View Full Version : Pontiac Solstice...Americas new hope?
jayhawk
04-17-2005, 04:38 PM
By far the sexiest roadster to come from America since the 1953 Corvette, from reading the specs in my opinion its going to slay the Miata and S2000 for people who want a roadster but dont want to pay $25k +. I truely belive that its performance will meet or exceed the Miatas and give the S2000 a run for its money.
And now I see and is confirmed in print that the G6 has a coupe version with a manual tranny. Finally! Pontiac, and especially GM has finnally got it through their heads that there are more driving fanatics and purists than you gave credit.
Pontiac, in the past few years I've had a rocky relationship with you, but I've stuck with your brand, because I know with Pontiacs history that with every dark tunnel theres alway a shining light at the end. Myself and my family have stuck with you for 45 years for this reason.
The G6 coupe and especially the Solistice has confirmed this.
Thank you, Pontiac.
P.S. - have I mentioned how gorgeous the Solstice is? I have never seen a car like it...I feel that is the greatest compliment I can give to a vehicle.
wokeupscreamin
04-17-2005, 04:48 PM
dear jayhawk,
Just keep buying our cars.
Love always,
Pontiac
jayhawk
04-17-2005, 04:48 PM
Originally posted by wokeupscreamin
dear jayhawk,
Just keep buying our cars.
Love always,
Pontiac
:lol: Cute!
DontPassTheFence
04-17-2005, 04:59 PM
Heck yea, the solstice baby!!!! 2.4L ecotec with VVT !!! I love you sexay Solstice!
Fishman
04-17-2005, 05:27 PM
As I am sitting here reading this a Solstice and G6 commercial come on. I want one sooooo bad, the Solstice that is, I'm not a G6 fan. You know their will be a G6 convertible right? That looks kinda cool.
thegeswho3
04-17-2005, 06:11 PM
Yea, it is about time Pontiac has made us happy, but i wonder if the rest of the world (automotive press) sees these cars as such a break through.
On another topic, i dont think the Solstice will touch the S2000, but it wasn't meant to. The S200 is a $30,000 sports car with 240 horses. The Solstice is a great little roadster and will probably kick the Miata on the road, but i wouldnt be surprised to haer Car and Driver or Road and Track pick the beloved Japanese over the American.
P.S. - I want the 240 horse coupe 5 speed G6 liike theres no tomorow. Hope they come soon cus the scion TC is lookin too tempting right now.
rabidpanda69
04-17-2005, 06:37 PM
All I can say is I cant WAIT to seem the solstice on the road!!!!
DoubleOZeroGAse
04-17-2005, 07:09 PM
Originally posted by thegeswho3
Yea, it is about time Pontiac has made us happy, but i wonder if the rest of the world (automotive press) sees these cars as such a break through.
On another topic, i dont think the Solstice will touch the S2000, but it wasn't meant to. The S200 is a $30,000 sports car with 240 horses. The Solstice is a great little roadster and will probably kick the Miata on the road, but i wouldnt be surprised to haer Car and Driver or Road and Track pick the beloved Japanese over the American.
P.S. - I want the 240 horse coupe 5 speed G6 liike theres no tomorow. Hope they come soon cus the scion TC is lookin too tempting right now.
The S2000's 2.2L makes 240 hp @ 7800 rpm and 162 lb-ft @ 6500rpm the Solstice's 2.4L makes 177 hp @ 6600 rpm and 166 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm and the Solstice should eventually be available with the 2.0L supercharged motor that makes 205 hp @ 5600 rpm and 200 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm. And fully loaded will still be less than the base S2000. So even though the Honda has more power, the Solstice will have better torque, and both horsepower and torque will be available at much more usable rpm.
Oh, and the 240hp G6 GTP will have a 6-speed manual trans.
And the G6 convertible hass a retractable hardtop, it looks sexy top up or down :drool:
thegeswho3
04-17-2005, 09:20 PM
Yea, it'll catch the S2000 if they put that SC Ecotec in it. Have you heard if that will be coming for sure?
P.S. - 6 speed? Mark one up for the G6
GT2000
04-17-2005, 09:58 PM
Even if they don't put the super'd eco in, with the money you save buying a solstice over the S2000 you could mod the hell outta the 2.4 =P
TA^Guy
04-22-2005, 05:54 PM
I can't wait to drive one of these.
I feel the Solstice will have the same cult style following the Fiero once did.
Mike Reyna
04-25-2005, 02:37 PM
Imagine the dealer markup. :roll2: :(
Gimli
04-25-2005, 05:04 PM
I personally prefer the style of the Saturn Sky but hopefully both vehicles will bring back some sports into the market.
jayhawk
04-25-2005, 05:57 PM
Originally posted by Gimli
I personally prefer the style of the Saturn Sky but hopefully both vehicles will bring back some sports into the market.
I will have to agree they are quite pretty cars.
92CamaroRS
04-25-2005, 08:29 PM
Me personally id like to see them come with a LS2:D
DoubleOZeroGAse
04-25-2005, 08:36 PM
Yea, that should just slide right in :lol: Maybe half an LS2 :D It would be cool if they put the new 3900 in, or even if they could squeeze in a Northstar 4.6L V8
Loopy
04-26-2005, 10:22 AM
It looks like it won't be out until the fall now. You know - when the weather turns cold and everyone is looking for a convertible roadster...
Themeneea
04-28-2005, 04:15 PM
the solstice is under powered. i hope they put the 2.4L S/C in
0-60 in 7.5 is to slow for that car
Prospeeder
05-08-2005, 02:24 PM
eh, i dont see why they dont hit up Turbos!!! supercharging a 4 banger is silly, they need to turbo them, and get at least 240 hp, 7.5 seconds isnt bad, my 15 year old TGP could take it.
jayhawk
05-08-2005, 04:28 PM
Originally posted by Prospeeder
eh, i dont see why they dont hit up Turbos!!! supercharging a 4 banger is silly, they need to turbo them, and get at least 240 hp, 7.5 seconds isnt bad, my 15 year old TGP could take it.
Why? Because im sure Eaton has an exclusive contract with GM.
DontPassTheFence
05-08-2005, 09:39 PM
man how great would that be, though.
b2089
05-11-2005, 02:30 AM
The Solstice is nice, but it's way too late. Pontiac is supposed to be about forward thinking, not copying everyone else. Everyone has a "roadster convertible". the least they could have done was offered a non-convertible version. If the market weren't flooded already I'd love the car on its own merits, but I can't get past the timing on this one.
As for super versus turbo, superchargers have little to no lag between hitting the gas and going. Turbos have a definate spool up time. Pontiacs are designed by brand choice to leap off the line, even on models that can't get past that initial leap. That's why the LS2 in the gto is tuned differently from a vet. Turbos on a pontiac would make it feel slugish compared to the supercharged verions. Turbos are great, but they don't feel Pontiac in my opinion
Too little, to late, to expensive. :(
92CamaroRS
05-11-2005, 06:22 AM
Originally posted by b2089
The Solstice is nice, but it's way too late. Pontiac is supposed to be about forward thinking, not copying everyone else. Everyone has a "roadster convertible". the least they could have done was offered a non-convertible version. If the market weren't flooded already I'd love the car on its own merits, but I can't get past the timing on this one.
As for super versus turbo, superchargers have little to no lag between hitting the gas and going. Turbos have a definate spool up time. Pontiacs are designed by brand choice to leap off the line, even on models that can't get past that initial leap. That's why the LS2 in the gto is tuned differently from a vet. Turbos on a pontiac would make it feel slugish compared to the supercharged verions. Turbos are great, but they don't feel Pontiac in my opinion
UNTRUE, when designed correctly, there is just as little lag between no boost and boost as there is with a supercharger.
They just started getting the Fiero right and it was killed by internal politics. I expect the same for the Solarace. Think if they keep the Fiero around and developed it? Were they could be right now? I’m thinking mid-engine V-8 (from the Grand prix) convertible roadster that would put a boxster, 350Z, Audi TT to shame. Not fighting it out with the Mazda Miata.
2K SE
05-11-2005, 01:45 PM
I think the Fiero got killed because Pontiac looked the fool when they sold a car that needed to have the motor lifted to replace the back sparkplug. Most people are going to be irate to find out a sparkplug change was going to cost them several hundred dollars. Or they just did not do the back plug and the thing would run like a POS. (that was before 100000 mile platinums, yah right). Hopefully the engineers got it right this time so maybe the Solstace will be around for awhile. BTW, the wife really wants one of these but got to pay off the other loan first.
b2089
05-11-2005, 02:31 PM
Lifting the engine to do sparkplugs is more common now with the last firebirds ad several other cars.
As for the Fiero the reason it was canned is lack of sales. That lack of sales was because of several recalls due to faulty wiring. Every year GM promised to have the wiring problems sorted out and every year fires broke out again. In 87 they actually fixed the problem but no one was listening anymore so 88 was the last year. Quality control killed the Fiero.
Originally posted by b2089
Quality control killed the Fiero.
Do a little more homework the problems were all caused by internal politics.
The car was a orphan before it was released
b2089
05-11-2005, 03:42 PM
You're telling me that the paint defects, engine weaknesses, and faulty wiring were caused by internal politics?
The rear engine was never fully tested before production. It's public knowledge that one of the early test cars caught fire spntaniously in front of a press conference after running the test track. They said it was an oil leak or something putting liquid onto the exhaust and was extremly unlikely to occur again. Only it did continue to occur. In 1985 one out of every thousand sold caught fire. Not a huge number, but enough to get bad press and frighten away would be buyers. Especially considering how close the engine was to the drivers heiny. It was also enough to have the government step in.
The connecting rods were also defective and those stayed defective because it was cheaper to let people sue then to fix the problem. Only when a sufficent number of potential lawsuits exceeded the cost of a recall did they take action.
Politics may have prevented the car from being fixed, but the car had faults all it's own. Without GM backing a car that was as popular as the Fiero would have continued to sell at acceptable levels for 7-10 years in my opnion. The fact that it sold for 4 years with such widely publicised faults shows me that a market was there.
b2089
05-12-2005, 12:49 PM
That's a sweet pic. That is also why I'm a little disheartened that pontiac put out a roadster like everyone else. The rumor mill years ago had the solstic e as a small firebird, which would have been extremly close to a front engine fiero in my book.
30thAnnGAGT
05-14-2005, 06:01 PM
Originally posted by thegeswho3
Yea, it is about time Pontiac has made us happy, but i wonder if the rest of the world (automotive press) sees these cars as such a break through.
HECK NO THEY DON'T!
Every magazine, press report, or television show out there glorifies the european/japaneese market.
Screw the media and drive American!
30thAnnGAGT
05-14-2005, 06:09 PM
Originally posted by b2089
1. You're telling me that the paint defects, engine weaknesses, and faulty wiring were caused by internal politics?
2. The rear engine was never fully tested before production. It's public knowledge that one of the early test cars caught fire spntaniously in front of a press conference after running the test track. They said it was an oil leak or something putting liquid onto the exhaust and was extremly unlikely to occur again.
1. Oh HELL YES! Read the Rise and Fall of General Motors. GM was so desperate to get a "hot car" out onto the market, full tests as you stated were never completed. The corporate big wigs of the time were push push pushing, and what is not well known is that many of the department heads in the production/design of the Fiero were "relocated" to different positions in order to make way for the people that agreed with the "pushing politicians".
2. The issue was addressed but only as a "quick fix" issue. The main seals were basically given a "band aid" a "Speedi-sleave" was installed. An old trick of racers of old. While it "did the trick" for production, it was not a permenant fix.
Welcome to automotive politics 101 :)
DontPassTheFence
05-15-2005, 12:16 PM
Stop talking about Fieros! It makes me sad that I don't own one. Argh, I want a Fiero! (One of the few that doesnt burst into flames, preferrably) That car, in my opinion is, and will always be a Legend. IIRC it was the only other car besides the Trans Am to wear any sort of phoenix badging. It could have been an icon for all the world to recognize...
b2089
05-15-2005, 12:37 PM
Logically I'm trying to think of any other Pontiac to buy and restore, but I can't. The Fiero was the only true sports car in my opinion from them. Everything else looks big and boxy in comparison. The mid-engine two seater. I will have one.
I think if they've lasted this long they probably won't blow up.
DontPassTheFence
05-15-2005, 02:34 PM
Pontiac has 2 true sports cars, the Fiero and the Trans Am. The firebird doesnt count, unless its a Formula Firebird, but that's essentially a TA.
b2089
05-15-2005, 09:06 PM
Where the heck has this been hiding. I found out about it when my nephew showed me the new Gran Tourismo game. These pics are of concepts rumored to come out in 07.
b2089
05-15-2005, 09:11 PM
more
b2089
05-15-2005, 09:12 PM
I might get one of these instead of the fiero
DontPassTheFence
05-16-2005, 03:05 AM
I do like how the rear wheels are larger than the front, that is always badass, but it begs for forced induction, then Ill buy one, and I hate converts, I need a hatch or a coupe. Sedans suck, too
b2089
05-16-2005, 04:19 AM
According to pontiac.com the wheels are the same size on the production car. I too think this prototype has bigger back wheels, but it could be an illusion.
The Saturn pics I've seen of their roadster are about half conv and half coupe. From their past I'd say GM is likely to give Pontiac a version.
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