That 345hp was down played from either the factory or SLP from what they actually were making, mine #483 dynod 365 and later 387 after SLP long tube headers, free flow cats, and larger maf.
In 1998 the base model LS1 T-56 6 speed TransAm was rated at 305hp. The WS6 T-56 6 speed was rated at 325hp. My 1998 base model Formula Firebird TransAm with the 346ci LS1 and T-56 6 speed (ordered purposely by the previous owner without traction control aka TCS, as on my build sheets) spun the dyno at 321hp before any modifications. All I did was a fresh tune up, but added NGK V-Power copper spark plugs instead of factory (technically a mod but nothing major to add any horsepower.....YET), oil change with Mobil 1 synthetic using a KN oil filter, and a new Purolator air filter as well. She pulled the 1320 in the upper 13 second range consistently at Thompson and Norwalk's dragstrips (I think I still have some of the timeslips) ending with just a short moment in 4th gear before the traps. At Mid-Ohio road course in Lexington, Ohio (I still had my SCCA license back then) she was consistently faster and out cornered (plus out braked) the 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS, 1980 Porsche 911, 1983 Porsche 944, in between a Porsche 928 as well, (plus a few others like MGBs and such) I raced in the early to mid 80's. I did use Nitto 555Rs at Mid-Ohio but was running BF Goodrich G-Force KDW tires at Thompson Raceway and Norwalk. Ls1 Edit and Auto Tap were 2 of my best friends at the time. Plus, my laptops of course. After modding the LS1 later came a 396 LS6 followed eventually by a 427 C5R using a block from Pace Performance in Warren, Ohio. Fast? Yes for most folks, but many cars owned by guys (and Gals) at LS1 Techs organization made mine look like a Saturn Ion Redline in comparison. Difference was mine could drive from Cleveland, Ohio to Columbus, up to Montreal, Quebec, over to Lac Magentec, then up to the Laurentides near Mount Tremblant, all the way to San Diego, then down to Sinaloa on the Sea of Cortez (halfway to Cabo San Lucas), over to Chihuahua, then down to Mexico City and eventually back to Ohio. All with just basic maintenance related wear items and simple repairs. I put almost 100,000 miles on the 427 in a bit over 3 years and spent a lot less money building my car (what can I say but I'm a cheapskate at heart). She also got really good gas mileage if I kept my foot out of it and used cruise control or conversely. If I did the opposite, she never met a gas station she didn't love..............but my credit card really hated. Point is we found all the factory dyno numbers on these cars to be dubious at best and were always rated lower than they actually were.
Great vid. This was my youth. My friend got a 93 Formula Trans Am, then I got a 95 Z28, then another friend got a 99 SS, then my 1st friend traded his Formula for a 00 Firehawk to top off the decade. Keep up the awesome content. Stay Happy and Healthy
Love this sadly was just a little to young to afford these my best friend had a 1993 firebird for his first car in 2002. Was just a 3.4 v6 base model but at 14 and 16 it was alot of fun and made my imagination run wild with just how sweet any of the v8 cars must have been. How was the 00 firehawk compared to 93 trans am. Obviously way better but what was the feeling at the time?
@@WyattWillis88 The Firehawk topped all of them. We all agreed it was the fastest, loudest, and coolest looking out of the 4. The LT1's were great, but the LS1's were a little lighter and had way better handling. I could usually keep up in my 95 Z28 on a dig because I had the less fun, but quicker shifting 4 speed auto, but the Firehawk would always blast past at about 90kmph/50mph, and after that I was only looking at his taillighs. One of the friends got married in 02 and we had the entire wedding party stuffed into the 3 fbodies. It was a great time, great memories. Thanks for asking Stay Happy and Healthy
@farmonious420 thanks for the awesome reply wouldn't it be fantastic to enjoy one on the weekends nowadays. My ultimate would be a 92 but love all of them cheers 🍻 👏 ✌️
@@WyattWillis88 NP And I would love to drive one on the weekends instead of my 7 seater family suv. I'd stick to a 95, but with a LT4 swap for a bit more power. The LS1 catfish style didn't look as nice as the LT1 version 4th gen IMO.
I just bought a '95 Trans Am. Black with tan leather interior. I always wanted one when they came out but i was too young or couldn't afford one. 30 years later i got one of my dream cars. 77k original miles. Zero rust. It has a '96 Vette motor bored & stroked to 383ci. Lloyd Elliot stage 2 ported & polished heads, matching Lloyd Elliot ported & polished intake with his custom grind cam. Pushing real close to 500hp at the crank with built suspension & 4:10 posi. The Hurst short throw shifter was tricky to learn but now its a blast. The car handles a drives really good & launches hard & FAST!! LOVE IT! GREAT VIDEO. I have a short vid of my Trans Am up on TH-cam if anyone wants to check it out?? 🇺🇸
@El_PetoI disagree. It's absolutely worth modifying older cars. I'm at 400hp with nothing more than full exhaust and some tuning. On a 25 year old car. Some people like taking a car and making it handle better, stop better, and go faster.
02 Firehawk #422 owner. They are legit awesome cars with an awesome fan base. It almost becomes like a family with a lot of the Firehawk Rallies across the nation and the different forums. Decent amount of info on the LT4 Firehawks in Mac Logan’s Firehawk book. There were 29 of them. 5 years ago you could pick them up for reasonable prices. The 108 LT4 SS Camaros are more well known and sell for much more. The Hawks are gaining that momentum tho.
My last brand new car was a '98 LS1 6sp Ram Air black on black Ttop Trans Am identical to the one at 6:00 that I regret selling & my best friend bought a new '99 Trans Am Firehawk & that thing was a beast ✌💖☮
Awesome video man! I appreciate any positive propaganda on f-bodies. I've got an ls1 firehawk. I've owned it for the past 20 years. When I first got it I knew it was special and never got rid of it. Love the car thanks for the video!
I'm a proud owner of a 94 Firehawk which I purchased from the original owner in 2019. 10 years before I had first discovered what the Firehawk was and told myself that one day I was going to get one of my own but I just never thought that 10 years later that would have actually become a reality. By the way, the wheels are actually Ronal wheels not American racing.
Actually the 93-94 wheels were made by ROH. the 92 wheels were made by Ronal. the 95 Wheels were made by Speedline, and the 96-2002 wheels were made by American Racing.
They started using American racing rims in '96, after speed line failed to fill orders in 1995. Only early models got the Ronals. Source: my 99 Firehawk and its option sheet.
👍I have a white 1970 Ram Air III and a sunset orange metallic 2001 WS6. They both turn heads and get tons of compliments. Both are low mileage and unmodified (except the 70 has a mild, but larger than stock Crower 60240 camshaft) In the quarter mile they are about the same, around 13.50s. The 01 with 323 gears will go way faster top end, effortlessly, and it gets good mileage thanks to the overdrive 4LslippyE The 70 with 331 gears and th400 is screaming, reving at highway speeds, gulping gas. I feel like the 01 handles a little better due to the wider and lower profile tires. The 01's braking is far superior, especially since it has abs. Ive owned and daily driven many 70-81s -they are scary unpredictable in a panic stop. I also have a blue 71 with modded 455 HO with tkx 5 speed. Life is good.🤙
I have a 1996 Trans Am Comp T/A, which was essentially a combination of the top-spec Trans Am and Firehawk parts meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the BFGoodrich Comp T/A performance tire. It is one hell of a car: the engine is quite powerful and makes heroic noises, and the handling is very tight and flat (and definitely prefers smooth roads, LOL). It does not know the words "subtle" or "refined!" Yet, thanks to 90's era drivetrain technologies and electronics, my car will happily bumble around town or cruise on the highway - at least until I find some curvy back roads to play on 🙂
My boy just bought a 93firebird with the 6 speed ttops no damage 90 original miles. 5k because wasnt tagged. Took it straight to dmv passed no issues. Got himself a steal.
I've owned 8 F-bodies over the years, and back in 2020 my very first car came up for sale on fb market. Turns out the guy I sold it to went to give it to his kid but the kid dint want something "that old". So I bought it back and I'm building the LS powered IROC that I wanted back in 03
Wow, if I were a teenager in this year, I'd absolutely still want that "old car". Heck I'm 44 and owned mine for 9 years now. I wanted it since I was 18 but couldn't afford a brand new 98 Trans Am.
Im the proud owner of 1999 Firehawk #062, built by Pontiac in December of 1998, and finished by SLP in January of 1999. I love my car, and i just had it repainted in April. She's only got 19,000 miles.
so was mine, at 15 in 1980 I got a '73 Fury III Sport Coupe 360 4bbl! Only thing I did was run true dual exhaust, better plugs & ignition & it ran like a charm! Was candy red with a black vinyl top & interior
Finally a video on these cars where most of facts are actually legit. The one thing I will say about power output vs the C5 is they were the same. A base C5 was rated at 350/350 and thats what these cars came with too. GM downplayed the ouput of the 4th Gens to keep corvettes customers happy. Thats why most of the 4th Gens dyno close to the rated power if its a manual. Most stock SLP cars Ive seen dyno between 305-320rwhp.
I would love to have either one of my 4th Gens back. I had an automatic LT1 car and then had a 6 speed LS1 car. Loved them both but there’s just something about having a 6 speed.
LS1's make 345-350 HP regardless of what platform they were installed in. LS1 F-body's regularly put down equal if not more power to the wheels than Corvettes of the same year.
The horsepower stated in this video was the "official" horsepower ratings from GM. They always purposefully undersold the f bodies to make the Vettes look better. For the LT1 cars they even detuned the engine from the factory so it would actually perform worse than the Vettes, which is hilariously petty.
The WS6 made a little more power (and I mean a little), the Firehawk got a ton of handling upgrades. The WS6 is a drag car, the Firehawk a road course car.
Great video! I've owned fourth gen Firebirds for over 20 years and still love them. I have a 1998 v6 Firebird, a 1999 Ram Air TA, and on the original owner of a 2002 Formula with 17,000 miles.
I worked for a comedian in 2007 that had a nice car collection. He bought a red firehawk at auction not knowing how unique it was. It was one of the first LS1 hawks, and was even signed under the hood by Hamburger. Either of us knew what the car was. I got to drive it a lot, and even drove it from California to Vegas. Definitely a fun car to drive.
Pontiac also made their own version of the Fire Hawk. A Formula Firebird WS6, which was pretty much almost the exact same car minus the SLP exhaust, and only put out 305 hp in 1997 but was still faster than the 97’ Corvette. I believe it ran from 93-97, less than 500? Cars per year (473 in 97 I know for sure cuz I have one). I don’t believe it was offered in the LS-1 package. It’s the Firebird no one ever heard of.
The WS6 is only had the powertrain upgrades, none of the handling ones like progressive Rate springs or Bilstein shocks. Also the reason the formula WS6's production numbers are so low is because everybody ordered a Trans Am WS6, and those outsold the Firehawk by a MILE.
Strange that you couldn’t find any actual footage or sound clips of the TOTL exhaust. I’m glad you put footage of the LT1 Firehawk in there although they were all 93-94 models. The ‘95 model year Firehawk is my personal favorite but then there was the ‘97 year model that had a limited run of LT4 engines! The 98+ Firehawk’s were barely deserving of the name with little more than a hood and decals over the less exclusive models. They didn’t even change the wheels year to year from the 96/97 models. Before that one wheel design never went more than 2 years. My first F-body was a 1995 Firehawk, #468. I miss that car tremendously. I currently have an SLP SS but it still doesn’t have that feeling of my first Firehawk.
Bought a ‘98 T/A my Junior year of high school (2009). Headers, full exhaust, cold air intake, tune, rear end gears. Ripped off 12.5 sec 1/4 miles and would bury the speedometer on I65. I went through 3 sets of rear tires in my last two years of high school.
I had a personally built 92 T top Built 350 and heavily modified chassis Camaro and a buddy got a 2000 Firehawk and holy smokes was that a bad ass car!
This car is probably my favorite car from this era but is possibly one of the most difficult to work on other than the 3000 gt vr4 . You better have a lift.
drove Camaros mostly since 81, but we did have a couple TA's in the mix.. eX had a 89 Turbo back then, then in 91, i traded my 87 IROC in on a new GTA, with that updated sleek front end. beautiful cars, really miss em!
The lt1 did not in any way act as a bridge between the gen1 sbc and the later LS series of engines. The ls1 was a clean sheet design sharing lifters and bore spacing and thats about it. The lt1s reverse cooling strategy and optispark ignition are why its referred to as a gen2. The optispark made no sense to me with gm having started using distributorless ignition back in the 80s, the buick 3.8 used a crank sensor + 24 tooth wheel on the crankshaft and a 1x cam shaft sensor and a 3x2 coil block. I had an 87 lesabre as a first car and thats what it had, so the opti seemed like pointless pain in the ass for buyers
There's a conversion for the LT1 to make it a 24 tooth reluctor wheel (or is it a 48, I can't remember) I have an LS1 so never really looked into it to be honest.
This is a very well produced video and i always love seeing 4th gens gen the flowers they deserve. The firehawk has the combination of low rise spoiler, trans am front end and unique hood that definitely looks the best to me. Personally, i detest the ws6 hood. I have two 4th gens and removing the ws6 hood was the first order of business on both. Performance wise....the 98-02 firehawk was a letdown. It performed awesome but it wasnt any quicker. They should have done more imo. The formula and z28 camaros are actually the quickest due to lowest weight. The biggest performance difference in any ls1 f body was the 01-02 getting ls6 intake. My 01 formula is notability quicker in midrange than my 99 t/a. If i had my pick, I'd get a firehawk for appearance reasons. I just wish they did more than a lid for performance.
I used to drive a 02 WS6 trans am and I swear it ran 12s with the ram air intake package. The only other car I had at the time was another fourth gin Camaro, but it had an LT one with heads and a larger cam.
Yes there was also the GMMG 427 camaros as well - I just wanted to touch on the firebird here though. I may do a full deep dive SLP video one day of all the vehicles
@@rarecars3336 Excellent I'm looking forward to it! I have another suggestion hopefully you find worth covering. How about the 4 gen "Dick Harrel ZL1 Camaros"? They were absurdly powerful!
@@rarecars3336 Awesome looking forward to it. How about a suggestion maybe you find it worth covering? the 4th gen "Dick Harrell ZL1 Camaro? Those were absolutely outrageous!
My best friend had a black on black SS/SLP convertible that he had my father repaint. My father has been running his own body shop for the last 40 years. You could read a newspaper in the reflection from a few feet away. It was beautiful.....and the top didn't leak 😊
Ames Performance has the Pontiac Nationals car show in Norwalk Ohio next weekend. Ohio also has the Trans Am Nationals every August. Over 500 Firebirds!
Awesome. I have always been a { FireBird } lover. The FireHawk version was that much more to love. If GM had let there be competiton between Chevy and Pontiac and maybe even Buick and Olds to have more high performace cars and not just the Vette ; maybe GM could of competed better against the likes of Porsche , Ferrari and others. So what if the Vette got outperformed. Having more performers is never a bad thing.
Those are solid choices too! I owned 2 new edge GTs before buying my T/A, but always wanted a terminator. That 390hp rating was BS they make more than that at the wheels!
I agree. While the way the engine sits in the car isn't ideal, it's still serviceable, and these cars are very easy to modify. Bought mine from first owner and it was completely stock. I wanted a blank canvas to build the car the way I wanted it.
So a little context here, I love the fact body cars, I've owned about a dozen over the years and they are one of the best performance bargains you can find. And I've had a couple lt1 cars, so I'm not just repeating stuff I've read about and never experienced. The first and last optispark I had go out on me was in a 1993 Z28 that I'd traded a Durango for in 2015. The car had a gazillion miles and everything was original, well maintained but original (except consumables like spark plugs and air filters) oh and it's a six speed car. So I came home on leave from the military and I had some decent time off as we'd just completed a deployment to the pimple on the world's ass aka the middle east. I was about 15 minutes from my parents place when a torrent of rail fell out of the sky. Now Pennsylvania isnt known for having great roads especially right after the big thaw every year, and the craters that form were very similar to the actual catered roads where I'd just been only these fill with water (any lt1 owners see what's coming) there was a dip in the road that had pot holes and a natural collection point with about 2 in of standing water across the entire surface that I had no choice but to go through. And I did so very carefully and then it happened, I hit a pot hole dropping the drivers side of the front end and getting the opti all kinds of wet. Next thing I know it's party at the disco time and the car starts bucking and chugging , then coughing and sputtering until finally Das est Kaput☠️. So I coast my now very dead automobile to the side of the road and upon popping the hood it was pretty clear what had happened because the opti was actually smoking or steaming one of the two. I cant describe the irrational hatred I felt towards that inanimate object, had it been an automatic car I'd have probably done a Walter white and set the bitch on fire. But I had AAA and got it towed home. My dad looked at me like I was an idiot when i told him where the "distributor " was, he was adamant that I just dint know what I was talking about because chevy v8s always have the lightening whirler out back next to the firewall for some fucking reason lol. And then he looked at it, and then looked back at me then back at the car and went "who the fuck thought this was a good idea?!?" Yeah dad that is the question
@@limabravo6065 oh man once you said 2 inches of water in a land mine sized pothole I already knew where this was going. Doesn't help the water pump is mounted right near it and if the pump seaps it's sayanora optispark.
My neighbor just bought one a month ago locally, got to drive it, Nice although I'm now questioning if it is not a clone as it has the right bodywork, but a stupid loud aftermarket exhaust and a firebird decal on the hood and fenders. I'll have to do some research. Did the Firehawks have special serial numbers?
I had a 2000 Firehawk. It was basically an appearance package. I had the upgraded suspension and Auburn posi. The HP was the same as stock. Don't believe the hype.
The best F-body ever made was the ‘97 Camaro SLP SS with RPO “LT4”. There were less than 110 produced and they were just as fast if not faster than its successor the LS1. What differentiated the LT4 in the Camaro (and Formula Firehawk) was the engine was balanced & blueprinted unlike the ‘96 Corvettes that came with the same engine. A close second would be the ‘89 Turbo T/A.
You left out some things. I own a 97 Firehawk with an LT4 its more rare than the SS Camaro version. The whole motor is different. It’s a 4 bolt main block, larger cam, better heads, better intake, higher compression, and as you mentioned balanced & blue printed. It’s very underrated at 330 hp.
@@brgable I know the LT4 is different than the LT1 in terms of cam and top end (intake, heads, throttle body etc.). I was stating the difference between the LT4 that came in the SLP F-body’s versus the LT4 powered C4 Corvettes. The F-body’s were balanced & blueprinted whereas the Corvette LT4 wasn’t. And yes I agree they were definitely underrated.
he showed the wrong intake on the third gen firehawk which was 350 hp. those are cool but I'll keep my 1986 C4 Vette with its 420ci minirammed solid roller that runs low 11's all day.
Not a fan of the F-body, but a neighbor who flipped cars had one and let me test-drive it and I've got to admit that it was a fun ride. But too flashy and too much GM cheapness for me.
SLP was a horrible company. I had dealings with them in the later 1990's. I won't go into detail here (not nearly enough room) but I'll NEVER have a kind word to say of them ever again after the crap they pulled.
Very questionable title. These were awesome but not that much better than the rest of the American field being produced at the time- if you compare it to the 89 TTA which was FAR superior to everything the US made at the time including the GNX until the firehawk LS model came out- it wasn't even close.
Handling Shmandling; none of the boi racer drivers of these cars care about handling. All they want to do, is burnouts, donuts, and drag racing in a straight line, as they pretend that they are real racers. .
Not even close to best F body. The 4th gen was a Fisher Price dream of plastic. The 89 Anniversary Turbo Trans am. With the Grand National motors but much quicker. Also 73-74 SD 455 cooler F Body as well.
I’ve owned a few of these and love the third Gen look but the 4th gen was so much stiffer, quieter, had more safety tech like dual airbags and ABS. The 98 LSI was a beast also.
@@brgable Last time I checked as cool as a Firehawk is the 60 time is 5.3 seconds. The 89 Turbo Trans am 4.6 seconds. Over half a second quicker and the 4 gen Firebirds no one has ever said a good thing about how much plastic and how bad the interior was. Wasn't even close to the 89 Anniversary. Nice car you have but not close to the best F body for either performance or being special. Heck even as far as Firehawks go the 92 is most special.
@@brgable Ok now let's not be lying now. A 89 Turbo Trans am in reviews 13.4 . A 97 Firehawk 13.7. yet stock you can do 12's nice to meet you Mr. John Force.
Stop calling the Firebird, Camaro, and Mustang a "muscle car". They are PONY CARS. They always have been. Mustang was first, thus the "pony" car. Firebird/Camaro were designed to compete. They may have had muscular motors at some points of their build, but they were never muscle cars.
I thought I was a pedantic peckerhead but I see you have me beat. Those race ponies are usually jacked up on steroids and mountain dew so we'll settle for calling them pony muscle cars.
Your telling me a 1969 COPO Camaro was not a muscle car??? Or a 455ci HO Trans am??? Or a 2024 COPO Camaro with over 1,000 hp???? Those are definitely MUSCLE!!
@@dabears52501no. They're pony cars. It has nothing to do with horsepower. A muscle car is a mid sized car with a full sized engine. A pony car is a dressed up economy car. The Mustang was originally designed as a "secretary's car" and based on the Falcon, which was a low cost economy car.
@@dabears52501 As many do, but that's incorrect. The manufacturers/media defined them when they first appeared. The GTO was considered (although not accurately) as the first muscle car because it was a mid-sized Pontiac Tempest with a Full Sized Pontiac motor. To continue, the Corvette is not, and never was a "muscle car". It's a sports car, is cherished as "America's sports car". No matter how much power it makes, how big an engine it has, it's still a sports car, whether it's running a SB302 or a 454 or a LS9 Supercharged. Charger Hemi/Hellcat=Muscle car. Challenger Hemi/Hellcat=Pony car. Long standing definition, often misused because "it's got muscle!". Is a Bugatti a muscle car? How about a Koenigsegg? Hennesey Venom?
One other point to add for the video - at the end 345hp was available out of the LS1 Firehawk, not just the 327hp!
That 345hp was down played from either the factory or SLP from what they actually were making, mine #483 dynod 365 and later 387 after SLP long tube headers, free flow cats, and larger maf.
In 1998 the base model LS1 T-56 6 speed TransAm was rated at 305hp. The WS6 T-56 6 speed was rated at 325hp. My 1998 base model Formula Firebird TransAm with the 346ci LS1 and T-56 6 speed (ordered purposely by the previous owner without traction control aka TCS, as on my build sheets) spun the dyno at 321hp before any modifications. All I did was a fresh tune up, but added NGK V-Power copper spark plugs instead of factory (technically a mod but nothing major to add any horsepower.....YET), oil change with Mobil 1 synthetic using a KN oil filter, and a new Purolator air filter as well. She pulled the 1320 in the upper 13 second range consistently at Thompson and Norwalk's dragstrips (I think I still have some of the timeslips) ending with just a short moment in 4th gear before the traps. At Mid-Ohio road course in Lexington, Ohio (I still had my SCCA license back then) she was consistently faster and out cornered (plus out braked) the 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS, 1980 Porsche 911, 1983 Porsche 944, in between a Porsche 928 as well, (plus a few others like MGBs and such) I raced in the early to mid 80's. I did use Nitto 555Rs at Mid-Ohio but was running BF Goodrich G-Force KDW tires at Thompson Raceway and Norwalk. Ls1 Edit and Auto Tap were 2 of my best friends at the time. Plus, my laptops of course.
After modding the LS1 later came a 396 LS6 followed eventually by a 427 C5R using a block from Pace Performance in Warren, Ohio. Fast? Yes for most folks, but many cars owned by guys (and Gals) at LS1 Techs organization made mine look like a Saturn Ion Redline in comparison. Difference was mine could drive from Cleveland, Ohio to Columbus, up to Montreal, Quebec, over to Lac Magentec, then up to the Laurentides near Mount Tremblant, all the way to San Diego, then down to Sinaloa on the Sea of Cortez (halfway to Cabo San Lucas), over to Chihuahua, then down to Mexico City and eventually back to Ohio. All with just basic maintenance related wear items and simple repairs. I put almost 100,000 miles on the 427 in a bit over 3 years and spent a lot less money building my car (what can I say but I'm a cheapskate at heart). She also got really good gas mileage if I kept my foot out of it and used cruise control or conversely. If I did the opposite, she never met a gas station she didn't love..............but my credit card really hated.
Point is we found all the factory dyno numbers on these cars to be dubious at best and were always rated lower than they actually were.
Finally some 4th gen firebird love
Great vid. This was my youth. My friend got a 93 Formula Trans Am, then I got a 95 Z28, then another friend got a 99 SS, then my 1st friend traded his Formula for a 00 Firehawk to top off the decade.
Keep up the awesome content. Stay Happy and Healthy
Love this sadly was just a little to young to afford these my best friend had a 1993 firebird for his first car in 2002. Was just a 3.4 v6 base model but at 14 and 16 it was alot of fun and made my imagination run wild with just how sweet any of the v8 cars must have been. How was the 00 firehawk compared to 93 trans am. Obviously way better but what was the feeling at the time?
@@WyattWillis88 The Firehawk topped all of them. We all agreed it was the fastest, loudest, and coolest looking out of the 4. The LT1's were great, but the LS1's were a little lighter and had way better handling.
I could usually keep up in my 95 Z28 on a dig because I had the less fun, but quicker shifting 4 speed auto, but the Firehawk would always blast past at about 90kmph/50mph, and after that I was only looking at his taillighs.
One of the friends got married in 02 and we had the entire wedding party stuffed into the 3 fbodies. It was a great time, great memories. Thanks for asking
Stay Happy and Healthy
@farmonious420 thanks for the awesome reply wouldn't it be fantastic to enjoy one on the weekends nowadays. My ultimate would be a 92 but love all of them cheers 🍻 👏 ✌️
@@WyattWillis88 NP And I would love to drive one on the weekends instead of my 7 seater family suv. I'd stick to a 95, but with a LT4 swap for a bit more power. The LS1 catfish style didn't look as nice as the LT1 version 4th gen IMO.
Back in 01 I got a 95 Z28. Had my eyes on these and the 00-02 SS, but couldn’t afford them. The Z28 was awesome though!
Thanks for the feature.
In 1997 SLP built 29 Firehawks with the LT4 engine plus one pilot car.
I owned number 19 for a couple years
I just bought a '95 Trans Am. Black with tan leather interior. I always wanted one when they came out but i was too young or couldn't afford one. 30 years later i got one of my dream cars. 77k original miles. Zero rust. It has a '96 Vette motor bored & stroked to 383ci. Lloyd Elliot stage 2 ported & polished heads, matching Lloyd Elliot ported & polished intake with his custom grind cam. Pushing real close to 500hp at the crank with built suspension & 4:10 posi. The Hurst short throw shifter was tricky to learn but now its a blast. The car handles a drives really good & launches hard & FAST!! LOVE IT! GREAT VIDEO. I have a short vid of my Trans Am up on TH-cam if anyone wants to check it out?? 🇺🇸
@El_Peto not mild heads or cam. The build is good for 425-450 rwhp. That's why I said at the crankshaft.
@El_Peto I mean... when'd we start calling stage 2, Mild?
@@dabears52501 Congrats man. If you ever want to go forced induction, I have a bunch of records with LT1 engines. Incl a 212mph run on the lakebed.
@El_PetoI disagree. It's absolutely worth modifying older cars. I'm at 400hp with nothing more than full exhaust and some tuning. On a 25 year old car.
Some people like taking a car and making it handle better, stop better, and go faster.
@El_Peto who said I had an LT1. LS1 is 345 stock. But I'm guessing you don't know your way around either engine or these cars. We do.
I will always and forever be a fan of the F - body. I miss my 98' Formula. 😓
For the period they were really solid performers - definitely faster than the Mustang GTs
@@rarecars3336Definitely!
02 Firehawk #422 owner. They are legit awesome cars with an awesome fan base. It almost becomes like a family with a lot of the Firehawk Rallies across the nation and the different forums.
Decent amount of info on the LT4 Firehawks in Mac Logan’s Firehawk book. There were 29 of them. 5 years ago you could pick them up for reasonable prices. The 108 LT4 SS Camaros are more well known and sell for much more. The Hawks are gaining that momentum tho.
My last brand new car was a '98 LS1 6sp Ram Air black on black Ttop Trans Am identical to the one at 6:00 that I regret selling & my best friend bought a new '99 Trans Am Firehawk & that thing was a beast ✌💖☮
Love these kind of stories ✊️👊🤜🤛How did they stack up against each other what was the feeling at the time?
I had a 1989 gta and just loved it
Childhood dream car.
I've had two WS6's, a '00 and a '98. I loved these cars!! Always wanted a Firehawk, hopefully one day.
Get them while they are still cheap-ish!
LT1 fbodies are under appreciated!
Agreed!
Awesome video man! I appreciate any positive propaganda on f-bodies. I've got an ls1 firehawk. I've owned it for the past 20 years. When I first got it I knew it was special and never got rid of it. Love the car thanks for the video!
I'm a proud owner of a 94 Firehawk which I purchased from the original owner in 2019. 10 years before I had first discovered what the Firehawk was and told myself that one day I was going to get one of my own but I just never thought that 10 years later that would have actually become a reality. By the way, the wheels are actually Ronal wheels not American racing.
Have # 120 1994
6 speed black
Awesome car...
Actually the 93-94 wheels were made by ROH. the 92 wheels were made by Ronal. the 95 Wheels were made by Speedline, and the 96-2002 wheels were made by American Racing.
They started using American racing rims in '96, after speed line failed to fill orders in 1995. Only early models got the Ronals. Source: my 99 Firehawk and its option sheet.
Thr mid 70 early 80s Trans Ams were so underpowered but they look so cool
True - some of the best looking years in my opinion
Easy to add power too as well
💯 to all of the above 🤘🔥🔥🤘
👍I have a white 1970 Ram Air III and a sunset orange metallic 2001 WS6. They both turn heads and get tons of compliments. Both are low mileage and unmodified (except the 70 has a mild, but larger than stock Crower 60240 camshaft)
In the quarter mile they are about the same, around 13.50s.
The 01 with 323 gears will go way faster top end, effortlessly, and it gets good mileage thanks to the overdrive 4LslippyE
The 70 with 331 gears and th400 is screaming, reving at highway speeds, gulping gas. I feel like the 01 handles a little better due to the wider and lower profile tires. The 01's braking is far superior, especially since it has abs. Ive owned and daily driven many 70-81s -they are scary unpredictable in a panic stop.
I also have a blue 71 with modded 455 HO with tkx 5 speed. Life is good.🤙
I have a 1996 Trans Am Comp T/A, which was essentially a combination of the top-spec Trans Am and Firehawk parts meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the BFGoodrich Comp T/A performance tire. It is one hell of a car: the engine is quite powerful and makes heroic noises, and the handling is very tight and flat (and definitely prefers smooth roads, LOL). It does not know the words "subtle" or "refined!" Yet, thanks to 90's era drivetrain technologies and electronics, my car will happily bumble around town or cruise on the highway - at least until I find some curvy back roads to play on 🙂
@4:25 gotta love those shiny vise grips lol
I miss Pontiac 😢
Don't we all!
My boy just bought a 93firebird with the 6 speed ttops no damage 90 original miles. 5k because wasnt tagged. Took it straight to dmv passed no issues. Got himself a steal.
I've owned 8 F-bodies over the years, and back in 2020 my very first car came up for sale on fb market. Turns out the guy I sold it to went to give it to his kid but the kid dint want something "that old". So I bought it back and I'm building the LS powered IROC that I wanted back in 03
Wow, if I were a teenager in this year, I'd absolutely still want that "old car". Heck I'm 44 and owned mine for 9 years now. I wanted it since I was 18 but couldn't afford a brand new 98 Trans Am.
Im the proud owner of 1999 Firehawk #062, built by Pontiac in December of 1998, and finished by SLP in January of 1999. I love my car, and i just had it repainted in April. She's only got 19,000 miles.
My first car was a Plymouth Fury. Thanks for the vid.
Thanks for watching - what year fury?
so was mine, at 15 in 1980 I got a '73 Fury III Sport Coupe 360 4bbl! Only thing I did was run true dual exhaust, better plugs & ignition & it ran like a charm! Was candy red with a black vinyl top & interior
named Christine ?
Finally a video on these cars where most of facts are actually legit. The one thing I will say about power output vs the C5 is they were the same. A base C5 was rated at 350/350 and thats what these cars came with too. GM downplayed the ouput of the 4th Gens to keep corvettes customers happy. Thats why most of the 4th Gens dyno close to the rated power if its a manual. Most stock SLP cars Ive seen dyno between 305-320rwhp.
Correct, GM always made sure the Corvette had more power than an Fbody on paper.
I would love to have either one of my 4th Gens back. I had an automatic LT1 car and then had a 6 speed LS1 car. Loved them both but there’s just something about having a 6 speed.
You did not mention... Firehawks were only available on a Formula until the redesign in '98. So for 99-02 you could finally get a Trans Am Firehawk.
LS1's make 345-350 HP regardless of what platform they were installed in. LS1 F-body's regularly put down equal if not more power to the wheels than Corvettes of the same year.
The horsepower stated in this video was the "official" horsepower ratings from GM. They always purposefully undersold the f bodies to make the Vettes look better.
For the LT1 cars they even detuned the engine from the factory so it would actually perform worse than the Vettes, which is hilariously petty.
to be fair, the WS6 is visually more aggressive than the Firehawk, but obviously the Firehawk is more rare than the WS6. take your pick.
The WS6 made a little more power (and I mean a little), the Firehawk got a ton of handling upgrades. The WS6 is a drag car, the Firehawk a road course car.
Without a doubt, the last best thing Pontiac produced 👏🏼
Definitely a cool underrated car!
Great video! I've owned fourth gen Firebirds for over 20 years and still love them. I have a 1998 v6 Firebird, a 1999 Ram Air TA, and on the original owner of a 2002 Formula with 17,000 miles.
I worked for a comedian in 2007 that had a nice car collection. He bought a red firehawk at auction not knowing how unique it was. It was one of the first LS1 hawks, and was even signed under the hood by Hamburger. Either of us knew what the car was. I got to drive it a lot, and even drove it from California to Vegas. Definitely a fun car to drive.
Pontiac also made their own version of the Fire Hawk. A Formula Firebird WS6, which was pretty much almost the exact same car minus the SLP exhaust, and only put out 305 hp in 1997 but was still faster than the 97’ Corvette. I believe it ran from 93-97, less than 500? Cars per year (473 in 97 I know for sure cuz I have one). I don’t believe it was offered in the LS-1 package. It’s the Firebird no one ever heard of.
They did make a WS6 Formula with the LS1.
The WS6 is only had the powertrain upgrades, none of the handling ones like progressive Rate springs or Bilstein shocks. Also the reason the formula WS6's production numbers are so low is because everybody ordered a Trans Am WS6, and those outsold the Firehawk by a MILE.
Strange that you couldn’t find any actual footage or sound clips of the TOTL exhaust. I’m glad you put footage of the LT1 Firehawk in there although they were all 93-94 models. The ‘95 model year Firehawk is my personal favorite but then there was the ‘97 year model that had a limited run of LT4 engines! The 98+ Firehawk’s were barely deserving of the name with little more than a hood and decals over the less exclusive models. They didn’t even change the wheels year to year from the 96/97 models. Before that one wheel design never went more than 2 years. My first F-body was a 1995 Firehawk, #468. I miss that car tremendously. I currently have an SLP SS but it still doesn’t have that feeling of my first Firehawk.
Bought a ‘98 T/A my Junior year of high school (2009). Headers, full exhaust, cold air intake, tune, rear end gears. Ripped off 12.5 sec 1/4 miles and would bury the speedometer on I65.
I went through 3 sets of rear tires in my last two years of high school.
Hell Yeah, great vid. 👍
I had a personally built 92 T top Built 350 and heavily modified chassis Camaro and a buddy got a 2000 Firehawk and holy smokes was that a bad ass car!
Formula firehawk my absolute favorite
My friend had a 1996 firehawk automatic. it was such a cool car, i had an opportunity to buy it but i didnt. regretted it.
Darn, do you know where that car is now?
@@rarecars3336 Yea. He sold it to his brother and his brother turned it into a full drag car. I hear he "tubbed" it out, so i'm guessing big slicks.
Great vid!!! 👍👍
The LT1 fuel injection also came in B and D bodies.
This car is probably my favorite car from this era but is possibly one of the most difficult to work on other than the 3000 gt vr4 . You better have a lift.
Oh yeah that engine being sat so far back is BRUTAL
I have two floor jacks and anger issues. These Kooks long tubes are going into Firehawk #062 whether she likes it or not.
drove Camaros mostly since 81, but we did have a couple TA's in the mix.. eX had a 89 Turbo back then, then in 91, i traded my 87 IROC in on a new GTA, with that updated sleek front end. beautiful cars, really miss em!
The lt1 did not in any way act as a bridge between the gen1 sbc and the later LS series of engines. The ls1 was a clean sheet design sharing lifters and bore spacing and thats about it. The lt1s reverse cooling strategy and optispark ignition are why its referred to as a gen2. The optispark made no sense to me with gm having started using distributorless ignition back in the 80s, the buick 3.8 used a crank sensor + 24 tooth wheel on the crankshaft and a 1x cam shaft sensor and a 3x2 coil block. I had an 87 lesabre as a first car and thats what it had, so the opti seemed like pointless pain in the ass for buyers
There's a conversion for the LT1 to make it a 24 tooth reluctor wheel (or is it a 48, I can't remember) I have an LS1 so never really looked into it to be honest.
Love your channel. Please please cover the mid 80s Shelby Chargers!
Simply great car. I only miss the famous big bird on the hood
I'd love to have an LT4 powered F-Body
I’ve got one 97 Firehawk LT4 with 32k miles. Great car!
I’d love if GM would notice theres plenty of letters left in the alphabet for RPO codes. That said agreed.
This is a very well produced video and i always love seeing 4th gens gen the flowers they deserve. The firehawk has the combination of low rise spoiler, trans am front end and unique hood that definitely looks the best to me. Personally, i detest the ws6 hood. I have two 4th gens and removing the ws6 hood was the first order of business on both.
Performance wise....the 98-02 firehawk was a letdown. It performed awesome but it wasnt any quicker. They should have done more imo. The formula and z28 camaros are actually the quickest due to lowest weight. The biggest performance difference in any ls1 f body was the 01-02 getting ls6 intake. My 01 formula is notability quicker in midrange than my 99 t/a.
If i had my pick, I'd get a firehawk for appearance reasons. I just wish they did more than a lid for performance.
Formula firehawk my favorite with an auto for sure
I used to drive a 02 WS6 trans am and I swear it ran 12s with the ram air intake package. The only other car I had at the time was another fourth gin Camaro, but it had an LT one with heads and a larger cam.
With a good tire It very well could have turned a high 12 since stock they were in 13s on 90s/2000s street tires
I ran a 12.9 and then a 12.8 with stickier tires. Very doable. @@rarecars3336
Wait. Wasn't there an "SLP Camaro SS/Z28" that was suppose to be the equivalent to these Firehawks around the same time?
Yes there was also the GMMG 427 camaros as well - I just wanted to touch on the firebird here though. I may do a full deep dive SLP video one day of all the vehicles
@@rarecars3336 Excellent I'm looking forward to it! I have another suggestion hopefully you find worth covering. How about the 4 gen "Dick Harrel ZL1 Camaros"? They were absurdly powerful!
@@rarecars3336 Awesome looking forward to it. How about a suggestion maybe you find it worth covering? the 4th gen "Dick Harrell ZL1 Camaro? Those were absolutely outrageous!
My best friend had a black on black SS/SLP convertible that he had my father repaint. My father has been running his own body shop for the last 40 years. You could read a newspaper in the reflection from a few feet away. It was beautiful.....and the top didn't leak 😊
My wife is from England. Her favourite make of car is Pontiac, and her favorite pontiac is this car.
Always wanted a yellow ws6......So expensive . 38k in 2001.
Ames Performance has the Pontiac Nationals car show in Norwalk Ohio next weekend. Ohio also has the Trans Am Nationals every August. Over 500 Firebirds!
The Hellcat of the early 2000s
Cool video. It sounds like it was recorded in a porta john
If money was no object i would buy one of these and customise those bonnet nostrils
Mid Nineties Chevy Caprice Sedan/Wagon and Buick Roadmaster also had the LT1 engine option...
Awesome. I have always been a { FireBird } lover. The FireHawk version was that much more to love. If GM had let there be competiton between Chevy and Pontiac and maybe even Buick and Olds to have more high performace cars and not just the Vette ; maybe GM could of competed better against the likes of Porsche , Ferrari and others. So what if the Vette got outperformed. Having more performers is never a bad thing.
I wanted to get one in the early 2000's but couldn't find a manual
Picked up a Cobra Terminator instead
Those are solid choices too! I owned 2 new edge GTs before buying my T/A, but always wanted a terminator. That 390hp rating was BS they make more than that at the wheels!
As far as performance bargains go, the 1998-02 Fbodies cannot be beat. Theyll accept any engine of the LS architecture with minor wiring changes.
I agree. While the way the engine sits in the car isn't ideal, it's still serviceable, and these cars are very easy to modify. Bought mine from first owner and it was completely stock. I wanted a blank canvas to build the car the way I wanted it.
So a little context here, I love the fact body cars, I've owned about a dozen over the years and they are one of the best performance bargains you can find. And I've had a couple lt1 cars, so I'm not just repeating stuff I've read about and never experienced. The first and last optispark I had go out on me was in a 1993 Z28 that I'd traded a Durango for in 2015. The car had a gazillion miles and everything was original, well maintained but original (except consumables like spark plugs and air filters) oh and it's a six speed car. So I came home on leave from the military and I had some decent time off as we'd just completed a deployment to the pimple on the world's ass aka the middle east. I was about 15 minutes from my parents place when a torrent of rail fell out of the sky. Now Pennsylvania isnt known for having great roads especially right after the big thaw every year, and the craters that form were very similar to the actual catered roads where I'd just been only these fill with water (any lt1 owners see what's coming) there was a dip in the road that had pot holes and a natural collection point with about 2 in of standing water across the entire surface that I had no choice but to go through. And I did so very carefully and then it happened, I hit a pot hole dropping the drivers side of the front end and getting the opti all kinds of wet. Next thing I know it's party at the disco time and the car starts bucking and chugging , then coughing and sputtering until finally Das est Kaput☠️. So I coast my now very dead automobile to the side of the road and upon popping the hood it was pretty clear what had happened because the opti was actually smoking or steaming one of the two. I cant describe the irrational hatred I felt towards that inanimate object, had it been an automatic car I'd have probably done a Walter white and set the bitch on fire. But I had AAA and got it towed home. My dad looked at me like I was an idiot when i told him where the "distributor " was, he was adamant that I just dint know what I was talking about because chevy v8s always have the lightening whirler out back next to the firewall for some fucking reason lol. And then he looked at it, and then looked back at me then back at the car and went "who the fuck thought this was a good idea?!?" Yeah dad that is the question
@@limabravo6065 oh man once you said 2 inches of water in a land mine sized pothole I already knew where this was going. Doesn't help the water pump is mounted right near it and if the pump seaps it's sayanora optispark.
I have a base model 98 Trans Am. Not a WS6. I love these cars despite the junk 10 bolt rear end and the subpar interior plastics.
My neighbor just bought one a month ago locally, got to drive it, Nice although I'm now questioning if it is not a clone as it has the right bodywork, but a stupid loud aftermarket exhaust and a firebird decal on the hood and fenders. I'll have to do some research. Did the Firehawks have special serial numbers?
I had a 2000 Firehawk. It was basically an appearance package. I had the upgraded suspension and Auburn posi. The HP was the same as stock. Don't believe the hype.
I had the opportunity to buy one of these when I bought my 2000 Trans Am. I was not a huge fan of the hood.
The best F-body ever made was the ‘97 Camaro SLP SS with RPO “LT4”. There were less than 110 produced and they were just as fast if not faster than its successor the LS1. What differentiated the LT4 in the Camaro (and Formula Firehawk) was the engine was balanced & blueprinted unlike the ‘96 Corvettes that came with the same engine. A close second would be the ‘89 Turbo T/A.
You left out some things. I own a 97 Firehawk with an LT4 its more rare than the SS Camaro version. The whole motor is different. It’s a 4 bolt main block, larger cam, better heads, better intake, higher compression, and as you mentioned balanced & blue printed. It’s very underrated at 330 hp.
@@brgable I know the LT4 is different than the LT1 in terms of cam and top end (intake, heads, throttle body etc.). I was stating the difference between the LT4 that came in the SLP F-body’s versus the LT4 powered C4 Corvettes. The F-body’s were balanced & blueprinted whereas the Corvette LT4 wasn’t. And yes I agree they were definitely underrated.
Gud vid 💯🔥👌
Nice Sqackin Chicken 😊
The wheels where made my ROH in Australia and not American Racing
I used to sell these. They are great cars, but they will never have the driving dynamics the corvette has. It’s not even close
The LT1 only made 300 in the Vette it made 275 in the Camaro and Firebird
And 262 in the Impala SS
Yep yep@@fhatuwaniglentonnetshivhul9202
The firehawk mods def helped squeeze a tad more power out!
i have a slp 4 gen camaross chassis
Right on!
The best would be '68 build quality, an LS engine, and an '81 FB body.
These cars were just known for having really clunky interiors that had the squeakyest plastics in any car I've ever seen
True, but they were beautiful and a great bang for the buck.
4:30 that's a Camaro dude 😅
Corvette killer!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 OK more like basemodel Corvette contender!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 the 92 firehawk yes! But not these!🤣🤣🤣🤣
he showed the wrong intake on the third gen firehawk which was 350 hp. those are cool but I'll keep my 1986 C4 Vette with its 420ci minirammed solid roller that runs low 11's all day.
Shit I'd rather have my 92 C4 in stock form!
Not a fan of the F-body, but a neighbor who flipped cars had one and let me test-drive it and I've got to admit that it was a fun ride. But too flashy and too much GM cheapness for me.
But that’s what makes them affordable fast cars 😂
i'd say the best f body was the '03 z-l1 camaro yeh there was only 69(lol) of them but.....
Hello
SLP was a horrible company. I had dealings with them in the later 1990's. I won't go into detail here (not nearly enough room) but I'll NEVER have a kind word to say of them ever again after the crap they pulled.
Very questionable title. These were awesome but not that much better than the rest of the American field being produced at the time- if you compare it to the 89 TTA which was FAR superior to everything the US made at the time including the GNX until the firehawk LS model came out- it wasn't even close.
Handling Shmandling; none of the boi racer drivers of these cars care about handling. All they want to do, is burnouts, donuts, and drag racing in a straight line, as they pretend that they are real racers. .
Not even close to best F body. The 4th gen was a Fisher Price dream of plastic. The 89 Anniversary Turbo Trans am. With the Grand National motors but much quicker. Also 73-74 SD 455 cooler F Body as well.
I’ve owned a few of these and love the third Gen look but the 4th gen was so much stiffer, quieter, had more safety tech like dual airbags and ABS. The 98 LSI was a beast also.
Wrong. I own a 68 big block Camaro and a 97 LT4 Hawk. Both are amazing to drive but my Hawk is so much more refined.
@@brgable Last time I checked as cool as a Firehawk is the 60 time is 5.3 seconds. The 89 Turbo Trans am 4.6 seconds. Over half a second quicker and the 4 gen Firebirds no one has ever said a good thing about how much plastic and how bad the interior was. Wasn't even close to the 89 Anniversary. Nice car you have but not close to the best F body for either performance or being special. Heck even as far as Firehawks go the 92 is most special.
@@bikingD my bone stock car run high 12’s in the quarter I’ll take it all day along and twice on Sunday over those ugly gen 3 cars.
@@brgable Ok now let's not be lying now. A 89 Turbo Trans am in reviews 13.4 . A 97 Firehawk 13.7. yet stock you can do 12's nice to meet you Mr. John Force.
Stop calling the Firebird, Camaro, and Mustang a "muscle car". They are PONY CARS. They always have been. Mustang was first, thus the "pony" car. Firebird/Camaro were designed to compete. They may have had muscular motors at some points of their build, but they were never muscle cars.
I thought I was a pedantic peckerhead but I see you have me beat. Those race ponies are usually jacked up on steroids and mountain dew so we'll settle for calling them pony muscle cars.
Your telling me a 1969 COPO Camaro was not a muscle car??? Or a 455ci HO Trans am??? Or a 2024 COPO Camaro with over 1,000 hp???? Those are definitely MUSCLE!!
@@dabears52501no. They're pony cars. It has nothing to do with horsepower. A muscle car is a mid sized car with a full sized engine. A pony car is a dressed up economy car. The Mustang was originally designed as a "secretary's car" and based on the Falcon, which was a low cost economy car.
@durwoodrobison7800 I guess you could look at it that way. But I consider a muscle car anything with lots of horsepower & goes fast.
@@dabears52501 As many do, but that's incorrect. The manufacturers/media defined them when they first appeared. The GTO was considered (although not accurately) as the first muscle car because it was a mid-sized Pontiac Tempest with a Full Sized Pontiac motor.
To continue, the Corvette is not, and never was a "muscle car". It's a sports car, is cherished as "America's sports car". No matter how much power it makes, how big an engine it has, it's still a sports car, whether it's running a SB302 or a 454 or a LS9 Supercharged.
Charger Hemi/Hellcat=Muscle car.
Challenger Hemi/Hellcat=Pony car.
Long standing definition, often misused because "it's got muscle!".
Is a Bugatti a muscle car?
How about a Koenigsegg?
Hennesey Venom?
Is this your new channel?
youtube.com/@allamericanwheels?si=S8MA0tPpifBHsmxR