Hot in the Lot
An American Car with a European Perspective
NEIRAD enilno edition
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What is a European doing driving an American car? Sounds like a bad joke, but the answer lies beneath the hood of the 2008 Pontiac Torrent GXP owned by senior Alexi Bello.
Alexi’s father made a deal with him that if his son stayed away from drugs and alcohol, then his father would help him buy a car. Alexi saved up his money and stayed away from the undesirable elements and bought the 2008 Torrent GXP for $17,000 and made some serious upgrades.
The Torrent GXP originally had 263 hp and went 0 to 60 in a little over seven seconds. Alexi installed a brand new dual exhaust system, filter system, and magna flow. Thanks to those upgrades, the Torrent GXP now has 310 hp and goes 0 to 60 in 6.1 seconds. Not only did Alexi upgrade the engine, he had a brand new sound system installed and is planning on putting in a bass system for his senior year. “I absolutely love it. It’s fast and safe,” Alexi said.
At first thought, Alexi didn’t want an American car. “Americans can’t really make sports cars. I really wanted a BMW M3 (Almost $80,000) but it was a little too expensive and my father wanted me to have an SUV because it had more protection,” Alexi said.
Alexi’s Torrent GXP is actually very fast. It has a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual shifting provision. The only thing Alexi doesn’t like is the turning circle (the distance required for the car to turn in a complete circle). “I was taught to drive using German cars and the turning circle on the Pontiac sucks. Also, my mom always takes my car out and uses it to go shopping. It’s really annoying.”
Despite the poor turning circle, this Torrent GXP is incredibly fast, in part, due to those small but valuable upgrades. The Pontiac went from being an average American SUV to a supped- up speedster for as little as $500 to pimp up this ride. For a first car, it’s not too shabby even if it is American manufactured.
If you think your car is “Hot in the Lot” shoot Mike an email at neirad@darienps.org. Happy motoring!
