Pontiac Solstice for 20k?

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 18:37:08 GMT, "HardwareLust" wrote in news:opMQd.8563$uc.4764@trnddc09:

curb weight: around 2900 lbs. It's no Miata.

It is absolutely competition for the Miata. Now a lot of Miata nuts deny this (hey, I own one too). But face it: it is a small,

4-cyl, inexpensive, 2 seat roadster highlighting performance (i.e, it isn't a Sebring). GM's Lutz was a big fan of english roadsters in the 60's and proposed that GM make one then. Now that he's in charge (vice-chairman), he pretty much pushed this through by force of will. They did an early press ride & drive in England and had some vintage Triumphs, MG's and (I think) Elans for comparison. GM has said they are targetting the Miata.

Maybe the Miata is better, it will certainly have more Miata-ness. But there is only so big of a market for this kind of car, and GM by virtue of its size and access to all markets will take a good chunk of it with this car unless it flops. But by its looks, and by the mechanicals you can see, it appears to be pretty legit. Yes, it may be too heavy (I'm not convinced the std "2860 lb" number is accurate).

As to the Cobalt slam, the Solstice is based on a new (Kappa) rwd platform. It has an all independent adjustable double-wishbone suspension and what looks like a mini-vette chassis. It does share the Cobalt coupe engine.

The Cobalt is based on the fwd Delta platform. And the SS, as has the Opel Astra (also Delta) have been getting good reviews on their own.

Time will tell.

The new Miata will also be much heavier. It has to. Nanny State has decreed you do not have the right to maim yourself is a small car.

The Z4, Boxster, and MX5 are all re-designed within the last couple or years. The s2000 is rumored to be dead (Honda is not getting enough sales to make it worthwhile to redesing to the new crash standards) and the Toyota entry is gone (no more MR 2 or Celicas for that matter) so that kind of evens out the field.

Questions are: how much miataness will remain in the new model And will Pontiac dealers do a decen job selling the car.

Probably. It has 18" wheels, and the Miata only 17". Probably lose at least 50% of the buyers upgrading from Honda Civics. Lord knows how big the tail pipe is. If it exceeds 5", there goes all of the rest.

Well, I know that the colleague driving this Australian knock off of the Miata (was it sold by GM?) did not buy any new convertibles.

Just think what creative car problems an American manufacturer can come up when given a drop top, as well as the reduced stiffness it entails.

Let's wait for the next generation before making a judgment.

Are you talking about the early 90s Mercury Capri? It lost every Miata comparison badly, but was always meant as a cruiser rather than sports car.

It was a dog.

-John

If Pontiac dealers can find buyers for Grand Ams and Grand Prixs, surely they'll be able to sell something resembling an actual *sports* car.

I'll forgive them for the GTO...no one could sell *those*, though it's irrelevant, as I don't purchase domestic cars.

And a Ford.

The Capri it was.

So is the Miata nowadays...

Leon

A little bit, but much less so than a 6.

Where have you been? As far as forgiveness, I can not forgive Pontiac for anything after they produced the Aztec. That thing still hurts my eyes every time I see one, and it's not like you can just flip a channel or look away when you are driving near one. ;-)

I also avoid cars made by American companies. My experience with American cars is so bad that it will not be possible for me to live long enough for them to regain my confidence. The Corvette is the only possible exception, but I would still probably buy a Japanese or German car if I had $50K to spend.

Pat

How so? Has the 6 started catching on fire at random yet? ;-)

Pat

Not really. At least they are still built in Japan.

Actually the Pontiac lineup doesn't look 1/2 bad these days. I think they have more desirable cars that Mazda does right now.

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 19:56:52 GMT, Scott Streeter wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ccc10.wpi.edu:

Mazda has 2 out of 10 on the list. Pontiac 0 (nada). Yes, I know it's a rather subjective and artificial list.

If I was in the market for a FWD car, the Mazda6 or Mazda3 would be on my list. But I'm not.

I'm more interested in the RWD and AWD stuff from Chrysler and Ford. We'll have to see how they pan out.

I assume my '91 Miata will be around for a while.

sports car.

Not exactly true. In early 90's. one of the car magazines tested the turbo version of the Capri against the miata on a track. It kicked miata butt as far as lap times, but they still judged the miata more fun to drive.

Later, someone pitted the hottest VTEC del Sol against a miata and ran it up Mt. Hamilton in California. The del SOl got to the top first and the driver had time to write the magazine article while waiting. Still judged the miata more fun to drive.

But I'm off topic. The Solstice sure looks a lot better than the the miata. So does the Saturn Sky. I bet they will be fine cars, maybe even great cars, but I think the miata will still be fun to drive.

No car looks good to me when it is broken down and being towed to a mechanic, which has been my experience on a far more regular basis with American cars than it has been with cars made in Japan. Maybe Pontiac has finally gotten their shit together, but I want to see many years of reliability out of their products before I would even think of buying one, no matter what it looked like.

Pat

Some good points mentioned. This is a serious attempt at an entry level sports car. I do think that some sales will be lost to people experiencing a mid-life-crisis. They generally have no clue what a great car they fall into when they buy a Miata. Many do learn later by accident. These guys will tend to go towards the Solstice / Sky as they are going to be percieved as more "masculine" than at least the current Miata is percieved. It'll be interesting to see if the next generation Miata gets some visual 'testosterone', I can't really tell from the spy shots. I'm not saying it's necessary to do this but I'm not saying it would be a bad thing if done properly.

It's great times for the car buying public,

Chris

92BB&T