Millen To Race Pontiac Solstice GXP To The Clouds At Pikes Peak

[Ming]

Millen To Race Pontiac Solstice GXP To The Clouds At Pikes Peak
Drifter Going For Mountain Glory



Pontiac Solstice GXP Formula Drifting standout Rhys Millen will run the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – The Race to the Clouds on July 21. The 14-time participant and double Hill Climb record holder will take his drifting expertise back to the mountain for another run to the clouds in the new Time Attack class.

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the world’s highest auto race, starting at 9,400 feet and finishing above 14,110 feet. Millen will manuever his 550 horsepower Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP through the 156-turn, 12.42 mile mix of dirt and pavement tract to the top of Pikes Peak. The mountain terrain is a little different surface for the Solstice and Millen who is used to the closed, tight confines of a controlled asphalt Formula Drift event. The Californian will be going for speed on the stop-watch instead of style points.

“This will be my 15th year running the Hill Climb,” Millen said. “I have won six times and hold two records. We decided to take the Pontiac Solstice to the Hill because the organizers have formed a new Time Attack class. Time Attack is becoming a very popular within the sport compact market.”

“What we are doing is taking the drift form of racing back to its roots on the mountain,” Millen explains. “Drifting began on the mountain roads, we then took it to stadiums, small ovals, and wide open asphalt arenas and now it is all going back to the dirt. The same driving technique that it takes to be successful in drifting are the identical car control methods that you use to get up the Hill fast.”

Millen explains the new Time Attack class, “The Pikes Peak Hill Climb organizers have created a new class called Time Attack. This is specifically for the type of cars we use in drifting - the production based, two-wheel drive modified street car. The other classes are similar to NASCAR or open-wheel with specially built, nearly unlimited modifications to chassis, tires and suspension setups. It is nice that the organizers have taken into account the popularity of the sport-compact market and that we are welcome at Pikes Peak.”

“The last time I ran there was in 2004 in a Pontiac GTO. I took a lot of what I learned at the Hill and applied it to drifting, I believe that is why we had the early success we did. The low grip surface of the hill and the way you drive in drifting events is very similar, so we had that knowledge, now we are taking it back to the hill and hopefully have an advantage from the know-how accumulated from four years of drifting competition.”

The Solstice GXP drifting car will not have to undergo many modifications to take to the Hill. The suspension settings used in drifting will translate well to the dirt and pavement mix assuring that Millen can negotiate turns such as Bottomless Pit and Ragged Edge. The challenge will be to get the 2.4-liter, Turbo ECOTECH Solstice GXP power plant to be able to maintain a strong power-curve while rapidly ascending elevation.

“The 550-horsepower motor will have to be mapped to reduce the three percent of power that you lose with every 1,000 feet of elevation, as much as 30 percent from the start to the top. The engine naturally wants to get richer because the elevation will rob air from the car. The trick is to progressively lean the motors air-to-fuel mixture to maintain a consistent power curve all the way to the top.”

“We will retain the drift suspension setup. The Hill is a low grip environment. Just like in drifting you are trying to maximize mechanical grip. You have gone past the threshold of the grip for the tire and you are now relying on the chassis to maximize what hold you have left on the road. The aerodynamics of the car stay the same, we change the attack angle of the wing to compensate for the thinner atmosphere. To attain the same amount of downforce as we get at sea level, we will need to add 50 percent more wing angle to achieve on the same result on the mountain. Drag is not an issue, because you are pretty much doing acceleration bursts from turn-to-turn.”

Rhys will follow in the tire tracks of his father, Rod Millen, who has quite a legacy on the Colorado hill. Often called "Millen’s Mountain", Dad owns the overall championship and the record for the fastest driving time up the mountain, in his 850 horsepower all-wheel-drive Toyota Celica Turbo. Rod drove up the 12.42 mile, 156-turn dirt road with a time of 10:04.06 set in 1994.

Source: GM Media Online

GMI Member LAChevy with Rhys Millen

[AndrewGS]

It's a hell of a ride up that mountain. That said, I'd love to be riding in the passenger's seat.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Waching the Rolex Series on Speed Channel at Mid-Ohio right now!

[psece]

Anyone else wondering about the 2.4 liter Turbo Ecotec? Is it DI? Has it ever had other applications? Possible Production?

It really is starting to look like GM's small engine programs are starting to hit on all cylinders. 2.2 Eco is 1000 hp for Drag applications. 2.0 turbo is winning raves from the Magazines. We are starting to see 1.3 liter turbos for show cars.

Now if we can just get hints if the European Diesels will be applied to the US market... Next 2 years should be exciting....

[johnd89]

I hope everything will go well for hom and win the race. The solstice needs a to be succesfull in real races, not drifting crap.

[psece]

Originally Posted by johnd89

I hope everything will go well for hom and win the race. The solstice needs a to be succesfull in real races, not drifting crap.

Don't forget that the drifting "crap" is popular in the 18 to 24 segment. The same segment that a majority buy their first new car in......

I would say that they have to do well in both.

[GotAWD]

Thats one of the only classes i would like to watch besides the Big Rigs driving up the hill. thats always bitchin. Ive wanted to build a custom truck and run the race. Anyone see the monster garage where Jesse drives the K-5 or bronco up the hill?

[redimpss5]

This is great to hear, now if they had a better sponser, they would be set!

[LAChevy24]

thats cool, it will be interesting to see how he will do in such a small car. and its great that my pics were used

[solman98]

I've driven up that mountain and all I can say those guys are nuts....

[SUPERBADD75]

Originally Posted by solman98

I've driven up that mountain and all I can say those guys are nuts....

no kidding, that road's scary at low speeds! i've been up that mountain on the road and on the trail. there are some pretty scary drop offs up there!

[LAChevy24]

Originally Posted by solman98

I've driven up that mountain and all I can say those guys are nuts....

yea, theres a video on youtube you can watch of a Puguoet going up it. and this puegot is one of those extreme rally car, like the suzuki escudo

[SonicAerio]

Pontiac Solstice GXP and Millen Confident for Race to the Clouds
Thursday, July 19, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- With qualifying for the 85th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb completed, Rhys Millen and his Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP team set the fastest time in the Time Attack two-wheel-drive class. The team is now in the process of making final preparations for Saturday’s race.

Millen ran his No. 6 Pontiac Solstice GXP up the first segment of the mountain in a time of 5:32.756. Making him the fastest two-wheel drive Time Attack competitor by almost a minute. The 15-year veteran of The Race to the Clouds is attempting to become the first winner of the new Time Attack classification. Wednesday’s in high-elevation testing, Millen posted the fastest time among two-wheel drive vehicles (by nearly 30 seconds) and had three of the top five times in the two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive divisions combined.

Naturally, the Californian was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I’m really happy with the quick time,” Millen said. “We had at least 10 more seconds in the car as we did not get to run the final time up the hill, due to an accident further up the hill. When you come up to altitude, there is a 3% loss per 1,000 feet of altitude, so when you get to the starting line you are at about a 30% loss, so you need a turbo charged engine. Now that Pontiac has come out with the Solstice GXT model--which is the turbo charged model--this is the perfect car for the event.”

One factor Millen did not anticipate was the road conditions. In the past, the hill climb was run around July 4, when Pikes Peak usually experiences more precipitation. Not this time around. As a result, Millen said, grip is a factor to consider.

“Just the overall grip of the top section was very, very low,” he said. “Typically when we run here, in the 14 years I’ve run here previously, there are dramatic weather conditions. The past couple weeks with it being so dry, it has made the road very loose.

“As a driver, you have to be very committed to keep your speed, your momentum. We were running DOT-approved tires today with rear-wheel drive,” he added. “In the 14 years I’ve run here, it’s been about July 4th. Now it’s three weeks later, and I’m sure that has something to do with the drier weather.”

Fortunately, Millen’s experience in racing drift cars has enabled him to make the necessary adjustments. For him, taking his drift car to the mountain is almost like coming home.

“This is kind of a 180 spin on the sport of drifting; I got into the sport of drifting because of my experience in sliding for speed in driving up Pikes Peak,” he said.

“The sport of drifting got started in Japan where guys would race up the hills at night after the rain. That form of racing was brought to the states in the arenas as a sanctioned event. We’ve now brought the sport of drifting back into the mountains—not to be judged, but to race against the clock.”

Not only have Millen and his team brought a new car to Pikes Peak, but they also came with a new fuel. For the first time they will use E85 in an effort to gain even more speed and performance from the Pontiac Solstice GXP.

“It’s obviously something GM is pushing within their factory fleet of production vehicles,” Millen said. “It’s a fuel they’ve played around within GM Racing. Knowing the engine program we are using was being designed for drifting, we were going to see high engine RPMs, resulting in high heat soak. So the E85 would compensate for that and burn a lot cooler under those conditions.

“The engine actually doesn’t get hot,” he stressed. “The harder you are on the throttle, the more fuel you’re putting into it, the cooler the engine runs. To give an example, at the starting line Wednesday, I was running at about 153 degrees Fahrenheit, and didn’t get any higher than 156 degrees at the finish. By comparison, your average car on the highway runs at anywhere from 200 to 220 degrees.

”I think it’s definitely an advantage,” Millen continued.

Article continued at link

[bballer113]

Originally Posted by psece

Anyone else wondering about the 2.4 liter Turbo Ecotec? Is it DI? Has it ever had other applications? Possible Production?

It really is starting to look like GM's small engine programs are starting to hit on all cylinders. 2.2 Eco is 1000 hp for Drag applications. 2.0 turbo is winning raves from the Magazines. We are starting to see 1.3 liter turbos for show cars.

Now if we can just get hints if the European Diesels will be applied to the US market... Next 2 years should be exciting....

The 2.4L is used in the Cobalt SS and HHR models. The GXP and Redline models use the 2.0L Turbo. His 2.4L turbo is a aftermarket mod. I would love to put his engine inside of my cobalt any day.