Which Trans Am is the best

[RavagePenguin]

1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. So whic do you think is the best generation. Personally The 1st started it all so I like them but I prefer the 2nd generation better no matter what year.

[koeb$]

lovin the 4th gen

[musclecarfanatic]

id have to say the first generation trans am is better looking just like the first generation camaro

[irdc019]

I'm gonna have to go with 3rd gen. Maybe im biast cuz i own an 86, but still.

[RavagePenguin]

3rd Generation are cool(Like the Knight Rider car). But I prefer the 2nd still

[65Ponchoboy]

id say 1 like the the 1st,2nd and 4th gen cars all had good engines minus the crappy olds engine they put in 79,80,81. id say my favorite is the 70-73 T/A's with a SD 455

[73455transam]

Got to be the 2nd Gen. The very best year is a '73 with a SD-455

[BleedDodge]

A '70 with a 455 must move. By '73 the compression was so low that these things had 250 horsepower! My buddy has as '74 Oldsmobile 442 with a 455 and that thing is sucked out. It's like driving a car with a 305 in it.

'70 and '71 engines weren't affected by government emissions ratings yet, so these ones would be best. I'd personally like a '69, to me they just look the best.

[73455transam]

But in '73 they had the SD

[BleedDodge]

That means Super Duty, and it's crap because it has 250 horse in a low compression block. It's got nothing on a '70 or '71 455, which had somewhere around 450 horsepower, everyone knows that.

An old Dodge 318 has just about as much power as that SD 455.

[RavagePenguin]

It's like with the 400 engine. In 1970 it was pretty powerful. But by 1975 it was weak. A Turbocharged 4.9 301 c.i. could beat it. With both drivers with the same amount of expeirance. In 1979 the Turbo 301 had about 225 hp and in 1975 the 400 had 185 hp. Like today it was because of Oil Embargo by the Arabs.(Lets not get into politics or my bad spelling)

[MrPbody]

Bleeddodge, you're at it again! The '73 455SD was rated at 310 NET horsepower, which translates to about 400 GBHP. No 318 Dodge was EVER produced as a "performance" engine. The 273 and 340 carried that job for the baby Mopes until '73, when Dodge learned 360 heads would fit 340s, making them smog turds, too.
In reality, the 455SD was the very last "muscle car" engine made by Detroit, though it never found its way into a muscle car. It was scheduled for the '73 GTO and Grand Am, but never materialized. There is one infamous photo of a '73 GA with the SD badges. There's still a debate today, whether or not there was REALLY an SD in the car.
As for the potential of the SD, change the cam to the 041 (factory muscle grind) and bump the compression to 10:1, and instant 500 horses! They had the best flowing heads (aside from Ram Air V) of any traditional Pontiac V8. NEVER underestimate the GM engineers when it comes to circumventing the system! Especially Pontiac, who carried the banner for performance through the dark ages. In '79, you couldn't buy a Dodge OR a Ford that would turn the tires over from a stand. Trans Am would...even with low compression and the obligitory automatic transmission.
One last thing. Due to EPA and other government rules, compression ratios fell through the floor in '71. ALL American performance cars suffered from then on.

[73455transam]

What do you mean the SD never made it into a muscle car?! It was in the Trans Am in 73 and 74.

[RedLightning]

favorite is the 1st gen second fav is the 4th gen.

[BleedDodge]

That's why I compared that SD455 to a 318, because those SD455's are dawgs. It's like a boat motor or something.