[SolsticeMan]

good or bad:
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15722

We had a green CTF Solstice at work today down in the labs, and during lunch, I took a chance to check it out it's interior - something I feel is perhaps the biggest 'make it or break it' factor to the car.

And my response is ---- eh.

The doors are very solid, along with their inner panels - and they open and close with a solid feel. There's not a whole lot of accessory trim on the panels (compared to, oh, the trim on an Audi TT), and thus looks somewhat bland.

The dash is something I have some beef with. Yes, it's striking, particuarly the way it curves and wraps around the driver and into the center console. We've all seen this from day one of the concept, and most of us oohed and ahhed that GM could think of such a design.

Well, it comes out so-so. I will attest that the controls - particuarly that of the HVAC and the new-generation Radio - are very nicely done (the radio's particuarly sweet; when off it has an off-set clock display, much like that of some aftermarket stereos or home recievers). The HVAC, in particular, has a very solid feel.

My biggest issue here is some of the arrangements made. The HVAC and the radio are logically placed, but within this curved aperture lie some additional buttons and displays - that in my mind, look to be arranged almost as an afterthought. It really reminded me of the dash arrangement of the prototype Vipers - which was scattered, at best.

For instance, the switch for the foglamps is about middle of the stack, to the left of the gauges. Why, in god's name, isn't this placed somewhere a little more logical - like, oh, I don't know, on the stalk where other light switches or functions are? Or even on the left-hand side of the dashboard, too?

It's also right in this area that the cluster lighting adjustment lies, right underneath the gauges themselves. And while this may appear to be somewhat logical (?), it turns into a pain - for it requires a bit of a reach-around the steering wheel to adjust the scrollwheel.

My other beef is the passenger airbag dislpay - it looks a bit out of place as a rectangular box at the top of the curve. It's no big deal, but I think GM could have integrated it into the tell-tale light area on the cluster, or even in the rear-view mirror - as it does on the 800s, for example.

Texture wise, the material wasn't too bad. It's not the elephant-hide style used in the L-Series, and it's not the geometric 3-D pattern used on the CTS . I'll go back down and re-evaluate how hard the dash plastic feels; I manily was focused on the look and design.

And try as I might, I can't leave the appearance of the car's interior out of this rant. This interior was a grey-on-grey, which is a shame - particuarly as the 2-tone grey/tan interior would look nice on a dark green car like this. As such, the only contrast is between the panels and the black carpeting, and doesn't stimulate the viewers as much as it could have.

This is my subjective review - granted, your ideal control locations could be completely different from mine, or you could love all-grey interiors. But to me, I wasn't entirely impressed with this.

 

[Skidpad]

"Happily, most fit and finish issues seem to be absolved. I'd put myself in one for $20 k - that is, if it were practical for my life at this injuncture."

Above quote also from GMMediumDutyMQ.

I can't tell if he is still talking interior or if he means that all the fit and finish issues are absolved. Anything positive from this guy is probably good as he comes off with a generally negative tone in my opinion

PS: I love the interior, especially the ebony

 

[PAS22]

I have some of the same critiques about the placement of the fog light switch, dash dimmer adjustment, and rear pickup bed light switch on my GMC. Way too easy to turn on or off the wrong switch or to find them at all! But, as we have all seen, new vehicle development money runs out when it comes to design the interior.

 

[lepiane]

still envious of envious... I knew they blew it when they didn't offer my #1 color choice with the steel/sand! I'll go deep, but to my #2 choice. :skep:

 

[DreamerDave]

Personally, I don't mind that the interior lighting dimmer wheel is inaccessible. It's something that I rarely, if ever, fool with. But is this the first we've heard of a grey on grey interior? Is it only for the green cars?

 

[Adrenaline]

Personally, I don't mind that the interior lighting dimmer wheel is inaccessible. It's something that I rarely, if ever, fool with. But is this the first we've heard of a grey on grey interior? Is it only for the green cars?

On my Sunfire it's right below the left air vent on the drivers side. It's the only way to keep the overhead cabin light on (by sliding it all the way to the right).

 

[dengel]

Personally, I don't mind that the interior lighting dimmer wheel is inaccessible. It's something that I rarely, if ever, fool with. But is this the first we've heard of a grey on grey interior? Is it only for the green cars?

I think the grey on grey interior he is talking about is the ebony cloth interior. If you check out photos of the ebony cloth in the Gallery photos, you'll see it is more a combination of shades of charcoal, off-black and black, rather than a true solid black.

 

[DreamerDave]

On my Sunfire it's right below the left air vent on the drivers side. It's the only way to keep the overhead cabin light on (by sliding it all the way to the right).

I thought I saw a picture of the rear view mirror with two little switches mounted under the actual mirror, just like what was on the last F bodies. This turned on either or both lights, also mounted under the mirror, that light up either the driver or passenger areas with a light that's not shining in your eyes. I hope it's that way on the Solstice as it's one of the best interior lighting solutions I've seen.

 

[DreamerDave]

I think the grey on grey interior he is talking about is the ebony cloth interior. If you check out photos of the ebony cloth in the Gallery photos, you'll see it is more a combination of shades of charcoal, off-black and black, rather than a true solid black.

Oh, OK. I thought he was talking about a much lighter shade of grey.

 

[Fformula88]

I cannot believe that some people get so worked up over the placement of a fog light switch. Do people really find the odd placement of a couple switches that annoying?

I don't always like the layout of everything in a car either, but geez, I cannot imagine not buying a car because the location of a couple switches wasn't to my liking.

Of course, I don't really hold $19.9K roadsters to a really high interior materials quality either. So what if the dash is a little hard to the touch. I don't sit on it, pet it, stroke it, or anything else but sit behind it and see it in my periferal vision as I drive. As long as it fits reasonably well, looks ok, and doesn't buzz and rattle, its ok with me. I might be more picky if I was buying a luxury car, but even then, I don't see how the "feel" of something you never really touch has any relavance on quality.

 

[Adrenaline]

I cannot believe that some people get so worked up over the placement of a fog light switch. Do people really find the odd placement of a couple switches that annoying?

I'm not a big fan of the interrior look, but I haven't sat in it yet to make a final opinion. The way they designed it, to quote the Behind The Wheel reviewer, "it wraps around you." That sounds cool to me.

 

[solli4me]

Aah, the voice of reason...

No point getting anal over a $20-25K car. Although, once it is in my possession I'm sure I'll be a nitpicking fool, too. True fact: the only time you'll be stroking that dash is when you're cleaning the dust off it. :lol:

here's the rest of his rant:

I just thought in terms of layout that they could have made this thing look stunning - as it was intended to be a showpiece of the 'new GM'. Instead, it looks okay.

And given Wellburn's rant on FastLane regarding the transition away from "all-grey interiors" - well, it was less than heartwarming to see just that. These aren't mules, either; these are fully-production ready cars.

Happily, most fit and finish issues seem to be absolved. I'd put myself in one for $20 k - that is, if it were practical for my life at this injuncture.

The dash texture is a bit stiff for my tastes, but it's nowhere as bad as that on the CSV dashes; that much I'm happy to report.

I think my schedule tomorrow contains a little bit of ass-kissing to see if my boss will let me sneak this one out on the freeway for a little while....then you'll all have a much better report to be reading - or hating - I still can't tell.....

 

[solli4me]

To revive your engines, did every see brentil's video? There's great footage of that dam dash :lol:

http://solstice.inner-ninja.com/Solstice_CNBC.wmv

 

[Fformula88]

Aah, the voice of reason...

No point getting anal over a $20-25K car. Although, once it is in my possession I'm sure I'll be a nitpicking fool, too. True fact: the only time you'll be stroking that dash is when you're cleaning the dust off it. :lol:

here's the rest of his rant:

It won't get stroked much, I generally just grab a towel and drag it across to get rid of the dust. If I feel really ambitious, I may get one of those wipes with the amonia already in it and wipe it across.

 

[brentil]

Dude, if he wants to bitch about light dimmer switches I'll let him drive my ZX2. Ford and their infinite wisdom thought that a roller switch down by the left leg would be a great place to put it. Yeah, unless you've got a manual transmission S/R and a decent sized guy. I've on occasion done a bad quick clutch blip and hit the damn thing with my leg. It's awesome, you're driving at night, doing 75 on the higheway, fumbling to get the car back in gear from a bad blip, and all of a sudden your dash goes black. Bah, MPH and RPM, who needs those? So now you've gotta take your hand off the wheel and lean forward to reach under the console to rotate this damn knob back up.

A knob that's hard to reach behind the steering wheel? Man that's a step up for me. I personally don't need a Gouchi designed dash to make me happy. They got the one interior thing right in my opinion that matters to me. The guage design and placement.

 

[GNS]

We always had a human factors 'shrink' review our placement designs of instruments, switches, lights, knobs, etc, which were many, and recommend changes before any drawings where signed off...of course this was gov. contracted work where funds were alloted. This insured a natural placement without having to think about them during preoccupation.
I don't know how the auto industry handles this aspect.

 

[PAS22]

The whole point is, $20,000 or not, the car should be designed right from the start. We shouldn't have to wait 2 or 3 years down the road for them to make 100 or more corrections to things just because they were not funded into the initial design equation. This has always been my biggest :brentil: with American cars. No, it won't stop from buying the Sol, because I am willing to put up with a few annoyances to have what appears on paper to be a great car. Just don't tell me two years from now that they have changed this design or that switch location when it should have been done that way NOW.

 

[nyca]

american cars? on the Mercedes E Class, they cannot figure out how to get the steering wheel radio control buttons to advance through the station presets - you press the button, it moves the tuner to the next frequency - it can't advance to the next preset. That's a $50K car, with one of the best interior designs of any car I've seen. they can't fix it until the new one comes out in 2007.

 

[SolsticeMan]

The whole point is, $20,000 or not, the car should be designed right from the start. We shouldn't have to wait 2 or 3 years down the road for them to make 100 or more corrections to things just because they were not funded into the initial design equation. This has always been my biggest :brentil: with American cars. No, it won't stop from buying the Sol, because I am willing to put up with a few annoyances to have what appears on paper to be a great car. Just don't tell me two years from now that they have changed this design or that switch location when it should have been done that way NOW.

That's because the designers aren't "car guys" - they are artists. (exception nod to Kip Wasenko, of course)

 

[jimbo]

american cars? on the Mercedes E Class, they cannot figure out how to get the steering wheel radio control buttons to advance through the station presets - you press the button, it moves the tuner to the next frequency - it can't advance to the next preset. That's a $50K car, with one of the best interior designs of any car I've seen. they can't fix it until the new one comes out in 2007.

I test drove a Mercedes at the Auto Show in Motion. I could not find ANY of the adjustments readily at hand. It took me over 5 minutes to get the car out of Park. Dang foreigners! Then again, it took me over 15 minutes to find the fuel filler door on a Chevy Astro van... :blush:

Or was it a Ford Aerostar? Mini-vans are all soooooooo forgettable.