The Pontiac Fiero Was GM's Mid-Engine 1980s Sports Car

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The Pontiac Fiero was the 1980s mid-engine sports car from General Motors. It's an unusual car, and today I'm reviewing a Fiero GT to show you what the Fiero was like. Then I'm going to get it out on the road and drive the Pontiac Fiero to explain how it feels today.

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[DIGITALSWOON]

i don't care how boxy it is, that's got to be one of the cleanest, easiest on the eyes interiors I've seen

[Its.Mr.Bonelezz_Pizza]

Ahhh yes, Finally the C8 Corvette everyone was waiting for

[kwirkLA]

"Now I'm gonna floor it...not terrible actually"
*gives Acceleration a 1*

[bobboberton]

I owned a 1986 Fiero GT many years ago. I loved it. It was faster than the HP would have you think. It could handle with most any car I have ever driven, and it just looked awesome. It definitely turned heads back in the day. I loved the pop up headlights, the sitting position, the way the front hood opened, and for that time the interior just looked so sweet. I still remember the lights in the backed lit up with PONTIAC and the PONT burned out. I had several people ask me what a TIAC was :). Speed wise an MR2 and RX7 would see my TIAC in bright letters when they challenged me. My biggest complaint was the tiny 10 gal gas tank that would run out at 9 gal, and I rarely got over 18MPG. To date one of my favorite cars I have ever owned.

[hyy]

“Incredibly annoying real people chevy ads”

-Doug Demuro

[Ben_Mayall]

I’m surprised there’s some left that haven’t been turned into Ferrari Kit Cars.

[jimindetroit]

I had this exact car. My dad worked at the factory. He took me in and I followed my Fiero as it went down the line during assembly. Fun car to drive. A lot of memories with this car. Thanks for showing it

[bigmac]

The " loud" button on the stereo is a setting that increases the low end frequencies of tone at lower volume levels. Kind of like a bass boost.

[skirwan]

"In keeping with GM tradition of refining cars and making them better until the end and then just canceling them" lol

[jerlaine]

Pop up headlights are not a quirk, they are AMAZING!!!

Also yes the lines in the tail lights did look good

[yamisoawesome]

doug the type of guy to wear two shirts and complain about lugnuts on lugnuts

[bobhenry]

Those lug cover are functional; they protect the threads from the elements. Anyone who has had to change a flat on the side of the road appreciate lugs that aren't rusted in place. I guess GM could have made them look like pretty flowers, but I liked the subtle hidden look.

[WeTryMotorsports]

This was my first car. I blew two motors and it caught on fire once. It was then known to all my friends as the "Fire-o." It was the laughing stock of high school since it caught on fire in my school parking lot.

[luneyriley]

Failed to mention the speakers in the headrests, that he was so excited over in a current car he reviewed.

[senatorkang]

Almost unsubbed when you didn’t return the balance to centre right away

[Hypo]

Doug... I've had my '86 Fiero for 13-years. I'm now 79 years old, and I love my Fiero. I drove it stock the first four years, then I did a 3.4 swap, and I could finally pass people when I wanted, and not have to drive in the trucker's lane when climbing a mountain pass...lol. I would have added a turbo charger kit for another 140hp, but it had piston slap, which got to loud and embarrassing, and I found I could actually swap in a 3800sc cheaper than overhauling my little 3.4 V6. I've been driving it with my 3800sc (pushing 300hp) for four years now, and I call it my little quasi-super-car, which it is. You really need to drive one like this. There are allot of really nice 3800sc customs in CA you can find, and maybe drive and review it...??? I know you would really be impressed. If you had tilted the steering wheel up and slid the seat back, you would have had an easy time getting into it. I do that every time I get in or out. There are 1m dollar sports cars that you have to do the same thing with...back in, sit down and swing your legs in last...!

Your Doug score on that '87 would have been much higher, if you would have given it the fair appearance score she deserved, like about a six or better. The car your reviewed had never been buffed or even given a wax job, or lowered. mine is lowered just 1 1/2" which makes all the difference in the world. But even without that, that little car is the best, simple, smooth sexy lines and curves, that American cars have ever produced. Except maybe the C-1 Corvettes, and the '55 Chevy. If you had been more objective, and not started out, trying to make fun of the car, I think you would have viewed it in a much different light. You were all prepared to give it a bad score for interior, roominess, and handling, until you got into it and realized that you were actually in a well designed, fun, good handling little sports car, and I have to hand it to you, you actually admitted that your prejudice was not correct. I love the interior! It's exactly what one would expect in an 80's sports car...clean, simple, with everything you need without a bunch of over designed gobbledygook. The boxy interior has nice rounded corners, again simple and clean. The instrument cluster is very attractive, again simple and clean. I think the quality of the interior design is better than the same era Corvette or Porsche...! And I think they still are...!

[MRLVR]

“The unlatching of the front compartment is also unusual” proceeds to open latch under dash like EVERY OTHER CAR!

[epicpandareviews]

You missed my favorite quirk... That enormous center hump between the seats. It's a mid-rear engine... so there's no drivetrain components there. THAT'S THE GAS TANK! No joke

[Collegeboy-tozz]

Koenigsegg Agera: "It has the insignia everywhere. That's really cool."
Pontiac Fiero: "It has the insignia everywhere. That's really gaudy."

[JoshTurnerGuitar]

I also just want to call attention to a button I've never seen before, the CrO2 button under the "loud" button. CrO2 is Chromium oxide, a metal used in the formulation of higher-end cassette tapes (cassettes are usually made with ferric oxide - rust, basically). The biasing of the machine needed to be different to play back these different types of tape, so I'm guessing that button changed the bias, EQ (CrO2 tapes were usually brighter), or both. Fascinating!