I was thinking about this the other day...what actually told the difference.

Here's what I can think of:
Dash, 1/4 panels, hood, bumpers (and lights), center console, any ground effects.

Can't think of anything else...

 

Yep and steering wheel, seats and power antenna.

 

Not like in the old days when the two cars didn't share much at all...........
Must have been nice to be able to pick between 2 totally different performance oriented cars from the same company for nearly the same price.

 

T/A's have leather standard.
Z28's have leather option.

T/A's have a WS6 option... Z28's don't. Both have a 1LE option.

T/A's (and some years Formulas) were available as Firehawks. Chevy's didn't have an SLP option until the SS in '96+.


Pontiacs have red interior gauges, Chevy's have blue (except 93).
Pontiacs were available in 2 different yellows ('94 & '02), no yellow for Chevy.

Pontiacs had Monsoon Stereo Options in '96+, Chevy had the Monsoon in '97+.

A more fair comparison would be the Z28 to the Formula. The Trans Am comes mostly loaded and retails for ~$4000 above the Z28/Formula.

A few Pontiacs in the area may also had a few program "abnormalies" when read for the first time by a local tuner. A new LT1-TA of mention had the speed limiter set to 254mph from the factory. Never heard of that in a Z28/SS.

Oh yeah, and the T/A's had much cooler commercials than the Z28's did. (the volume and run-time of which is a VERY sore topic with me... penny-pinching marketing people killed our lineage IMHO).

 

"Oh yeah, and the T/A's had much cooler commercials than the Z28's did. (the volume and run-time of which is a VERY sore topic with me... penny-pinching marketing people killed our lineage IMHO)."


Ya know now that I think about it, I can't ever remember seeing a commercial for Camaro's or Firebird's

 

When talking about differences, I more meant physical differences. Like if someone wanted to take a V6 Camaro and make a WS6 clone. I didn't know about the leather, that make my decision to get a T/A that much cooler. I'm pretty schooled in the WS6/SS dept and the ASC/SLP deals.

 

i did not know that. good info!

 

After '98 T-Tops were standard on the T/A
Still an option on the Z28s

I don't know that anyone mentioned it but the hatch is different as well of course.

Aren't the exhaust tips different

The head unit is different...

Depending on the year the wheels may also be different

 

to turn a camaro into a firebird of any kind, you have to chop the rear quarter pannels. this is expensive. the front ones bolt on and are easily removed. you will need new doors and mirrors as well. the only thing you wont remove (externally) is the hatch support area where the t-tops end. and the windshield of course. i was looking into this until it was going to cost me $2000 to change each rear quarter: and that did not include paint

 

with the bodywork involved, it would be cheaper to buy a T/A or Formula...you have to modify almost everything externally.

 

that commercial where the trans/am eats the ferrari and then burps kicked ***