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From: stern@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Re: Pontiac Fiero
Message-ID: <1952@inmet.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 10-Feb-85 03:21:02 EST
Article-I.D.: inmet.1952
Posted: Sun Feb 10 03:21:02 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 12-Feb-85 05:04:18 EST
Lines: 39
Nf-ID: #R:tellab2:-21400:inmet:2700117:000:1619
Nf-From: inmet!stern    Feb  8 17:01:00 1985

[]
Not to be accused of posting ideas to the net without substantiation (do
people really do that? :-)) I can contribute the following information
about the Pontiac Fiero.  These quotes are taken from Consumer Reports,
April 1984 Annual Auto Issue Volume 49 Number 4.  They are reprinted without
permission.  Don't tattle on me.

From: "Road Tests of the Pontiac Fiero: What's Under All That Flash?"

Concerning handling: (p. 190):
"Its rear end would swing out with too little provocation, and drivers
found that the car didn't respond as cleanly as it should when they tried
to control the read end by countersteering.  Wet roads accentuated the
problem - and snow or ice made normal handling a constant worry"

(p. 191): "The Fiero has an unusually wide turning circle (42 feet) for
so small a car.  That made the car seem clumsy when maneuvering through
city traffic or parking."

About the super plastic body: (p. 192):
"While parking, a careless driver backed into our parked Fiero.  We had
to replace the entire lower front panel and the energy-absorber assembly
behind it."

Generic comments: (p. 192):
"The Pontiac Fiero is the automotive equivalent of junk food: Tempting 
to look at, maybe, but empty calories....It looks like a car that might
accelerate powerfully, brake on a dime, and take hairpin turns in stride.
It is none of those things."

Flames may be addressed to:

Hal Stern
Intermetrics, Inc
ihnp4!inmet!stern

These opinions and comments are my own and do not represent those of
anyone else, including my employer.  I am also solely responsible for
stealing the quotes from Consumer Reports.