400HP Solstice

[Jesda]

This just sounds downright scary to drive:http://www.mallettcars.com/new...e.htm

[MinisterofDOOM]

I am in love.

With a Saturn.

What the hell is happening to this world?

[JESTER]

I have been cussing those cars since I saw what they were putting in them. 2.4 liter???? WHY?!?!?

Thank goodness someone is doing something with them. They should have had a V8 or at least some boost from the factory.

Why do people buy a two seat sports car, with no power? I have never understood that. It has always confused me about the Miata and MR2 Spyder.

[Jesda]

Simple. Mountains and countryside.

You dont need power to get through those winding, dipping areas. You need a good chassis/suspension and minimal weight.

What confuses me are people who get Miatas and MR2s for highway driving. Fuel economy rocks, but its downright scary next to a semi with the top down. Hell, its scary if a 4000lb Q45 slams into you.

Nissan really ought to introduce a midsize convertible to kill the Solara. Do what Chrysler did with the 'J' sedan platform: remove two doors, stiffen it up all over, and chop the top. Give it the fantastic 3.5. Nissan, unlike Toyota, would make it fun and desirable. I guess its a question of whether import buyers want a convertible thats also roomy.

[MinisterofDOOM]

While I like the idea of a VQ powered nissan convertible, I really, REALLY don't think their current styling scheme works with a topless car.

The problem with the solara is that it's a Toyota-only car. I mean...a Toyota only TYPE of car. No other auto maker could get away with simply turning an ultra-boring sedan into a convertible. You can't even do it with an Altima. Even the Sentra would be just wierd as a clothtop. It'd have to be a whole new model to be worth it and actually look/feel right.

[JESTER]

Jesda, I didnt need the power of my Suzuki TL1000S to get through those mountains and curves, but it was a lot more fun for having that power. Slamming into the Cadilac sucked, but hey, cant have everything.

[Mr1der]

ya know...they could've atleast put the Cobalt SS motor in it...

[elwesso]

ya know...they could've atleast put the Cobalt SS motor in it...

I was thikning the 3800SC would have been more than adequate.... Mated to a little 5 or 6 speed manual... mmmmm...

I was too depressed to see how much power they were going to put into it... Thats not the american way... The american way is to take a perfectly adequate car, and swap in a big V8 that no one needs... I woudlnt have it any other way... They did it with the 300, GTO (kind of), CTS, crossfire, etc.....

If you have a stiff chassis with a little power, then having a stiff chassis with a lot of power can only be better... Anyone who tells you different is a nincompoop.

[Mr1der]

to hell with that!

the only cool pushrod roadster was the Cobra....

GM needs to come up with some new engines....they bore me.

[elwesso]

to hell with that!

the only cool pushrod roadster was the Cobra....

GM needs to come up with some new engines....they bore me.

Havent you realized, that whenever GM puts out a new engine it sucks.. It takes at least 10 years before an engine they put out is acutally good...

[Mr1der]

haha...so true.....

well..ok not really.

the 3.8 was at it's best in the orginal form.

Turbocharged.

[elwesso]

haha...so true.....

well..ok not really.

the 3.8 was at it's best in the orginal form.

Turbocharged.

Indeed and terribly underrated!!!

However you have to admit that the 3800SC is very much not showing its full strength by being FWD...

I think if they could have it revv to 6500 and put it RWD infront of a manual it would give the VQ a run for tis money....

[Mr1der]

getting it to go up to 6500 would take way too much effort....

hell...I'd be happy to have mine go to 5k or 5500....

[elwesso]

right now it revvs to 5500 and that thing FLIES to the redline.. I hit the limitre all the time, super annoying!!!!! I think 6000 or 6500 would be uber golden...

[Mr1der]

wow...hit the limiter with an auto?

good job GM!

cam duration is everything with these motors.

I can say these because I believe that 3.8 is a very close to mine in specs...like headflow and stroke and bore....

putting a cam with longer duration into the SC's really wakes them up. and some nice noisy solid lifters...

[elwesso]

wow...hit the limiter with an auto?

good job GM!

cam duration is everything with these motors.

I can say these because I believe that 3.8 is a very close to mine in specs...like headflow and stroke and bore....

putting a cam with longer duration into the SC's really wakes them up. and some nice noisy solid lifters...

our GTP has the "tapshift" thing.. It really doesnt shift until you tell it to.. its great!!! Its almost likehaving a manual... You can start in 2nd gear... Im surprised they havent done it sooner because its a very simple concept...

[Jesda]

Chrysler's Autostick in the late 90s used to do that. Lately they watered it down so it does little more than set the highest gear. I always preferred slapping the shifter left and right instead of back and forth.

The 3800SC would be tons of fun in the Solstice, but I can imagine the automotive press having a cow over it. The LA Times would say something to the effect of "OMFG LOLLERSK8S STUP1D PUSHRODZ! HAHAHAH SOLSTICE IS TEH GHEY! B00SH IZ HITL4R!"

Note that I have little respect for California newspapers.

[Mr1der]

that's what I'd say!

only I'd be talking about Busch brewery...

[elwesso]

California is almost as gay as canada except warmer... And of course less canadians and more mexicans...

[JESTER]

What GM model had a 3.8 turbo motor? I know the sc 3800, wasnt aware of the Turbo motor. I know they had the 3.1 turbo....

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'd like to see it making at least 210 horses.170 is quite low. Very low.

This is my formula for the perfect roadster:

--small, rigid, light chassis, designed from the ground up to be rigid AND topless, and not just a coupe with the roof chopped off. It needs a GOOD LOOKING hardtop available (not everyone cares, I guess, but I would never look twice at any roadster that didn't have a removable hardtop. Maybe it's the fact that it can snow 6 inches or rain a foot in an hour here, but clothtops are just not adequate).

--large V6 (3.5 liters or bigger) or a big V8 (5.7 or bigger). I want a short tach. Rev to 5000. Redline at 50001. I want the torque to come at 800 rpms. I want it to go, flat as a 9 year old girl, all the way to 5000. I want a DEEP exhaust. None of this modern "hide your massive anti-environment V8" exhaust muffling. I want the sound of a 427 big block with dual glasspacks. And I want it loud. Even with the hardtop on.

--I want the car DESIGNED AROUND this engine, I don't want it built for a teensy 4banger and then swapped. I want Miata weight distribution with this engine. If you can't do it front engine, to it transverse above the rear wheels. But make the car still handle like a gokart. I just want my gokart to feel like a Nasa launch, not like a WV golf launch.

--And, dammit. Make it SEXY! I want a ROADSTER, not a chickmobile, not a status symbol. I want the car to LOOK FAST. Not cute. Fast. And I want it to look good with the top up. Let's not have another mustang that looks like a girly car with the top down, and then looks like a Model T with the top up. Give us a top you actually can use. Yeah, it's a roadster, but weather does happen. I want to have a car that still looks good when it's raining and the top's up.

--Give it decent gear ratios. Give it six gears. A first gear you can easily ignore, but that's there for holy-damn-my-face-got-left-behind launches. Forget overdrive. The point of these cars is not fuel efficiency. It's FUN. Give me gears that are useful, not gears that step UP before the tires.And I want a good final drive.

--IRS. And an LSD. And how about factory adjustable shocks? Or maybe factory installed as an option aftermarket shocks, set up JUST for that car.

--And the last thing: Yeah, again, I know it's a roadster. But give it a decent trunk--whether that be up front or in the rear. Make it big enough to actually use.

Is that really so much to ask?
Modified by MinisterofDOOM at 12:50 AM 6/9/2005

[Jesda]

You want the 315HP M version of the BMW Z3.

[JESTER]

The only thing you need a trunck for is a set of 12's, and a good amp.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The only thing you need a trunck for is a set of 12's, and a good amp.

That's EXACTLY the opposite of what I think. No damn subs in my roadster, thanks. It's a DRIVING experience, not a mobile vibrator.

[JESTER]

Best way to carve those curves is to have the proper music vibrating your rear view mirror!!!

WOOOW!!!!!!!!! Thump, thump, thump, BOOM!!!!

[gabossie]

California is almost as gay as canada except warmer... And of course less canadians and more mexicans...

Says the guy from Indiana...

[Mr1der]

What GM model had a 3.8 turbo motor? I know the sc 3800, wasnt aware of the Turbo motor. I know they had the 3.1 turbo....

the Grand National you retard!

that's where the 3.8 first came from. The current ones are called the Gen III 3.8s....

Gen II was horrid.

I'd like to have one of the old Turbo Grand Prixs though...even if it was FWD and a b**** to work on....

[elwesso]

Gen II was a good engine, not relaly that much different from Gen 3.. ive driven the latter 2 gens and theyre allg ood enignes...

[Mr1der]

they're the most common chevy you'll see broken down.

[elwesso]

Thtas because that engine is pretty much in every V6 chevy!!!!!