chicagotribune.com's view

Pity those who couldn`t wait, the ones who rushed out for the 2-seaterPontiac Fiero when it first appeared in 1984.

Good looks made buyers forget they were buying an economy car with anunderpowered 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine and a balky 4-speed transmission asstandard, and a mild mannered automatic as optional.

For `86, Fiero offers a choice of the 2.5 or the very peppy fuel injected 2.8-liter V-6. More importantly, for midyear there`s now the `86 1/2 GT, afastback version of the coupe that combines dynamic styling with sports carperformance. The manual is still balky, but the GT with the 2.8 liter V-6 isquick, even with optional automatic.

Fiero offered a GT in `85, which sported a low-slung hood, wraparoundfront air dam and V-6 engine borrowed from Pontiac`s Indy 500 pace car model. For `86, that car becomes the SE.

The new GT has that same front-end but features a fastback rear-endtreatment with new upper-rear quarter panels featuring large side glass in therear sail panels. That gives a sloping, Ferrari-like fastback appearance. The deck lid, deck-lid louvered grilles, bulging tail lamps and optional wing-typespoiler are all new.

The `86 1/2 GT deserves design kudos, and Pontiac didn`t even have tostart with a clean sheet of paper. All it did was lift the plastic panels off the rear end of the coupe and put on new ones.

That much heralded but little understood space frame construction haspaid its first dividend. Space frame means you have a total running carunderneath, to which you add a plastic body in pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle.When you want to change the look of the car, you don`t fool with the frameunderneath, you simply replace exterior panels.

The multiport, fuel injected 2.8-liter V-6 is the only engine offered and is teamed with a 4-speed manual transmission as standard and automatic anoption ($465). A trumpet exhaust provides some rumbling when you accelerate,but the 2.8 is lively enough without the sound effects, even with the 3-speed automatic.

Until GM makes a manual transmission that doesn`t “hang up,“ and aslong as the automatic doesn`t rob you of that much performance, we`d chooseautomatic.

The GT also features a WS6 suspension package with a stiffer suspension,15-inch diamond spoke aluminum wheels and Eagle GT tires. You get good roadholding and crisp handling.

The ride is as good as it gets with your back pocket sitting inches offthe road. However, the Toyota Mr-2 (see below) has better road holding andtighter cornering. Still, the GT suspension is far superior to that in thebasic Fiero, which rides and handles like a Caprice sedan, by comparison.

Unfortunately, Pontiac redid the exterior, but didn`t add one iota ofroom to the “cargo hold“ in back, which is too small to be called a trunk.It will hold a suit–for swimming–or groceries–for lunch–but not much more. A possible annoyance depending on rider height is the lap/shoulder belt.The shoulder part rides high, too close to the neck for comfort. And, while a sporty car demands all the gauges, Pontiac devotes an 8 by 3 inch space in thedash for tandem volt and oil pressure gauges. The radio gets even less room.Base: $12,700.