Pontiac Solstice GXP 240 hp! under 30k

[mazda sp]

I have a 04 MSM... and the Wife has the new NC PWRHDT ..Then I see this thing!  240 hp Turbo Solstice GXP... I tell her, Im sure there is a waiting list!....Im sure there way over sticker! she gives me that look ...and I call the dealer and were off for a test drive.We get there and they have a black one, It has leather and is well appointed!... I ask how long is the waiting list? how much over sticker?.... NO WAITING LIST AND NO DEALER PACK!!!! WTF?? In fact the dealer said we could start talking a price below sticker!!!! Now my wife and I were thinking! what did we do! This thing is less than her new MX5 and gets 31 on the highway...Not to mention 240 HP :crazy2:Ok I get in and this thing has no head room im 6.1 and there is no room for my head! I can hardly see out of this thing!! the top looks like a chop job! the rear window is so short and small it looks funny!! same for  the door glass.Door is bulky but its now closed ,and I fire up the 240!!  the sound of this thing is worse than the new MX5! I let out the clutch It engages just off the floor befor you barely have the time to get the revs up. It will stall very easy... I stalled it once... first thing you notice is how high geared first is, and how doggy it feels and the lack of low end torque ..I goes a little better at high speed but nothing like I was thinking now in all fairness i didnt floor it! but i gave it plenty of gas and it just didnt feel as fast as the MSM or even the new NC for that matter, I know that doesnt make much sence, this car is faster on paper than our Cars..This car is big and heavy and my wife and I after driving it went home with big smiles we both agreed that the Solstice is not for us!!!

[paulie69]

Yeah,

I drove one too - stinks on ice! 

Not comfortable. Definitely not designed with the driver in mind. Good handling...but nothing great. And Yeah...don't let the Horsepower fool you.

The only HP that matters is at the wheels and they definitely are not using the HP efficiently.

[emexfive]

To me the Skystice is an exercise in horrible packaging. Bigger and heavier than Miata, but less space inside and in the trunk?! I think that with a torquey V-6 is might be kind of interesting as a Corvette "light". As a light weight sports car they are lacking. After looking over these cars in person I had no interest at all. I've been meaning to get a test drive at some point, but just haven't been motivated.

[mikethemachinist]

I'll be honest I think they look pretty damn good.  But as a miata enthusiast and just straight up miata obsessor I consider the solstice/sky my arch nemesis and every time I see one out I turn into this weird creature that starts hissing and cursing and I just want to chase them down and show 'em whose boss 

It embarasses the wife but I enjoy it 

There are no other roadsters besides the miata 


that's just my opinion of course

[jerseymiata]

My coworker recently bought a GXP.  He thought it was pretty hot until I showed him how my MSM handles better on snow tires than his does on all-seasons.   

The GXP's low-end power s a joke, the car is ugly (looks like it got head-butted by a Mack truck, although I do like the Saturn version's styling), and what I found most offensive (other than the extra 400lbs of heft) is the rev limiter -- it's so bland.  In the MSM, I can bounce off the rev limiter all day long, like a race car coming out of the pits.  It's actually FUN to do so in my car.  In the GXP, when you reach redline, it's just this incredibly calm feeling of NOTHING special happening.  The tach just doesn't go any higher -- no brap brap brap noise, no tach bouncing around, no communication whatsoever between horse and rider.  Really boring.

[DontPassTheFence]

I test drove the regular soltice, it felt like a fatter miata with clogs - Im surprised the GXP is such a let down, that turbo ecotec should be better than that ;_;

Ah well, I always knew the Miata was better anyways.

[mikethemachinist]

Ah well, I always knew the Miata was better anyways.

Amen my brotha, amen