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.

Hot Import Nights kicked off its 2008 season in Los Angeles over the weekend, and CarDomain sent Larry Chen to cover the action. Of course, there were a ton of killer rides and gaggles of models, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen mannequins posed next to some of the rides. Seriously, what’s the deal? Is this the JDM equivalent of those creepy little kid dolls that pop up at domestic car shows? And is this a new thing, or have I just missed it somehow? Anyway, enjoy the pics!

The pictures from these events came out awesome. Of course, the cars from DUB look stunning, but even the images from the normally impossible to shoot HIN look great! So after you’re done drooling over all these sick cars, head over to 02on19s page and give him a shout, because he’s the maestro that orchestrated this awesome coverage. Thanks so much man! I can’t wait to post photos from your next event! Your swag is on the way!

Want to become part of the CarDomain event team? Then email events@cardomain.com and tell us about your local event! We’ll get back to you pronto!