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Pontiac Breathes More Power into the Solstice for 2007
By Andrew Gardner; photos courtesy GM Media
Feb 6, 2006, 00:45 PST

This is easy. The Solstice is affordable, drop-dead sexy, structurally well-engineered and fun to drive. It is an excellent roadster, a very low-priced convertible even without its amicable driving behavior.

But its motor lacks guts, and passion. It’s lively but not acceleratively thrilling. That little four banger under the hood is an economy car motor.

What’s the solution? Put a bigger motor in there, or strap a blower on – that’s the Pontiac way, as we know from the Grand Prix performance version with its supercharged V6.

Well, Pontiac did neither to the Solstice, but for the 2007 model year this peppy little car gets turbocharging, with an air-to-air intercooling system. That takes GM’s 2.0-liter Ecotec 4-cylinder motor from 170 horsepower to 260 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. That’s a 41% gain in power output, a good result for a serious forced induction motor. And that means the Solstice GXP’s motor will produce more than 130 hp per liter of displacement – that’s a higher specific power output than any other GM production engine in history.

That’s hot, it really is. We’ve heard Jay Leno say – and we must agree – that enhancing certain features of Audrey Hepburn wouldn’t make her any sexier. His implication was that wedging huge engines into heavy cars doesn’t make them nearly as much fun as light cars with less power. As such, the Pontiac Solstice GXP may look no sexier than the standard Solstice for its power gain (the distinct front and rear fascias may please you more) but it will certainly fix the car’s one real drawback. The GXP is hotter.

The Solstice’s new motor also features performance technology found in the engines of more expensive GM engines, such as piston-cooling oil jets and sodium-filled exhaust valves.

And what’s more, the Solstice GXP features contemporary technology, with variable phasing of both cams, as well as direct injection. This will allow the four-banger to be powerful, efficient, and strong over a broad range of engine speeds.

In addition, the GXP comes standard with a 3.73:1 rear axle ratio, a limited slip differential, 4-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, a sportier suspension package, a driver information center and 18 inch polished Aluminum wheels.

Pontiac claims that the Solstice GXP, in either automatic or manual transmission form, will run from 0-60 mph in less than 5.5 seconds. We expect that is a conservative announcement.

The Solstice GXP will be burning rubber on an asphalt strip near you starting this fall.

The new Solstice GXP's turbocharged Ecotec four cylinder motor offers such contemporary features as direct injection (above) and variable cam phasing for both cams.

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