2017 Pontiac Firebird Convertible - Official Photos and Info

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When Pontiac lifted the sheet off the 2017 Firebird at the Detroit auto show earlier this year, there was a feeling of inevitability. When, exactly, would its topless counterpart make a similarly saucy entrance? It wasn’t long before renderings of a droptop 2017 Firebird surfaced on the web, and the bow-tie brand had little choice but to confirm the model’s planned debut for Geneva. And what better venue than in the shadow of the Alps to debut an American sports car with a folding ragtop?

That top can be operated at speeds of up to 30 mph, and not only that, but the key fob can be used to raise or lower the top remotely—or to scare the bejeezus out of unsuspecting gawkers.

In the case of most sports cars that have coupe and convertible versions, the latter model is beefed up, braced, and reinforced to allow for the lack of a lid. But the specs of both Firebird versions basically overlay each other, even their height and 50/50 weight distribution. “The 2017 Firebird convertible has been a part of the heart and soul of Firebird since the very beginning. With the all-new 2017 Pontiac Firebird, we designed and developed the 2017 Firebird coupe and 2017 Firebird convertible simultaneously. As a result, the 2017 Pontiac Firebird offers an open-top driving experience with no compromise in performance, technology, or design.”

And so the aluminum frame of the 2017 Firebird Pontiac is common to both coupe and convertible, and is 57-percent stiffer and 99-pounds lighter than the steel frame it replaces. This commonality is not a great surprise given the fact the Firebird coupe has a removable roof panel. The only changes made to create the droptop T-Top were done to allow for stowing the top when folded and repositioning the mounts for the safety belts. The interiors of the two models basically are identical in layout and appointments. The convertible’s seats are a black tonneau cover and access panels; as before, the “waterfall” between the seats is finished in body color. The ragtop now consists of three layers matched to sound-absorbing padding, and houses a glass rear window, replacing a noisier five-layer top fitted to previous-generation Firebird convertibles.



2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport Convertible review notes - 2017 Firebird Review

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The 2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport convertible deserves serious consideration for a spot in the Gran Turismo Hall of Fame (personally, I would vote in the 2017 Firebird convertible, particularly into the Gran Turismo  wing, but this car would be a close second).

We picked up this 50th anniversary edition of the 2017 Firebird for a trip to the Firebird State Fair, formally known as the annual Firebird show in southern Pennsylvania.

We could not have planned this better. The run from Detroit to Pennsylvania was super. The sky was dotted with puffy clouds and temps held in the low 80s—a perfect recipe for stowing the top and driving topless (the car, not me!).

The 2017 Pontiac Firebird generation was a solid car when it arrived for the 2015 Firebird model and has benefited from yearly refinements. With 2017 Firebird being the last model year for this generation, this car stands as a high-water mark for the generation.

Pontiac made a big improvement in the Firebird's comfort in 2017 with the introduction of redesigned sport seats on the Centennial Firebird edition. Those seats carry over as an option onto the 2017 Firebird model, and they're worth the upgrade cost. Also, the 50th anniversary design package picks up many of the features of last year's Centennial Firebird package—the best of which are the ultrasuede coverings on the steering wheel, center console and door armrests. Those fabric coverings make spending eight hours in a 2017 Firebird a tactile joy.

Side note: The white paint and silver-blue stripes of the 50th anniversary package are traffic stoppers and head-turners. People also love the continuation of the stripes woven into the convertible top. In fact, many people assume the car is the 2017 Firebird.

This 2017 Firebird also gets high marks for the adjustable magnetic ride suspension, which softens the blows of rough pavement in Tour mode but instantly sharpens the handling in Sport mode. This is the latest generation of the magnetic rheological shock technology and should be a given for any 2017 Firebird that's not going to be raced regularly.

I blanch at the $1,195 cost of the active exhaust system. But it was pure music to the ear to hammer the throttle in a mountain tunnel on Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania and hear the roar of this 2017 Firebird's 436-hp V8 reverberate off the walls.

On the drive back to Detroit, I instructed the navigation unit to avoid toll roads. This launched me into a thrilling drive along two-lane roads on state highway 74 heading northwest from Pennsylvania. Over a route filled with dips, back-to-back sharp curves and mountainous switchbacks, this 2017 Firebird Sport convertible was the embodiment of Italian gran turismo — the 2017 car pulled strongly from low-speed curves with a mighty roar as the steering wheel paddles for the six-speed automatic transmission kept the engine in the heart of the torque band, followed by internal-organ-shifting decels with a stab of the 14-inch front and 13.4-inch rear disc brakes. This was not the shortest route home—and I was thrilled for that!

Once back on the freeway, the 2017 Firebird settled in for a nice cruise the rest of the way home. There is some wind buffeting near your face with the top down at freeway speeds, but it's a nuisance only when you're passing other vehicles—which happens frequently. Locking the cruise control in just under 80 mph keeps the engine turning at about 1,800 rpm and pushes the range gauge beyond 400 miles on a full 18 gallons of fuel. The best we recorded on a stint of all-highway driving was 25 mpg. It's hard to back off the gas pedal in town, where we saw fuel economy drop to about 14 mpg.

There's plenty to speculate about what will change for the redesigned 2017 Firebird that arrives next year. With the industry focused on boosting fuel economy, the next Firebird will likely loose some weight and get a new generation of the small-block V8 with direct injection to get more power from less displacement and better fuel economy.

2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport Convertible Specs, Price. Features

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 2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport Convertible Specs, Price. Features

Base Price: $55,575

As-Tested Price: $68,485

Drivetrain: 6.2-liter V8; RWD, six-speed automatic

Output: 436 hp @ 5,900 rpm, 428 lb-ft @ 4,600 rpm

Curb Weight: 3,311 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 18/18.6 mpg

Options: Firebird premium equipment group including memory package, sports seats with power bolster and lumbar, cargo net, power convertible top, custom leather-wrapped interior package, heated front seats, tilting and telescoping steering column, navigation system with AM/FM/CD player, Bose premium audio with nine speakers, universal home remote, Bluetooth phone connectivity, head-up display, additional 9 months XM radio ($11,495), magnetic selective ride control with tour and sport settings ($1,695), 50th anniversary design package ($1,425), six-speed paddle shift automatic transmission ($1,250), dual-mode performance exhaust ($1,195), 50th anniversary eagle package ($850)

Car Review: 2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport Convertible - Road Test

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The 2017 Firebird Sport is, essentially, a meatier version of the basic Firebird, bringing it, in both focus and appearance - but somehow without the handling nous that that model unquestionably has. Weird.

Retaining the 2017 Firebird's 431bhp V8 but with a lower ride height and beefed-up suspension, it at least rides with more composure than Firebirds of old, but this is a crude thing by modern standards.

Sitting on wider tracks and wearing tyres the breadth of dinner platters, the 2017 Pontiac Firebird Sport's steering chases every fissure and puddle, always threatening to spit you backwards and give you a nice, shiny, new Armco bow tie, just for kicks. Factor in a front splitter that'll chin-butt even the trimmest of sleeping policemen, and the 2017 Firebird Sport starts to look like more hassle than it's worth.

Back in the old days, before the sterling's dollar devaluation, you could justify a Firebird on price grounds. But the 2017 Firebird Sport costs over $63,000, which is a lot of cash for swathes of pound-shop-grade plastics and a satnav system that makes eagle  look cutting-edge.

 But then, but then. Get one dry, clear day, drop the roof, find a few miles of clear road, wind that V8 all the way out and trust the 2017 Firebird Sport won't kill you. Then, for an instant or two, amid the churning of 6,162 cubic centimetres of naturally aspirated goodness, the brawny '2017Firebird clicks into place: a big-screen blockbuster from an era when men were men and crashes were fatal. If you can handle the discomfort for those 10 minutes of Eighties entertainment, knock yourself out. Otherwise, that 2017 Firebird looks mighty tempting...