Hooning – a term that [American] teenagers and 20-somethings use when they’re acting a fool behind the wheel of whatever car they bought, borrowed or stolen. But then again, we’d be lying if we said we never tried it at least once. Or five times. Hooning, not auto theft.
While scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed one evening, your author happened upon the Cobalt SS Gang Facebook group. Filled with mostly, well, Cobalts, there are a handful of other boosted Ecotec-powered vehicle owners lingering on the page as well.
Enthusiasts like Austin Kay, for instance, and his 2008 Saturn Sky Redline, was just one of those CSS group members I’ve managed to stumble upon. What caught my attention about Austin’s post, however, wasn’t a static image on the page of his car, but rather, a video apparently taken with a smartphone of Austin performing a full drift with his 2-liter boosted LNF Ecotec screaming to high Heaven. While not an actual exhibition of speed, I somehow managed to find it impressive and entertaining.
Photos by: KA Photography and the owner
Speaking of which, the Saturn isn’t completely stock, either. Pumping up the stock 260 hp Ecotec to well over 300 hp wasn’t too difficult for Austin at all. Featuring a full array of typical bolt-ons associated with these cars; like a cold-air intake, charge pipes, catback exhaust, and a larger and more efficient intercooler, he was on his way.
But not leaving it well enough alone, he turned the boost up to 25-psi. and had a local tuner in his area tweak the car’s ECU, via HP Tuners software. Although he has yet to tune it on the dyno, Austin plans to soon, to squeeze out ever last ounce of power from his combination. He also threw on a set of BCRacing coil-overs and 19×9.5 STR Racing 601 rollers at all four corners too; to improve handling and give the boosted Sky a slightly more aggressive demeanor.
In the meantime, we doubt this is the last we’ll see of the hot rod Saturn (yes, we’ve just said those three words together in the same sentence), given the owner’s hoonery.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
