What's the small black square on the deck lid?
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Could have flush imbeded XM antennas in side mirrors, but might be costly
Placing the XM on the trunk does interrupt the lines of the rear deck, but I think it's a reasonable first choice for placement based on keeping the costs down.
Remember, every customization adds to the cost, so when you're engineering the vehicle, building custom flush mounted antennas into the side rear view mirrors would have added to the cost and prevented the use of existing mirror designs. To make the antennas work, the mirror body would then have to be made out of plastic, rather than metal. The plastic looks OK for a few years, but the surface will start to oxidize, and they get a bit dull looking after a while. Sure, you could then paint the plastic, heaven knows Saturn's aren't the first car with painted flexible parts, but it would have added cost.
After the Solstice has proven itself, you'll see some of these concealment technologies applied to future models.
I had a GM with its regular FM/AM antenna sandwiched almost invisibly in the windshield as I discussed in the following thread: link to thread " For 2007: Pontiac please..." post "More existing GM technology"
I suppose it would be possible to have a pair of antennas (for symmetry) built into the mirrors. (The pair would also provide "dual diversity" for enhanced reception.) However, they would probably be very visible to the driver and passenger.Paul830 said:
Placing the XM on the trunk does interrupt the lines of the rear deck, but I think it's a reasonable first choice for placement based on keeping the costs down.
Remember, every customization adds to the cost, so when you're engineering the vehicle, building custom flush mounted antennas into the side rear view mirrors would have added to the cost and prevented the use of existing mirror designs. To make the antennas work, the mirror body would then have to be made out of plastic, rather than metal. The plastic looks OK for a few years, but the surface will start to oxidize, and they get a bit dull looking after a while. Sure, you could then paint the plastic, heaven knows Saturn's aren't the first car with painted flexible parts, but it would have added cost.
After the Solstice has proven itself, you'll see some of these concealment technologies applied to future models.
I had a GM with its regular FM/AM antenna sandwiched almost invisibly in the windshield as I discussed in the following thread: link to thread " For 2007: Pontiac please..." post "More existing GM technology"
This is another piece of GM technology that already exists--even on a Pontiac, no less!
I had a 1975 Catalina station wagon with a single dipole antenna embedded directly in the glass of the windshield. It had phenomenal reception, much better than an external metal whip antenna.
All you saw was two VERY thin (think cross hairs in a periscope) black wires which headed up about a finger's width apart up the center, bending and heading in opposite directions for the top outer corners, following the top of the windshield about 1 inch down from the top of the glass:
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It would be possible to rid the machine of the FM/AM whip antenna.I had a 1975 Catalina station wagon with a single dipole antenna embedded directly in the glass of the windshield. It had phenomenal reception, much better than an external metal whip antenna.
All you saw was two VERY thin (think cross hairs in a periscope) black wires which headed up about a finger's width apart up the center, bending and heading in opposite directions for the top outer corners, following the top of the windshield about 1 inch down from the top of the glass:
Crimson Avenger said:I had a GM with its regular FM/AM antenna sandwiched almost invisibly in the windshield as I discussed in the following thread: link to thread " For 2007: Pontiac please..." post "More existing GM technology"
This is another piece of GM technology that already exists--even on a Pontiac, no less!It would be possible to rid the machine of the FM/AM whip antenna.
I had a 1975 Catalina station wagon with a single dipole antenna embedded directly in the glass of the windshield. It had phenomenal reception, much better than an external metal whip antenna.
All you saw was two VERY thin (think cross hairs in a periscope) black wires which headed up about a finger's width apart up the center, bending and heading in opposite directions for the top outer corners, following the top of the windshield about 1 inch down from the top of the glass:
![]()
My '79 Camaro has this exact same antenna setup. I love it and it's such a subtle difference to not have an external antenna that people usually don't notice it until I point it out and then they think it's really cool. I think it has to do with the fact that humans are naturally drawn to symmetry and having one single antenna sticking out is very asymmetrical so when people see a car that doesn't have one they like it but it's a subtle change their attention isn't drawn to it but all they know is they like it. I made this comment way back when the Solstice was first debuted. I would love for the antenna to be in the windshield instead of sticking out of the bodywork. The only downside is that it makes the windshield that much more expensive if you need to replace it, but that's a low percentage risk. If I could make one asthetic mod to my Solstice this would be it. (Next would probably be to shave the door handles to complete the unadultered curviness of the body.)
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