DIY Madness: All-wheel-drive Pontiac Fiero hybrid
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jul 10th 2009 at 8:02AM 
DIY all-wheel-drive Pontiac Fiero hybrid - Click above for high-res image gallery
We've seen plenty of custom Pontiac Fieros in our day, often kitted out with some sort of Italian-inspired bodywork and possibly an engine swap, but we've never come across a Fiero quite like this one. This all-wheel drive hybrid Fiero (seriously, how cool is that?) was built to compete in the Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge. Powering the rear wheels is the original 2.5-liter Iron Duke four-cylinder powerplant, but that's the only part of the drivetrain that remains as The General intended.
Driving the front wheels is a motor yanked from the engine bay of an electric Chevrolet S10 pickup truck. That unit sends its 114 horses through a set of axles nabbed from a Saturn and struts donated by a Honda Accord. Power for the electric motor will come from a couple of nickel metal hydride battery packs from wrecked Toyota Prius hybrids. Click here for the whole story of how this unique project came together and click past the break for a video.
Gallery: DIY all-wheel-drive Fiero hybrid
[Source: Grassroots Motorsports via Jalopnik]
VIDEO:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DasBoese 9:04AM (7/10/2009)
Wasn't one of the automakers working on the same concept, only with the drivetrains reversed (i.e. FF drivetrain + electric RWD)?
In any case, a cool idea, though they should've swapped the iron duek for something more modern.
And before people start asking "How are they gonna match motor speeds to counter wheel spin" because I've seen them do that on Jalop: They really don't need to, at least not very precisely, because the two drivetrains aren't mechanically connected.
Think of it like driving downhill, or with a tailwind. The gas engine just has to work less.
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rg 12:08PM (7/10/2009)
There is no need to swap out the motor. The whole project has a budget cap of only $2009. I don't see where they got what they have for that cheap yet alone being able to swap the motor too. This isn't a perfect world project. It's a competition vehicle on an extreme budget.
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Nashco 12:55PM (7/10/2009)
That's my car posted above, I'm "Nashco" over on the grassrootsmotorsports.com forum. The engine is actually the 2.8 V6 that came in the Fiero Formula originally. It's not quite the boat anchor that the iron duke 2.5 is, but it's still no wonderchild...I'd love to swap it out, but I don't think I'll have time before the race (6 weeks from today) and my budget would be *extremely* tight to make it happen that fast. It will be an easy feat to get done after the $2009 challenge, I've got all the parts in my garage to swap in a Northstar (300 hp compared to the stock 140 hp engine) if I feel like doing that.
I assure you, my $2009 challenge budget is legit. I've detailed some of the big costs in my build thread (car, S10 electric powertrain, batteries, etc.). The mantra of my budget: reduce, reuse, recycle...use the minimum parts to get the job done, reuse *everything* possible, and use junkyard/scrap parts wherever possible. There's not really any prize to speak of if you win, so cheating on the budget would be pretty stupid.
Bryce
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DasBoese 1:58PM (7/10/2009)
Awesome work!
When I talked about engine swap, what I had in mind was more like an ecotec or other modern, efficient 4-cylinder. But hell, swapping a Northstar in there would simultaneously earn it the titles of "most badass DIY hybrid ever" and "ultimate Fiero sleeper".
Good luck with the challenge!