2009 Pontiac G8 GT SLP Firehawk – Specialty File

2009 Pontiac G8 GT SLP Firehawk – Specialty File «

2009 Pontiac G8 GT SLP Firehawk – Specialty File

Grant a vehicle 30 percent more power, and a commensurate boost in traction is a good idea. But when the SLP Firehawk Pontiac G8 appeared at our office boasting 500 hp, it wore stock-size rear rubber—summer tires in the dead of winter, no less. Ridiculous horsepower, rear-wheel drive, and rock-hard tires are a recipe for lost locomotion on snow and ice. Conveniently, our long-term Mitsubishi Evo had just been rear-ended, and its right-sized snowshoes were languishing in our garage while the car awaited repairs. We slapped them on the Firehawk and were able to, you know, move .

Getting from Pontiac G8 GT to SLP Firehawk involves adding progressive-rate springs front and rear, 19-inch gunmetal wheels that look like fugitives from the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, 7 psi of boost from an SLP TVS 1900 supercharger with Eaton internals, a cold-air intake, and an axle-back exhaust system—all covered by a three-year/36,000-mile warranty. Despite optional 14-inch Baer brakes ($4995), a soft pedal and a 176-foot stop—13 feet longer than a stock G8 GT’s—suggest the system wasn’t working properly. (We should note that the car we tested had prototype 18-inch wheels, but future versions will come with 19s.)

On summer tires, the Firehawk bolted to 60 in 4.3 seconds and inhaled the quarter-mile in 12.6 at 115 mph. That trumps the stock G8 GT by 0.9 and 1.2 seconds, respectively, and 11 mph. That’s even more impressive considering the frigid 23-degree cold on our testing day and the fact that, although adding about 140 hp, SLP adds not a millimeter more width to the rear rubber, making for a trickier launch than a space shuttle’s with mismatched booster rockets. SLP president Ed Hamburger says the G8 can’t accept a wider tire without its standing proud of the bodywork like those on the Lingenfelter G8 we recently evaluated.

The blower’s power is easier to appreciate at speeds where traction isn’t such an issue. Accelerating from 60 to 100 mph takes 5.4 seconds, 0.5 second slower than a base Corvette. Big, dopey oversteer is just a throttle prod away but is easily moderated by a dash of prudence—even on icy roads—and the cushy freeway ride of the stock G8 is retained. That the Firehawk can handle so much additional power with so little tire is equal testimony to SLP’s suspension work and the G8 platform’s natural balance.

Aurally, though, the Firehawk is less sweet. Under heavy throttle, intake suction and blower whine combine in a deafening induction wail that almost drowns out the exhaust roar entirely. The extra power and the axle-back exhaust also create discord with Pontiac’s cylinder-deactivation system. Hamburger tells us that disabling the feature would have greatly increased the complexity and cost of the Firehawk conversion, but the resultant resonance when the V-8 silences four cylinders sounds like what you’d hear if you were being dragged underwater by a powerboat.

Skip the brake upgrade, and $52,035 is reasonable for a roomy, capable, and well-rounded sports sedan. Lingenfelter will sell you a 505-hp G8 for nearly $7500 less, but SLP includes lots of extras as standard; add that equipment to the Lingenfelter and the price difference vanishes. The Lingenfelter is the subtler of the two, both in styling and sound, and it doesn’t suffer from the same low-rev exhaust resonance, but they are equally fun and the Firehawk is slightly quicker—even on skinnier tires. And if there are two blown G8s on your block, you probably don’t want the slower one.