Anybody ever run up against a Fiero?

My pal has decided to issue a challenge:

"Want to race for title? I won't even shift into fourth. Tee, hee ... Seriously, with just a bit of PROM alteration, I have a feeling the remuddled Fiero will be a 150mph-plus car. For sure stats are a 5-second 0-60 and a quarter in the high 12 to low 13 bracket."

... I know he's kidding -- and I don't know what I'd do with a Fiero, anyway. He must have watched Pinks one too many times, or maybe he hit the cooking sherry yesterday.
My question is, what is a PROM alteration? Anybody know?

PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory. Its a chip. He's mistaken. The hot-rod Fiero is a 2.8 pushrod V-6 (otherwise its a four). That engine, stock makes 140 horsepower. The V-6 in the better models was backed with a Getrag 5-speed, not a bad unit. I used that in my Fiat X19 behind the rotary engine. Decently geared transaxle that with a good engine will absolutely see 150 mph with 225/50/15 inch tires. In fact, with the right engine it will go 155 - I know because that's how fast I drove it. But my engine was a 180hp rotary and an x19 has less frontal area than a fiero.

So here's the deal. He may actually have top speed on you, even with the otherwise stock pushrod V-6. That car will not, not ever, not with any chip in the history of the known universe go 150 mph. But it might go 135. With some exhaust and intake work, maybe 140? You would destroy him up to 100mph. Guaranteed.

But check under the hood. A 300hp Norstar V-8 fits rather nicely under the stock body and will offer some pretty serious smackdown in any run and gun contest.

angela

"That car will not, not ever, not with any chip in the history of the known universe go 150 mph."

That's FUNNY. Can I paraphrase that?
Here's the background. Once upon a time, when I was young and stoopid, this guy was assigned to the same shop I was on the mighty war-pig Nimitz. We worked the same shifts, and he lived in the little hamlet of Poulsbo (sp?), Washington.
He had a house, and I had an apartment about three miles away. A buddy in San Diego sold me a rusty, brown POS '71 Pontiac Ventura with a big engine, a ridiculous hood scoop and a three-speed floor-shifter in it for a buck, and I spent quite a while sorting the car out.
I'd had a Nova before, so it didn't seem like a bad idea to tinker with something familiar.
Dave (Fiero guy) was really handy with a wrench and had 20 or so years of shade-tree mechanic experience. He knew more than I did, and there was always Guinness on hand -- so we had a good time and built an even better POS than what had existed before.
Bodywork was Bondo, paint was ACE "on-sale-red" and the interior was aluminum, vinyl and shag. (Yeah, Baby, yeah.)
That car got tinkered with in his garage and I drove my Crown Brick day-to-day until it was finished. I drove it for a while after it was done, beat the crap out of it at the Olympic Speedway and eventually sold it back to the same guy I had gotten it from, an aircraft mechanic who went by the nickname Ozone.
Ozone wrecked it a few months later on a track in San Diego. I wasn't even a little bit sad. Meanwhile, Dave needed another project, so I sold him my Subaru Brat for a dollar. He's like that; buy it on its last legs and bring it to its knees.
Now, a hundred years later, he's TC'd a Fiero. He's in Italy, 'bout ready to retire to North Dakota, and he's been tinkering with this thing for about two years. I have no idea what he's done to it, but I can safely bet the body's ragged-out, the interior's probably bone-barbaric and there might or might not be window glass. He probably bought it for a buck and put $500 or so into it.
He is a funny guy, though. Maybe he's finally done one right. Either way, it'll be good to see him again; we're going to meet at my dad's house in St. Louis sometime after his retirement in April.
(And, now that I'm thinking about my past rides, I'll go see what I have for pictures.)

Well Cory, those Novas are really sought after now...a Lada isn't even in the same building with those.

Fiero chassis, original body or kit body, are nearly as popular as VW pan based kit cars. They just haven't been around nearly as long. Like the VW pan, you can use them stock wheelbase length or extended wheelbase length. The long ones are used for Lamborghini replicas and other exotica. Besides the Northstar (even supercharged) some vendors will fit any V8, including longitudinal big blocks with a Porsche five speed or other transmission. Like the song says, "You don't know what I got". Sorta like the occassional turbo speedster / spyder.

The guys doing the stretch kits are also going pretty nuts and using a longitindally mounted 12 cylinder BMW engine from the 750il or 850 coupe. A Knotts a couple of years ago, one of them was my vote for best engine. I figured the guy who put the effort into wiring that engine in (complete with fuel injection, AC etc.,) to a GM wiring harness while cloning the valve covers and intake to look like a Lambo, well, that was a worthy effort!

angela

It was a really nice looking engine. I actually did some video of that car and the engine in the knotts video.

Late-breaking word from the Fiero guy:

"My Fiero has been shipped to Orlando. I

Cory my speedstah friend - leave that one alone. Bone factory stock a 92 Norstar is 300 horsepower with a torque curve as wide as JLo's arse.

Don't mess with it. Due to gearing and hour lighter car, you might surprise him pretty good in the hole, but after that look out. Those are GOOD engines.

Hey, did you know a guy put one (northstar) in a spyder?
angela

Rats.
Nope; no idea. But that STINKS. That means old Dave has done it again.