Back into a Little Turbo Vert

07 Boss

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My 07 GT has been my daily then race car then back to daily. Needless to say she is not the most ideal little commuter car with the current set up. So I went out and got me a little turbo roadster. She is old but had less than 50K on the odometer and less than $10K. Found it up in Oregon and had to pay for a third party inspection and shipping. But I think I did OK. I put wheels and tires on her and doing a few more things to get her "roadworthy." She should push about 300 whp with a stock cat on there after tune and intake/intercooler plumbing is completed. If I delete the cat I can change up the power curve and get about 315 whp out of her. It's not a monster or anything but pretty darn respectable for a 2700 lb car and still getting 24 mpg.

Anyways, may I introduce to Tina.

This is how I got her.





Put some wheels and tires on her.





New headlights and door handle covers to cover the chrome ones.








Intake and turbo charge pipes showed up today and sending my ecu off to get tune loaded.



Also gotta short throw shifter and rear wind deflector with custom etching and lighting. Couple other little goodies coming too including a couple of rally stripes from nose to tail and then I think she will be truly roadworthy. Next year some chassis bracing and suspension tuning.

A couple more pics for your viewing pleasure






Oh and I had to get a custom embroidered jacket to wear on those cooler mornings with the top down.


 

stkjock

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I thought you got this car a few months back?
 

07 Boss

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Yeah I got it a couple months ago but I don't think I posted up much about her. I wasn't planning on doing anything but drive her but that's not gonna work. lol
 

07 Boss

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Very cool car, quite the sleeper too!

Yeah and if I would have known I was going to up the hp by 25% I would have gone in a different direction with the wheels and tires. It's gonna be tough in the traction dept with the skinny 245/45's on there. I spent some pretty good skin for the michelins so swapping them now is not an option. Plus I would have to get custom rims as this car has an odd bolt pattern and offset. I could swap the hubs to corvette ones but then I gotta do new brakes and whatnot.
 

Juice

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245s are fine for 300 hp unless you got some 500 treadwear 60000+ mile "forever" tires on there!
 

07 Boss

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245s are fine for 300 hp unless you got some 500 treadwear 60000+ mile "forever" tires on there!

I'm not sure I necessarily agree with that. I have Pilot Sport AS tires on there but the car is pretty light and currently get low traction warnings in 1st, 2nd & 3rd gear. Also current factory tune limits power in 1st and 2nd gear. New tune removes the torque limitations. We will see. All I know is that I tend to leave the traction control on in this car and in my Mustang it is always off. Maybe it's the way the power comes on that is tricky for me. My Mustang will cut loose right away and then you bring it back. This car tends to track and then cut loose farther down the rpm range and it is a bit unnerving mid corner. I would rather throw it sideways into a turn and gather it up than have it cut loose in the middle. Maybe it is just the difference in a PD blower and a turbo in regards to their power curves. Maybe its the shorter wheelbase that just seems to make this car pretty squirrely for me. She sure is fun to whip around town in though.
 

Stranger

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Mine wasn't a GXP, but I drove a base 2006 Solstice for about 3 years as my daily driver.

My daughter bought it with money received from an inheritance. She had never driven a manual, so I spent a couple afternoons teaching her.

She drove it about 8 months then decided it was too impractical and wanted to know if we'd be upset if she sold it. I told her no and offered to buy it for what she paid. It was the best handling car that I had ever owned and was a blast to drive. I drove that car harder than any other car before it and the top was always down.
20200614_070551-01.jpeg 20200614_071915-01-01.jpeg

Unfortunately, big ticket items were needed and it had too many miles to justify the investment.

Last winter, the wife and I agreed to replace it at the conclusion of the following summer.
After several months looking for it's replacement, I was leaning towards a 2007-2009Jaguar XK or XKR. They've got a nice exhaust note and you don't see them every day.

Then it struck me... "No, I've a always wanted a Mustang". I came close a couple of times but family life dictated practicality.

The summer was winding down and I finally found a candidate... a 2010 GT Premium with less than 25,000 miles. We decided this was the one if it checked out... it did.

The Solstice was traded for my new daily driver...
20201219_193903.jpg

20201114_131215-01.jpeg 20201219_153548-01.jpeg
Ironically, I decided that it WASN'T going to be daily driver. Instead, I'm driving my old 2006 F-150 SXT with over 323,000 miles as my daily driver... again.

I kinda miss driving my Solstice... Enjoy yours.
 

07 Boss

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Mine wasn't a GXP, but I drove a base 2006 Solstice for about 3 years as my daily driver.
It was the best handling car that I had ever owned and was a blast to drive. I drove that car harder than any other car before it and the top was always down.
View attachment 75642 View attachment 75643

Unfortunately, big ticket items were needed and it had too many miles to justify the investment.

Last winter, the wife and I agreed to replace it at the conclusion of the following summer.
After several months looking for it's replacement, I was leaning towards a 2007-2009Jaguar XK or XKR. They've got a nice exhaust note and you don't see them every day.


I kinda miss driving my Solstice... Enjoy yours.


Thanks, I had a GXP a few years back and sold it to make room for a different Pontiac project. When I saw a few of these low mileage ones going for pretty cheap I decided I wanted to get back into one. My top stays down for weeks at a time. I really want to get a Jaguar too but I'm looking at the F-Type convertibles. I figure in a couple of years I can give this to the boy and the price on those will be a little more reasonable. She is a fun car to drive, I throw her into corners like a go cart.
 

joe_momma

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That thing should be pretty quick with 300 at the tires and the low weight.
 

07 Boss

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Well, finally got around to installing the new inter cooler plumbing and intake. Going to data log and get some tuning done. 25 psi of boost ought to get me going on.
upload_2021-4-5_14-33-43.jpeg
 

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