Pontiac Solstice

[FDF12389]

Anyone have any first hand experience with one? How is maintenance and performance?

I liked the look of them so I drove one the other day, it seemed to drive like a cheap car and felt cheaply built. Whats the deal with this car? Why am I seeing so many of them around?

 

[SVT Cobra]

The GXP version performs well on the track, but not so much on the street. The beancounters at GMC made it cheap otherwise it is a good car...as for maintenance records it is kind of soon, but I recently keep seeing them show up at used car lots, when it is kind of early to be seeing them there.

 

[mwmorph]

That's because

The Good:
a) The Solstice is a cheap car at ~22k sticker before various GM incentives
b) People like the look of them
c) Miata like performance(not quite but hey it's bigger and doesn't have the feminine stigma)
d) Smoother, softer ride than Miata
e) Bigger interior

The Bad:
a) Not quite miata performance(Just trail by a bit in everything due to 400+ extra pounds)
b) Trunk shape, try fitting something besides a diced up body in the odd trunk
c) Interior/ergonomics not as nice as a miata
d) 2-3 gear drops a lot of rpm, showing the parts-bin car production strategy may not exactly be the best solution ever

 

[iamwiz82]

You said it yourself. They are cheap and more masculine than a Miata. They had a big issue with leaking differentials earlier. I dunno if that was fixed yet.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
The GXP version performs well on the track, but not so much on the street. The beancounters at GMC made it cheap otherwise it is a good car...as for maintenance records it is kind of soon, but I recently keep seeing them show up at used car lots, when it is kind of early to be seeing them there.

I think a lot of people think they can buy them and use them to do EVERYTHING.

The trunk space is what kills it as a everyday car. Of course I have seen some idiots with miatas and they try and get in one. So I am sure there are people that will try the same with the pontiac.

I would love to have one. But it would not be a main car. Right now we have a Corvette and a Saab. Most of the time we take the corvette. But if we are moving large/heavy items and/or people then we use the saab. But the Corvette by itself would not work out same with the Solstice.

 

[SketchMaster]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
The Bad:
a) Not quite miata performance(Just trail by a bit in everything due to 400+ extra pounds)
b) Trunk shape, try fitting something besides a diced up body in the odd trunk
c) Interior/ergonomics not as nice as a miata
d) 2-3 gear drops a lot of rpm, showing the parts-bin car production strategy may not exactly be the best solution ever

From what I read from Edmunds.com (grain of salt) The Sky dosen't have those problems, or at least they aren't as bad.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster

Originally posted by: mwmorph
The Bad:
a) Not quite miata performance(Just trail by a bit in everything due to 400+ extra pounds)
b) Trunk shape, try fitting something besides a diced up body in the odd trunk
c) Interior/ergonomics not as nice as a miata
d) 2-3 gear drops a lot of rpm, showing the parts-bin car production strategy may not exactly be the best solution ever

From what I read from Edmunds.com (grain of salt) The Sky dosen't have those problems, or at least they aren't as bad.

It all depends who you trust, I've never been a fan of edmunds.

The Solstice is just a tenth slower (6.7 seconds versus 6.6) to 60 mph than the MX-5. A seven-horsepower advantage isn't enough to erase a 400-pound weight differential. But the Solstice has 26 more pound-feet of torque: 166 compared with 140. And the Mazda's close-ratio six-speed requires a shift to third to reach 60, whereas the Pontiac gets there in second. The MX-5's slim lead widens a bit in the quarter-mile times. The MX-5 clears 1320 feet in 15.1 seconds at 91.2 mph, with the Solstice still close at 15.3 seconds at 89.6 mph.

Both machines have strong, four-wheel disc brakes, so this area proved a virtual draw, the MX-5 stopping from 60 in 113 feet to the Solstice's 117. The Mazda cleared our slalom course at 66.5 mph, just nipping the Pontiac's 66.1-mph performance.

http://www.motortrend.com/road...onvertibles_comparison

1st number is Miata, 2nd is solstice
0?60 mph 6.9 sec 7.0 sec
0?100 mph 20.2 sec 21.6 sec
0?1320 ft (1/4 mile) 15.3 sec @ 90.2 mph 15.5 sec @ 88.3 mph
Top speed 130 mph 123 mph
Braking from 60 mph 116 ft 129 ft
Braking from 80 mph 208 ft 226 ft
Skidpad 0.89g 0.85g
Slalom 68.5 mph 67.0 mph

http://www.roadandtrack.com/ar..._id=2907&page_number=2

As in the 2-3 shift, if i remember correctly, I had the impression the gearbox had a performance oriented 1-2 and a more fuel economy minded/cruising 3-4-5

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
That's because

The Good:
a) The Solstice is a cheap car at ~22k sticker before various GM incentives
b) People like the look of them
c) Miata like performance(not quite but hey it's bigger and doesn't have the feminine stigma)
d) Smoother, softer ride than Miata
e) Bigger interior

The Bad:
a) Not quite miata performance(Just trail by a bit in everything due to 400+ extra pounds)
b) Trunk shape, try fitting something besides a diced up body in the odd trunk
c) Interior/ergonomics not as nice as a miata
d) 2-3 gear drops a lot of rpm, showing the parts-bin car production strategy may not exactly be the best solution ever

So you are saying that the Solstice is the "perfect" car for carrying around diced up dead bodies? 😉

 

[Pliablemoose]

A friend at work has a Solstice GXP I got to drive...

It was pretty good, but the MT had really long throws, looked it up & they put the Colorado gearbox in it :shocked:

I also don't think the tops will last well, the styling is too extreme & I think it'll end up with strange wear points fairly early.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
they put the Colorado gearbox in it :shocked:

I also don't think the tops will last well, the styling is too extreme & I think it'll end up with strange wear points fairly early.

Shouldn't have any tranny problems with a truck tranny in there.


Lots of water leak problems with those cars. I've had to look at a few of them for leaks, and they way they're made....a leak waiting to happen. Price you pay with a convertible, though.

There's two kinds of convertibles....ones that leak, and the ones that are garaged.

 

[Apex]

I like those cars, they perform pretty well for their price.

The trunks can be expanded in the aftermarket.

Personally, I'd pick up a Sky though, since they look so much better.

 

[shabby]

I got a gxp, handling and power is exceptional for such a low price. Im addicted to autocross now, this thing is a blast to drive.
I added a cat and exhaust and gained 28rwhp, now i just need an intake and a bigger intercooler.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: shabby
I got a gxp, handling and power is exceptional for such a low price. Im addicted to autocross now, this thing is a blast to drive.
I added a cat and exhaust and gained 28rwhp, now i just need an intake and a bigger intercooler.

Be careful with your intake choice. Lots of manufacturers like to dyno with the hood open, as stupid as that sounds.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Originally posted by: shabby
I got a gxp, handling and power is exceptional for such a low price. Im addicted to autocross now, this thing is a blast to drive.
I added a cat and exhaust and gained 28rwhp, now i just need an intake and a bigger intercooler.

They're a great car and actually got me thinking about 2 seaters when I started reading about them.

 

[shabby]

Originally posted by: Apex
Be careful with your intake choice. Lots of manufacturers like to dyno with the hood open, as stupid as that sounds.

Actually for an intake i plan to put in a k&n panel filter and rig up the airbox so it pulls in cold air from the bottom. This is the only way to get any cold air into the intake, for some reason there arent any ducts that do this to the stock intake.

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
They're a great car and actually got me thinking about 2 seaters when I started reading about them.

Its a fun car to drive, i kid you not. Make sure you opt for the gxp 🙂

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: shabby

Originally posted by: Apex
Be careful with your intake choice. Lots of manufacturers like to dyno with the hood open, as stupid as that sounds.

Actually for an intake i plan to put in a k&n panel filter and rig up the airbox so it pulls in cold air from the bottom. This is the only way to get any cold air into the intake, for some reason there arent any ducts that do this to the stock intake.

Similar to the RacePrecision setup?

 

[shabby]

Pretty much, i'll just use the whole width of the airbox and rig up a duct of sorts.

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
A friend at work has a Solstice GXP I got to drive...

It was pretty good, but the MT had really long throws, looked it up & they put the Colorado gearbox in it :shocked:

I also don't think the tops will last well, the styling is too extreme & I think it'll end up with strange wear points fairly early.

Yeah, it's bizarre isn't it? The only reason I can imagine why they did that is because suv/truck sales are flagging and using the solstice to soak up excess production capacity of certain parts was economical.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
A friend at work has a Solstice GXP I got to drive...

It was pretty good, but the MT had really long throws, looked it up & they put the Colorado gearbox in it :shocked:

I also don't think the tops will last well, the styling is too extreme & I think it'll end up with strange wear points fairly early.

Yeah, it's bizarre isn't it? The only reason I can imagine why they did that is because suv/truck sales are flagging and using the solstice to soak up excess production capacity of certain parts was economical.

The Solstice was a pet project of the former CEO of GM (whose name escapes me right now) - pretty much done in secrecy at first. The idea was to take a raw idea to production in as little time as possible, as cheaply as possible. So it uses all off-the-shelf components...Colorado gearbox, standard GM engines, I think the dash is from the H3 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[theeedude]

MX-5 is actually a livable everyday car for someone who only has one. Solstice is kind of like the MR-2. More of a weekend toy, too quirky for everyday duty. Solstice does look great though, but for a car to drive myself, I'd get the MX-5. They got it right with NA, and have only gotten it righter with the current one.

 

[andylawcc]

was watching the Tetsuya drift king Best Motoring vid: he compared the new miata and Soltice. He actually liked the Soltice too but complaint about the tall gearing.