Tracking a Fiero

[lercs]

Hey All,

Long time no post... I was wondering how good a Fiero would be as a starter track car.. I happen to have an extra one lying around and I thought maybe it would be a good start to my track career.

So anyone track their fiero?

[dguy]

So anyone track their fiero?

I'd have to put one on the road first.      

Assuming that by "track" you mean ovals and/or road courses, I'm of the opinion that even a Le Car can be a good starter track car.  Introductory tracking is about learning driving techniques such as identifying the racing line, how & when to brake, etc.  As a beginner I imagine that an unmodified & well-maintained Fiero will treat you well for the most part, however expect some element of brake fade depending upon the course and how hard you're running.

[lercs]

Well I disagree about a Lecar being any good, I know I used to have one.

But I was more wondering after I stopped being a beginner, should I spend money on the car or dump it and get something better?

[aaron88]

Depends entirely on how you drive and what kind of track car you want.

Do you like to brake late in the corners?
Do you want more power, or acceleration than others on the track?
Do you want your car to be lighter than the others on the track?
You want less flex?
more durability?
How much do you want to spend?
Oversteer?
Understeer?
Late track passing or early track passing?
Modified or unmodified?

It goes on for ever.

Yes a fiero is good to start.  Yes you will have to fix a few characteristics first.  With a Fiero you will spend less to have the same performance an comparable others.

But it might not suit your driving style.

Just a few things to get you started.

Aaron

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[lercs]

Hi Aaron,

At first I just want a car that will get me around the track and hopefully not fall apart (lol)

I am not sure of my driving style yet as I have never raced. (well other then R/C cars)

In the questions you asked what characteristics would an average fiero GT have? and what things would need fixing?

[aaron88]

This might sound strange but truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.  If you know anyone that has Grand Turismo 4 or 5 with the feedback steering wheel and pedals you can find out what different types of cars drive like.  To correct for understeer or oversteer the actions are exactly the same.  You can experiment with changing downforce and weight distribution, to correct an unbalanced car.  The only thing that I advocate all the time than you can't do is change the tire widths.

The Fiero is under tired in the rear, so it has oversteer.  The balance is actually quite close to where you want it.  With a distribution (depending on transmission engine combination) somewhere in the range of 52 to 55% on the rear.  Unfortunately because it's also rear wheel drive and underpowered you end up with oversteer conditions all the time.

Honestly I could go on for hours so I'll leave it at that.  Basically you will want to put wider tires on the rear with out widening the front.  For starters you could go to 235's on the rear with the stock rims.  205's on the front.

You want to do a full engine outside overhaul.  Not the engine it's self but all the sensors et cetera on it that are way too old to rely on.

You'll need to change your brake booster as your original is leaking by now for sure.  While your at it you might as well upgrade to the S10 booster.  Add a proportioning valve.  Overhaul or replace your bake calipers (you should seriously consider upgrading your brakes).

So back to the questions.  The car is going to oversteer, the brakes are going to fade and at high speed the front end is going to get light.  Somewhere around 160 km/h the headlight covers are going to pop up too.  But don't get discuraged at that.  You are actually better off with the Fiero than most other starter cars (without getting into some big tickets).

Other good starter cars to look at are Mazda Miata and Honda S2000.  If you want something ready out of the box, Lancer Evo.

If you leave it stock, eventually you will have to upgrade the brakes (to get rid of the fade), you will have to upgrade the front end suspension (because it's an effing Chevette), and you will have to do something about the bump steer rear end (84 to 87 models).

There are some members here that have raced and can probably offer better advice.

Cheers,

Aaron

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[lercs]

Hey Aaron,


Thanks for the great advice. I will see how things go, but you are right about not being able to rely on things, it probably is better to get a newer car.

I am currently leaning towards getting an E46 bmw as a starter car as it would be 20 years newer and have more power. Also I work on a race team that races BMWs, so I have the knowledge of the car already there.


Cheers,
Grant

[aaron88]

Just keep in mind though, that it's going to take a lot of dough to make that BMW faster than my Fiero.  That's what makes us Fiero guys, Fiero guys.  Less dough to make it go (that should be our new logo).

Cheers,

[lercs]

Why would it take a lot of dough to make it go as fast as your fiero? What have you spent on yours?

[aaron88]

Mine isn't a good example because I chose an expensive path, but even then, not including tools but including buying the car I believe it's $11 000 to date, with $5 000 more coming.  After that the enire car is being scraped for an aluminum tube frame with custom body.

Aaron

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[lercs]

Well I don't think I will be spending that much on a BMW.

Why don't you have a work log on here?

[dguy]

Well I don't think I will be spending that much on a BMW.

Why don't you have a work log on here?

He does, but it was created in the Mods well before the Project Work Logs section came to life.  I moved it to P.W.L. a few minutes ago...