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Top Three HOT ROD V-8 Solstice Performance Tips
1. Swap the Solstice rear differential for one out of the Cadillac CTS-V, which has stronger gears (the cases are identical). The power needs to go somewhere--make sure it gets to the tires!
2. Install a fire extinguisher somewhere in the car. With all that heat under the hood, you'll need something to cool you off.
3. Figure out a way to hang on! A V-8 in one of these rides is going to make it fly, so make sure you've got good driver safety equipment (racing seatbelts and seats, rollbar, and so on).
The finished car--but you'll have to wait until the July issue to see us beat on it. The idea for throwing a V-8 in a Pontiac Solstice had been swirling around the HOT ROD offices since the car was unveiled, but the real movement came at a meeting in mid-2005 between the GM Performance Division (GMPD) and HOT ROD editorial staff. There it was agreed that HOT ROD would build a bad-*** LS7-powered two-seater Solstice, and GMPD would provide technical guidance to make sure the job was done right. Magazine guys can be ham-fisted at times, so we knew we'd need GMPD's help to make the car as good as it could be.
If you think the glory days of hot rodding were the '60s, then you wouldn't be interested in dropping a 427ci, 550-plus-hp killer small-block crate engine into a modern, 2,800-pound roadster. This thing is gonna fly! One of the goals of the HOT ROD team was to keep this V-8-powered version near that weight. A production Solstice was stripped to the bare frame and anything that could be chucked-- sound deadener, sealer, stud bolts, brackets, and more--was permanently removed.
1. Swap the Solstice rear differential for one out of the Cadillac CTS-V, which has stronger gears (the cases are identical). The power needs to go somewhere--make sure it gets to the tires!
2. Install a fire extinguisher somewhere in the car. With all that heat under the hood, you'll need something to cool you off.
3. Figure out a way to hang on! A V-8 in one of these rides is going to make it fly, so make sure you've got good driver safety equipment (racing seatbelts and seats, rollbar, and so on).
The finished car--but you'll have to wait until the July issue to see us beat on it. The idea for throwing a V-8 in a Pontiac Solstice had been swirling around the HOT ROD offices since the car was unveiled, but the real movement came at a meeting in mid-2005 between the GM Performance Division (GMPD) and HOT ROD editorial staff. There it was agreed that HOT ROD would build a bad-*** LS7-powered two-seater Solstice, and GMPD would provide technical guidance to make sure the job was done right. Magazine guys can be ham-fisted at times, so we knew we'd need GMPD's help to make the car as good as it could be.
If you think the glory days of hot rodding were the '60s, then you wouldn't be interested in dropping a 427ci, 550-plus-hp killer small-block crate engine into a modern, 2,800-pound roadster. This thing is gonna fly! One of the goals of the HOT ROD team was to keep this V-8-powered version near that weight. A production Solstice was stripped to the bare frame and anything that could be chucked-- sound deadener, sealer, stud bolts, brackets, and more--was permanently removed.
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