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2009 Solstice Coupe

10K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  wspohn 
#1 ·
I haven't posted anything in a long time but figured I would now. My coupe now has 3,000 miles on it. Has a Solo Perfomance Mach Exhaust and a Trifecta Tune. I have a Big Wheel turbo and Street Intercooler from AutoWerks that I haven't installed.



Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr




Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr



Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr



Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr




Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr




Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr




Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr




Untitled by zerosnipe, on Flickr
 
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#4 ·
My na black coupe #912 now has slightly over 1500 miles.

I would carefully consider modifying such a valuable car as your GXP Coupe.
LJ
Valuable is a subjective word. He may value this cars ability to easily be modified and be a very fast car and be beautiful. Or are you referring to collectibility? I consider any modification with collectibility, but I don't equate the cars rarity and collectibillty with "valuable" other than I see it holding it's value as time goes on. We are keeping the miles down as well, having just made 4600, and there won't be any big mods, mainly because we want to keep the car stock for the most part, but we also have a few mods that have certainly made the car better (all of which can be taken off/reversed to be back stock). It's just SOOO hard not to play with a GXP, very fast, very fun car, you want more.
 
#7 ·
My gun metal grey GXP Coupe still has under 10,000 miles. Prior to my purchasing it, it was a GM officals car. Just wonder if GM did anything to make it faster than stock as it really goes. Any way that I can tell easily? Love the car, it has flaws but I can live with them. Cheers, Dave
 
#8 ·
Might have the GMPP tune. Check for the one bolt as opposed to two bolt sensors and the stickers under the hood and under the gas filler flap. Do a search for pictures of the new sensors.
 
#11 ·
nice. I like the wheels in the center pic, it's just like a stock wheel, but with each spoke "cut out", so to speak.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Those were the wheels they used on all the promo publicity shots of the coupe so I expected the car to have them. They only used them on a special edition and never sold them on the coupe so I had to find them later and fit them. I do prefer them to any of the other stock wheels.
 
#13 ·
Those were the wheels they used on all the promo publicity shots oif the coupe so I expected the car to have them. They only used them on a special edition and never sold them on the coupe so I had to find them later and fit them. I do prefer them to any of the other stock wheels.
But they are a GM wheel used for the promos? I've seen them on the promo vehicles, especially the silver coupe used, but it looks like it fits the stock clear pontiac center cap and everything, exact wheel like our wheel just with the cutout on each spoke.

Did you find them on line, and were they reasonably priced? I'd fork the money out for them too if they were reasonable, keep the stockers as spares. I assume they are TPMS ready? I wonder if they are a pound or two apiece lighter as well?
 
#14 ·
Shadofax, search the forum for RPO code "Q9Y". These were the stock wheels on the Pontiac Solstice Street Edition, and were planned to be the standard wheels on the 2010 Heritage Edition Coupes and Convertibles.

Good luck finding a set, as they pretty much were all sold out about 2 years ago.

The Sky also had a Q9Y wheel, also a split spoke design, but different. They were the stock wheels on the various Sky Special Editions.
 
#24 ·
Shadofax, search the forum for RPO code "Q9Y". These were the stock wheels on the Pontiac Solstice Street Edition, and were planned to be the standard wheels on the 2010 Heritage Edition Coupes and Convertibles.

Good luck finding a set, as they pretty much were all sold out about 2 years ago.

The Sky also had a Q9Y wheel, also a split spoke design, but different. They were the stock wheels on the various Sky Special Editions.
bummer.

Shadofax:

We have a set of the Solstice Version "Q9Y" wheels on my Wife's Sky and they look pretty good:



I tried to hit up Source1 for a set of the Sky Version "Q9Y" (look similar to the Solstice, but the forks V out going towards the edge of the rim) wheels just a couple months ago, but they didn't have a complete set left. :banghead: That's what I get for procrastinating.
yes they do look good. They bring a little more detail to the rims.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Both the Pontiac and Saturns used the RPO code Q9Y despite the differences between the wheels. Yes on the TPMS ready. 18 X 8, 5 x 110 bolt pattern, +55 offset, and they were about the same weight as the stock wheels.

If you want a set, try the Midwest Wheel & Tire in Troy MI reference from jeffgtx (above). I went to their web site and they are still showing the wheels as available for Pontiac Solstice.

Who knows? Maybe they still have some in stock. Showing as $225 each.
That's a good price, I was just about to ask why the Q9Y are so much cheaper....gmpartsgiant has them at $401.26 ea and my stock Qf8 are much more at $671.01ea. ? I found another site dealing in used wheels and again the want more for my Qf8's than they do the Q9y. I'll go look at midwest wheel....

Edit: I'd like to understand why the Q9y wheel is cheaper than my Qf8 before deciding on just looks. Refurbished wheels would run $896 shipped to me, no tax, assuming they had a set of 4 (from midwest wheel). Are they both 1 piece, 2 piece? Are they forged, or cast, and lastly both made in North America, or one made in China or? Just trying to figure out the price difference. Guess I'll have to send them an email to see if they know, but they are probably just going off what GM wants for the wheels.
 
#30 ·
That's a good price, I was just about to ask why the Q9Y are so much cheaper....gmpartsgiant has them at $401.26 ea and my stock Qf8 are much more at $671.01ea. ? I found another site dealing in used wheels and again the want more for my Qf8's than they do the Q9y. I'll go look at midwest wheel....

Edit: I'd like to understand why the Q9y wheel is cheaper than my Qf8 before deciding on just looks. Refurbished wheels would run $896 shipped to me, no tax, assuming they had a set of 4 (from midwest wheel). Are they both 1 piece, 2 piece? Are they forged, or cast, and lastly both made in North America, or one made in China or? Just trying to figure out the price difference. Guess I'll have to send them an email to see if they know, but they are probably just going off what GM wants for the wheels.

Cast is when they pour an alloy or aluminum mixture into a mold.
Forged is heating metal, placing on die, pounding a die with psi force to force the metal into desired shape.

The forged over cast process is suppose to be better strength vs weight, or another way of saying it is a forged wheel is stronger than a cast wheel.

If I think about it I'll check the O9Y boxes tonight, could be Mexico.
 
#15 ·
Nice coupe. Is that an auto or manual? Werks big wheel turbo and intercooler are great mods. Don't fall for the value/investment bait. As long as you don't have an NA auto, your value should hold up very well compared to other 09 vehicles in the price range. They are very hard to find. As little demand as there is for these, NA's are abundant on all the online sales sites and are selling in the teens, while manual GXP's usually number only 2-3 for sale at any given time on the planet (or less) and still hold close to their original prices.

Hey, Bill, what's this about V8 cars being poor values? Of course, there are a lot of old, 06 Malletts out there, that have been beaten into submission with stock five speeds, etc. (ragtops), but, I believe, only 3 or 4 coupes with the well-sorted, low mileage LS3's and proper supporting hardware.

I'm getting ready to move mine, so hope it brings a bunch (going to a charity).
 
#17 ·
Hey, Bill, what's this about V8 cars being poor values? Of course, there are a lot of old, 06 Malletts out there, that have been beaten into submission with stock five speeds, etc. (ragtops), but, I believe, only 3 or 4 coupes with the well-sorted, low mileage LS3's and proper supporting hardware.

I'm getting ready to move mine, so hope it brings a bunch (going to a charity).
Well as I'm sure you can attest to, putting an extra $20K+ into one by modifying doesn't make it worth $20K more than it was before. We've seen some smoking deals on Mallet conversions selling for half what the owners had into them. But then those who modify rarely do it with money on mind.

Surprised you are parting with your car - how come? Can't be tired of it already. :)
 
#16 ·
The big wheel turbo was yours actually lol. It's a automatic, had my eyes on Two wicked red 5spds that were gm company cars but they went for more than what I paid for this one new.
 
#18 ·
My limited exposure to the Mallet conversions is that they are reliable but fairley conservative builds. They are not really true performance cars. They are V8s yes but they have a lot of compromizes and unless you are ready to pour more money into them they dont bring the large performance gains that can readily be achieved for the same or less dollars.

But as you say, its not about the money.:agree:
 
#19 ·
Shadofax:

We have a set of the Solstice Version "Q9Y" wheels on my Wife's Sky and they look pretty good:



I tried to hit up Source1 for a set of the Sky Version "Q9Y" (look similar to the Solstice, but the forks V out going towards the edge of the rim) wheels just a couple months ago, but they didn't have a complete set left. :banghead: That's what I get for procrastinating.
 
#20 ·
Hilarious that the turbo was from my car... it was very mildly used. I think less than 1,000 miles on it.

As for my conversion, remember that mine was the live install price at the Nats and was a smoking deal (the only reason I did it). Plus, they sold every last piece that I had put on prior, which is never easy to do and that took a hunk out of the V8 cost. But, then I added the supercharger, and the hood.

And not to bash Mallett, but the only examples of V8 Sols out there that have sold have been mostly the early Malletts which were basically engines and some simple suspension tweaks. And, of course, none were coupes. As far as I know, there is mine with the blown LS3, there is the LS7 Werks did just prior to mine and I know Wade did a silver LS3 coupe. Am I missing any others? I know Mallett had some drawings, but no real cars. And Werks partnered with that company overseas on some new iteration.

Love the car, just ready for the next project. I have a hard time finding time to drive the Sol when I have kid pickup duty, etc. I have something pretty exciting in the works that will be just as fun, far more rare and seats four.
 
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