I don’t know the answer but it seems in stock form as they rolled off the assembly line with 3.73:1 gears, a 4-speed transmission with all of them optimized/tunes to peak potential [including fuel]; I would pick the RAIV and I would imagine there isn’t too many ticks of the stop watch difference between a 400 RAIII, 455HO or SD455 in a quarter mile run. It just seems that these three packages are pretty darn close to each other and with a manual transmission it would come down to the driver.
I believe if the test were done with an automatic transmission I would think the RAIV would not fare well at all against the others because of the cam and the gears.
My have a 1970, I first laid eyes on that particular car in November of 1971 when my uncle drove it to the funeral home of my step grandfather. I was a pre-teen, lived in the country and I had never seen one before and in those days, like today [still], you don’t see many of them. I bought it in 1978 for $2500 and that car has a sentimental value to me that no RAIV, 455HO or SD455 can ever replace. Having said that if I were looking; a 1971 or 1972 would be hard to look away from but I do prefer the seats of the 1970 over the others they’re just more comfortable.
I’ve driven both a 71 & 72 Trans Am and the behavior of those cars compared to my 1970 don’t compare at all. The 1970 is brute, tempered and ill-mannered rig whereas both the 71and 72 models were more refined and had some manners about them. Even the handling seemed different and the only thing I believe that is different is the 70 models had a different steering. The other thing I noticed was the 71 and later years sat higher up off the ground than my 1970. I also concur that the 160 speedo was “very optimistic” and a 5 or 6-speed would be a welcome addition to “any” of these cars.
What I have often wondered is how would a SD455 built in 1970 (with compression) compare to the her 455 stable mates from Buick (GNX), Oldsmobile (W-30) and Chevrolet 454 (LS6). And I say the SD455 because it has the bottom end to rev higher whereas the 455HO is limited by design in that area.
Nice discussion; to the OP, thanks for bring it up
Jim
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