World's Baddest Soltice

[Joey D]

I've just read about this in the latest verison of Hot Rod magazine I picked up. It seems that these crazy people have teamed up with GM Performance Division and thought it would be a good idea to stick a 427 LS7 Corvette Z06 motor into a Pontiac Soltice. Good Lord! Think about the power to weight ratio on that thing. Hot Rod says it will have about 600hp and weigh around 2,800 pounds . Thats a power to weight of 4.67 pounds per horsepower!

Also most of the car (except the carbon fiber panels) are GM parts numbers. They wanted to show that you could in fact build this car yourself if you so desired...which I'm guessing quite a few hot rodders want to do.

Here's the link
http://www.hotrod.com/projectbuild/hdrp_0605_pontiac_solstice_project_v8_engine_build/index.html

And here are some photos

 

[Poverty]

It doesnt look like a normal hotrod. Should go like stink. I want to see this drag race the SLR engined SLK.

 

[Flerbizky]

Holu Cow !.. That thing is wicked sweet. Nothing beats a fat set of slicks in a very minimalist car... That thing is going to rock in GT5 !...

 

[BMWteamPTG]

that looks amazing. ill never see one, but damn i sure as hell would.

 

[Tornado]

Reminds me of a Plymouth Howler with a couple of turbos hooked to it I once read about. This should be silly fast. I think it looks pretty cool with the body off.

 

[JCE]

600bhp? WTF...you'd have to be MAD to try and take this thing to it's limit. Helloooooooo oversteer! I still think it's cool. Putting larger motors in smaller cars is always on my "cool" list.

 

[ND4SPD]

Oh my thats amazing! Its like a modern day cobra!

 

[iceburns288]

It IS a modern day Cobra!

BTW, this car should pwn in Forza 2 with engine swaps

 

[DuckRacer]

Now THAT is cool. 👍

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Cool idea, but I can't see it being popular in amoung the hot rod crowd. Bet it would be fun wasting a set of tires in though. 👍

 

[red70mach1]

LS7 Solstice=Bad-ass fun. Little cars with big engines fine example.

 

[JCE]

LS7 Solstice=Bad-ass fun. Little cars with big engines fine example.

Indeed. This is like stuffing the Ford GT drivetrain in a ZX3 Focus...now that would be insane. There's already mounting brackets to stuff a 302 in one...

 

[Joey D]

Cool idea, but I can't see it being popular in amoung the hot rod crowd. Bet it would be fun wasting a set of tires in though.

Not now but think 30 years down the road...people will probably building "kit" Soltices like they do with the Cobra now.

 

[Slicks]

Yikes- That thing would be scarily fast.... I wonder if it will ever end up a factory option, or even a race-only option??

 

[Joey D]

Yikes- That thing would be scarily fast.... I wonder if it will ever end up a factory option, or even a race-only option??

I don't see why GM wouldn't at least produce an LS2 powered Soltice, everything I've read said that the V8 fits like a glove. But everything except some mounts and the carbon fiber body is a GM part number so it's possible. And you wouldn't even need c/f panels to make it overly fast. I think this car is pretty much the definition of complete overkill.

 

[YSSMAN]

GM is allready talking about doing a big-bore V6-powered Kappa car, probably under the Chevrolet brand. Its no LS2, which could happen in limited numbers I suppose...

It makes me wonder tho, does this Hot Rod Solstice use the Aisin 5-speed and axles from the stock Solstice (like the Mallett) or did they bump it up to Z06 specs with the T56 and the like...?

 

[ImprezaAddict]

why thaT bad?
600hp aint bad

 

[Joey D]

The transmission is a T56 from the SSR according to the article.

why thaT bad?
600hp aint bad

No it's not bad as is in not good, it's the other way around. Plus the article was named that.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Not now but think 30 years down the road...people will probably building "kit" Soltices like they do with the Cobra now.

I doubt that. The Cobra is a popular kit car because of its looks, racing heritage(sp?), the nostalgia behind its Shelby badge with its sports car rep, and its record of having the fastest quarter mile time for a production car for so long, amoung many other reasons. The Solstice has nothing but this one off V8 transplant and for being known as the cheapest convertable 2 seater of its time. Theres many other cars out there right now more worthy of becoming kit cars in the future then the Solstice.

Thats just my 2 cents.

 

[YSSMAN]

Good call on the T56, I don't think the ol' 5-speed would hold up too well. I'm sure it is recieving enough of a beating with just a stock LS2...

 

[Joey D]

I doubt that. The Cobra is a popular kit car because of its looks, racing heritage(sp?), the nostalgia behind its Shelby badge with its sports car rep, and its record of having the fastest quarter mile time for a production car for so long, amoung many other reasons. The Solstice has nothing but this one off V8 transplant and for being known as the cheapest convertable 2 seater of its time. Theres many other cars out there right now more worthy of becoming kit cars in the future then the Solstice.

Thats just my 2 cents.

True enough, you are right, it probably won't be another Cobra, but I bet that it will become a popular "hot rod" some years later like a Bel Air is or even the 32 Ford. For there time they weren't much, but some 50 years later they are rockin the hot rod world.

 

[YSSMAN]

^^^ That is, assuming they build enough Solstice (Solsti?) and Sky (Skies) models to be able to do so. But the chassis looks like it is pretty cheap to produce, and I'm sure that copying either body with fiberglass isnt far off...

 

[Joey D]

Well if GM weren't complete idiots in the business sense they would be pumping these things out double time, dealers can't even keep them on the lot. GM has a winner here and they really should be capitalizing on it. However I like the Sky a lot more then I do the Soltice.

 

[skip0110]

Well if GM weren't complete idiots in the business sense they would be pumping these things out double time, dealers can't even keep them on the lot. GM has a winner here and they really should be capitalizing on it. However I like the Sky a lot more then I do the Soltice.

demand = profits

They are wise to capitalize on the demand while it lasts. After a few years of production, they will be as common as Miatas, and GM won't be able to pull such a hefty profit on them.

 

[Joey D]

demand = profits

They are wise to capitalize on the demand while it lasts. After a few years of production, they will be as common as Miatas, and GM won't be able to pull such a hefty profit on them.

For sure, but I think the amature track racers will eat these things up like they did the Miata. Same pricipal with a cheaper execution. But that will more then likely be in the aftermarket and once these cars go through round 1. GM would be smart to keep these cars doing well and giving them a refresh every few years and coming out with a line of GM performance parts for them...like a stage kit for the GXP/Redline.

 

[YSSMAN]

I think GM needs to build an even further stripped down Solstice or Sky, sort of in the vein of the 360CS or 911 GT3RS... No sound proofing, no carpet, none of the fancy extra pieces like a radio and extra plastic cladding on the interior... If they could push it for less than $17K, I would be willing to bet that their club-racer would become their best selling model.

 

[Joey D]

They did have that weekend racer concept thing, but it wasn't really stripped down.

 

[skip0110]

I'm with Blazin in that I can't wait to see what GMPP has in store...

 

[HACKr]

600 hp, is that all they can do?? C'mon!

 

[Joey D]

600 hp, is that all they can do?? C'mon!

Actually no, the T56 can take more power and so can the engine...it's a small block Chevy, but somehow I think the car wouldn't be able to put the power to the ground. The Soltice chassie is good, but not that good, it's still an economy roadster at heart.