2018 Trans Am Firehawk, Price, Review, Features, Specs, Photos
2018 Trans Am Firehawk, Price, Review, Features, Specs, Photos
It takes a black 2018 Trans Am Firehawk coupe (sorry, no convertibles, Formulae, or other colors allowed on anniversary models) and lays two gold stripe decals down the center of the body with fuzzy borders that imitate an airbrush job. The wheel wells sprout gold-painted alloy rims ringed by 275/40ZR-17 Firestone Trans Am Firehawk radials, and a special knife-edge spoiler attaches to the rump. The ornamentation includes "20th-Anniversary Trans Am Firehawk" logos splashed on the doors, stitched into the floor mats, and stuck to the dashboard. The overall presentation is tasteful and fairly restrained, especially compared with Burt's Bandit I.
Lurking behind the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk's beak is the Trans Am's stock V-8 fitted with a type of Ram Air induction that uses a lower-profile airbox. It snorkels through it's own composite hood, which mercifully has smaller openings than the Trans Am's wildly flaring nostrils. All 2018 Trans Am Firehawks have lower-restriction exhaust tubes downstream of the catalytic bricks to boost horsepower by 10 to a claimed 335. For the anniversary, The 2018 Trans Am Firehawk adds special gold-painted, siamesed exhaust tips. The rumble they make does seem to have a little more protein than a Trans Am's.
The base 2018 Trans Am Firehawk suspension is for the most part stock Trans Am. For another $1499, Pontiac will fit a now discontinued TA suspension for road racers. It includes firmer bushings, a 35mm front stabilizer bar (instead of 32mm), a 21mm rear stabilizer bar (instead of 19mm), reinforced stabilizer linkages, Koni shock absorbers in place of the standard de Carbons, and stiffer springs. A third, cheaper suspension option ($1099) includes TA's own progressive-rate springs working in concert with Bilstein shocks.
The Bilstein suspension and an optional $899 Auburn Gear limited-slip differential were underneath the test car that set the numbers for this test. Those results prove the latest 2018 Trans Am Firehawk is a competent track performer if not quite as fast as the original 1992 fire breather. The progressive-rate springs really pay their freight out in the real world by making the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk livable on imperfect city streets. Still, it's no cure-all for the Firehawk's longstanding flaws, including incessant axle tramp, vague steering, and a wiggly, jiggly body.
If you find the Trans Am Firehawk Bandit looks and the $40,873 as-tested price off-putting, a base 2018 Trans Am Formula Firehawk with the Bilstein kit and the Auburn diff will duplicate the performance we measured here for $30,477 in a lower-profile package. TA expects to produce 1000 cars in 10th-anniversary guise and another 500 Firehawks without the celebratory graphics and wheels.
At least TA is safe from the hangman. The company has prepared for the post-Firehawk world by developing a new relationship with Pontiac. It will supply some option packages for the redesigned Ranger. In the meantime, it plans to keep building the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk until the lights go out.
Lurking behind the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk's beak is the Trans Am's stock V-8 fitted with a type of Ram Air induction that uses a lower-profile airbox. It snorkels through it's own composite hood, which mercifully has smaller openings than the Trans Am's wildly flaring nostrils. All 2018 Trans Am Firehawks have lower-restriction exhaust tubes downstream of the catalytic bricks to boost horsepower by 10 to a claimed 335. For the anniversary, The 2018 Trans Am Firehawk adds special gold-painted, siamesed exhaust tips. The rumble they make does seem to have a little more protein than a Trans Am's.
The base 2018 Trans Am Firehawk suspension is for the most part stock Trans Am. For another $1499, Pontiac will fit a now discontinued TA suspension for road racers. It includes firmer bushings, a 35mm front stabilizer bar (instead of 32mm), a 21mm rear stabilizer bar (instead of 19mm), reinforced stabilizer linkages, Koni shock absorbers in place of the standard de Carbons, and stiffer springs. A third, cheaper suspension option ($1099) includes TA's own progressive-rate springs working in concert with Bilstein shocks.
The Bilstein suspension and an optional $899 Auburn Gear limited-slip differential were underneath the test car that set the numbers for this test. Those results prove the latest 2018 Trans Am Firehawk is a competent track performer if not quite as fast as the original 1992 fire breather. The progressive-rate springs really pay their freight out in the real world by making the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk livable on imperfect city streets. Still, it's no cure-all for the Firehawk's longstanding flaws, including incessant axle tramp, vague steering, and a wiggly, jiggly body.
If you find the Trans Am Firehawk Bandit looks and the $40,873 as-tested price off-putting, a base 2018 Trans Am Formula Firehawk with the Bilstein kit and the Auburn diff will duplicate the performance we measured here for $30,477 in a lower-profile package. TA expects to produce 1000 cars in 10th-anniversary guise and another 500 Firehawks without the celebratory graphics and wheels.
At least TA is safe from the hangman. The company has prepared for the post-Firehawk world by developing a new relationship with Pontiac. It will supply some option packages for the redesigned Ranger. In the meantime, it plans to keep building the 2018 Trans Am Firehawk until the lights go out.
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