[101jinx101]

I know the Pontiac Sunfire's have these, but do you think they'd equip the Sky with a top speed limiter? and if so, how easy do you think they'd be to remove?

 

[svdwoodsz]

Theres a good chance that it would have one and should never likely be removed. It is there for several reasons one of which is to keep the driver from pushing the car past its limits. If a professional driver plans on racing the car on a track and keeping it off the road then perhaps it might be removed. A person in that situation would be experienced enough to know how to remove it and to drive the car safely on the track.

 

[101jinx101]

Well maybe that's what I'm doing! lol, j/k... Yeah, i guess your right, I just don't want my car to suddenly die if I go past it by accident Cause apparently if the top speed limiter is activated, it can be quite dangerous...

 

[SCCA HP Racer]

Typically speed limiters are in place because the tires have speed ratings. A sunfire or any other non performance car will have tires rated for 110 or something around there.

The speed rated tires will not disintegrate if taken over their rating, however, after extended periods at those speeds they will! Hence the limiters.

I'm sure safety has something else to do with it, I would not want to take a Sunfire much past 110...

 

[swatthefly]

the tires on the sky will be rated at roughly 110-115, so i would imagine the governer would be right around 110. as far as removing it, i agree that if you cant remove it yourself, chances are, you prolly shouldnt be going that fast because thats a good indication of inexperience. but, hey, your car is your car, so good luck no matter what you do, and dont be stupid while driving! take it to the track to do that!

 

[achieftain]

If in fact the tires on th e Sol/Sky are Goodyear RS-A then by conclusion since tirerack only lists two versions of the proper size RS-A, one runflat one regular, both are V rated which is 149 mph!!!

 

[swatthefly]

If in fact the tires on th e Sol/Sky are Goodyear RS-A then by conclusion since tirerack only lists two versions of the proper size RS-A, one runflat one regular, both are V rated which is 149 mph!!!

well, if thats the case, ill vouch for the v rated tires being able to handle extended 140mph!

lets just say that i made the trip from NYC to west side cleveland in 3 hours and 15 minutes. best personal record!
(oh, and i averaged less than 5mpg, so im not going to try that again)

 

[KappaMan]

That V-rating of 149 is only valid for standard pressure (32 PSI?). If the recommended pressure is lowered on the production Sky (likely due to the massive amount of tire load rating relative to the <2900 lbs), then this could be as low as 140 MPH.

 

[101jinx101]

I dunno if there are any tracks around here to do that at... do you just walk up to the gate, and be like "Hey, can I use the track for a bit?" lol, dunno, never done it before...

 

[achieftain]

You used to be able to show up at Daytona or Charleston and pay to drive what you brung around the track. I would doubt they still do that. The Kappa cars would make great vehicles for somebody's race school like Russell or Bondurant.

 

[jimbo]

You used to be able to show up at Daytona or Charleston and pay to drive what you brung around the track. I would doubt they still do that. The Kappa cars would make great vehicles for somebody's race school like Russell or Bondurant.

I'd pay for that!

 

[gostraighter]

Or maybe start a Sky Challenge series for the owners to race each other.

 

[achieftain]

Or maybe start a Sky Challenge series for the owners to race each other.

How 'bout it SCCA Racer? Can we get the powers that be to set up a Solstice/Sky spec challenge? Then we get GM to provide something extra, even if it is a few dollars, like Dodge with the Neon racers. Just an aside to another thread (maybe it was on the other site) your ordinary insurance won't cover a thing if you get that little ding on the track instead of in rush hour traffic!

 

[swatthefly]

...your ordinary insurance won't cover a thing if you get that little ding on the track instead of in rush hour traffic!

insurance guy here. this is very true! no coverage for anything while at the racetrack!

 

[SCCA HP Racer]

Get some GM factory support and a Kappa Challenge could happen. The Corvette challenge was successful in the 80s.

Right now, the SCCA "market" may be saturated for this kind of deal because of Spec Miata.

I think the first step is getting the Kappas classed into SSB so they can show their stuff in Club Racing.

-Tom

 

[SkyCaptain]

There is no doubt that the Sky will have a speed limiter, as every car produced today has one. My GTP was limited at 117MPH, so I would think the Kappa would be at least that fast. Should be fast enough for most applications. Of couse, "fast enough" is foul language in my book. Speed limiters are one of the easiest things to get rid of once you know how to burn a chip, or know where to buy a burnt one. DHP/HPTuners is the best for the GTP and would likely be able to do it for a fee. GTP PCMS with lots of mods on top of speed limiter removal are fairly cheap, going for under $200, and the tuners software will let you change it yourself and costs about $300 - that is assuming that the PCM tables are available. Should be no problem getting that off the net a few months after release.

 

[punkrokdood]

^^^ yea like what he said, almost all cars have them now, but usually if you get an aftermarket "performance chip" (usually around $100 or so) it gets rid of the top speed limiter, at least, i haven't seen any that don't get rid of the speed limiter. some also raise the redline, some even disable fuel cut off so you can rev till the engine explodes.

 

[swatthefly]

so now that we've established that there probably will be a speed limiter, most likely somewhere between 110-125mph, and that we will most likely be able to remove it...

what do we expect the car to be able to do stock? 140? 145?

 

[SkyCaptain]

That might be a tad high for the base model (I'm thinking 130-135MPH), but assuming the FI version has 240 hp, there will be no problem getting to 140+, maybe even above 150.

I've had my GTP "maxed out" just above 140MPH, at about 275hp with approx 3500lbs(driver included). Of course, gearing can certainly play a major role so maybe my estimates are way off.

 

[swatthefly]

i took my totally stock dodge stratus sedan R/T up to 140 multiple times. that was around 3200lbs and 200hp.

edit:

actually, im going to argue against myself on this one. maybe it has to do with more than weight and power. come to think of it, i bet that fifth gear ratio has a lot to do with it as well. and at that speed, so does the earodynamics.

still... i dont see why 140 or 145 would be stretching it for a stock sky. and yeah, a F/I should see 155 or 160 is my guess.