79 Factory WS6

[band1t]

just wondering if anyone has taken a factory 1979 WS6 Trans Am around a road course
and how did the factory handling package do?

[LeighP]

Be interesting to know...back in 79, when magazines tested the WS6 on a T/A, they found it would out perform a Corvette on the skid pan.

[79-TA]

The '79 Trans Am was highly regarded as a good handling vehicle. It even won Car and Driver's best handling vehicle test in '79. My guess is good, though a bit soft. Your biggest concern would be brake fade like it would be on any other vehicle with stock brakes.


My car is not a WS6, but it's not too far from stock. It's stiffer and sits lower but it still has Monroe shocks and the original arms and sway bars which still do their jobs well.

[rentedmule]

I had a stock '80 WS6 a few years ago and it handled well. The steering was very quick and it seemed to do OK in the corners but I never had a chance to really push it. Mine was a 301T car so it was a bit lighter on the front end than a 400/403 would be. It did have 4 wheel discs but the braking was far from impressive.

[WS6]

The WS6 cars handled very well for their time. The best handling ones were the 301 cars because of the light weight on the front.

[Jim Nilsen]

.86 is the number I remember seeing time and time again. A good number for the tires they ran back then. Herb Adams had a lot to do with the handling on those cars and it showed. Just adding tires like we have now could raise those numbers considerably.