$2000 Challenge: Not a Chevy Turbo Sprint, but a Pontiac Firefly

Photograph by Mark Langello

  • Entrant: Mike Cove

  • Event year: 2003

  • Budget spent: $1201 (Canadian)

GM’s entry into the day’s hot hatch wars? Its 1987-’88 Suzuki-built Chevrolet Turbo Sprint, sold in Canada as a Pontiac Firefly. Mike Cove of Wilsonville, Ontario, brought down a Pontiac variant to Florida for our $2000 Challenge. 

Stock power came from a turbocharged 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine, but Mike upped the boost from 8 psi to north of 22. It ran a 15.8 in the quarter.

Make your own low-buck memories at the Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge is Presented by Tire Rack and Powered by AutoBidMaster, held April 18-19, 2026.

The Grassroots Motorsports $2000 Challenge is Presented by Tire Rack and Powered by AutoBidMaster, in Association with HPX ShowCRC IndustriesA&A ManufacturingKnight's Automotive and BendPak.

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Tube-frame Beetle with turbo Miata Power wins $2000 Challenge