LupiniPower's Chevrolet SportUte is a wild one; Packs 535HP from Supercharged V8

The Holden Commodore Ute may not have been given the chance for a career in the States as the G8 ST sport truck after the demise of Pontiac, but GM's modern-day El-Camino from Down-Under continues to be offered in markets outside Australia including South Africa were it is sold as the Chevy Ute SS.

LupiniPower, a local tuner from South Africa, has taken upon itself to introduce a hotted-up version sporting a 6.0-liter supercharged V8 with 535-hp and a massive 590 lb-ft (799 Nm) of torque. That's an increase of 173-hp and 200 lb-ft over the stock Ute with the naturally aspirated V8 engine.

Thanks to the added power, LupiniPower's SportUte completes the 0 to 60 mph (96km/h) sprint in 4.4 seconds instead of 6.0 seconds, while 0-100 mph (160km/h) goes by in 9.9 seconds, close to 4 seconds faster than the standard Ute.

Furthermore, the SuperUte reaches 125mph (201 km/h) in 15.5 seconds or over five seconds quicker than stock, boasts a quarter-mile time of 12.7 seconds at 113mph (182 km/h) and runs the standing kilometre in 22.8 seconds at 150mph (241 km/h), while top speed is up 25mph to 175 mph (282 km/h).

The South African tuner also improved the Chevrolet SportUte's stopping power with bigger race-specification front disc brakes and callipers, as well as the suspension setup. Optionally, buyers can add a full Bilstein suspension and a sporty limited-slip differential.

Finally, the supercharged Ute rides on new 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped around Bridgestone Potenza RE050 ultra-high performance tires.

The LupiniPower Chevrolet SuperUte can be had as complete new vehicle in South Africa for R639,900, equal to around US$94,000 / €67,400 / GBP58200 at today's rates.

_______________________________GALLERY_______________________________

Top Luxury Cars - The Pontiac G8 Sedan

The Pontiac brand is headed toward oblivion, but that doesn't mean that its flagship G8 sedan will bite the dust - at least completely. General Motors has announced that the G8, which is made by the company's Holden operation in Australia, will live on in the form of a Chevrolet model, likely the Caprice. Yes, authentic full sized rear wheel drive motoring is alive and well thanks to a recent reversal made by GM management.

Short Lifespan For The Pontiac G8
Introduced as a 2008 model, the Pontiac G8 has proven to be one of the most exciting big sedans sold by GM this generation. Seating five passengers and powered by a beefy V8 engine, the G8 has been compared with the BMW 5-Series in a number of categories including speed, handling, braking and comfort. All this while being priced tens of thousands of dollars less than its German competitor.

When GM announced that Pontiac would bite the dust, it also canceled importing the G8 from Australia where the car is sold as the Holden Commodore. This decision was made despite an outcry from GM faithful who still wanted to see the car sold in North America either as a Buick or Chevrolet model. Indeed, the sedan is sold in some markets as the Chevrolet Lumina, bringing the right car to those markets which crave a powerful full sized sedan.

Keeping Bob Lutz On
Bob Lutz, who has been the product lead for GM for most of the past decade, was recently asked by management to delay his pending retirement scheduled for year end. As part of that move, Lutz has been given the authority to decide the fate of several current, pending and future models including the G8. Lutz decided that the G8 would become the Chevrolet Caprice, slotting just above the Impala as Chevrolet's new flagship sedan. Likely, the Impala will continue to lead in sales, with the all new Caprice sold as more of a niche vehicle.

The Chevrolet Caprice could be quickly readied for sale once a new nose is designed for the sedan. That move could be completed within months, bringing the Holden model to North American Chevrolet showrooms before the year is out. Thus, along with all of the other 2010 Chevrolet models the Caprice may once again be offered to Chevy faithful.

Lastly, if the Caprice returns as planned it could also mean the return of the El Camino, a sport truck based on the Holden Ute platform. That model was slated for Pontiac as the G8 ST, but was canceled earlier in the year when GM was mulling Pontiac's future.

Matthew C. Keegan is a freelance writer who resides in North Carolina. Matt is a contributing writer for Andy's Auto Sport an aftermarket supplier of quality parts including Honda CRX exhaust and Ford Focus exhaust.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Keegan

The Death of Pontiac?

General Motors will 'Shut Down' the 'excitement division' - Pontiac - by the end of 2010. Their decision to cut the long time muscle car brand was among several aggressive steps listed in a recently updated survival plan to the federal government. This leaves GM with four core brands to place their focus: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. Have we regressed to the beginning of the 20th century?

The fate of Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are still to be decided. At this time it appears they will either be sold or also shut down.

Interestingly enough, the problem for Pontiac was not sales, according to GM CEO Fritz Henderson. Instead, it was their long running addiction - profits. Indeed, Pontiac was the company's third best selling brand, lead by Chevy and GMC. Pontiac sold twice as many as Buick which is currently set to survive the federal shakeup.

Back to the 1950's

Pontiac's identity as a 'muscle car' brand goes back to the lat 1950's and early 1960's. These cars were originally designed with wider bodies and pushed out wheels. This 'wide track' design made the cars look agile and aggressive - and remained with the brand up until modern times.

After producing the now famous Pontiac Temptest LeMans GTO in 1964, Pontiac secured its place as the first true 'muscle car'.

"There was a time, a long way back now, when you knew exactly what Pontiac stood for," said Kevin Smith, editorial director for the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Recent efforts from vice chairman Bob Lutz tried to revive Pontiac's image. His plans called for Pontiac to produce mainly rear-drive 'modernized' muscle cars - such as the 2004 GTO or the rwd G8 sedan. This would have given them a unique selling point over other front wheel drive American cars, in addition to competing with RWD performance brands like BMW.

Unfortunately Pontiac's revival was not to be. Their most popular car remains the G6, followed by the Vibe. The australian based GTO and G8 had only dismal sales. Bob's plans were further crushed when gas prices soared and the EPA further tightened their grip on consumer transportation with tougher fuel economy regulations. So Pontiac returned to selling rebadged Chevrolet counterparts by offering the G3.

Pontiac's lack of providing true value as a brand may finally have brought its demise, said Smith. "That's just death in a marketplace where there's so much competition and so much quality," he said.

Keep Your Pontiac Excitement Alive with the Top Pontiac Resources on the Web at http://www.PontiacClubs.com - News, Clubs, Parts, Videos, more

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_V

Foundations and Performance of Pontiac Car

Pontiac is a division of General Motors that was introduced in 1926. General Motors wanted Pontiac as another division separate for the Oakland Motor Car line that it had previously introduced. The name Pontiac was chosen for a Native American that fought against the British during the French and Indian War. While General Motors had introduced the Pontiac line to supplement Oakland Line up, the Pontiac was so successful when it was introduced that it completely eclipsed its parent line, Oakland. Pontiac sales rose sharply at the same time that sales of Oakland cars were declining. The gap was so pronounced in fact that Pontiac became the only companion line ever introduced to survive its parent company.

The Pontiac Chieftain was introduced in 1927 and immediately began outselling other cars in its class. In its first six months of production, the vehicle sold 39,000 units. The car was so popular because it was priced so low. The Chieftain was the cheapest selling vehicle with the inline 8 engine in the country and quickly became the top selling car in the United States. Pontiac held on to its spot from its days during the depression through until the post world war 2 days. It carried with it an image of a solid reliable if somewhat underpowered vehicle that fit very well into the budget of most American families at that time.

Unfortunately, it was this same imagine of reliance and dependability that would cause a problem for the line heading into the fifties and on into the sixties. The newer generation of young, up and coming citizens would view Pontiac as the old-fashioned car that had belonged to their parents. This generation wanted a vehicle that was new and fresh looking as themselves.

What Pontiac needed was a makeover and in 1956, the former dowdy line of cars got just what it needed. Bunkie Knudsen took over as the General Manager for Pontiac and went to work immediately on updating Pontiac's image. First to go were the hallmarks of the Pontiac line, the "silver streaks" that had been on the hoods of every Pontiac for years. With Knudsen joining in the middle of 1956, the immediate change would take place just a short time before the '57 models were rolled out on to the showroom floors. Knudsen was also responsible for the introduction of the Bonneville, Pontiacs first fuel injected car. With a completely new design form and offering many first time features, the Bonneville was priced at over $5700.00. For this price, one could go and pick up a new Cadillac and many of the Bonneville's critics expected to go over like a lead balloon. However, the public was intrigued with the new styling of the Bonneville, just as Knudsen had foreseen they would be. The car stirred the interest of consumers who had grown bored with all the look alike cars on the market at that time. The Bonneville was so successful in fact that it became its own line.

The Bonneville became one of the cornerstones of the Pontiac line up. It did receive help from some of the other popular cars that Pontiac introduced over the years such as the GTO and Pontiac's first pony car, the Firebird.

About the Author

Ronnie Tanner is a contributing writer at used Pontiac engines. He writes about used Pontiac engines and other industry specific topics.

History of the Pontiac Brand

You've probably seen the headline about GM getting ready to drop Pontiac. Big deal, right? To most people it's not important enough to warrant their attention, but if most people were to take a closer look they might stumble upon the significance of something like this.

In 1926 GM created Pontiac to accompany their Oakland brand of vehicles (much like GMC and Chevrolet today) and subsequently outsold Oakland which caused Oakland to be dropped by GM in 1932 (perhaps some foreshadowing). For the first part of Pontiac's life, up til the early 1950's that is, Pontiac cars were very quiet, well built cars, but not particularly fast. This problem was remedied in 1955 with the introduction of a 173 horsepower V8 which quickly boosted Pontiac's sales.

Pleasantly surprised with the results, Pontiac discontinued production of all 6 cylinder engines in full sized cars and had an all-V8-line of full sized cars until 1977 when GM when through a bout of corporate downsizing. A 6-cylinder engine was used in the Tempest model in 1966 as well as the Firebird.

Jump forward to the early '70s. This was the time when the era of the unrestricted motor was coming to an end. Furthering this idea was GM's regulation that all GM engines must be capable of using a lower-octane fuel, thus reducing compression ratios, fuel economy, and performance. It seemed like the classic American muscle car was on its deathbed - and it truly was. In 1974 laws were passed to regulate vehicle emissions and with gas prices on the rise, more economical engines took over.

But Pontiac was still around. It restyled its Grand Prix in 1973 along with introducing the Grand Am, a popular car until it's end in 2004.

However, Pontiac, like most GM cars, have lost quality and popularity in recent years. That's a good size of GM's current problems. Now days the only thing separating Pontiac from Buick and Chevrolet cars is the badging and some of the exterior body. And thus, due to sales and waning popularity, GM is ditching Pontiac to focus on its core group of vehicle brands: GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, and Cadillac.

Rest in peace, Pontiac.

To find Sioux City Pontiac dealers, or used cars Sioux City, shop at Siouxland Cars For Sale.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_B._Bailey

The 1972 Pontiac Grand Am

From its introduction in late 1972 to the present day the Pontiac Grand Am has remained an inspirational automobile, spawning a variety of imitators and impostors, but none that carry off the concept with quite the same style. Of course, those early cars were very different to the present day models, and with good reason, The early 70's were heady days indeed; the oil crisis was just around the corner, although we didn't know it, and the first Grand Am models came equipped with 6.5 liter or 7.4 liter V8 motors.

This was the age of the muscle car, those big bore monsters that epitomized the American automobile industry of the day, and the Grand Am fitted perfectly into the market. The bigger engine gave a mighty 250bhp, and fans of the car still wonder what the planned, but stillborn, 310bhp version would have been like. Both four door sedan and two door coupe were built, and the Grand Am proved so popular that over 40,000 were sold in the first year of production.

One interesting feature of the Pontiac Grand Am in its original guise was the nose, a molding of special plastic that was designed to go back to its right shape in the event of a minor collision! Reclining front seats were another unusual feature, one that was seldom seen on American cars of the era. The first Grand Am models are considered the Holy Grail by collectors, and when the oil crisis began to make a mark in 1974 sales plummeted.

Indeed, the 1975 sales year saw just 10,000 Grand AMs sold, a quarter of those that had been snapped up in the first year, and GM took the decision to scrap the model there and then. There are still many original Pontiac Grand Ams on the roads, lovingly tendered and cared for by dedicated enthusiasts with a love for this revered car.

Get Grand AM headlights and Grand AM fog lights for your car. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gabriel_J._Adams