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April 5, 2008
Cool Car Club: Team Solstice
By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
This year, a group of Pontiac Solstice owners got together to form Team Solstice 2008, and they’ve already been drawing crowds at some of the biggest-name shows in the industry: members have had their rides featured at SEMA, as well as Nopi, HIN, and DUB shows around the nation. The Solstice is a ride that has tended to get dismissed automatically by those who don’t know any better; the car (and its twin, the Saturn Sky) is admittedly underwhelming in its factory form, and even the turbo version failed to raise more than a few eyebrows when it hit the market. But the Team Solstice crew take performance on these rides a whole ‘nother level, modding the crap out of the little Ecotech powerplants to the point where most of them are running 300-400 hp at the wheel. CarDomain member Madmods enjoys the light weight and good handling of the Solstice, but admits that it’s easy to stuff in too much power for the car to handle. David Gilbert of Performance Autowerks personally flew down to tune the motor on Madmods’ yellow Solstice at Vividracing’s dyno, and now the car accelerates so violently that chassis flex threatens to be a problem. Fabricating a brace, courtesy of Randy at DDM, helped to contain all of that extra power.
Bodywork is the next issue for these rides. Norm from Norm’s Fiberglass known one of the best fiberglass guys in the business, has done a ton of custom body pieces for Team Solstice members. Some of the guys are currently running his custom diffusers, and the striking Ferrari front clip on Madmods’ Solstice is one of Norm’s creations as well.
A bunch of Team Solstice members were showing off at HIN LA a couple of weekends ago, and next up is the national Solstice/Sky meet in Las Vegas on April 25-27, where they’re expecting over 100 cars, as well as media coverage, vendors, and a great time. A few of their members have also been selected to appear in The Fast and the Furious 4—stay tuned for our continuing coverage of the current filming. It’s great to see such a cohesive community of enthusiasts built around a car that’s not an obviously conventional choice for performance—and yet the performance they’ve managed to get out of these rides is impressive. If you’ve got questions for Team Solstice members or want to drop by and say hi, they can often be found hanging out on solsticeforum.com.
Comments
GrayDawg
Aug 25, 2008 at 11:16 pm
this Soltice is a slept on car, i never knew it could look so good pimped
pham thee
Apr 9, 2008 at 6:11 am
Good job guys!
Andrew
Apr 9, 2008 at 6:01 am
After reading your personal page I have to admit that is one of the most bad ass solstices I have ever seen. I appreciate the horsepower route, and not all flash with no go. Hats off to you Madmods.
Blondie
Apr 8, 2008 at 4:26 am
I saw you guys on the fast & furious set.
Blondie
Apr 8, 2008 at 4:26 am
I saw you guys on the fast & furious set.
Shabby Blue
Apr 8, 2008 at 3:46 am
Awesome cars, I have a colbalt and have been watching you guys for awhile. 400hp is just a start.
Ricky Fingers
Apr 7, 2008 at 5:12 am
Team Solstice rocks!
Official Member, East Coast chapter.
blackman
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I saw those cars on the fast & furious set.
blackman
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I saw those cars on the fast & furious set.
carla
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Hondas are so yesterday!
riceman
Apr 5, 2008 at 10:13 pm
My honda will smoke them
Vikki C
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:30 pm
The guys are hott too! We modeled some pics with them at Hin LA.
T-Bone
Apr 5, 2008 at 8:23 pm
The grey one is sic. Look’s like he’s got some money for all the bling.
tony trevore
Apr 5, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I just noticed that the grey has the same front end as the yellow one. Looks like it.
fstgxp
Apr 5, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Check out my CarDomain profile. I own the black Solstice – http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3035200
Tracey Young
Apr 5, 2008 at 7:47 pm
wow, nice. I have a white sky. My husband is looking for optins to make it faster.
Rick Ramos
Apr 5, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Those ecotecs are fast. Gm built a couple of 1000hp motors they were displaying at the gmtuner booth.
asian doll
Apr 5, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I saw you guys at hin. Nice car.
stu
Apr 5, 2008 at 6:32 pm
There are plenty of solsices running around with the ls2 in them.
stu
Apr 5, 2008 at 6:32 pm
There are plenty of solsices running around with the ls2 in them.
retroman
Apr 5, 2008 at 4:10 pm
The Ecotech’s fine and all. That’s what they use on the American version of the Ariel Atom, but what I really wanna see is a Solstice/Sky with a Corvette motor.
Dale
Apr 5, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Awesome motor. Was Mad Mike involved? I noticed him in some pictures.
LadyT28
Apr 5, 2008 at 2:47 pm
It’s nice to see your cars featured! Each of you on Team Solstice are STARS!!
jesus
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:25 am
well done, not overdone but classy looking
Kev
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:22 am
Beautiful cars
remy
Apr 5, 2008 at 11:13 am
Nice job mads! Will dropped speed tv, so no more unique whips on the channel. Stay tune for some breaking news
mustang Tom
Apr 5, 2008 at 10:56 am
good to finally see some domestics instead of that rice at the car shows.
greg
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:58 am
nah the grey one is hotter
ric sleight
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:49 am
yup the black one is hot
Charles White
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:27 am
I likey. Are those escalade vents on the grey one? What size are the rims
monica
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:18 am
Jen,
You rock girlfriend!
pico
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:14 am
Which is faster? solstice or the sky?
Tammi
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:10 am
I love the solstice, now I have to buy one. The black one is hot!!
Vinny Z
Apr 5, 2008 at 9:00 am
Are these aftermarket turbos? Any links.
Hector G.
Apr 5, 2008 at 8:58 am
I like the sky better then the solstice, but those are some hot cars.
Whats the difference between the cobalt motor?
Mike S
Apr 5, 2008 at 8:54 am
I always liked the solstice except for the front end. Good job guys!