Maximized

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the Solstice the first vehicle that Lutz had total control over? IIRC he requested the concept be built right after he went to GM and they produced it in a very short time. GM and Ford might have something going for themselves. I am very impressed with the strides both have taken to improve interior quality and ergonomics.

Maximized

Looks like an exact copy of the steering wheel in our old 330i sport.

heyitsme

ruski_RENAMED

only 170 HP?

Chaptorial

Looks good. Reminds me of the new BMW Z.

kansaiwalker1

Impressive. If they can give the thing some more hp, say about 250, they can play in Honda S2000 territory.

cusdaddy

I love it... Great looking both inside and out. 170/170 from a NA 4-cylinder is nice, but I hope they use the FI the engine for a sportier model

ruski_RENAMED

I also see hints of Z4

gavriil

Wait a minute. The Miata was going by with 140HP for a decade now. It only added a turbo now for a total of about 175HP. And it's not even tested yet.

gavriil

Furthermore, Lutz said, they can safely/easily can go over 200HP. So that's a hint for a future force fed version.

gavriil

More Scoop Here

gavriil

Did I say, I LOVE this steering wheel? And did I mention that I LOVE this interior. It's just stunning in its design. Proof that GM can play with the best at any level.

Maximized

The more I look at it....The doors, passenger dash, and steering wheel remind me of the Z3.

pimpscls

not bad

HrEz2k4

if it gets 200+ hp, sub-$20000, with an RWD setup, it will be a winner

gavriil

soopa

awsome car. gav... last post is bunch of X's

1SICKLEX

I love it. I think this proves (PLEEASE make the price right) that Lutz is on the right track. This will bring in younger buyers and people with some style. Great car, I am loving it, inside and out!!!

GO Lutz. That is 2 Pontiacs I would own (GTO, Solstice)

cusdaddy

At the Detroit car show the guy presenting the Solstice said starting price below $20k and not going too far over for fully loaded model, but he did stress that it was subject to change.

Nashua_Night_Hawk

Can we have a V6here.. or wait a sec, how about an S2000 for less than 2000, or better a SC 4-CL , 250 HP 250 lbft.... that is interesting... as is it is just a better miata! not close to an S2000.

1SICKLEX

Jesus Christ you Honda boys all so worried about HP and Torue of cars like you got a bunch.

If the car weighs 2200-2500 lbs you don't need 900hp.

charliemike

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Neech

That Pontiac badge just plain looks out of place on this car....

heyitsme

May 03, 2004)
Autoweek
Winter Solstice
Our first drive in Pontiac's new Drop-top leaves us longing for more





2006 PONTIAC SOLSTICE
ON SALE: Fall 2005
BASE PRICE: $19,995 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 2.4-liter, 170-hp, 170-lb-ft I4; rwd, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2860 pounds
0 TO 60 MPH: 7.2 seconds

The steady, cold rain from the night before had dried up, but heavy gray skies still threatened, giving us a taste of a typical late-winter day in southern England. The weather can be dicey-temperatures can climb into the 50s in the afternoon but just as easily drop to near freezing. Add in for good measure the aforementioned rain. Weather was important because we had come to Surrey and Sussex counties south of London to drive convertibles, and unless the skies opened back up and unleashed another deluge, we were determined to drive with the top down. We brought an extra wool sweater and a Gore-Tex jacket, just in case.

So why go to England, where in February you can go days-maybe even weeks-without seeing the sun, to drive convertibles? The simple answer is because that's where General Motors offered us the first drive of the Pontiac Solstice.

Solstice is the hot project at GM. Talk all you want about all the other cars GM has in the pipeline, from Chevy's new Cobalt small car to the sixth-generation Corvette, but inside the company Solstice is the one everyone is watching. It represents a new way of doing business for GM. It is the first car to be built on a new rwd (Kappa) architecture, and it's the first car, from concept to production, with product czar Bob Lutz's fingerprints all over it (AW, Feb. 2). Also, the car is 18 months away from production, so we're driving it very early.

Solstice had one of the shortest gestation periods in GM's (and much of the car world's) history, going from computer math design to foam model in 21 days. Just 15 weeks later it rolled onto a Detroit stage as a concept car. It was the darling of the 2002 North American International Auto Show, snagging our Best in Show award. We weren't the only ones who liked the car. The public loved it, too, and GM began the process to make the concept a reality.

"THE F WORD STILL HAUNTS THE halls of GM," said Doug Parks, chief engineer for small cars, referring to the Pontiac Fiero, the two-seat, mid-engine sports car that lived a short, unfulfilled life from 1984 to '89. "The Solstice absolutely has to perform as well as it looks. That was the Fiero's problem... it never delivered on its looks until it was too late. The expectations are higher for this project than for anything I've been associated with at GM," Parks said. "Expectations are through the roof. It has to be right, right out of the box."

Those great expectations were what brought us to England, driving a car that won't go on sale for quite some time yet. Parks said a typical new car program allows just three months from the time testing cars made with production tools is finished, until actual production begins. With the Solstice he will have nearly a year.

"We're changing a lot of paradigms within GM-doing things a lot differently with this car," Parks said. "Everyone is watching."

A couple of weeks before our arrival, two engineering cars and a couple of engineers were sent to the United Kingdom to test chassis and suspension on narrow, twisty, undulating country roads, adding to the thousands of development miles Solstice has covered on tracks and public roads in Europe and the United States.

Our mission was to evaluate the ride and handling, with one of the cars at "85 percent of what we believe will be the finished setup," according to Parks, and the other at about 75 percent. The interior panels were crude, to say the least, and the flat-black-painted steel body panels were merely window dressing-the final tooling has not been done-but this was our first look at the car's folding convertible top. Although a prototype, it gave us a good indication as to how it will look and function. And as we said, despite the mercury hovering in the mid-30s, we came to England to drive a convertible-with the top down.

With just two Solstices for five journalists wanting wheel time, there appeared to be a scheduling problem. Being in England, where sports roadsters flourished in the 1950s and '60s, GM arranged for four examples of British roadsters to occupy our time between Solstice drives: a 1960 Triumph TR3a, a 1967 Triumph TR4a, a 1969 MGB and a 1971 Lotus Elan Sprint. And while we looked forward to driving these classic cars, it was the Solstice we wanted.

Our first look at the two Solstices we would drive came at Brooklands, site of the world's first closed-course auto racing track. It opened in 1907, two years before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Long since closed as a track-the racing surface was torn up and trees planted to camouflage the area from German bombers in World War II-Brooklands is now the site of a museum housing a collection of race cars, airplanes and memorabilia.

Even though the car is a two-seater, Solstice seems bigger than what you'd expect, and in comparison to the British roadsters mentioned above, it's a giant. In reality, Solstice is big for a car in its class. Compared to the Mazda Miata, Solstice is two inches longer, more than four inches wider and two inches taller. Solstice's wheelbase is nearly six inches longer than Miata's. And just to put Solstice into perspective, it's just one inch narrower than the new Corvette, with a track just two inches narrower.

Before letting us slip in behind the wheel, the GM engineers folded down the mechanical top. The process starts by twisting a latch on the inside that releases the top from the header, and then opening the trunk in reverse fashion. There are a couple of wings at the rear of the top that fold inward, and then you're ready to fold the top down into the trunk. After the top is stowed, the trunk lid can be closed and the finished look is clean with no need for a boot. There is very little cargo room in the car, even with the top up. There is no space behind the seats for any storage, so unless a cargo rack is added, judicious packing is required for even weekend trips. Don't even think of bringing your golf clubs.

Solstice's larger size was welcomed when getting behind the wheel. At a bit more than six feet tall, we had no problem finding a comfortable driving position with decent legroom and great shoulder room. At no time did we feel cramped or uncomfortable.

With the top secured in the trunk and after a brief talk with Steve Padilla, our co-driver and Solstice's vehicle dynamics performance engineer, we lit the 2.4-liter I4 Ecotec, found first gear and set off into the chilly English countryside.

One of the first things you notice is a rather bulbous hood that limits your ability to see the edge of the road, a minor irritation compounded by driving left-hand-drive (American) cars on the left-hand side of the road. The co-driver on this trip was as important as in the World Rally Championship. Also, with the flared headrest bumps behind the seats, rear vision is blocked while looking over your right shoulder. Seats in our test cars were not production units and seemed a bit too low, further increasing our inability to see out.

While the chassis and suspension still had work to be done on them, the driveline is set. The 2.4-liter engine produces 170 hp at 6400 rpm and 170 lb-ft at 4400 rpm. The engine is mated to an Aisin five-speed manual transmission we enjoyed working through a short-throw shifter. The clutch take-up was good and while the shifter action wasn't quite the snick-snick movement of a Honda S2000's, it's the best-feeling GM shifter-short of maybe a Z06's Tremac T56-we can remember operating. It is worth noting this is the first north-south installation of an Ecotec powertrain, so there is no need for the extensive shift linkage as in a fwd, transverse-mounted installation. Another reason to love rwd.

The engine felt strong, easily propelling the 2860-pound car, with an aggressive exhaust note. The 2.4-liter is a good starting point, especially for a car that will sticker at $19,995. At no time did the car feel underpowered, and we drove many miles on the twisty roads in second and third gear, keeping the revs in the sweet spot, enjoying the engine noise echoing off the trees and rolling hills. At speed, we were able to carry on a conversation with our passenger.

GM engineers wouldn't reveal details, but they let on there will be more thrust available at some point. The 2.0-liter, 205-hp supercharged version of the Ecotec, now available in the Saturn Ion Red Line and the upcoming Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged, could be offered. And when we reminded the engineers a 2.0-liter turbocharged Ecotec is making more than 1000 hp in the NHRA's sport compact series, they just smiled. We smiled, too, at the thought of even half, or a quarter of that power in this little car.

The Surrey and Sussex roads were a good choice to test the chassis and suspension, with lots of off-camber turns that twist the chassis and a lot of undulations that work the suspension hard, keeping the driver busy with the wheel. Solstice has four-wheel independent suspension with coil-over monotube shocks, and 18-inch alumi-num wheels shod with Goodyear Eagle RS-A P245/45 rubber. In the 85 percent car, we found the suspension firm but not harsh, easily smoothing out much of the roughness of the road. The setup needs to be firm enough for sporty driving but comfortable enough for simple cruising, a balance that still needs to be worked out. Turn-in was crisp, but it still was not quite as nimble as the aforementioned Miata or S2000. And Padilla noted S2000 is a target for Solstice handling.

The 75 percent car seemed a bit softer, with Padilla admitting they didn't bring as many suspension components to England as they would have liked to, with only one car getting all the updates. The mostly aluminum chassis seemed superb, with no indication of any flex over the rough roads.

Solstice's rack-and-pinion steering is quick and responsive, and the engineers admitted it has received much fine-tuning. The steering rack is solid-mounted and there is no isolation in the system, giving the driver as direct a link to the front wheels as you can get. The steering has good on-center feel but the effort was too light, a condition that became even more apparent on our second day of driving around the fast, 2.4-mile Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Though we were limited to a 75-mph top speed-or a speed close to that-we found Solstice to have good track manners, and the four-wheel disc brakes worked well. Driving Solstice back-to-back with some of the classic British roadsters made us wonder who came up with the phrase, "the good old days." The vintage cars certainly looked great and were a lot of fun to mus- cle around thetrack-especially the 1500-pound Lotus, a car you wear as much as you drive-but as far as ride and handling character-istics are concerned, we like the cars of today.

One of the engineers likened our early Solstice drives to getting a taste of the batter before the cake is baked. Well, the batter tastes pretty good, and we can't wait to sample the cake after it has been frosted.

heyitsme

Think it looks great in that first pic.

heyitsme

May 03, 2004)
Autoweek
Winter Solstice
Our first drive in Pontiac's new Drop-top leaves us longing for more

2006 PONTIAC SOLSTICE
ON SALE: Fall 2005
BASE PRICE: $19,995 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 2.4-liter, 170-hp, 170-lb-ft I4; rwd, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2860 pounds
0 TO 60 MPH: 7.2 seconds

The steady, cold rain from the night before had dried up, but heavy gray skies still threatened, giving us a taste of a typical late-winter day in southern England. The weather can be dicey-temperatures can climb into the 50s in the afternoon but just as easily drop to near freezing. Add in for good measure the aforementioned rain. Weather was important because we had come to Surrey and Sussex counties south of London to drive convertibles, and unless the skies opened back up and unleashed another deluge, we were determined to drive with the top down. We brought an extra wool sweater and a Gore-Tex jacket, just in case.

So why go to England, where in February you can go days-maybe even weeks-without seeing the sun, to drive convertibles? The simple answer is because that's where General Motors offered us the first drive of the Pontiac Solstice.

Solstice is the hot project at GM. Talk all you want about all the other cars GM has in the pipeline, from Chevy's new Cobalt small car to the sixth-generation Corvette, but inside the company Solstice is the one everyone is watching. It represents a new way of doing business for GM. It is the first car to be built on a new rwd (Kappa) architecture, and it's the first car, from concept to production, with product czar Bob Lutz's fingerprints all over it (AW, Feb. 2). Also, the car is 18 months away from production, so we're driving it very early.

Solstice had one of the shortest gestation periods in GM's (and much of the car world's) history, going from computer math design to foam model in 21 days. Just 15 weeks later it rolled onto a Detroit stage as a concept car. It was the darling of the 2002 North American International Auto Show, snagging our Best in Show award. We weren't the only ones who liked the car. The public loved it, too, and GM began the process to make the concept a reality.

"THE F WORD STILL HAUNTS THE halls of GM," said Doug Parks, chief engineer for small cars, referring to the Pontiac Fiero, the two-seat, mid-engine sports car that lived a short, unfulfilled life from 1984 to '89. "The Solstice absolutely has to perform as well as it looks. That was the Fiero's problem... it never delivered on its looks until it was too late. The expectations are higher for this project than for anything I've been associated with at GM," Parks said. "Expectations are through the roof. It has to be right, right out of the box."

Those great expectations were what brought us to England, driving a car that won't go on sale for quite some time yet. Parks said a typical new car program allows just three months from the time testing cars made with production tools is finished, until actual production begins. With the Solstice he will have nearly a year.

"We're changing a lot of paradigms within GM-doing things a lot differently with this car," Parks said. "Everyone is watching."

A couple of weeks before our arrival, two engineering cars and a couple of engineers were sent to the United Kingdom to test chassis and suspension on narrow, twisty, undulating country roads, adding to the thousands of development miles Solstice has covered on tracks and public roads in Europe and the United States.

Our mission was to evaluate the ride and handling, with one of the cars at "85 percent of what we believe will be the finished setup," according to Parks, and the other at about 75 percent. The interior panels were crude, to say the least, and the flat-black-painted steel body panels were merely window dressing-the final tooling has not been done-but this was our first look at the car's folding convertible top. Although a prototype, it gave us a good indication as to how it will look and function. And as we said, despite the mercury hovering in the mid-30s, we came to England to drive a convertible-with the top down.

With just two Solstices for five journalists wanting wheel time, there appeared to be a scheduling problem. Being in England, where sports roadsters flourished in the 1950s and '60s, GM arranged for four examples of British roadsters to occupy our time between Solstice drives: a 1960 Triumph TR3a, a 1967 Triumph TR4a, a 1969 MGB and a 1971 Lotus Elan Sprint. And while we looked forward to driving these classic cars, it was the Solstice we wanted.

Our first look at the two Solstices we would drive came at Brooklands, site of the world's first closed-course auto racing track. It opened in 1907, two years before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Long since closed as a track-the racing surface was torn up and trees planted to camouflage the area from German bombers in World War II-Brooklands is now the site of a museum housing a collection of race cars, airplanes and memorabilia.

Even though the car is a two-seater, Solstice seems bigger than what you'd expect, and in comparison to the British roadsters mentioned above, it's a giant. In reality, Solstice is big for a car in its class. Compared to the Mazda Miata, Solstice is two inches longer, more than four inches wider and two inches taller. Solstice's wheelbase is nearly six inches longer than Miata's. And just to put Solstice into perspective, it's just one inch narrower than the new Corvette, with a track just two inches narrower.

Before letting us slip in behind the wheel, the GM engineers folded down the mechanical top. The process starts by twisting a latch on the inside that releases the top from the header, and then opening the trunk in reverse fashion. There are a couple of wings at the rear of the top that fold inward, and then you're ready to fold the top down into the trunk. After the top is stowed, the trunk lid can be closed and the finished look is clean with no need for a boot. There is very little cargo room in the car, even with the top up. There is no space behind the seats for any storage, so unless a cargo rack is added, judicious packing is required for even weekend trips. Don't even think of bringing your golf clubs.

Solstice's larger size was welcomed when getting behind the wheel. At a bit more than six feet tall, we had no problem finding a comfortable driving position with decent legroom and great shoulder room. At no time did we feel cramped or uncomfortable.

With the top secured in the trunk and after a brief talk with Steve Padilla, our co-driver and Solstice's vehicle dynamics performance engineer, we lit the 2.4-liter I4 Ecotec, found first gear and set off into the chilly English countryside.

One of the first things you notice is a rather bulbous hood that limits your ability to see the edge of the road, a minor irritation compounded by driving left-hand-drive (American) cars on the left-hand side of the road. The co-driver on this trip was as important as in the World Rally Championship. Also, with the flared headrest bumps behind the seats, rear vision is blocked while looking over your right shoulder. Seats in our test cars were not production units and seemed a bit too low, further increasing our inability to see out.

While the chassis and suspension still had work to be done on them, the driveline is set. The 2.4-liter engine produces 170 hp at 6400 rpm and 170 lb-ft at 4400 rpm. The engine is mated to an Aisin five-speed manual transmission we enjoyed working through a short-throw shifter. The clutch take-up was good and while the shifter action wasn't quite the snick-snick movement of a Honda S2000's, it's the best-feeling GM shifter-short of maybe a Z06's Tremac T56-we can remember operating. It is worth noting this is the first north-south installation of an Ecotec powertrain, so there is no need for the extensive shift linkage as in a fwd, transverse-mounted installation. Another reason to love rwd.

The engine felt strong, easily propelling the 2860-pound car, with an aggressive exhaust note. The 2.4-liter is a good starting point, especially for a car that will sticker at $19,995. At no time did the car feel underpowered, and we drove many miles on the twisty roads in second and third gear, keeping the revs in the sweet spot, enjoying the engine noise echoing off the trees and rolling hills. At speed, we were able to carry on a conversation with our passenger.

GM engineers wouldn't reveal details, but they let on there will be more thrust available at some point. The 2.0-liter, 205-hp supercharged version of the Ecotec, now available in the Saturn Ion Red Line and the upcoming Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged, could be offered. And when we reminded the engineers a 2.0-liter turbocharged Ecotec is making more than 1000 hp in the NHRA's sport compact series, they just smiled. We smiled, too, at the thought of even half, or a quarter of that power in this little car.

The Surrey and Sussex roads were a good choice to test the chassis and suspension, with lots of off-camber turns that twist the chassis and a lot of undulations that work the suspension hard, keeping the driver busy with the wheel. Solstice has four-wheel independent suspension with coil-over monotube shocks, and 18-inch alumi-num wheels shod with Goodyear Eagle RS-A P245/45 rubber. In the 85 percent car, we found the suspension firm but not harsh, easily smoothing out much of the roughness of the road. The setup needs to be firm enough for sporty driving but comfortable enough for simple cruising, a balance that still needs to be worked out. Turn-in was crisp, but it still was not quite as nimble as the aforementioned Miata or S2000. And Padilla noted S2000 is a target for Solstice handling.

The 75 percent car seemed a bit softer, with Padilla admitting they didn't bring as many suspension components to England as they would have liked to, with only one car getting all the updates. The mostly aluminum chassis seemed superb, with no indication of any flex over the rough roads.

Solstice's rack-and-pinion steering is quick and responsive, and the engineers admitted it has received much fine-tuning. The steering rack is solid-mounted and there is no isolation in the system, giving the driver as direct a link to the front wheels as you can get. The steering has good on-center feel but the effort was too light, a condition that became even more apparent on our second day of driving around the fast, 2.4-mile Goodwood Motor Circuit.

Though we were limited to a 75-mph top speed-or a speed close to that-we found Solstice to have good track manners, and the four-wheel disc brakes worked well. Driving Solstice back-to-back with some of the classic British roadsters made us wonder who came up with the phrase, "the good old days." The vintage cars certainly looked great and were a lot of fun to mus- cle around thetrack-especially the 1500-pound Lotus, a car you wear as much as you drive-but as far as ride and handling character-istics are concerned, we like the cars of today.

One of the engineers likened our early Solstice drives to getting a taste of the batter before the cake is baked. Well, the batter tastes pretty good, and we can't wait to sample the cake after it has been frosted.

titan

Cool. VERY, very cool car. It'd be perfect for the weekends. I hope they do wind up offering the supercharged ecotec. I'll probably be worth waiting for.

titan

Luv this car. That supercharged ecotec will be worth the wait.

heyitsme

I like it, but fall 2005 release date sucks. Why are they showing it so damn early.

gavriil

I am 100% sure we will see a more powerful version of this a year, or so, after its release.

Python2121

why wouldn't they have an impressive base engine, like the supercharged 200hp?

i dont really know how the power feels in the car, though, but 7.1 0-60 isn't that amazing

Python2121

but it looks the part as well as plays the part i guess

Zapata

miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaataaaaa Woulda been much cooler with a S/C.

einsatz

Solstice Comp-G?
Now that would give me second thoughts about the Elise. Nah. No it wouldn't.

Zapata

lol no way but for the price perhaps. One thing about domestics....power is usually cheap.

goldmemberer

Elise > any MR

(except the Zonda and maybe a couple of others )

Zapata

gavriil

This car is going against the Miata. The Miata was selling like hotcakes a few years ago and it was in the mid 8s for the 60. It aint that bad. The supercharged version will be in the low 6s. So you'll have a choice.

gavriil

Daewoo's desirable drop-top - - Source: autocar

Daewoo is planning its first-ever open-top two-seater for launch in early 2007. The sportscar is a Daewoo-designed version of GM’s new rear-drive Kappa platform, which will be the basis of a family of exciting sports cars. Pontiac will get the first model, the Solstice, on sale in the US in late 2006.

GM-Daewoo boss Nick Reilly is personally championing the Daewoo sports car, which he wants as a halo car to boost Daewoo’s image. He hinted at the idea of an image car at the Geneva show, but didn’t reveal the sports-car plan.

Power for the Daewoo two-seater is likely to come from the same 170bhp, 2.4-litre four-cylinder Ecotec engine planned for the Solstice, driving the rear wheels through a five-speed manual ’box.

In the more immediate future, Daewoo will be showing off two UK debuts at Motor Show Live: the Giugiaro-styled Lacetti Sport and the new Nubira Station Wagon (right). Powered by a modest 120bhp 1.8-litre engine, the Lacetti Sport will be a warm performance model. The Nubira Station Wagon shares a similar look, but will only be available with 1.6-litre power. Both go on UK sale in October.

charliemike

I'm assuming this is not for U.S. consumption (the Daewoo)?