GTOSE

iTrader: (1)

Some really nice looking cars up there.

95batmobile

iTrader: (2)

I have thought about this long and hard.

I THINK** the reason these cars are still popular is because these were cheap back in the day and now days. so it was alot of peoples first cars. usually first cars have a special place in peoples hearts, especially "sports cars (lol)"... thats the only reason why i see these cars still alive.. i mean, they are junk with junk motors, and coming from a lt1 guy, they really must be junk motors lol

edit: there are some sexy 3rd gens, but im talking about in general.. which we all know what the average 3rd gen is like.. and who drives them lol

marc97taws6

iTrader: (6)

I'd love to upgrade to a 24' VIP Vindicator. Found a CLEAN 02 24' VIP Vindicator open bow with a 496 MAG and Bravo 1 drive for $22,500

Still think I want to try out some supercharged Seadoos first while I'm young

Sticks n Stones

My brother just found a late 90's 25' Vindicator going for $16k out of Arizona for me. tempted to buy it, but damn I've had alot of boats in my life and they all are money pits!

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

There's a lot of truth here. My first two cars were 3rd gens and neither were anything special, but I loved them all the same. I'd love to pick up a 1988-1990 GTA someday. I've always been a fan of them in burgundy or gray.

big hammer

89 turbo t\a is pretty bad ***.

VandykeT/A

I think after reading over this thread I've given up on the idea of modding my L98 Iroc lol. I'm starting to think a 2v mustang is a better peformance foundation than the TPI lol but I see a LS/4l60e swap in my future. I love my 3rd gens but man they're slow.

JWStevens

iTrader: (1)

That's true for most older sports cars. They were def slow but in the end they are just plain ole sbc's and you can make those as fast as you want, not to mention a bbc bolts right in its place. That's why my 92 vert just got a 468 and my 86 iroc had a 454. The LT1 distributor situation well that's gotta be one of the worst ideas ever. My brother in law finally gave up after years of fighting with his and went to a carb and regular distributor.

GTOSE

iTrader: (1)

There are moron's in every type of car out there.

If I ever classified cars in the same category as their owners, I definitely would not be into LSX cars. lol.

95batmobile

iTrader: (2)

thats true... they have giant engine bays, so thats a plus... but yea opti just sucks.. lucky i bought the whole msd system and never had one problem with it.. but i have heard from others with the same system who have tons of problems, its just the luck of the draw with these cars lol

camaro1185

iTrader: (2)

I don't agree at all with this statement. In fact, I think that GM really a good job with the third gens. I wouldn't call the motors junk, I would call the intake/exhaust system JUNK, the motor is just a sbc and can be made to be fast. In fact, change out the intake, throw on a good flowing exhaust system and it will almost run with LT1's. Want to get even crazier, and throw in an LS1 and it will run with 4th gens and even be faster due to the weight difference. Doing an LS swap, and you have a great all around little "sports car". The thing I really like about the third gens and where GM really did a good job was the suspension. Have you ever driven a stock suspension 3rd gens in the twisties? They handle extremely well. My personal iroc has about every suspension modification you can throw at these cars and it handles just on par with a stock newer c5 vette (I have only driven a stock c5, so I don't know how it will stack up against a c6)

I will agree though, that most of the third gen owners don't take time or have the money to make these cars look "sexy" as you say, so they get the mullet/trailer trash persona. Again, my car is also different in that aspect, I have spent lots of money bring mine back from a POS I bought it as to where it is today.

Either way I will probably get flammed for showing some third gen love on a 4th gen site, but LOVE third gens and have to defend them.

big hammer

the engines were good. dont forget that even the tpi 305's made more hp than the ford 5.0.

however the tpi was a major restriction. the ford really had the advantage there.

JWStevens

iTrader: (1)

That and you couldn't get a 5 speed with the 350. The 5 speed 305's weren't much slower than the auto 350's. I hardly ever saw anybody street racing an auto 5.0. The camaro ran better than the 5.0 from what I saw back then. Imagine is there weren't any 6 speed ls1's and everybody was running cars with just little bolt ons....

toxic99

Since they were slow as **** when they came out and the fact that most of them today are 200k mile 305 cars or full blown race cars...they make the perfect sleeper. Slap a ls based motor in them with some dope and you'll be making money all night long. A friend of mine had one with a 383 setup in it, even with a cam thumpin he got way way more races then mysilf in my LS1 car. And both ran the same times. Everyone was scared to run me but would jump at the chance to run a "305" cammed car lol....

big hammer

another mistake. if the trans they were buying wasn't good enough to handle the torque of a tpi 350 then that's just plain silly.

the 350 tpi made a good bit more power than the 5.0 ford, especially in the later years. but the auto only and the extra weight slowed it down.

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

I would have liked to see how a stock 350 TPI Formula would run with a stick. Damn GM and their shitty transmission.

95batmobile

iTrader: (2)

idk about the whole intake/exhaust thing.. i dont know enough about the cars...

but we had a ls1 t56 swap car that kept up with my friends bolt on c5... buttttt it was 3100lbs and full coil-over suspension/ chrome only everything

InfernalVortex

Lol... I feel so bad for that kid. He's got an enthusiasm for the sport but he likes to run his mouth a bit too much. He knows enough to hurt himself, unfortunately.

Anyway he couldnt get his HSR setup to work right and just sold that legendary 305 to who knows where. I couldnt give mine away so I guess the joke is on me.

Anyway, looks like he's gonna be over here in a few:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/lt...ap-stupid.html



I love my thirdgens, and I LOVE TGO. I've learned SO much from the guys over there. There are a lot of good dudes there helping people out so dont paitn them all with that brush, ESPECIALLY that particular board. That IS the riff raff section. The fourth gens are only getting older and cheaper... theyll be there soon, so you guys wont have to feel left out for long.



These thirdgens really are great cars, they're just getting old and worn out. A well-maintained one will surprise you, they can handle very, very well. I dont think you'd see much of a difference if any between third and fourth gens around a track if power levels were the same. We've got several AutoX championships after all. The great thing about thirdgens is that it's so easy to make it whatever you want it to be, from a BBC-powerglide drag car with ladder bars to an LS7 road racer with a Muncie to a twin turbo 400 with a T56. You can do almost any combination of new and old school, corner carving or drag that you want. Theres even a guy that put a C4 IRS in one. Fourth gens are similar in their inherent flexibility, but we are lighter and we are cheaper and its a bit easier to retrofit more exotic setups into our cars.

Don't forget the engines were basically detroit's first attempt at scraping itself out of the 70's nadir for performance. They were crawling out of the days of low compression 455 cubic inch, 170 hp big blocks and trying to do something respectable. Technology then just wasnt where it was now to meet the government regs and still make the kind of power we are used to now. But remember, an 85 305 TPI IROC could hang with most of those 60s muscle cars stock for stock. An 87+ with the L98 could give them a REAL good run. They're very slow by today's standards, but in the late 80's they were very respectable, at least when optioned properly.

Fourth gens are better cars from the factory, no one will dispute that. Fourth gens were better from the factory than first gens too. But the third gens have their place and the sooner all the crappy ones rot and fall off the road the better.

TonyGXP

only 1 305ci stands out in my mind and it had a huge Vortech on it. But it did run....

enjoy

http://thirdgenfbody.wordpress.com/2...ance-may-1998/

just goes to show you, when built correct aint nothing a chevy small block can't do.

ThoR294

iTrader: (6)

Kid at my school had a 87 GTA (305 auto) and talked so much **** with it. he ******* lost to a 03 sunfire LOL