They all feel like they would handle well untill you push them into a corner a little bit aggressively, then they turn to mush. You go into every turn without a clue how you will come out of it. This one may be a little bit better but somehow I doubt they will be tearing up the twisties with us, like Crossfires, Vipers, Harleys and Corvettes most will be driven by old men who never drive fast enough to know what they have.
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Tom
Something always leaks.

Kinda has that soft flowing look that Buicks have. I liked that Buick concept they had a few years back. As a mater a fact, I think Buick has the best looking GM cars at the moment (Corevette not included).

John
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"Chicken make no good house pet!"

"Less brake, more accelerator"
#1665778

I was really impressed when I saw the car originally a few months ago, thinking that GM actually got something right. Then after watching top gear I realized there isn't much orginal about the car, it's basically just a re-badged Lotus/Vauxhall. Here are a couple posts I clipped from another forum.

"The Solstice is derived from a project to make a front-engined adaptation of Elise originally intended for Vauxhall, which I'm sure you know is owned by GM. Well into the development of this front-engined model, Vauxhall decided that they should also have the mid-engined lay out, leading to the birth of the Vauxhall VX220. This car is mechanically identical to the Elise, with cosmetic changes.

This left Lotus/GM with an almost completely developed front-engined variant of the Elise just sitting around. Lutz realized this was available and cannily decided to re-instate the project, as a Pontiac. This is why the time from show room to development was so remarkably fast-all the work had already been done. This also explains why the Solstice's steering, chassis, and handling are so remarkably well sorted out-it's all Lotus. You didn't honestly think that GM had suddenly figured out how to build cars did you?

As you probably know, GM and Lotus have developed engines together for some time. The hydroformed technology used to manufacture the Corvette is derived from Lotus. This is just another example of the fruits of the collaboration between Hethel and GM. "

"The Solstice/Sky is based on a FR variation of the MR Elise chassis. The Lotus Elise and Vauxhall VX220/Turbo share the same platform. GM owns Vauxhall, and decided to make a FR 2-seat roadster for the U.S. market. The FR platform was never made into a production car in the UK, but instead, will be arriving here in the U.S. as the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.

Yes, the chassis is designed by Lotus, and licensed by GM via Vauxhall.

The guys at Top Gear in the UK have very reliable sources.

And just as it's stated in a previous post. It's all true.
"


Last edited by iflytii on 10-23-05 09:30; edited 1 time in total

I'd just buy the Lotus.. Do they know what they will be asking for the Pontiac? I've heard Elises are at or around 40k, a bargain for what you get.
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'71 2002 "Bumblebee"
'91 318is

MSRP starts at $19,995 according to the Pontiac website. It also indicates that coil-over Bilsteins are standard, so maybe there is hope after all!!
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HarryPR
BMWCCA #19290

There Fixed it! Gawd I love photoshop!

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'71 2002 "Bumblebee"
'91 318is

a half-price Elise!!!?????!?!!?!?!?!?!?!? changes the picture, as it were, entirely!! NICE photoshopping ;)
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-Rob S.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! www.jennaishealed.org !!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I agree, my opinion of the car has made a change to the more positive! The camber up front now makes perfect sense, its probably there to compensate for the engine weight being up front moved from the more mid position. hmm food for thought.
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'71 2002 "Bumblebee"
'91 318is

Fly2002Fly wrote:

Yes I agree, my opinion of the car has made a change to the more positive! The camber up front now makes perfect sense, its probably there to compensate for the engine weight being up front moved from the more mid position. hmm food for thought.

if you look at the engine position relative to the centerline of the front wheels, id think this qualifies as a "mid-front"-engine design. front camber like that is for tight turn-in and ultimate grip in hard turns, as opposed to setting it up for grocery getter duty where you just want the tires to last on the freeway/stop and go. to me it just means they actually spent time setting up the car for performance (or cleverly set it up for marketing-- show cars are often slammed compared to the released street versions....)
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-Rob S.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! www.jennaishealed.org !!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw one at the local GM store. I also had an opportunity to drive the'06 mx-5. One conclusion is the build quality of the Solstice, Awesome. A really well thught out car that has nice details, fit and finish. The Miata is also a good car and is fun to drive. Bottom line though, Pontiac built a pretty solid competitor. The other car that Pontiac has, the GTO, I drove a couple years ago and that car is pretty nice as well. Now that I've seen them with some mileage, they are holding up well. Their V8's are even more powerful than ever. GM will get on the ball, look at the new z06. 198mph- stock!

Cris
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The rides!


www.cardomain.com/ride/792851

www.cardomain.com/ride/792793

Was just thinking they needed just that little bit of camber so it maintained the balance of an Elise in hard turns. Got any pics of the back and side? I yet to see what they have done to the new miata. I'm kinda scared to look lol.
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'71 2002 "Bumblebee"
'91 318is

i put a link for more pics in the original post....

http://www.fast-autos.net/pontiac/pontiacsolstice.html


:)
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-Rob S.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! www.jennaishealed.org !!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey not to bad, I'm kind of impressed with the design!
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'71 2002 "Bumblebee"
'91 318is

Wife loves the look, she's going into sports car mode(which I, as her husband, need, no, am obligated to nurture).

Clarkson (of Top Gear) said, "The car was ghastly, as you'd expect from a country that hasn't produced a sports car since the Crosley Hot Shot in 1952."

Oh well, jus today, she sees a very nice 356 on the road. "Oooh, I like that!" "We ~could~ find one of those, honey."

Sounds like I have carte blanche to go shopping, yes?
I have witnesses to the conversation, too.