I went for a walk yesterday and my mind wandered about how certain horsepower numbers have been covered by 4, 5, 6, 8 and 12 cylinder engines.
And I happened to see some other classic cars and that got me thinking of the Fiero as a future classic. But by today’s standards, the engines in the Fiero aren’t that great. I thought... wouldn’t it be great if there was a magic 1988 Fiero GT where a replacement engine could go in by just snapping your fingers?
So... let’s imagine there really is a magic 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT that looks like the one in the picture.
And to define what *specifically* makes it magical:
- With a thought, you could make it switch from 5 speed manual to 4 speed automatic
- With a snap of the fingers, you could swap an engine of your choice from a list of GM engines (see below).
- You can also snap your fingers to magically swap the engine out and have it on an engine stand to make servicing the engine really easy. So don’t worry about the engine bay being too tight for the given engine.
- Whatever engine you swap in, the transmisson gear ratios automatically adjust to be optimal for that engine (but still limited to a 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto). And the transmission/driveline magically strengthens itself. So don’t worry about bad gearing or blowing up the transmission or driveline.
But the magic isn’t all good. There are some downsides:
- It’s the only Fiero GT equipped with the Iron Duke 4 cyl stock
- You can only swap in/out some GM engines... the Iron Duke it came with as well as a selection of engines of at least 200HP, but not more than 205hp.
- If you swap in an engine and then do mods to improve the performance, then the “swap-in/out with a snap of the fingers” magic stops working and you can’t swap it out until the performance mods are reversed.
- The magic does nothing to help any advantages or disadvantages any given engine has.
And for the final catch... the eligible engines the magic works with. And those engines are:
- The 200HP 2.5L LCV Ecotec engine found in the current Chevy Colorado
- The 205HP 2.0L supercharged LSJ Ecotec found in the Chevy Cobalt
- The 205HP L36 3.8L Gen II Buick 3.8L V6
- The 205HP L67 3.8L Gen 1 Supercharged 3.8L V6
- The 200HP L26 4.9L OHV Cadillac HT V8
- The 1994-1996 Chevy V8... but only the 200HP 4.3L L99 version
- The 1982-1984 5.7L Chevy V8... but only the 205HP L83... which is the one with Crossfire fuel injection
The magic will also cause any engine manually swapped in that is not on this list to spontaneously blow up and cause the car to burn to the ground... leaving you with nothing.
Which engine would you choose?
And would you pick manual or automatic?