The year I was born was not a good year for cars, period. The fastest car available was the Ferrari 308GTBi, and that prancing pony came from Maranello with just 230 horsepower and a 0-60 of 6.8 seconds. Playing the “sad trombone” music for every car’s performance level was pretty much par for the course. Even the second-fastest car, the Porsche 928S, was just making do, and it was considered one of the premier sport coupes out that year. Remember, 1983 saw the freaking Renault Alliance earn the “Car Of The Year” badge from Motor Trend…something they sincerely apologized for years later. But in 1983, desperation for anyone who was a fan of automobiles at all was set in deep, and even MotorWeek wasn’t averse to it.
At least they approached craptacular performance in a properly entertaining way: by pitting the $48,000 (in 1983 dollars!) 928S against the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 on a track, determining whether it was wise to spend some of your money on a Camaro or a ton of your money on a Porsche for a sub-six-second 0-60 would suddenly be easier to do. Neither car seems that impressive if you view them as a proper new car: the Porsche is sincerely expensive (about $113,000 in 2015 dollars) compared to the Camaro’s adjusted price of about $30,000, both cars had driving traits that would punish all but the best drivers, and both cars came with an off-putting reputation in the average world. Which would you rather be, the cactus spine with a Porsche or Camaro owner that probably smelled a touch like beer and Marlboros? Check out the footage of MotorWeek flinging both cars around Summit Point Raceway and see if you can figure out which one trumps the other!
Excuse me !!! Ahhh … a bit of research would of told you this so called ‘ Road Test ‘ by the idiots known as MotorWeek was proven to be a crock of s*** by almost the entire automotive media back in the day !
Add that to the fact that since day one MW has never done an honest and accurate appraisal of any car they’ve so called ‘ tested ‘ [ the standard joke being …. MW … they like … everything ] and well Bryan my young and inexperienced friend ?
This one gets a huge …. ‘ F ‘
A little hint for the future ? If it sounds too good to be true … 99.99999 % of the time … it isn’t … true that is !
Another hint ? If anyone at MW says the sky is blue . Look up first to make damn sure they’re not lying
MotorWeek indeed ! Automotive Corporate Shill Week being a whole lot closer to the truth
Those 928s are absolute pigs. Couple that with limited hop up ability, very expensive parts and very un-Porsche like styling and it’s a loosing proposition all around. A few hundred bucks and a weekend and that little 305 could wake right up (at least for the era). It’s no mystery why a great deal of 928 owners have swapped in SBC to have some power and reliability. But what do I know, I’m a 914 fan.
Is it just me or were they pushing that Camaro way harder than the 928?
that’s because the 928 was probably barely even running. the fuel injection they had where horrible when new
30 years later, you could still pick up Sigourney Weaver at the airport in the Porsche 928. The Z28, not so much.
928s aren’t that heavy. My 84S weighs 3200lbs. Headers, 3″ exhaust, European heads (10:1 CR), European cams, and bigger injectors nets another 100hp over stock. At that point it’s liveable. Now it runs dead even with a stock C5 Vette. But, who has a stock C5….
My Dad bought a new ’83 Z28 (5 speed in black with gold stripes) back in the day. It was out family car for years and caused may fights between my sister and I baking under the rear hatch.