Another Sol Bites The Dust

[My-Low-Sol]

Sadly, my beautiful 2006 Z0K Club Sport Solstice is no longer mine. It's probably being towed to a salvage yard as we speak.

Long story short, we had one day of snow followed by one day of ice down here in NC. On the day of ice I tried to drive to work on my "Summer-only" 265 wide Michelin's and ended up meeting the business end of a cement drainage pipe at 20-30mph. Amazingly the car was drivable and didn't look that bad. The main damage was to the passenger frame rail near the front of the door. The car should be repairable but GM currently does not make a replacement rail for the Sol so it was determined to be a total loss.

Here's some pics.









I'll be picking up an RX8 soon to replace her.

[King-Oka]

Too bad about the ZOK. Maybe someone nearby can benefit by raiding the springs, etc outta her.

Why do you plan to replace her with an RX8 ? ? ?

[MeanSol]

sorry to hear about your loss but I am glad that you are ok.
Rx8? say it isnt so!

those summer tires (and a spicy alignment) are just bad news when it comes to inclement weather.

Don't be a stranger here though!

[Cheers]

Glad to hear you are OK. Looking for another SOL?

[bigblau]

Originally Posted by King-Oka Why do you plan to replace her with an RX8 ? ? ?

I’ll bet it’s because it’s a coupe and Solstice doesn’t offer a D/I V6 coupe version -yet. Hint…Hint GM.

[AlanBDahl]

Sorry to hear about your loss, fear of ice is one reason my Solstice has stayed parked whenever the weather gets down near freezing.

While I am not a body repairman it sure looks fixable to me, if not with OEM parts then with used parts from a wrecked Sol that suffered a different fate (rear-end, roll-over, etc.). Recently my Miata was rear-ended and the insurance company tried to total it and I managed to talk them out of it. Any thoughts about fighting it or have you simply made the mental switch to the RX-8 and don't want to look back? Even if you don't keep the car it still looks like the car should be salvageable as a race car in some way or form.

BTW the RX-8 is not particularly strong in that area either, I've seen some pretty big rocker dents caused by nothing more than a shiny new cone.

[MomsSol]

I'm not dancing with no RX8!

So glad to hear that YOU are okay! This season's weather is throwing many for a loop - I'm sure you never expected ICE in North Carolina.

Sorry to hear the parts are available to fix your sweet ride ... like Mike said "don't be a stranger". You're still 'one of us' even if you are Sol-less!

[sol1570]

Miles,

So sorry to hear about your Sol.

My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting you in Nashville.
I can still hear your exhaust above me as we ran the twisties.

Don't be a stranger.

Take care.

Rich

[30notbad]

Wow the pics really put it into perprective from what you described to Bill and I. Since you are getting an RX-8, does this mean you will be kin to the miata?

Now that you have created an autoX monster out of my husband you get another car that is just wrong . BTW the OZ's are sweet and look great on our GXP but do not let Bill know I said that!!

[My-Low-Sol]

The car has already left for the salvage yard. I was initially going to keep it and build an SM2 car out of her but the buyout was CRAZY!! Almost $6k!!!

For me, the Sol without A/C was killing me here in NC this past summer. It was fine in the midwest but we had 30+ consecutive days above 90 and multiple days tying the all-time high of 104 here in Charlotte. I bought my car because it was the car to have for CS. I decided that my next car should have A/C, a little more room and is still a top dog in it's class. The RX8 fits that bill perfectly.

The scavenged parts from the Sol were the hitch and the 18x9 forged SSR wheels with 265 Michelins. 6 custom drilled ultra-lightweight wheels with 4 kick-a$$ tires, yours for the low, low price of $2K!! A $5000 value!!!

[69T/A]

My bet is someone is going to get a good deal on that car and it will be on the road in less than 3mo.......

[ChrisBlair]

Did a very similar thing with my '70 convertible about 12 years ago. Knocked over a tree with the passenger side frame rail. How? I was on the driver's side wheels only! I hit black ice on a corner on hopped one of those big granite 1" high curbs while spinning at 30 mph. I doubt my radial T/A 235x60s had anything to do with the loss of control- ice is ice

I didn't even get a scratch. That Sol looks like it's in much better shape than my '70 was, but frames pop back out

Glad you're OK

[Gizmo]

It was tragic to lose the car because of summer tires on ice. But I'm glad you came through ok.

Again I recommend to the people living in snow/ice country: Bridgestone Potenza 960 AS tires. They were $1000 installed by a Bridgestone dealer, you can get a better price from The Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels.

These tires are All Season. They are as good or better in the wet and in the dry than any summer tire. They are quieter on the road. They are fairly good in ice and snow. AND they come with a 40000 mile warranty. No summer tire that I know of has any warranty at all.

.

[duckSol]

Originally Posted by 69T/A My bet is someone is going to get a good deal on that car and it will be on the road in less than 3mo.......

It stinks, I know cause I am in it right now. That frame rail looks like it can be torched
Just depends on the hidden damage. Ours I think is too far gone for anything but a radical chop.
Do you know if it went to Clayton?

[smartin]

At least you are okay. But pictures like those always make me cringe.