What should be the stock acceleration 0-60mph of a 1988 Firebird 5.0 litre V8?
I tried it with me and another person in the car and got 9,9 seconds to 60 mph. The car is just bought so don't really know much about it. All I know is that there is something wrong with the electronics or the DBI because on the highway, on overdrive the 'service engine soon' sign lights up and the car goes only like 150-170 miles on a full tank (50 litres). So what should be the normal acceleration 0-60 mph on an otherwise stock 5 litre V8 '88 Firebird?
moskwiz@hotmail.com
4 Answers
I couldn't find any numbers for a 1988 Firebird, but I did find some at http://musclecarfacts.net for the 1987 Firebird with the 5.0 liter (305 cid.) They give a 0-60 time of 7.7 secs. Of course, it's impossible to know if the '87 was equipped similarly to your '88 in terms of transmission, gear ratio, etc. It does sound like your Bird is ailing somewhat, but it is 20 years old and probably just needs some TLC.
littlehorn answered 16 years ago
The problem is likely something with the emissions system causing the computer to switch to a "stay alive" mode which uses more fuel. Although I will say that the 5.0 was never known for either horsepower or fuel economy. Former owner of a 1986 Monte Carlo. :)
Mhm.. ok thanks. A friend of mine found somewhere that the 1988 Firebird should do approx. 300 miles on a full tank, and that that car is supposed to have 360nm of torque at ~2000rpm and I've driven it at full throttle and that was not 360nm of torque =D I mean we got beat by a BMW damnit! But yeah we're looking to get a time booked at the local US-muscle repairshop, hopefully those guys can diagnose the problem and fix it =) Will keep you posted, thx again for the fast reply =)
Good luck, moskwiz! About the acceleration, a lot of that has to do with the gear ratio. If memory serves, the one on Firebirds of that vintage was only about 2.73:1. So if you're getting 360Nm (or 265 foot pounds here in Alabama close to the Talladega speedway), your peak torque at the rear end would be 360 Nm x 2.73, or about 980 Nm (723 ft-lbs.) So, yes, I agree that wouldn't win many races for you. However, IMO the 0-60 times would indicate a vehicle that should be reasonably fun to drive. Hope you get the fuel economy issue worked out. The 300 miles per one tank claim would seem perfectly reasonable to me, being about 18-19 miles per gallon or 8 km per liter.
