Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!cca!ima!inmet!stern
From: stern@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Pontiac Fiero
Message-ID: <1929@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Jan-85 02:01:11 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.1929
Posted: Wed Jan 30 02:01:11 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Feb-85 14:21:11 EST
Lines: 42
Nf-ID: #R:garfield:-239300:inmet:2700116:000:2135
Nf-From: inmet!stern    Jan 28 16:29:00 1985

[]

Before even thinking about a Fiero, I'd advise you to read the
ConsumerReports article (I believe it was in the 1984 Auto Issue)
where they raked it over the coals.  Having read that, knowing 
two people who own them, and after hearing my roommate's horror
stories about the one he rented, I can offer these words:
(a) The thing turns very poorly.  A Cadillac has a smaller turning radius.
    Just *try* to avoid hitting something/someone with a turning radius
    that huge (I don't remember the number, but I do remember it was
    1.5 - 2 times the t-r for my Celica)
(b) If you are tall (over 5' 8") you are going to be uncomfortable in it.
    It looks cool but cramps the slightly larger-sized passenger
(c) You can't see out the back too well.  
(d) There is little or no storage/luggage space
(e) The glove box is a poor excuse for a storage area.  
(f) The body construction is *a few* sections of fibreglass.  Now 'glass
    is great for fast, small sporty cars, but it does have one problem:
    hit it and it shatters, splinters and cracks.  Metal cars just dent;
    fibre cars crack, the cracks fill up with water and freeze, and then
    they crack more.  When you bust a panel, you have to replace the whole
    thing.  That's a lot of bucks -- probably in the $600-$1000 range for
    a single panel.  Driving in Boston one tends to be concerned with 
    dent protection.
(g) The middie engine probably gives you a nice center of rotation.  I
    seem to remember somebody saying that it was an easy car to spin out.
    No thanks.

As with all things, look before you leap.  I first saw a Fiero up in
Connecticut around October 1983 -- and I tailed the lady driving it for
40 miles (along I-84) until I found out what it was and where/when you
could get them.  After some closer inspection, I decided to get a Celica.

And again, as with all net-noise, these ideas are my own, and do not
necessarily represent those of my employer, friends, roommate, Consumer
Reports, Pontiac, Toyota, the lady in the new Fiero or anyone else
for that matter.

--Hal Stern
  Intermetrics, Inc
  {ihnp4, harpo, ima}!inmet!stern