FIRST LOOK & TEST DRIVE: 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6. Did this car stand the test of time?

A short, behind the scenes video of a beautiful, all original 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6. We take this car on a short drive and show you around the interior and under the hood. Stay tuned for a comparison video between this and a 2003 Mustang SVT Cobra aka "Terminator".

[@lazylion420]

my 2002 WS6 is my favorite thing I've ever owned still less than 60k miles

[@scotmandel6699]

sweet. I would never sell it.

[@Ang3lUki]

Man, people have GOT to drive these more, they're the final, perfected form of the old-school muscle car. I feel like people shouldn't be treating these like garage queens! Appreciate them! Get them out there, it's not like it's a finnicky exotic that catches on fire if you look at it wrong!

[@Doom6.0]

Absolutely love it. I’ve been looking at these.

[@exilefrancisco6145]

Absolutely luv these cars! Just a 2001 red ws6 with 30k original miles!

[@glenherbert7606]

I used to own a 2000 WS6 with the 6 speed with Hurst Linkage

[@JasonAnderson-k1x]

Love it

[@samanthaschou]

Sadly I live in Texas so 340 days of the year it really does nothing but if you want to feel this car come alive, drive it on a cold day or night. Then you really get use out of the ram air. It's one of the reason a dyno run is misleading, got to have cold, dense air to really feel it. I know my butt dyno goes off driving on a 80F day vs. a 55F night.

[@brettswanson]

I have this same year, but it was a customer Navy Blue with all white accents.

[@JROC734]

Yes a LS1 surges at between 3,500 and 4,000 RPM. Almost VTEC like. The GEN4 LS engines (LS2 for example) were much more linear. Everyone thinks that being a pushrod V8 that it should be some stump pulling torque monster, but LS engines excel more on the topend than they do on the lowend, and as such a LS1 feels like it revs out higher than its factory 6K RPM redline would suggest. Compared to a Terminator, in the power department there is no comparison when talking factory HP, ease of modding, or HP per $/mod, or streetability for X power. Terminator wins in these area's. Now you can H/C/I a LS1, and potentially hurt some pulleyed/bolton, and maybe even ported Eaton Cobras feels. And cammed cars make cool street cars..... For about 5 minutes around town, but they quickly become old riding around in busi 35 MPH zones with a stoplight every 200 yards. With that said unless you're working with a good dual clutch a Terminator gets old really quickly in that same scenario. But a twin screwed Terminator will open a can on a N/A LS1 car. Of course you can add a shot to your H/C/I LS1 car, but on a streetcar I personally have no desire to fool with N2O. On a track car maybe a different story, but having refill bottles, and worry about pressurizing them, etc is not my thing. Now you invest in a blower kit, or some snails, and stay underneath the 650 WHP range, you can have a LS1 car that's absolutely competitive with a typical TS blown Terminator while not overtaxing the factory internals. I think a wastegated, centrifugal blown Fbody would be awesome. Still the raw power a Terminator gives you while being so refined and civilized is truly impressive even over 20 years (over 21 years actually. I think they started selling in May or June of 02?) after they were first released. When talking chassis and suspension a Foxbody/SN95 platform has the uncanny ability to make GEN3/GEN4 Fbodys feel like solid modern cars, which they are not. In fact the Fbody platform dates back to the original 67 Camaro. Still a Foxbody based chassis is so loose and flimsy that it makes the Fbody shine when talking handling performance. The SLA suspension on the Fbody is excellent, and the 3link/torque arm setup in the best way to do a SRA. Really the only design improvement a GEN4 Fbody could have benefited from would have been a watts link instead of a panhard bar. Still while ila Fbodys suspension components can be upgraded, the factory design and geometry is on point. The Cobra on the other hand has an IRS. IRS are the most overrated handling improvement on this planet. Yes a New Edge Cobra corners flatter, while still offering a comfortable ride compared to other Mustangs from its era, the IRS didn't transform the car into some corner carver. My Cobra has been Maximum Motorsported up pretty heavy, and it handles decently, but in some respects my old 99 Roush Stage 2 outhandled it. My old 02 SS with Koni SA shocks, (GEN4 Fbodys use 4 shocks, and no struts) MWC SFC's, BMR springs, Founders LCA's/PHB, etc definitely handled better than my 03 Cobra with the most aggressive C/O setup than MM recommended, MM FLSFC's/k-member brace/complete Full Tilt Boogie IRS bushing kit, etc. The Cobra does give you a better seating position, and very good seats for holding you in place. Basically Terminator took some small things that Fbody did better than the SN95 cars, and made them better than the Fbody. Seats for example, Fbody seats while too low are pretty good seats, and better performance seats than SN95 seats, but Terminator seats are even better than Fbody seats unless you're overweight. The steeringwheel in a Fbody has always sucked IMHO, but a SN95 (when I say SN95 I'm talking about the platform so this includes New Edge cars as well) steeringwheel isn't special either. With that said it may not look different, but a Terminator steering wheel is the bomb. It perfect, it just round without any finger notches, with a grip diameter that's not too big or too small. I prefer a Terminator steeringwheel to my 19 SS 1LE steeringwheel. On top of a great steeringwheel a Terminator has a great steering rack. Fbody has great steering as well, or at least it's very responsive and easy to point the car with, but I give the Terminator steering feel an edge over a GEN4 Fbody. What I don't give it an edge in is its ability to rotate the frontend when being pushed hard in a corner. A Terminator is an understeering pig. It carries the same F/R weight distribution as a GEN2 Lightning (I own a 03 Lightning as well. I was born in 82, and have owned and still do own a lot of muscle cars from that era) but a Lightning has less frontend push than an 03/04 Cobra. That 655 lb longblock has its drawbacks, and a Fbody rocking a 415 lb LS Juan is a much more balanced, and willing to rotate car. On top of that a Fbodys (GEN4) SLA suspension is a way better design than the Foxbody/SN95 struts. While a strut setup can work well, the Foxbody/SN95's strut geometry is way off, and every aftermarket handling company that makes parts for them wants to move the wheels forward an inch and a half, and out far enough to require widebody fenders. Fbodys (GEN4) front suspension geometry is dan near perfect. And to take it even farther as a Fbody advantage a Fbodys frontend will house a 315 tire no problem. On the other hand getting a Terminator to accept a 275 up front without clearance issues they had to add stops that give it one of the worse turning radius'ss in existence. My 18 F150 crewcab FX4 will turn around in a tighter space than a Terminator. When talking rearends both suck, but have their pro's. A Terminator IRS with solid rear bushings, and a properly adjusted pinion angle on the driveshaft performs pretty decent. It rides comfortably, and a Terminator corners extremely flat for a muscle car from its era. Still without a brace you can blow your cover out with the quickness. With stock IRS bushings the car wheelhops worse than most any other late model car I know of, and the axles aren't going to be as strong as a good 31 spline or larger axle in a SRA car. Still the Cobra IRS can be made to work well and hand some abuse. It just won't turn it into some Z06 killer in a turn. It's definitely superior to a Foxbody/SN95 4link design, but what isn't? The Foxbody/SN95 4link is atrocious. Still the IRS in the Cobra will not save you in a sharp turn, under even moderate power if you hit a bunch. It will still let go with the quickness compared to other better handling cars built on superior platforms, but people pretend that the Cobras IRS saves you in that situation. The IRS definitely is more forgiving than a factory 4link setup, but it's just an unforgiving platform in general. Once the rearend starts to let go it doesn't want to be corrected regardless of SRA or IRS. On the other hand a GEN4 Fbody is a much more forgiving platform. It can still bite you, but it's easier to predict what it's doing, or when it's about to let go. The Fbodys 3link is excellent especially when using upgraded (tubular, and not stamped steel. Poly/delrin/UHMW/etc over soft factory rubber) components. Upgrade to some tubular LCA's, and a tubular adjustable torque arm, along with a Watts Link (even though a Fbody works fine with a PHB) and add some good shocks and springs, and a Fbody is a very fun and rewarding car on the street. While a Foxbody/SN95 can be modded to hand, and has a huge aftermarket for it, the Fbody doesn't need nearly as much work done to it to maximize its chassis performance on the street or a road course. But if just talking rearend performance a old GM rearend sucks balls compared to a Ford rearend. Hell I'd take a 31 spline 8.8" (not the 28 spline) over a 12 bolt any day, and a 12 bolt is an aftermarket upgrade for a Fbodys weak S10 sourced 7.5" or 7.625" 10 bolt. This is the weakest link to a GEN3/GEN4 Fbody. Lucking this is a place that the Fbody has huge aftermarket support on. There are 9" based rearends, Dana based rearends, 12 bolts, and even 8.8" rearend to swap into the Fbody. It's a smart mod if you plan on doing some serious DR'ing even at near stock HP.

[@SuccessMotorsLLC]

That is some high quality information, thanks for sharing!

[@willyhwang1059]

best looking for the 4th gen F body cars.

[@robertrubio1680]

You have to name it,"Back in Black".

[@douglastaylor638]

How much ?

[@donyoung7201]

How much

[@kennethwade23]

The automatic isnt the car people are really wanting but is still a cool fun car

[@scotmandel6699]

nothing wrong with an automatic.

[@bradblumhof6917]

​@scotmandel6699 they're just not saught after nor worth as much by car enthusiasts which are the only people really interested in them.

[@str8upkills60]

They made a LOT more than 175 ws6s😂😂

[@bradblumhof6917]

I believe it was around 3k that year and somewhere around 35k between 96 and 02. The last 2 years is when the majority were sold, and about half were auto and half 6 speed. Just looked up that into bc I'm really tempted to buy a super clean one near me that just popped up for sale for only 8500.

[@SureBuddVRC]

Is it still for sale? Very interested?

[@SuccessMotorsLLC]

Sorry, it has sold.

[@JoeKalmar-m2t]

I'm buying one from my buddy 99 has 85000 miles stock. Great cars . LS1 great gas mileage hauls ass. First thing after the tag gets on there is a set of long tube headers and a tune. USA #1 . Mustangs are gay.

[@dragracin5]

Owned a 95 ta, 02 ws6, and currently a 03 vette

[@jackle842000]

Which you like the most?

[@dragracin5]

@@jackle842000 corvette for sure.

[@jackle842000]

@@dragracin5 any stand out as the most reliable as well? Excluding all other aspects

[@dragracin5]

@@jackle842000 anything ls powered

[@jackle842000]

@@dragracin5 I'm not sure what you mean by powered? I was wondering which one requires the least amount of parts replaced etc and least expensive to maintain. Or maybe you haven't driven them all enough to really tell yet? Thanks

[@djking8740]

Is this a reliable car I’m looking into buying one only thing is I don’t want the problem these new cars got

[@NudaMan]

Every car from gm in the late 90’s to early 2000’s has a few quirky problems but nothing really related to the engine lol LT1 & LS1’s are pretty reliable

[@TradeMeKrazy]

Flaw? AutoooMatic! First flaw. Owned one. Never buy another auto. You will learn.

[@JasonAnderson-k1x]

I tell you something about that car, and if it makes you more money can I get a$1000?

[@rickwhetstone4687]

How much?