Sonic vs Spectrum - Then and now. . .

[JTee2017]

The '82 Corvette was the 5.7 liter vin 8 "Missfire", I mean Crossfire 350 small block Chevy V8. The '82 F cars (Camaro and Firebird) has the 5.0 vin 7 and then vin S (1983) Crossfire engines.

There was no '83 Corvette sold to the public, so I think you meant an '84 Corvette which had the carry-over engine from the 1982 model. .

You are correct.

I know.. all of that including the F car use Apparently you did not catch my <wink>? L@@k for it.

I worked for GM. Well aware of many drive trains and years,

 

[Ponchoguy]

You are correct.

I know.. all of that including the F car use Apparently you did not catch my <wink>? L@@k for it.

I worked for GM. Well aware of many drive trains and years,

GM's F body parts book for 82-92 had many, many errors in the powertrain charts. I wrote GM a ton of times with the "Reader Response" cards telling them what the mistakes were. After they researched them, they agreed and made the changes....

 

[JTee2017]

GM's F body parts book for 82-92 had many, many errors in the powertrain charts. I wrote GM a ton of times with the "Reader Response" cards telling them what the mistakes were. After they researched them, they agreed and made the changes....

I was speaking more of the '83 Corvette reference <wink>

And, yes, aware GM parts books have often been incorrect in areas, not to mention the numerous part number changes . . . sometimes with nothing more than a vendor change.

 

[Ponchoguy]

I was speaking more of the '83 Corvette reference <wink>

And, yes, aware GM parts books have often been incorrect in areas, not to mention the numerous part number changes . . . sometimes with nothing more than a vendor change.

LOL. I got the '83 Corvette reference. Actually, 40 or so were produced from what I remember, but they were test cars and I don't think any were sold to the public.

Actually on the parts books, they had things like the 350 engine listed for the 1986 cars. That is incorrect. There were test mules in 1986, but the first L98 cars were 1987 models. The part # changes occurred with revisions in their catalog cycle.

The charts had errors and parts that didn't go to certain cars. That is what I helped them to correct.

 

[Gimpster]

Off Topic: I once drove an '84 Vette thinking I could deal with the crossfire injection, ... nope.

On Topic: Cool thread, and lots of memories. We were pretty loyal to the Geo brand, and I got rid of our last Prism last year (gave it to a coworker). It's really hard to believe how far we've come... or regressed... depending how you look at it. What people would find acceptable as an economy car today vs. 1989 is night and day.

 

[Ponchoguy]

Off Topic: I once drove an '84 Vette thinking I could deal with the crossfire injection, ... nope.

On Topic: Cool thread, and lots of memories. We were pretty loyal to the Geo brand, and I got rid of our last Prism last year (gave it to a coworker). It's really hard to believe how far we've come... or regressed... depending how you look at it. What people would find acceptable as an economy car today vs. 1989 is night and day.

The '82 and '84 Corvettes had the same engines, the "Missfire" 350 V8. LOL.

 

[Gimpster]

So to tie in my comment, here is a great C4 story.

In like 1998, my roommate at the time got hot and heavy for a Corvette. He wanted a C5, but... no money. His next choice was a 1996 Collectors Edition (LT4), but finding one in his price range was not possible.

SO, one night.. he comes up and says LETS GO test drive an '84 4+3 manual! We show up, and like... nothing works. The usual digital dash issues, and all that jazz. He insists on driving it anyway.

We pull out onto the highway, and we're accelerating like a stock 1.8 auto Sonic. I tell him to punch it already, and hes like "my foot is to the floor". I literally LOL'd and told him to turn around and lets go home. He passed on the '84.

He never did get his Corvetter.

The '82 and '84 Corvettes had the same engines, the "Missfire" 350 V8. LOL.

 

[JTee2017]

Well, back on topic. . . and the thread is about the Spectrum. . . not Prizm or Metro since those were essentially a Toyota Corrola and a Suzuki respectively. The Spectrum was a rebadged Izuzu.

When looking at the 1988-89 Spectrum sedan, amazing when looking at the specs that it sold at all.

In fact, the only reason I bought one is that there was a special offer on the 1989 because there was a glut sitting in Seattle I think on shipping lots. Apparently some delay in shipping from Japan and then a ton of them showed up at model year end.

I bought ours for under $5,000 and it was fairly well equipped for a Spectrum. Several of my friends bought one also.


1988 Chevrolet Spectrum Hatchback

Chevrolet Spectrum Hatchback, model year 1988, version for North America U.S.
3-door hatchback body type
FWD (front-wheel drive), manual 5-speed gearbox
petrol (gasoline) engine with displacement: 1471 cm3 / 89.7 cui, advertised power: 52 kW / 70 hp / 71 PS ( SAE net ), torque: 118 Nm / 87 lb-ft
characteristic dimensions: outside length: 4010 mm / 157.9 in, width: 1615 mm / 63.6 in, wheelbase: 2400 mm / 94.5 in
reference weights: base curb weight: 890 kg / 1962 lbs
how fast is this car ? top speed: 167 km/h (104 mph) (theoretical);
accelerations: 0- 60 mph 11.9 s; 0- 100 km/h 12.7 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com); 1/4 mile drag time (402 m) 18.5 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com)
fuel consumption and mileage: 39 mpg (U.S.), 6 l/100km, 46.8 mpg (imp.), 16.6 km/l EPA combined ratings; average estimated by a-c: 8.7 l/100km / 32.5 mpg (imp.) / 27.1 mpg (U.S.) / 11.5 km/l

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1988 Chevrolet Spectrum Sedan

Chevrolet Spectrum Sedan, model year 1988, version for North America U.S.
4-door sedan body type
FWD (front-wheel drive), manual 5-speed gearbox
petrol (gasoline) engine with displacement: 1471 cm3 / 89.7 cui, advertised power: 52 kW / 70 hp / 71 PS ( SAE net ), torque: 118 Nm / 87 lb-ft
characteristic dimensions: outside length: 4080 mm / 160.6 in, width: 1615 mm / 63.6 in, wheelbase: 2400 mm / 94.5 in
reference weights: base curb weight: 910 kg / 2006 lbs
how fast is this car ? top speed: 164 km/h (102 mph) (theoretical);
accelerations: 0- 60 mph 12.2 s; 0- 100 km/h 13 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com); 1/4 mile drag time (402 m) 18.6 s (simulation ©automobile-catalog.com)
fuel consumption and mileage: 39 mpg (U.S.), 6 l/100km, 46.8 mpg (imp.), 16.6 km/l EPA combined ratings; average estimated by a-c: 8.7 l/100km / 32.3 mpg (imp.) / 26.9 mpg (U.S.) / 11.4 k