After a miserable showing by the 03 Mustang GT I decided on Sunday I had to find a good American car. I originally searched for a C6 Corvette (I already have driving experience in a c5, which is for another thread) but alas that was not to be. The car I ended up in is harder to get a test drive in at the moment due to availability. So without further ado..
Sundays test drive took me to a special offsite sale early on Sunday morning. Clouds were brewing for a snow storm that hit later in the day so I had to drag my tale out of bed for this one at 9 am, so you better appreciate it! I walked around the parking lot for about 20 minutes glancing at the C5 Corvettes and a Trans Am of similar vintage to my own. Finally I stumbled across a Silver Pontiac Solstice with 10000 miles. This has to be one of maybe 3 used Solstices I've seen at dealers. The car looks pristine inside and out, with these type of miles I'm not all that worried about damage affecting the drive.
So what line would I use today? Well actually I only half used a line this time. I bought my Trans Am from this dealer so really the most effort required was to mention Id bought a car from them recently and may eventually consider a new toy (which is definitely the truth). Anyway, enough of the setup, onto the car!
The first thing you think when looking at the outside of the Solstice is 'What a great designed!', closely followed by the question 'Did Pontiac fire their body cladding guy?'. Seriously this design is very clean and looks nice, especially when the tops down. Unfortunately, the top isn't down, as it is 33F outside and preparing to snow. With the top up the car still looks decent but the top looks a little low quality, more on that latter.
So what do you do first when you want to check out a car, you have a look at the interior. Well this particular car had two tone leather seats, tan and black. As far as I could see this was the only option. This has to be the first car in 5 years I've seen that has wind up windows. Even the Miatas I've test drove have electric windows. So right, no gizmos in this one. Similar to the GTO, that just isn't the point of this car. In this case the distraction is the weight and responsiveness; quite a stark contrast to the GTO.
Anyway this car has a single CD player and a rather anemic sound system. I'm probably spoiled as I haven't had anything less then a 500 watt factory system in any car for the last 6 years. That being said, the speakers reminded me of something out of the 88 Volvo station wagon my mom had when I was a kid. So I guess you could say the Mustang does have one thing up on the Solstice, but man am I reaching!
The dash itself seems to be fairly standard fare. There are quite a few cubbys which I would assume make up for the fact that with the roof down you couldn't fit a golf bag in the trunk. Still it is all very clean, if not exceptional quality. I would dare say it is in line with it's Miata competition. That being said, even inside the top appears relatively cheap. The top frame appears to be cheap plastic and there only appears to be one layer to the roof. The roof's one saving grace appears to be that the rear window is glass and has a built in defroster.
So what is the second thing a car guy does with respect to a car? He opens the Hood. Or in my case, I tried to open the hood. The hood latch is extremely far under the dash and requires a hefty tug that made me feel like I would damage the car. I ultimately had the salesmen verify I found the right latch to avoid damaging the car. The hood opens in a reverse fashion to reveal a 4 cylinder shoved tightly under the hood. There doesn't appear to be exceptionally large amounts of room to work under there, who knows how MTI shoved a LSx engine in there even with it's tight dimensions.
That settled I ask for a ride and the dealer goes to get the keys and copy my license. In the mean time I sit there and admire the nice suspension as seen through the 18" chrome wheels. I normally don't approve of such large rubber, but at least it appears this car has large enough brakes to almost justify such a setup.
So the dealer hands me the keys and says go at it. So here I am again with a car on my own, You can just see the devilish look on my face can't you? So time to get in to the car. Now, I can't say it was difficult to get into the car unlike say an Elise. That being said, I did have to duck to cross the threshold or my head would hit the top. (For reference I am 5' 11") Once inside however I fit with enough room to put on a race helmet and then some. ~At this point one of my few excuses for not considering one next year when I buy a new track car may have gone out the window.
I turn the key and away we go. No fuss, no muss... though no real engine sound either. At the exit to the parking lot I slam the gas to see if I can break the tires. Unfortunately I was barely, if at all, able to do so. Undeterred I continued to get on it, up the hill and around several bends. The car didn't seem to struggle to get going by any means, but it lacked the power I am use too. I was able to muster the power to pass a few cars up the hill, but I certainly wasn't setting the world on fire. This of course is to be expected, its a small light car that gets ridiculous economy.
Then again this display of aggression also revealed two of this cars biggest flaws. The first one came when I went to merge back into the right lane. The rear 3/4 view in this car is horrible with the top up. I was quite paranoid that there could be a mac truck hiding there and I wouldn't see it. Without the power I couldn't even slam the gas enough to ensure clearing of the blind spot. So based on that I would not suggest this car for commuting.
The other flaw further rams this point home. As I slam the gas I hear a whoosh of air. Looking over I realize I can visibly see a whole between the bottom of the top and the pillar just behind the window. I'm essentially getting blasted with cold air from both these holes on either side. I can only imagine how wet you would get in a hard rain storm as a result of these holes. It would seem my original take on this top was correct.
Unfortunately near the top of the hill I looked down and realized some asshat had over estimated the fuel economy. The low fuel light was on. It could get very hairy if the car ran out of gas as I don't have a number for the sales, and the main dealer is closed on Sundays. Right, so maybe it isn't such a good idea to slam the gas on the way back!
Despite everything I said about the power, the handling was absolutely fantastic. The car handled the sweepers very well. There was no unsettling over various rough surfaces in the road. No noticeable cowl shake you'd typically find in a convertible. An off camber curve created no lightness in the steering wheel. It was all extremely tight and responsive. In fact, I think it would be damn near impossible to break the car free within the confines of a public road. Given the nearest track is 3 hours away, sadly you won't read about the car at the limit here.
On the way back into the parking lot I decided to find out just how responsive the car was. As I came down the last hill I tested the dead spot in the steering wheel at about 40. There was none. The car instantly reacted no matter if I moved the steering wheel 1 mm or 1 inch. Simply amazing!
As I pulled into the parking lot I continued to play with the handling.. I first entered over a speedbump to check one more time for cowl shake, I must say I just couldn't believe I hadn't felt any. I still was not able to detect cowl scuttle. The same could be said for a miata I tested years ago and it amazed me even then. I simply must associate this with the use of hydroformed frame rails like the Corvette creating a very stiff chassis.
So time for a quick slalom at low sub 25 mph speeds on the way back to the parking spot. The car continues to instantly respond requiring only a 1/4 of a turn to drastically change directions. This car is undeniably flickable, so much so that I probably looked like a crack addict driving as such. So a direct, responsive car with no dead spot.
I backed the car back into it's parking spot, again cursing the blind spot and this time trying not to back into any expensive cars. Step outside and what do I hear.. The one dealer yelling at the other salesman to check the car I just drove for damages from about 300 yards away. Apparently it really freaked them out when I slalomed through the parking lot
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After the dealer tactfully inspected the car (heaven forbid he insult the customer) to my great bemusement, I returned the keys. At this point I couldn't resist mentioning that the car barely had enough gas left to start. I found the whole event quite comedic.
So what is my take on the Solstice? It would be a fantastic car for a second track vehicle. It would be especially fun for autox, potentially the best choice. For road racing you might want to hold out for the higher bhp GTP. For a daily driver you'd better hope you either live in California or not care about getting wet. Since I meet neither requirement and lack the extra cash for a nearly 22000 dollar second car, I won't be buying one. Then again, if I was wealthy I'd buy one for autox in a heart beat. In fact I still may buy the GTP.. Time will tell.
A fantastic American Sports Car: Pontiac Solstice
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