Evolution223

first of all, I dont know much about 3rd gens,

they came in 2.8, 5.0 (305) and 5.7 (350) right??

Now the z-28's were 305's and the Irocs were 350's right??

I have read that the 5.0's were 170 hp, how much more power did the 5.7 have?? What kind of Toruqe did they have??

why were they so low powered? was it the government emissions crap?

I'm going to get into reading about the 3rd gens to learn, thanks

mako350Z28

Ignoring the v6's (2.8 and 3.1), there were a few different versions of the 305 and just one 350.

The power output of the 305 depended on several different factors. Carb, TPI (Tuned Port Injection), year, and trans all factored into what kind of power the 305 was making. the best 305 motors were the TPI's mated to a 5-speed manual. At peak I believe these were rated 230hp and 300tq. Carbed and auto TPI motors had much less power. In alot of people's opinion the 305's best performance was as a boat anchor.

The 350 made at peak 245hp and 345tq. TPI was designed for low and mid range power so performance was limited to stoplight to stoplight. But looking at what had come in the previous 10-12 years it was a godsend. Car companies were still trying to figure out how to make hp while keeping the emissions low and the gas mileage high. This was the first stepping stone to where we are today.

Z/28's were replaced for a few years by Irocs (International Race of Champions) because GM was sponsoring it. Their sponsorship ran out in 1990 so that was the years that the Z/28 returned, midway throught the year.

quickchicken

i will add this, the 89 305 M5 TPIand the 350 TPI had the same cam and were only 10 hp and 10 ft lbs torque apart.

the 305 TPI was a good bit less. dunno about other years but when i got my 89 FORMULA it was STOUT. i could cruz along at 20 or so MPH in first, nail it and blow the tires off.

the 305 TBI cars fall into the boat anchor catagory, they have what is refrred to as the peanut cam.

ZZ

5 speed L03 cars had the L98 cam, auto L03 and auto LB9 TPI cars had the peanut cam. The L03 sucked because of the crappy swirl-port heads. Ditto to what was said above. These cars were way better than what we had for a long time back then. A new minivan could eat a 70's vette or camaro's lunch today.

quickchicken

i cant see why the L03 M5 would get the same cam as the M5 LB9 and L98 cars and the AT LB9 car get a lesser cam than a lesser motor.

Marc 85Z28

Everything you need to know:

http://www.thirdgen.org/1982-chevy-camaro

Replace the year in the url for the progression the of generation.

grumpygreaseape

back in the day-1984-1991-they werent dogs. a 6 to 7 second 0-60 time was considered a"fast" car. stripper 5.0 mustangs (lx) were in the range of 6 flat 0-60. like any other car-you gotta build it right. subframe connectors.

1badeagle

I agree with the above stated. My 89 formula 305 tpi 5 speed will roast the tires throught 2nd and chirp 3rd with only headers.

Gtpguy

Wrong

neil350

They weren't dogs, the TPI came out in 1985, the F-bodies were stuck with the 305, till they got the 350 option for 1987. Put this in context real quick, in 1980 the big bad 400ci 6.6L V8 only made 220HP and 320lb ft of tq, by 1990, the 305 TPI had exceeded that horse power rating by 10HP and the TPI 350 had exceeded both the 1980 400COD models hp and torque rating. Now look at 2000 and 10 years later to today, the '10 Camaro V6 has a higher horse power rating then that of the 00 V6 by 104HP, 200HP from the 00' V6 to 304hp of the 2010. Was the 2000 V6 a "dog," no for the time it was actually really great, but times change. They made a lot of advances in the third gens run, lot of new technology and for that time, they did a lot for performance and handling. The third gen cars were far from dogs, but you really can't compare it to modern times.

cars3

I agree. Well put!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gord's Green Z28

3rd gen V8 encompasses quite a range of engines. To give some examples.

1982 Z28. You had a choice of 140 HP carb. Or a 165 HP crossfire. 4 speed manual or 3 speed automatic.....And these were the fastest models of that year. Still, quite fun at the time though. Corvettes were only 200 HP at the time. And Vettes only came with automatics in 1982.

1992 Firehawks on the other hand were 350 HP with a ZF 6 speed manual. To my knowledge they are still to this day the fastest F-bodies.

The 1983-84 High Output engines got things rolling (5 speed, 190 HP, better gearing), but it was really the 1985 IROC's that got everything going. TPI, bigger wheels/tires, better suspension. From there, things got a bit better year by year.

Using the 5.0 170 HP engine from the original post, that was available as the optional motor on RS models in later years. For 1991-92, you had probably the easiest model selections.
RS - 3.1 V6 140 HP
RS - 5.0 V8 170 HP
Z28 - 5.0 V8 230 HP
Z28 - 5.7 V8 240 HP

neil350

The standard issue iron block 350 cars ran low 13s stock, impressive for '91 but some of the LS1 F-cars tested faster, Evan Smith ran 12.9s in an 02 SS and Popular Mechanics ran like a 13.1 with a 99 1LE WS6 Formula. I don't know if any one ever tested one of the rodeck alum block Firehawk cars though. I will say this though, going by skid pad numbers, the 91-92 Hawks laid down an impressive .94Gs, so they were possibly the best handling f-car ever built

ZZ

That's funny, because I found one in my stock 88 L03, and I ain't the only one.

Gtpguy

Im not doubting the fact that you and some others pulled L98 cams out of your L03. A kid with a bone stock 5spd 1990 TBi camaro clicked off a 15.3 at 90mph I believe. It must have been a pain for the GM motor guys to have to be careful which engine they put the L98 cam into. Why not put them in all the motors? I bet thats what they started doing around 1988 when they went to roller motors. Thats just my theory.

But starting in 1990, all TPI engines for sure got the L98 cam, regardless of transmissions. My 1991 AUTO 5.0 put down 187/270tq bone stock. Single cat, 2.73 drum posi rear. Pretty much bottom of the performance barrel. Thats around 230hp at the motor. Pretty much where the L98 was.

Truth is, the peformance difference between the later 5.0 TPIs really boiled down to tranny, rear end.