after reading all the reviews i could get my hands on i normally would have concluded that the solstice is horribly underpowered. it could just barely beat a nash rambler. its decrepit. its noisy. it shakes. all in all it must be awful. how could they out such an underpowered wuss engine in this great handling car.
.....well.... after driving mine for a little over 400 miles ive come to a different conclusion: this engine is pretty close to being on the money for matching it to the chasis. remember what its designed to go up against. real SPORTSCARS. not muscle cars. not vipers, not porsches etc but small engined sportscars. if one keeps that in mind how can one come to any other conclusion than this is a great little old timey sportscar. once you hit about 4500 rpm the engine starts to come on. when you are at 5000 its pushing you back in the seat (albeit gently). at 6000 its still coming on. at 6500 its not out of breath yet.0 to 60 in anywhere from 6.9 to 7.1 and only 2,4 liters. not bad. i find " solly" breathing and loosening up better everyday. i loved my 240z(remember same displacement and 0 to 60 in about 8) but as ive said before this little guy would dust it in everyway..
.....the mallet et all are great ways to go but as a well rounded small engined sportscar with impecable manners that can kick the ass of almost any front engined sportscar of similar displacement the stock solstice is very impressive......at least in my opinion.....
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fred from nashville
04 prius
06 solstice "solly" black
delivered 2/15/06 at 3:00
vin10337
ordered 05 sep 05
You've described it pretty well. No, the Solstice is not going to win a drag race with a Charger going into turn 1, but the balance and cornering that the Solstice has are hard to match in stock muscle cars, even modern ones.
The GXP version of the Solstice will shift that outcome a bit, and the straight line acceleration will be improved substantially by the addition of 46% more horsepower over the stock 177 of the first year Solstice.
Again, the balance of the car is often more important than the overall acceleration. The example from real world racing that I always look back to was the July 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series run at Nurburgring where the Zytek challenged the more powerful Audi R-8. After the Zytek would get out in front, the higher speed through the turns allowed it to stretch out the lead. Back into the straights, the R-8 would close up the gap a bit. It makes for very interesting racing.
ca thank you for your insight. as strange as it seems i almost think of the solstice as a further developemnet of the old britsh sportscars with an american flavor added
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fred from nashville
04 prius
06 solstice "solly" black
delivered 2/15/06 at 3:00
vin10337
ordered 05 sep 05
For some reason.... i feel like its a call back to the hotrod roots of yesteryear.... getting a decent engine and making it better! Like a the Flathead Fords....
I think its Pontiacs way of telling us... "Look... we give you a great looking car, with decent MPG, a good motor, great handling, and an all around joy. Now make it your own.... do to it what makes you happy... after all thats why we saved you sooooooo much money! Heres the production and development keys.... get to it.... work off our platform" Its almost like they gave us a clean slate....
I don't know... something about this car makes me really really happy... don't know what it is...
Took delivery Oct, 6th 2005
Presently 9,406 miles. Finally out of storage" See you in Mooseport"
"Note: I do not necessarily agree with every statement made by another author, other than myself, posted for your entertainment, even if the Author's name is not posted.
it's good to see your response after waiting for your car. I agree completely with your thinking of it being a throwback to the old days. I will include the Alfa that I owned as well as my MG's and my wife's Triumphs. It's the same feeling. And coming from that experience I get a huge laugh about complaints about putting the top up, etc. At a point in time there was only the Miata, which I don't fit in, to carry on the tradition of an affordable sports car, so I have felt left out. I never really considered the Corvette in this category and could never afford Porsches or Ferraris. I have had some nice Camaros in the meantime (and a few Ducatis) but it's great to be back in an old time affordable roadster/sportscar that's been brought up to date (the heater, defroster and radio actually work).
I'm trying to remember what it took to get the top up in my Sunbeam. I think you pulled the cloth section of the top out and layed it on the trunk, then pulled the two side arms out and moved the frame which had the back of the top attached to it up and into place. Then brought the front rail with the top on it and into place on the windscreen rail. Then latched both sides down. Something like that.
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BIX A BEL Cool, Ebony leather, Chrome, loaded, no XM/onstar Founding member of the "Lost Sols Club"
Deposit (1100) - 9/29/05, 1101/1102 - 2 Feb 06, 2500 - 7 Feb 06, 3000 - 8 Feb 06, 3100 - 13 Feb 06, 3300 - 13 Feb 06, 3400 - 14 Feb 06, 3800 - 24 Feb 06 (112544), 4000 - 24 Feb 06, 4150 - 24 Feb 06
dealer expected deliver 6 March, arrived 28 Feb, picked up that night w 3.2 miles on the clock :)
NOT WAITING ANY MORE!
For some reason.... i feel like its a call back to the hotrod roots of yesteryear.... getting a decent engine and making it better! Like a the Flathead Fords....
I think its Pontiacs way of telling us... "Look... we give you a great looking car, with decent MPG, a good motor, great handling, and an all around joy. Now make it your own.... do to it what makes you happy... after all thats why we saved you sooooooo much money! Heres the production and development keys.... get to it.... work off our platform" Its almost like they gave us a clean slate....
I don't know... something about this car makes me really really happy... don't know what it is...
Jorgy
funny thing....
i always - and still do - think of the solstice as pure sports car. .. but more than once, others have asked me about my 'hot rod'. I think it may be that some people can't concieve of a high performance American car that isn't a 1/4 mile muscle car.
I'm trying to remember what it took to get the top up in my Sunbeam. I think you pulled the cloth section of the top out and layed it on the trunk, then pulled the two side arms out and moved the frame which had the back of the top attached to it up and into place. Then brought the front rail with the top on it and into place on the windscreen rail. Then latched both sides down. Something like that.
In the days of my youth, and great sports cars, we didn't put the top up until the cockpit was in danger of filling up. In the AC Bristol that ment stopping, getting the frames out of the trunk, puting them together and inserting the bottoms into little sockets in the bodywork. Then fastening the cloth to the rails and stretching it and fastening to the "dot snaps" around the cockpit. By which time you were thoughly soaked or it had stopped raining. That's why we just drove on fast enough to keep the rain going over the top with the slipstream until it stopped raining. What the hell you bought a sportscar for the wild rides didn't you?
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VIN#531 AGGRESSIVE / Ebony. Everything except XM and onstar, no need on Maui. No Heated seats either, whatever they are.
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"An armed populace is a polite populace".
Mark Twain.
He also said, "Forgivness is the fragrance the violet leaves on the heel that crushes it."
Ponder that awhile.
bird and critt i think more and more sportscar folks are coming out of the wood work.. i love the big v8s etc and there are very few cars that sound better than a mustang accelerating but i love the sportscar. small engine big performance great fun just corner its little ass off (cand i say that)
btw was that a sunbeam alpine or a tiger. those little fins always got me
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fred from nashville
04 prius
06 solstice "solly" black
delivered 2/15/06 at 3:00
vin10337
ordered 05 sep 05
Ya gotta love it!
