Got my GXP Friday, October 13, about 4PM. Did not feel right after my NA PHATSOL, so I waited impatiently for break in. Drove 738 miles around Chicago last week, Friday to Thursday. Thursday early AM, long drive to Chicago with a presumptively broken in Solstice GXP---AND it was.

All I can say is WOW. This babe scooooots. It blame gets up and it gets it done quick, fast smooth and sweet. Although the handling I commented on earlier, the handling actually has improved over the initial say 200 miles and it has gotten crisper and very predictable. It is a great cornering car, and I love the 3rd to 4th gear full throttle upshift and then zipping well into 3 digits still in 4th and shifting to 5th. The exhaust is very mellow, almost muted. But, it is very effective for long drives. I drove 1300 miles and change Chicago to Albuquerque, rain in Illinois and into Missouri, clear the rest of the way. Top up till 1/2 across Missouri, then top down rest of the way with a nice Helly Hensen mock turtle neck windbreaker and thick ski turtle neck underneath. I feel really good today. Exponentially good, after that long drive. No snafus, no burps, average 79 mph (for entire trip including construction zones at 45 mph) so that tells you my pace. Even stopped and had a Rockhampton Ribeye at Outback in Oklahoma City, with 1 Beck's Dark beer and good company for the NLCS game. 2 hour dinner gap, and I still made record time because the GXP rocks. New 20 inch rims and Nitto tires tomorrow.

__________________
Solstice GXP picked up 10/13/2006. Triple black Mysterious, Darkside, Ebony leather with red stitching. All Options, but no spoiler. 5 speed chrome wheels, XM, OnStar, sport metallic pedals everything but the blonde salesgirl...

Congrats on the car StevieG. Enjoy. Rib-eye, beer, baseball and car. Don't get much better than that.

__________________
Pop's car is Cool, Black Leather. 74,000 miles of permagirn and climbing.

Thanks for the update. I was just wondering, did you notice any soot build up on the tailpipes as has been reported by others? Good luck with your Gxp!

No soot on tailpipes on mine as of yet. Will be watching however.

__________________
Solstice GXP picked up 10/13/2006. Triple black Mysterious, Darkside, Ebony leather with red stitching. All Options, but no spoiler. 5 speed chrome wheels, XM, OnStar, sport metallic pedals everything but the blonde salesgirl...

Nice update. Thanks.

__________________
2007 Cool GXP with Darkside Top, 5 spd, Ebony Cloth, Monsoon with Single CD, Sport Pedals, XM, A/C
Mods - Solo Street/Race Exhaust, K&N Drop-in Air Filter, EDAL

Are you sure the handling is getting "crisper and predictable". Are you sure it isn't a case of calibration for Driver V.1.0?

Or do you think this is a case of the tire's slick coatings for the 1st couple of hundred miles?

When drivers see big improvements in their car's handling, I really have to wonder if it isn't just the driver getting used to the car, rather than some mystical "improvement" that develops over time.

Not knocking you at all. I'm just thinking that a more powerful car like the GXP takes some getting used to after driver the base Solstice and that is what you are experiencing. It could be what you are referring to improved handling over the past 2000 miles is just you getting acclimated to the powerband and how to sychronize the power with corner entry and exit speeds. JMO.

__________________
Solstice GXP Coupe
You still don't need a trunk to haul ass...
even at Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas!

Could be true, Jimbo. However, the ride quality subjectively feels better, more like the base Sol after 2000 so miles, than it did originally. I have driven performance cars and I consider myself a closet race car driver (who doesn't). This car has subjectively become more of a ride like the base Sol. That may be, that it was just really really tight from the factory and needed some of Chicago's notariously harse roads and potholed streets to loosen it up a bit. It is great now, to me. Again, I do not have objective scientific data about this handling and ride phenomena, but I add the word subjective because it is really just my impression. I drove PHATSOL yesterday one last time, and drove this GXP immediately afterwards. Notable performance issues aside, the rides were pretty similar from my POV.

__________________
Solstice GXP picked up 10/13/2006. Triple black Mysterious, Darkside, Ebony leather with red stitching. All Options, but no spoiler. 5 speed chrome wheels, XM, OnStar, sport metallic pedals everything but the blonde salesgirl...

And as someone who has owned and driven both cars, I defer to your experience. That is worth 100 times more than my speculation.

Thanks for imparting the knowledge.

__________________
Solstice GXP Coupe
You still don't need a trunk to haul ass...
even at Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas!

Interesting exchange above. And now I'm real curious. I now have almost 2k on the GXP and I'm expecting my first Sol will be at a restaurant that I'm dining at tomorrow, so based on these comments, I'll ask to drive her again. Thanks for the wake up Stevie, I probably wouldn't have asked to drive it. I'm sure the new owner will be up for a quick swap.

StieveG is interesting that you do not see any soot on your car, mine from the factory with only 10 miles on the DIC it had quite a bit, although with the new muffler and more miles than the factory the soot although present is not as bad, but is there.

__________________
Aggressive GXP at $25,995.00 shipping of $600, Manual Transmission.
Options:
Air, $960; Chrome Wheels, $545; PCQ, Premium Package (Leather), $525; Radio, 6-Disc with MP3, $495; Monsoon, $395; Premium Acoustic Headliner, $150; and Sport Metallic Pedals, $115; all totals $29,180.00.
No XM/OnStar and NO Spoiler.

MODS (RKSport/Magnaflow dual exit exhaust system, K&N filter, Ventureshield.
First 1000. Aggressive with everything, NO XM/OnStar. SOLD
~~~~~~~
NASSOA
Founding member
~~~~~~~

StevieG, I'm VERY interested in reading your impressions on the change to the Nittos. What is your rationale for going to 20" rims?

LV I would still like to hear an in car video of the exhaust, only with a CODEC people can use. Ive tried d/l the other codecs link, and switching to MP 10 no luck.

SteveG,
I had a set of Nittos on my Miata and they were the best handling tires I have ever had. Let us know how they perform on a Sol. I'm putting tires on soon but they may only be tires for the winter with a second set for summer driving. A set of Nittos may be my summer tires.

__________________
AKA xmm
First 1000 Order VIN # 000218 - Time Stamp 2:35:20
DEEP with Steel/Sand leather,
72,300+ miles on the odo - Silver side stripes - My wife named my car "Nittany" after Penn State, my Alma Mater
Reborn at the factory at 57,100 miles
Proud Member - ICoD EHDoR&M
WPASC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASSOA
Founding Member #41
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's Going To Be A Girl......plus one more on the way!!!"

Stevie, which Nitto's? BTW, saw a Sol with what looked like 20" rims in town yesterday. Very nice.

__________________
2007 Cool GXP with Darkside Top, 5 spd, Ebony Cloth, Monsoon with Single CD, Sport Pedals, XM, A/C
Mods - Solo Street/Race Exhaust, K&N Drop-in Air Filter, EDAL

Beau,
I posted the codec that is need it to play the video with W Media Player.

here is the link to it:
[LatinVenom] My Aggressive GXP is here (9/12/06) + Modifications

__________________
Aggressive GXP at $25,995.00 shipping of $600, Manual Transmission.
Options:
Air, $960; Chrome Wheels, $545; PCQ, Premium Package (Leather), $525; Radio, 6-Disc with MP3, $495; Monsoon, $395; Premium Acoustic Headliner, $150; and Sport Metallic Pedals, $115; all totals $29,180.00.
No XM/OnStar and NO Spoiler.

MODS (RKSport/Magnaflow dual exit exhaust system, K&N filter, Ventureshield.
First 1000. Aggressive with everything, NO XM/OnStar. SOLD
~~~~~~~
NASSOA