Now that we have installed several Vertical Door kits for the Saturn SKY, we have been asked to provide more details about the installation process, so we'll try to do an overview here. While the door kits we purchased are customized for the SKY and advertised as reversable bolt-on kits, we should caution that the installation requires a great deal of metalwork, rewiring, and adjustments.

The installation begins with removal of both front fenders plus the fender support brackets. Then, three components need to be removed and replaced in new positions:

1. On the drivers side, the ECM/TCM module and bracket are removed, and the bracket that holds the computer module must be trimmed and relocated
2. Also on the driver's side, the washer bottle needs to be removed, and a new bracket needs to be installed which moves the bottle forward about an inch.
3. On the passenger side, the battery needs to be removed, and the battery tray modified slightly to allow the battery to slide forward about an inch.

Robert from Windrestrictor is a real innovator, the first to deliver a laser etched illuminated windscreen for the Saturn Sky, and now the first to provide a permanent mount installation for inside the cockpit (mounted behind the seats). PimpMySky.com was able to get ahold of one of new windrestrictors custom-etched for one of the founders of the Phoenix Sky & Solstice Car Club.

At first glance, you will notice that the new windrestrictor is TWICE as thick as the first model. The orginal product, modelled after the Kappashere wind deflector, was created to be mounted in the trunk seal, so it had to be thin. Even at 1/8" of an inch, however, closing the trunk with the windrestrictor in place required and extra-hard slam. More importantly, our recommendation was that you remove the windrestrictor when you put the top up to minimize any strain it might put on the trunk seal, rear window, and roof. With the new in-cockpit model, however, you can leave the product in all the time.

Our pre-production model came without some of the felt, velcro, and wiring that the production models will come with, but installation was a snap. We double-checked the wiring diagrams on the vehicle, to find the perfect place to splice in the power, and decided to go with the parking lights, which is a dark brown wire shrink-wrapped to a black wire in the wiring harness. For the do-it-yourself non-technical installer, finding and tapping into the correct wire may be the trickiest step in the installation process.

At the 2006 SEMA Show, we saw more than a dozen SKYs and Solstices in the booths, a sign of good things to come. While walking the show, we identified more than 40 modifications that are either designed specifically for or would work on the Saturn SKY, and in coming months we hope to profile as many of these as we can.

The theme of this year's SEMA show was American Muscle, and at the keynote luncheon, GM distributed a poster about the history of the horsepower, culminating in 2007 with the Saturn SKY Red Line, Pontiac Solstice GXP, and others. While many may have not seen the SKY as a "muscle car" before, if you look at it from a pure power-to-weight-ratio perspective, the SKY can certainly hold its own with any of our most famous muscle cars of yesteryear.

In our most recent online poll, we asked readers to rate the most desirable modification for their SKY, and below are the winners:

• <$500 - Stubby Antenna
• <$2500 - Vertical "Lambo" Doors
• +$2500 - Hahn Turbo

For those who think that the Sky looks like a mini-batmobile, Vertical doors are the wings your bat needs to really fly.

During SEMA this year, we had a chance to try out several of the Lambo Door solutions that have been installed on the Saturn SKY, and our favorite products are the bolt-on doors from VerticalDoors.com. While there are several vertical hinge manufacturers, we liked the Vertical Doors products because they are bolt-on solutions and completely reversable, unlike some other solutions that must be welded to the car.

Vertical Door kits are also made as bolt-on products for Bentleys and Ferraris, Corvettes and H2s. We feel that they provide all the WOW factor without the difficulty and cost of a custom installation.

With a bolt-on solution designed for the SKY, we would be hisitant to go for one of the by $500 Lambo door kits we have seen. We took a look at one of the cheaper solutions, and the fabricator estimated more than $1000 in labor and parts to modify them and weld them into a SKY.

The kit from Vertical Doors raises and lowers in the first stop positions, so when you lower them, your door closes as it normally does. This probably works very well for tight parking spaces, and for most drivers, the doors open wide enough for you to get into the car without raising the doors, give you a great deal of flexibility.

For all these reasons and more, a pair of Vertical Lambo Doors is on our 2007 Top 10 Christmas list for SKY and Solstice owners.

We tested the Billy Boat Dual Exhaust on a Pontiac Solstice, upgrading to an aftermarket carbon fiber facia. We heard about Billy Boat at the Scottsdale Pavilion Car Show, the world's oldest continuously running car show, and home to some highly renowned performance enthusiasts. We spoke with Dennis Hannes and asked him if he would be interested in taking a look at the first Solstice to enter the state. He gladly invited the owner down to there fabrication facility for the crew to take a look. When the car arrived, Billy Boat came out and had a look at the car, he immediately said “This car needs dual exhaust”!

Most Cold Air Intake systems work in the same way they redirect the air intake for the engine to a cooler area usually in the front of the vehicle away form the heat of the motor. The Cold Air Intake will draw the air in and give it a straight shot to the intake manifold. This serves two main purposes; first the air will remain cooler and thus more dense and able to burn the fuel more efficiently and as a result giving your motor a few extra horsepower. Second the air is not subjected to all the twisting and redirecting as found in the stock air box so when it gets to your motor it is smooth and with out turbulence thus promoting a more efficient burn. Also Cold Air Intakes usually have a larger intake tube thus providing your motor with more air, more air = more horsepower!