Howdy, folks.

[Sky Red Line]

I've been snooping around this forum for a while and found it to be a pretty cool place to hang out on the Internet.

I saw John Stecher's F1000 at an SCCA event at MAM in August before I realized that he was the head honcho around here--I was walking around looking at the cars and saw the Trackpedia logo on the side of a black car and said "Trackpedia! Cool!"

I got back into cars after a LONG time of driving a truck and not caring too much about cars or racing when I attended the SCCA Runoffs with some friends last year. That set me to thinking that I'd like something to drive that was a bit more fun (and got better gas mileage) thanmy truck and I ended up with this:



It's a 2009 Saturn Sky Red Line with the GMPP Stage 2 kit (which gives me 290 HP and 340 lb-ft of torque). I'm having a blast driving a car again, even if I drive it like a little old lady (a holdover from having gone to a bunch of accidents as a reporter).

I had my heart set on a Solstice GXP Coupe, but when it proved impossible to find, I was able to acquire a Sky with a manual transmission. I'm finding that I really dig the convertible and am happy with the way things turned out.

It's a heck of a lot faster than anything I've ever owned before and faster than most anything I've ever driven, except for the Z06 Vette that I drove when I was looking at cars. The Z06 was fun, but just too high-strung for me to enjoy it as a daily driver.

I wanted to say "Hi" before I posted in another section, so "Hi."

[Warpedcow]

Welcome!

[kbrew8991]

Hello

[billy]

That looks like a fun car. Is Saturn still making that car? I thought the Solstice was dropped by Pontiac now?

[Sky Red Line]

First, thanks for the welcome, folks!

Originally Posted by billy

That looks like a fun car. Is Saturn still making that car? I thought the Solstice was dropped by Pontiac now?

No, they aren't making it anymore. The Wilmington, Delaware plant where it, and the Solstice, was built closed in July. It's too bad these got dropped, but they were reportedly a money-loser for GM that cost more to make than to sell and thus, no more Solstice/Sky.

It is a very fun car. I saw one review that said it was about two-thirds Corvette and one-third Miata and I agree. The lack of storage space in the trunk and cockpit would make it awful as an only car, but it's just peachy as an evening and weekend toy.

[Hanewf_83]

Welcome.
I'd have to agree about the car, I drove a Solstice around a few tracks, and was surprised at the overall performance, and the forgivability of it when you pushed that little bit too far.
It sucks that they're no longer in production, I've been looking for one for a while now and can't find them anywhere with a manual trans (damn automatic driving wusses)

[Warpedcow]

Originally Posted by Hanewf_83

I've been looking for one for a while now and can't find them anywhere with a manual trans (damn automatic driving wusses)

You could always just import an Opel GT with a manual. Someone local here did that (saw it at Cars and Cafe).

[Sky Red Line]

Originally Posted by Warpedcow

You could always just import an Opel GT with a manual. Someone local here did that (saw it at Cars and Cafe).

Unfortunately, the Opel GT was also built in Wilmington and is no more.

[Eric]

Very nice. Is the Red Line a factory option or is that a 3rd party tuning deal?

Welcome!

[Sky Red Line]

Originally Posted by Eric

Very nice. Is the Red Line a factory option or is that a 3rd party tuning deal?

Welcome!

The Red Line is the factory's name for the turbocharged version of the Sky and the tune is a GM Performance Parts kit that the dealer installed. The kit consists of a new manifold pressure sensor and the tune. It also provides a "no lift shift" feature that means you can keep your foot on the gas when up-shifting near readline (which I don't use, but which sounds fun).

The fact that it's dealer installed maintains the warranty (5 years, 100,000 miles) on the power train.