It’s hard not to fall in love with the last F-body Trans Am. If you are unsure what we are talking about, think of the Pontiac Firebird WS6. You’ll not see many of these driving around in your town, and the few that own them treasure them with cultic-like enthusiasm.
Thanks to their wild-looking design, you’ll easily spot them at car shows. Their late 90s design pop-up headlights and Tyrex-nose-resembling front-end air ducts add to its already infuriated demeanor. This early 2000s American muscle car is so stunning, Jay Leno couldn't resist getting one.
Pop up the hood, and its iconic Ram Air Induction kit will mesmerize you. Stock, the 2002 Pontiac Firebird WS6 came with a 5.7-liter LS1 engine good for 325 hp (330 ps) and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) of torque. Unless you are keen enough, you’d be fooled it’s a Z06 powerplant, thanks to an LS6 intake.
On a recent upload, the folks at Hoonigan treated us to a different kind of 2002 Trans Am WS6. It has a 6-liter V8 LS iron block running on E85 and, for that extra zing, an 88mm Precision turbo.
Unlike on their regular action-packed This Vs. That, or Burnyard episodes, Carlos Meza’s 2002 Trans Am went to the dyno. The predictions from the Hoonigan team were between 915 hp (928 ps) and 1,050 hp (1,066 ps) based on the setup.
The first pull (base run) was 756 hp (766 ps). Carlos said the turbo blanket got loose and shot the spring out at high rpm. As a result, the belt caught the turbo blanket and chewed it up.
The big-turbo 2002 Trans Am WS6 did 797 hp (808 ps) on the second pull. The technician behind the wheel let off the pedal at 6,300 rpm. The third pull didn’t get any better. It did 769 hp (780 ps) on the rollers.
The hoonigan team was a little over-ambitious with their predictions. Even though Carlos was hoping for more power, it’s still a 472 hp (479 ps) boost from a stock version WS6.
“It’s good. We’ll take it back to the drawing board,” he said after the final pull on the dyno.
The 2002 WS6 Trans Am should have pulled more power on the dyno if the setup was anything to go by. Still, he ranked second on Hoonigan's 'Dyno Everything' leader board.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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