photos by: the author
Bringing Phoenix into the 2020s with IROC Motorsports’ Q-Splitter
Let’s face it, quite a lot has changed since the last F-bodies rolled of of the assembly-line in 2002; be it politics, the economy and especially automotive styling and design. Gone are the days of General Motors taking a “that’ll do” approach to quality and functionality, and in its place, we have everything from 650 hp supercharged Cadillacs and even entry level cars running around with leather-covered dashboards, functioning aero and suede headliners.
Being as spoiled that we road test editors get with our much newer vehicles, plopping back behind the wheel of an F-body that traces its earliest roots to 1993 can leave us with something of a culture shock. And as great as the car looked on the outside with its 1998 update, we sometimes wonder how the WS6 would have looked with more modern advances such as a front splitter and rear diffuser.
Of course with the 4th-generation Firebird long out of production and Pontiac now retired, we’ll never find out. However, there are several aftermarket solutions, namely, the cosmetic accessories currently being offered by IROC Motorsports.
IROC Motorsports has been offering various cosmetic and performance modifications for third- and fourth-bodies, GTOs, G8s, Corvettes, Silverados and last but not least, fifth- and sixth-gen Camaros for a number of years. We even teamed up with them for their billet aluminum hood hinges in a previous update on Project Phoenix last month.
Wanting to continue with the “modern update” theme of our WS6, we rang up IROC Motorsports again. This time, we requested their recently released Q-Splitter for ’93-02 Camaros and ’98-02 Firebirds. Our friends over at IROC also offer an earlier version, a more traditional-looking splitter without the aggressive “fangs” of the newer, Q-Splitter, that we’ve opted for on our car. There’s also an option to upgrade to the full splitter/canard/side splitters package. That’s something we might order at a later date, as well as the rear diffusor. But for now, let’s focus on the Q-splitter itself.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isnāt tuning, testing, or competing with the brandās current crop of project vehicles, heās busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.