Automation Restomod Chapter 10: An 80s Revival

Texaslav · 14 September 2021 22:24

Savage intakes, lowered roofline, epic rear wing, color-matched wheels. Looking mean, Mr. Superstar.

Restoration Design Proposal: Fiero LWS-R by Lonestar Labs

The LWS-R (LightWeight Sportscar) is an extensive rework of the Pontiac Fiero that transforms the barebones 1980s looks-only car into a much more capable machine that matches 2020 performance, safety and entertainment standards while preserving the fun, lightweight spirit of the original Fiero.

The body of the LWS-R will be a unit manufactured from scratch at Lonestar Labs to fit onto the original chassis with minimal modifications. It replaces the original vehicle’s fiberglass and steel panels with carbon fiber, and was designed as a re-interpretation of 1980s and 1990s performance design traits. Group B-size air ducts, flush fixed headlamps and a lowered, flat roof make for an aggressive look that the budget-constrained, mass-produced original Fiero couldn’t have hoped to pull off.

LED rear lights and sextuple square exhausts ensure the LWS-R looks good from all angles

To match this bold styling, Lonestar Labs plans to install its top engine for light transverse-engined cars: A reworked, direct-injected 3.4-liter Nein-maha V8. No camshaft issues this time around - just 370 naturally-aspirated horsepower and a 9200 RPM redline that redefine what a Fiero should move and sound like. A 7-speed dual-clutch AMT will be fitted to ensure that 62 mph will be reached in just 3.3 seconds, and a quarter-mile dispatched in the low 11-second range. Oh, and that throttle? It’s instant. Touch and go.

The entire powertrain is, as with the original Fiero, centered around the rear axle. It’s more substantial this time around - but actually lighter than the Iron Duke and its transaxle!

To harness all this awesome power, LWS-R will come with an all-control arm suspension, with horizontal arrangement of shocks and springs on the front and conventional vertical-mounted ones on the rear. The suspension is of active type, ensuring comfort at all times and fervor when necessary. Wide sports tires on color-matched 17-inch wheels keep the car nailed to the ground for a maximum lateral acceleration figure in excess of 1.3 G.

Be assured: It is a weapon.

The inside of the LWS-R is also a far cry from the basic, plasticky Fiero. It’ll be all leather and aluminum in here, with a modern digital dash and a handy touchscreen handling powertrain and suspension adjustment, radio and connectivity - but as the LWS-R Fiero was conceived as a driver’s car first and foremost, there will be a lever-actuated handbrake, stick and paddle gear shift controls, and a grippy, responsive 3-spoke steering wheel with stalk and button controls for all driving functions. We even reshaped the driver’s side to be a proper cockpit.

Just don’t drive into that wall…

Many have tried to fake the Fiero into some other sportscar - but should Mr Williams choose to apply the LWS-R treatment to his Fiero, we will make it into a sportscar unto itself. As long as he has $82,300 to spare, that is.

Bonus picture

Can you tell how painful this was to make?

ldub0775 · 15 September 2021 07:43

Submissions are now closed!

ldub0775 · 23 September 2021 00:58

Uhhhhhhh

Yeah, sorry for the wait. I’ve been juggling lack of free time and lack of motivation for the past couple weeks because Skool. Hopefully the rest of the reviews should be out soon™

The Bins

Michael Williams opened his email on a rainy Saturday afternoon, excited to find many proposals for his Fiero, but a few couldn’t make it to his shortlist

@DuceTheTruth100 - F-Box1

Michael started with the F-box1, an aggressive, angular take on the car. He heavily disliked the Crimson Chin front end styling, but generally liked the rear end. His fun ended when he saw the document detailing the proposed mechanical changes was corrupted, fault lying on the restomodding company.

(Car was not cloned correctly. The engine was original however, and I may have binned it for the engine alone: SOHC! 4000RPM TURBO LAG! IN 2020? No!)

@NoahC - Winger

Going to open the file for the Winger, Michael found it to be corrupted as well.

(Car was also not cloned correctly. A symphony of Vanilla fixtures. Has a 5V 60 degree v8, because reasons. The car was actually tuned rather decently from what I could tell, but the aforementioned v8 would have brought it down)

ldub0775 · 14 October 2021 00:50

The Reviews

Somewhat disappointed by the corrupted files from the first 2 entries, Michael found relief in the lack of any further rule breaking binnings.

cake-ape - Infero F40

Opening up his email, Michael found a rather beautiful entry in the Inferno F40 from Mons Customs, and with supposedly great stats all around, it seemed to have the performance to match the styling. This was however, before he saw the proposed engine tune: A 5 valve V6, 100 RPM of space between peak power and redline, and 3800 RPM turbo spool, with nearly half of the powerband rendered unusable. Seeing this monstrous oversight, Michael struck it from the list.

Top Ten Moments Taken Moments Before Disaster

edsel - Fispa 260

Scanning through his emails, Michael found the Fispa 260, a jaw-droppingly beautiful take on the car, with lovely 60s Italian styling sprinkled throughout. In the process of admiring the lines and curves, he thought, “Maybe I should check the engineering before immediately pulling the trigger,” And thank God he did, as it may have saved him. As good as the styling may be, its 60s looks are certainly backed by 60s engineering. A mere 140 horsepower while the competition have 400, 5 seats where barely 2 would fit, and comfort rivaling a Ford Festiva. This car is a beautiful museum piece, and should be admired, but it is not a driving machine. With an immense pang of disappointment and guilt, Michael struck it from the list.

AMuteCrypt - Fiero Borealis

When Michael opened up the files for the Fiero Borealis, the first thing he noticed was the styling redesign: “This is supposed to be a Fiero? How did they manage to make a Fiero look boring?” With the flat facia, it doesn’t have any easily recognizable flare, and the “BESPOKE” lettering looks tacky. Weird styling aside, the Borealis is a well engineered car, with a high revving Turbo I4 making 220hp, driven through a DCT and an E-LSD. It has pretty solid stats where it counts: with good drivability and great sportiness, as well as good fuel economy and low weight it would be a great weekend car.

HelloHi - Fiero Cascadia

Michael then came to the Fiero Cascadia, with a novel hatchback approach, he generally liked the styling very much, save maybe for the wheels, which look kind of tacky. The proposed stats are good too, with 460hp from a 3.5 liter V10 and a DCT, it has all the performance you could think to cram in that hatch, alongside great drivability and comfort. Its primary engineering oversight is a slightly laggy turbo, hitting peak boost at 3200 RPM. The Cascadia is very good, but Michael had yet to check out one last car.

Texaslav - Lonestar LWS-R

Opening up the Lonestar LWS-R, Michael was immediately stricken by how simultaneously modern and retro it looked: a callback to the 80s/90s in sports car form, with the box vents and the rear wing emanating style like nothing else. The engineering doesn’t let it down either, with a NA 400hp from a 60* Ford SHO V8, and immense sportiness. It would make for an amazing weekend/light track car, which is great given that’s most of the hole Michael wishes to fill. Its only real drawback is the noise, but with the intended use that’s no real issue.

After seeing the proposal from Lonestar Labs, Michael was very impressed, enough so that he immediately emailed back. They emailed back and forth for a time, before Michael dropped off the car. The process was of course worth the wait, with a beautiful crimson red supercar being delivered. The performance was as good as on paper, the styling was as good as in renders, and it purrs like a tiger.

Standings:

Edit: I was asked in the discord to share the spreadsheet I used to help with judging, feel free to play around with it!

Texaslav · 14 October 2021 03:33

First ever comp win, let’s go! I honestly didn’t expect this to happen. Thanks to Ldub for hosting this round and to everybody else involved for designing their own dazzling visions of a restomodded Fiero.

I have already discussed this with the good folks on the Discord, but it would be my honor to host the next round of ARM and in fact have already started work on that competition’s base car. It should be up before week’s end.

Texaslav · 17 October 2021 04:57

Uh next round’s up I think