MW 1986 Pontiac 6000 STE and Fiero GT Road Test | Retro Review

[@90STETURBO]

Both cars shown are 1985 models. The reason the 6000 STE in this test has a 3rd stop light is because it was produced in Canada and their laws made the 3rd stop light appear before the USA. Love both cars, worked at a dealer back then and would take any 83-89 6000 STE today over many new cars.

[@IgoZoom1]

Good catch! When I saw the thumbnail, I knew it wasn't a 1986 STE. That's the year they got the flush headlights. The '86-'87 STE is my favorite...always wanted one!

[@mattt198654321]

"There is no torque steer" But of course, that would require...ahem, torque.

[@whoami-eb7cq]

😂

[@PintoPopProductions]

First car I ever drove was my parents' 1985 6000 STE. Not a fast car by any means but it felt agile for what it is.

[@RomanJockMCO]

Two of my favorite Pontiacs of the 1980s

[@Jmatt455]

I had an 85 STE till it got rear ended. One of my favorite cars. I'd still be driving it today if it hadn't been wrecked.

[@Erplane1]

I've been awaiting this video forever! I have an 90 STE AWD that I'm converting to Electric. While converting an AWD was the goal, I love the look of the 83-87 models better. Great cars!

[@afoolandhismoneychannel]

Man, I've wanted a 6000 SUX since I first saw it in Robocop! What? 6000 STE? Oh.....

[@therealjayseh]

My Aunt Dana had a Gold Pontiac 6000 I liked it. It was a nice car to be in. Better than the Celebrity. I was 9 yrs old.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

I miss Pontiac. I miss 80's cars.

[@Sladdery]

You miss 4 speed automatics? 😂

[@mattt198654321]

@@Sladdery No, 3 speed automatics lol

[@kevinmcmahon7182]

3 sod automatics rarely broke compared to the complete garbage everybody makes now

[@kevinmcmahon7182]

Really loved that 6000ste

[@atomsmash100]

For most of the 1980s, GM's products were nothing to write home about. The 6000 STE was a big exception. Widely praised from the time it was launched, Pontiac got this one right in a big way. Arguably the most driver oriented, and well equipped A-body.

[@mattt198654321]

"Neutral density lenses"???? Guarantee someone in GM marketing just threw darts to come up with that one.

[@averyparticularsetofskills]

They exist today mainly in photography but neutral density lenses do in fact control the amount of light that pass through them and are always tinted so I'd give em a pass because the application claimed here is completely feasible.

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

I had two 6000 STEs and enjoyed them both. By today's standards it is a dog, but back then it was a winner.

[@Koexistence13]

1:42 should have the Six Million Dollar Man intro music

[@JrGoonior]

I'm surprised that the STE they had here didn't have the 4 speed overdrive automatic, that might have made a slight difference in the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. My parents bought an 86 6000LE brand new in the summer of 86 just before the 87's came out, it had the 2.8 F.I. engine, 4 speed auto, Y99 suspension which included aluminum rims and Goodyear Eagles, two tone paint, and the STE exhaust (made it one of the coolest sounding V-6's we had ever heard). Interior had a full set of analog gauges, power windows, power locks, and cassette stereo. Took my driving test in the car March of 87. My parents kept the car until the early 90's when it was traded in for a 1992 Dodge Spirit V-6.

[@303nitzubishi4]

Not true, the A6000 did have unique suspension components not available on the T-type, Eurosport, or Ciera International. Ntm the rear disc brakes. The basic platform is the same yes but the example shown here was unique and exclusive to Pontiac

[@evanm9844]

It always amazes me how the reviewers of the time just gloss right over how GM, Ford and other brands were simply building one model and then rebadging/recycling it as two, three, five different models. That 6000 is literally THE same vehicle as three others (Olds, Chevy and Buick), just with slightly different hardware, dashboard and grille treatment…and yet the reviewer chats it up as tho it were some utterly unique and altogether special vehicle! It’s almost kinda bizarre. Today’s cynical media (with the benefit of historic hindsight of course) would absolutely SAVAGE any company that would dare to so blatantly “copy n’ paste” vehicles across their portfolio and then arrogantly charge thousands more for one model or another! But then, in fairness to GM, what choice did they really have? At this point in history, they were still good for about 40-ish percent of the US market, but even at THAT scale, they couldn’t afford to design completely different models for complete lines across, what, six different brands?! Something had to give, and it sadly wound up being brand uniqueness, image and quality. 😞

[@vincedangerio546]

No, they did not gloss over that fact, but Pontiac dumped lots of engineering effort into the STE. It’s why even Car & Driver praised this particular model. Yes, the same floor plan and basic engineering, but the sum of its parts equaled so much more.

[@BogattheMoon]

They didn't gloss over it; in fact Fortune magazine featured each divisions version of this platform in the same color, delving into the vanilla only styling.

[@evanm9844]

@@BogattheMoon Yup! I’ve seen that cover, and wish I could find and read the article - it’s gotta be a neat bit of history for sure! 😊 I suppose that I should have been more precise in saying that reviewers of the era didn’t seem to beat to death, the myriad companies engaging in overt badge engineering…ultimately facilitating the awful (if arguably understandable) practice to continue for more than 30 years! While granted, today’s journalists have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, and ALL of us are far and away better informed about the market courtesy of internet, social media, etc…but still - and perhaps a different way of making the same point - the journalists of the era suuuure seemed to let GM, Ford and the rest off easy for their “wool pulling over eyes” kinda ways! 😆

[@Erplane1]

But I’d give credit to Motorweek on this. Frequently when they had their yearly new model updates by manufacturer, they’d often cover the cars by series, ie “GM A-bodies”. Most consumers knew te truth.

[@markamytraver5762]

GM only considers Chevy and let the others die in support.

[@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106]

Chevy is gm brand name. In they eyes they definitely over buick, GMC and Cadillac.

[@amicoscott]

I took delivery of a new 85 STE in July 85. Absolutely the worst car I've ever owned. Left me stranded on the side of the road many times. Got rid of it after just 2 years.

[@stevenp3176]

Certainly was the worst decade of many brands.

[@jkeelsnc]

@@stevenp3176Except Toyota. The Camry and Corolla of the mid 80s would keep going.

[@monkeywkeys3916]

Those mid-80s & 90s Toyota or Honda ran like a wrist watch. 80s Only thing I noticed, the corrosion protection needed improvements.

[@dougsmith9571]

The 6000 was a highly reviewed car in it's day . The Fiero wasn't quite right until the 88 GT when the suspension was redesigned . But then GM cancelled it at the end of the model year .

[@jkeelsnc]

Typical GM. And the Fiero had a crap interior as well.

[@christopherconard2831]

GM Development Cycle 1) Design car, submit to bosses. 2) Bean counters strip out most of the fun stuff. The rest is added to the option list. 3) Release new car with minimal testing. 4) Allow customers to pay thousands to be the testers. 5) 3-5 years in refresh with upgrades to fix most of what the early customers complained about. 6) Soon after release a Gen 2 version. Ignore the fact that most of it was proposed back in step 1. 7) Cancel the project. Prepare to release new car. 8) Return to 1.

[@erich84502ify]

Chevrolet Celebrity same

[@90STETURBO]

not even close

[@mooch514]

6000 problems!

[@pl5624]

Dash is horrible.olds ciera much better.

[@scottpeterson4873]

We had 86 dodge lancer es turbo with the video screen dash it was a clearer layout with everything in front, like the taurus one. At times the mph and odometer never worked. The STE was smoother but the automatic turbo lag made the 15 inch rimmed lancer, basically a four dour daytona hatchback glide through. snow with no wheel spin. We drove a STE and cutlass ciera in winter and on ice the 2.8 v6 spun the wheels from a stop, the lancer didn't but both handled equally and The Olds Ciera with a four pod dash and brougham pillowed seats was as comfortable as the lancer inside and looked like nicer car..Lancer had ways of equipping it nicely with digital dash, alloy rims and and power windows/locks under $13-14 K out the door and with a good warranty, The Pontiac was priced along the Cutlass Ciera with wire wheels and power everything and most STE's were maroon, silver or black, the lancer could have any color outside and even get a red or any color seating most STE's on the lot were maroon or grey inside for a 'BMW look', it was amazing this car evolved from a pontiac phoenix , the wife CHOSE lancer es turbo because it had better visibility and price and base warranty they way it confidently handled snow conditions especially accelerating from a four way stop in the winter without wheel spin but could boost up to 70+ mph on highways like a v8 with 4 cylinder fuel economy, and better base warranty. I loved the exhaust sound on the STE it felt like grown man's firebird. TV show Riptide used one to recreate the bullit movie chase in San Francisco with a retired Dodge Aspen police car, the STE handling was impressive on screen.

[@chrisallen766]

That 6000 has me entering the tri light zone