[T.O.Dillinder]

This should be fun.
Your opinions on the pros and cons between the 3rd and 4th gen F-bodies.
These are my opinions, and I could be way off with a couple of items.

Engines:
4th gen wins this one. Racing groups keep forgetting that the LT1 350's were a option in the later 3rd gen years, but keep forcing the 305s of being the only option for racing.
The 4th gens have the 350s as the only V-8 option.

Transmissions:
5-speeds; Tremec and the World class T-5's help make it a 3rd gen pro.
Dependable enough, weighs less, and since when do you need 6 speeds for road racing.
The only time I have actually shifted into fifth is at Road America running a 3.73 gear ratio.

6-speeds; weigh more, more dependable than regular BW 5 spd.


Front Suspension:
4th gen hands down.

Rear Suspension:
Tie, they are the same for both generations.
I do use the 4th gen Koni Yellow rear on my 83 Z-28 because I do not have to remove the rear shock to adjust it.

Overall Weight:
In stock trim I know for sure the 3rd gen has the advantage. I have not seen actual weights for stripped down 4th gens so it may be close.

Brakes:
Out of the box I would give the 4th gens the advantage.

Parts Availability:
4th gen. They are everywhere.
Aftermarket parts were really not available for the 3rd gens compared to 1st and 2nd gen cars. It just seems the Aftermarket Companies really never worked hard for the 3rd gens.
The 3rd gens are still competing in large numbers and you have to look hard for performance parts. If I had the money......

Ease of maintenance:
I give the pro to the 3rd gens.
The 4th gen engine compartment is a pain, and the dash is as big as a pain.

Overall Looks:
The 3rd gen looks sleek and fast.
The 4th gen looks like a beast and would grab the competiition and beat or eat it.
My favorite 4th gen commercial was the Pontiac Ram Air Trans-Am.
Pulls up behind a Ferrari, revs and swallows the Ferrari and sends it out through its tail pipes. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/lmao.gif)
I love the looks of the 2000- 2002 RA TA's. They are just plain mean lookin'.

Interior:
Pro to 4th gen. The interior just seemed more refined compared to the 3rd gen.

Your turn.

This post has been edited by T.O.Dillinder: Dec 6 2007, 05:40 PM

[trackbird]

3rd gen win's on wheel bearing's! For now anyway.

3rd gen's front suspension has more parts to wear out/ bend, but they are cheap!

I do like having real bearings.

How do you figure the 3rd gen has more parts? They're down at least an upper control arm and two bushings to start. They use an idler arm steering setup with a center link instead of a rack with inner and outer tie rods, but that's not a huge deal either (in my opinion at least). I think they are more different than better or worse.

The 3rd gen has a strut setup that can be very effective. It's not as sophisticated as the 4th gen front suspension, but it's not exactly bad.

Is part of the appeal also that just by adding camber plates to the 3rd gens one can much more easily get max caster/camber out of them (with just a lift of the hood and a bolt adjustment)??

Well, the front of a 3rd gen is simple and easy and works well enough. It's far easier to tear down and rebuild. No spring compressors needed. It's a fairly simple design that has decent camber control with enough spring and sway bar (just like a 4th gen). I suspect the 3rd gen has a sightly worse camber curve, but I can't remember if I've seen numbers on it.

The highest placing CMC F-body at the nationals for the last two years has been Jeff's 3rd gen. CMC removes the benefit of wider tires on the 4th gen though, so they are equalized in that regard.

I think both cars can be made to work well. I like that the 3rd gens have no ABS, they are easier to work on, parts are cheap for SBC engines and they are lighter/narrower. I like that 4th gens have better brakes (later ones do and it's a cheap and easy swap to the earlier cars), make more power and are a bit more civilized with better interiors (only an issue if you keep the interior).

Wheel bearing yes, except they are they are part of the brake rotor, so big negative re: changing worn rotors.

Many of the aftermarket brake kits fix that. My car has hubs with good bearings in them (like the stock setup) and uses a slip on rotor. When you fix the 3rd gen brakes, you can usually fix that "problem" at the same time. So, it's not as much of a negative it might seem.