Downsizing and the Envirowimps

The 1980's were an interesting decade for the car fan, and still are today. The American car makers were still trying to regain performance in their cars, due to the forced neutering during the 1973 oil embargo, even though the country had the opposite problem. The EPA's fuel mileage standards also became much tighter during the '70s and '80s, and engines such as the original Chrysler Hemi and the Pontiac Super Duty were dropped due to gas prices. As such, the big V8 became less and less popular as the method for performance, with smaller V6s and I4s becoming the mainstream performance engine. Nowadays, of course, the performance engine lineup runs the gamut from 2.0L I4s to 8.0L quad-turbo W16s, but said W16 manufacturer doesn't have to comply with CAFE standards.

Therefore, with the forces of evil/the EPA and CAFE regulations closing their vile jaws upon that glorious realm that is performance, the manufacturer's mantra changed. Out went "bigger = better", in came "meets envirowimp standards = good enough". Let's examine how this affected the three main ponycars at the time:

Ford Mustang before:

Ford Mustang after:

Chevrolet Camaro before:

Chevrolet Camaro after:

Dodge Challenger before:

Dodge Challenger after:

The Pontiac Firebird doesn't really count, because Pontiac's toujours l' audace had them still building the Super Duty Trans Am in 1974, against anything close to political correctness at the time. For that, I salute them. *salutes*

Anyhow, that's the '70s and they're past. Back to the '80s.

BUT, those cars had V8s, the way they were intended to be. We're talking about cars with V6s and I4s! Onward!

AACK! What's THIS? Well, this one's a Plymouth Sapporo, the twin of the... Dodge Challenger!




Oh dear.

Based on the Mitsubishi Galant Lambda, it used either a 1.6 or 2.6 liter I4 engine, mated to either a 5-speed manual or 3-speed auto. The cars were assembled in Okazaki, Aichi, Japan, where they were shipped over here and sold as either Mitsubishis, Dodges, or Plymouths. You know? This is depressing me. Let's move on.

What a relief! The Chevrolet Cavalier was redesigned for 1988, available in base (VL), RS, and Z24. Unfortunately, I do not have any firsthand experience with any of those trims, but a certain individual I happen to know rather well has a great deal of experience with the Z24 level. It was very good for her, giving her many (mostly) trouble-free miles before selling the car to move on. I actually think I've located it, and it's one of my dreams to some day (after winning the lottery, of course) buy the car, fix anything wrong with it, and give it back to her. That would be downright awesome. Oh, now I'm starting to tear up... let's just finish with this one. The Z24 was available only with a 2.8L V6 with 125 HP, and the car of my acquaintance was a 5-speed manual. The only other transmission choice for that year was a 3-speed automatic, so that 5-speed was probably what made the car as fast as it was. The Z24 trim lived until the 2003 model year, when it was replaced by the somewhat-less-cool-sounding LS Sport trim, which lasted for all of two years until the Cavalier was replaced by the Cobalt.

I know these are also Cavaliers, I'm just posting this for the almost-Ford-Grabber-Orange one.

*cue Psycho music*

FAIR WARNING. Do NOT follow this link if you wish to preserve your eyesight. If you safely withstood that Lagonda up there, then you'll probably be safe to click. Just don't sue me.

I'm pretty much out of good examples without resorting to the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, and those were dedicated rally machines, and those are always insane anyway. They're above this humble blogger's level of society. Oh wait...

You didn't seriously think I'd forget this, did you? Powered by a 2.8 liter PRV engine, the U.S. version only produced around 130 HP, and was available solely with (you guessed it) a 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic. Neither transmission would overcome the highly restrictive U.S.-spec catalytic converters and softened suspension compared to the Euro-market version, which resulted in DMC quoting 8.8 seconds to 60, and Road and Track not being able to manage better than 10.5. Darn EPA.

In conclusion, we have seen, throughout this blog post, that although the '80s saw some pretty darn good designs come out of it, performance was somewhat lacking. This lack of serious performance continued until about the mid-1990s, when 300-plus horsepower out of a muscle car without forced induction from the factory  was no longer confined to the world of fantasy, but instead entered reality once more. Thank the Lord for that. And, with no end in sight 2014 as the likely end of this new age of performance where we can stroll into our local dealer and roll out with 400-plus heart-thumping, asphalt shredding horsepower underneath the hood for just a hair under $30,000, old rivalries can continue for as long as Saturday night cruises exist.

And may they exist for many years to come.