Firebird Vs. Bonneville

[sbortoloni]

I was looking at some used Firebird/TransAms today. I saw that a lot of them had a 3.8L V6. Is it the same engine as the one in my Bonneville SLE? nm

[Danthurs]

Should be the same engien. It's used in a lot of different cars.

[sbortoloni]

I always saw it as the Firebird/TAs would be a muscle car and not have a V6 in there. Any issues with performance?

[GXP Venom]

Depends on the T/A. Last "Muscle" T/A was '79. A 400 with 350 heads. 80-81 saw it get a turbo'ed 301. Things just got wimpy after that and through the years since, it's seen almost every GM engine out there, except a fast one. hehehe. Some of the 5.7's were "ok".
82-92 had these in them.
2.5 L Pontiac I4
2.8 L V6
3.1 L V6
3.8 L Buick Turbo V6
5.0 L Chevrolet V8
5.7 L Chevrolet V8

93-02 saw more performance effort on some models but based with the 3.4 and 3.8L . LT1 and LS1's were offered with the "giddyup" of the past.

[Black Pearl]

A few of the late'01 and most of the '02 T/A's had the LS6 (ZO6) Intake and cam installed from the factory, which made about 345hp. They were never advertised to have it though. I've heard rumors that some of the last T/A's had the whole LS6 put in them. GM High Tech Performance ran an article back in '02 with the engine code and where to look to see if you have one. The V6 offers the same performance as the SE and SLE Bonne and Grand Prix GT. All the aftermarket parts will work

[GXP Venom]

Never heard that. Could be what gave me a hard spanking last fall. I couldn't even walk with this T/A spraying.

[Bwayney]

A 96-02 Camaro would beat a 3800 II Bonneville.

The camaro is alot lighter and is RWD. Also alot of the camaros offered what is equivalent to the
"Performance Shift"

Also the Camaro V6 w/ the Y87 Performance Package is quite fast. It offered LSD(limited slip) and better gearing ratio and traction control, etc.

[jcortina]

Originally Posted by sbortoloni

I always saw it as the Firebird/TAs would be a muscle car and not have a V6 in there. Any issues with performance?

No T/A would have a V6. '93-'97 had the LT1 w/275hp in the '93-'95 and 285hp in '96-'97.
'98+ have the LS1 with 305hp. If you get a Firebird, make sure it is at least a '96 which has the Series II 3800 with 200hp. Before '96, the V6 only produces 160hp. A buddy of mine managed a 15.2 with the V6. I had a '97 T/A with a best of 13.4.

Good luck with your search.
Josh
'04 GP GTP Special Edition
14.6@93- stock

[Timothy's Buick]

Originally Posted by GXP Venom

Depends on the T/A. Last "Muscle" T/A was '79. A 400 with 350 heads. 80-81 saw it get a turbo'ed 301. Things just got wimpy after that and through the years since, it's seen almost every GM engine out there, except a fast one. hehehe. Some of the 5.7's were "ok".
82-92 had these in them.
2.5 L Pontiac I4
2.8 L V6
3.1 L V6
3.8 L Buick Turbo V6
5.0 L Chevrolet V8
5.7 L Chevrolet V8

93-02 saw more performance effort on some models but based with the 3.4 and 3.8L . LT1 and LS1's were offered with the "giddyup" of the past.

2.5 L pontiac I4?
That must be the old Iron Duke? Ha! I have that motor in my old 84 Chevy.. Good motor, but slow as a dog!!

[radomirthegreat]

Headers for the 3800 V6 Firebird are better because of the engine's alignment. On the FWD version, they wrap around as you know.