.0L Grand Am, 3.8L Buicks, and 4.3L Syclone/Typhoon got a turbocharger, but no V8s in the early EFI era. Kinda shoots holes in any theory of the 4.9T getting love if only the corporate engine strategy hadn't been...

82tarecaro 12-13-2018 06:21 AM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by Drew (Post 6268070)
So if you took a 350, built it up and added a turbo, how would it stack up to that 4.9T on the dyno?

History shows that GM lacked the initiative to pair a V8 with a turbo well into the period after thirdgens. Everything from the 1.0L Sprint 3cyl, 1.8L Sunbird, 2.0L Grand Am, 3.8L Buicks, and 4.3L Syclone/Typhoon got a turbocharger, but no V8s in the early EFI era. Kinda shoots holes in any theory of the 4.9T getting love if only the corporate engine strategy hadn't been...

The chevy 350 was a better engine but Pontiac used the corporate engines when the Pontiac engines were killed. If they were left with 1 V8 to work with - a crappy 301, much like Buick with the mundane 3.8, development would have continued on that engine IMO. I think Pontiac would have wanted to keep their cars all Pontiac.

TTOP350 12-13-2018 07:14 AM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
The 301 was ment to be a MPG engine but in true Pontiac spirit, they started modding it. The block, crank and balancer were lightened and the shared pair intake runner heads/intake were garbage from a performance and durability standpoint .
If (huge if) they would have used the older style beefier block casting, better older style counter weighted crank with the older style heads/intake, they would have had a monster to build off of.

82tarecaro 12-13-2018 09:03 AM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
The 301 turbo block was a thicker casting IIRC. definitely not as stout as the older Pontiac engines. They lightened the crank by removing the counterweights. That and the siamesed intake runners hampered any ability to make decent power with the design as it was.

DynoDave43 12-13-2018 07:36 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by Drew (Post 6268070)
History shows that GM lacked the initiative to pair a V8 with a turbo well into the period after thirdgens.

Cars of Futures Past – 1962-1963 Oldsmobile Jetfire

But I know what you're saying. A modern SBC (or Pontiac) with a turbo AND EFI would have been fun.

And if I were going to build a 301T, I would pull the Quadrajet in favor of EFI.

Big&BadGTA 12-13-2018 09:55 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by Drew (Post 6268070)
So if you took a 350, built it up and added a turbo, how would it stack up to that 4.9T on the dyno?

History shows that GM lacked the initiative to pair a V8 with a turbo well into the period after thirdgens. Everything from the 1.0L Sprint 3cyl, 1.8L Sunbird, 2.0L Grand Am, 3.8L Buicks, and 4.3L Syclone/Typhoon got a turbocharger, but no V8s in the early EFI era. Kinda shoots holes in any theory of the 4.9T getting love if only the corporate engine strategy hadn't been...


What was the twin turbo project 3rd Gen in 1991? Firefox II? There were also the RPO B2K Twin Turbo Corvettes from 1987-1991 which 510 were built.


Pontiac "Firefox II" Trans Am prototype (1991) (The Firefox II, based on a 1991 Trans Am was built by Pontiac in conjunction with TDM Technologies. TDM is an automotive engineering support firm based in Livonia, Michigan. This incarnation of the original Firefox differs from the original in several areas. The Firefox was powered by a beefed up Tuned Port Injected 5.7 liter with aluminum heads and a bumped up compression ratio of 10.5:1. The Firefox was also given several tried and true TPI modifications. The Firefox had provisions for a catalytic convertor but this prototype was not so equipped. Horsepower levels were an impressive 328 hp at 4500 rpm and a stump pulling 395 lbs of torque at 3500 rpm. It is needless to say that these levels of performance would decimate stock driveline pieces. As was the case with the original Firefox, the shifting duties were handled by a Corvette ZF six speed tranny with power being channeled to a limited slip rear with 3.91 gears. Residing in the rear of Firefox II is a suspension that F-body owners have wanted for the last 10 years, an independent rear suspension. This all aluminum independent rear suspension required the fuel tank to be removed and replaced with a small fuel cell fitted in the luggage compartment. It also required a compact muffler mounted snuggly behind the IRS assembly. The IRS was apparently considered for the 1989 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am and the original Firefox but has never made it on a production F-body due to cost and complexity. The rolling stock was also upgrade to handle the increased performance. The Firefox II rode on sticky 275/40/17 Goodyear

1MeanZ 12-14-2018 11:13 AM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by DynoDave43 (Post 6268256)

And if I were going to build a 301T, I would pull the Quadrajet in favor of EFI.

So I love gaming like this. A dream build of mine that I'll never do would be to build an '82 TA with a 301T, and make it as factory appearing as absolutely possible. Exception being that it would be a 350 or a 400 and not a 301, and it would have an EFI throttle body instead of a Q-jet running on E85 with water/meth injection(no intercooler). It would also have a T56 labeled as a 4spd.

Drew 12-14-2018 12:16 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by 1MeanZ (Post 6268379)
So I love gaming like this. A dream build of mine that I'll never do would be to build an '82 TA with a 301T, and make it as factory appearing as absolutely possible. Exception being that it would be a 350 or a 400 and not a 301, and it would have an EFI throttle body instead of a Q-jet running on E85 with water/meth injection(no intercooler). It would also have a T56 labeled as a 4spd.

Why not a Crossfire, on a 1969 cross-ram intake, with multi-port injection and the throttle bodies replaced with dual 4bbl bodies just flowing air? Get rid of the wetflow problems, add a ton of airflow, look cool... Only bad thing is, potentially wandering into TPI long runner syndrome. :eek:

QwkTrip 12-14-2018 03:20 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by 1MeanZ (Post 6268379)
A dream build of mine that I'll never do would be to build an '82 TA with a 301T, and make it as factory appearing as absolutely possible. Exception being that it would be a 350 or a 400 and not a 301, and it would have an EFI throttle body instead of a Q-jet running on E85 with water/meth injection(no intercooler). It would also have a T56 labeled as a 4spd.

So after boiling this down it turns out a 301T is not your dream build and you'd rather do almost anything else besides that. :lol:

Drew 12-14-2018 03:24 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by QwkTrip (Post 6268462)
So after boiling this down it turns out a 301T is not your dream build and you'd rather do almost anything else besides that. :lol:

Dream-Smasher. :lmao:

QwkTrip 12-14-2018 03:32 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
My dream '82 is a KARR pro street drag car with a license plate that says FU KITT

Drew 12-14-2018 03:52 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by QwkTrip (Post 6268465)
My dream '82 is a KARR pro street drag car with a license plate that says FU KITT

https://media1.giphy.com/media/xSM46...4a377949c20d01

DynoDave43 12-14-2018 06:40 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 

Originally Posted by 1MeanZ (Post 6268379)
So I love gaming like this. A dream build of mine that I'll never do would be to build an '82 TA with a 301T, and make it as factory appearing as absolutely possible. Exception being that it would be a 350 or a 400 and not a 301, and it would have an EFI throttle body instead of a Q-jet running on E85 with water/meth injection(no intercooler). It would also have a T56 labeled as a 4spd.

:yup:

Yup. If cost and time were no object, I'd love to make my 3rd gen all Pontiac.


Drew 12-14-2018 10:40 PM

Re: 1982 Turbo Trans Am which almost was...
 
If a Pontiac is built in California, on the assembly line with Chevys, is it really any more of a Pontiac than a Chebby 305 or 350 that came in a Pontiac? I mean the Chevy engine in a Pontiac that's virtually a Chevy, is as much Pontiac as the rest of the car.


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