Went looking for the Autoweek article on news stand and saw Motor Trend has their take on the Solstice test drive done in England. It's in the June issue ("Open Season" with BMW on front cover). I guess this means the other mags will be following soon as well.
Overall they liked the Solstice in it's "work in progress" form. I'll summarize and quote a few for those not near a store.
"We have talked to the people who are making it feel and drive the way it will and we are encouraged."
In discussion of engineers working on steering "Solstice responded sweetly to major and minor inputs from driver." "A little build up of effort in the wheel as the cornering loads increased." Engineers are playing with power assist to get force buildup where they want it.
In test mules they could not evaluate body well because it was not production standard sheet metal parts properly attached with sound damping so they were loud and clattery. "Lashed up over guts to make vehicles street legal" was the description. They didn't anticipate any problems in production models.
"Sporty as it feels, the Solstice isn't a little car. Expected to weigh close to 2900 lbs, it's 71.6-inch overall width falls merely 1 inch short of C6 Corvette. The vette is big by sport car standards. Cockpit space and comfort benefit from it's wide stance, as do the handling dynaimics. But Solstice feels different, and certainly more expansive than Miata in a way that surrounds the driver."..."there's a sense of well being down inside the car and taller drivers will feel more protected than in a Miata"...."top down wind management will also benefit from this low positioning, a six foot driver feels minor buffeting atop the head and can easily carry on a conversation."
"What little luggage space the trunk offers, about 4 cubic feet, drops by half when the top is stuffed into it. And there isn't much much useful space inside the cockpit (behind the seats) but the team is working on that."
"Powertrain feels fine if not dazzling". New Ecotec delivers "decent thrust, crisp response, and a suitably raspy voice above 4000 rpm".
"Five-speed manual gearbox shifts nicely, with good feel and moderately short throws".
"We think we can trust such details to to the Solstice development team. These guys appear to be on top of the sporting-roadster game."
__________________ 2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
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It all sounds encouraging to me...especially the size of the storage area. Don't need or want much, but enough to put some items picked up while day-cruising up to the Mackinaw Bridge.
Mike
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"Common Sense Does Not Always Make For Common Practice".
The Motorweek article talked about problems 'seeing' out.
While Motor Trend doesn't say anything about that they do say one sits down in the car...
I think something was also said about the seats not being finalized yet...
If it turns out that one does sit low in the car and as a result there is a blind spot over the right shoulder and one can't see the front I could be in trouble. I have problems keeping an eye on the traffic as it is now in my Saturn. (It would seem the eyes are getting as old as the rest of me. Sigh. :rolleyes )
At this point it is all speculative, but I wonder if the seating, at least the drivers side, might be adjustable up and down as well as back and forth in the production model?
dls6774, that's true Autoweek said the seat would be bit higher in production model (they thought). Motor Trend assumed the seat would be as it was in the mule. Given that both articles mention it, the engineers will probably raise it a little. Some type of raising seat would be nice for different size drivers but probably too expensive for 1st model?
__________________ 2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
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Some type of raising seat would be nice for different size drivers but probably too expensive for 1st model?
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Mceb, I believe you are right. A nice thought for down the road, though...
I am happy to see that we will see numerous takes on the development of the solstice. Hopefully the General will do this every 6 months to keep us updated on how the car is progressing. Also, i would think that by keeping the car in the public's eye it will only help sales, provided the solstice lives up to our expectations.
I know it is a little off topic and that all magazines do this, but is it me or is it odd that it is not even may and the june editions of magazines are out?
Hey, if the seat is too low, ve haf our vays. Is not a problem. Of course if you raise the seat then you have to consider pedal and steering wheel geometry and can you still see all of the instruments. Is more complex than you think. (Contrary to popular belief it was possible to change the plugs in a V-8 Sunbird. You just needed a hydraulic jack and to replace two motor mount bolts with six inch studs).
One of the great annoyances in a Reatta is that the seat does not go down nearly far enough (am 5"10" and prefer a reclined position but even after dropping the seat about an inch courtesy of a cut off tool, on a bad hair day I brush the headliner. Now *that* is hard to correct.
In that case you have a car with a $25 grand MSRP in 1988 and they just took the seat out of a Riviera and bolted it in with no mods. GM sometimes really pulls dumb ones.
For that matter they ought to send me a long-lead, have had many (and drive a different car about every week thanks to Avis - I like Aleros) and can spot problem areas and discrepencies as well as cheap fixes in moments. If they want they can even pay me :jester
The size paragraph has me a little worried. In my minds eye, I picture something the size of a Honda 2000(or smaller). I'm remembering how disappointed I was when I saw a Dodge Stealth for the first time. I had imagined a sports car from the magazine photos and found it as big as my Camaro.
I'm really wishing they had had one at the last car show down here.
But I like that they say that I'll probably fit. Guess you can't have it both ways.
I guess as long as it's smaller than my boat tailed Buick, I'm still getting one! :jester
Last edited by DreamerDave : 04-30-2004 at 07:26 AM.
Location: Wilds of Canada, or the Pac NW, or the Upper Penninsula of MI...
Quote:
Originally Posted by padgett
...For that matter they ought to send me a long-lead, have had many ... and can spot problem areas and discrepencies as well as cheap fixes in moments. If they want they can even pay me :jester
The size paragraph has me a little worried. In my minds eye, I picture something the size of a Honda 2000(or smaller)
Having seen it in person it does appear in same size range that most other roadsters fall into. Not sure what to make of those comments in the articles about wheelbase etc. On interior looks like it will be bigger than S2000 & Miata. I'm only 5'8" and when I sat in an S2000 it was tight fit on me.
__________________ 2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
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So they only categories that are close between Solstice and C6 Vette are height (1" more Solstice) and width (1" more Vette). Otherwise Vette is 400 lbs heavier, 10" bigger wheelbase and 17" longer.
__________________ 2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
Index of useful threads: General, Tech
