2007 Pontiac Solstice: Regular Car Reviews
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The Pontiac Solstice is the Corvette you should have bought. But is this truly the anti-
Corvette? Could the Solstice have kept Pontiac alive? Or was it too little, too late? Regular Car
Reviews takes the 2007 Pontiac Solstice on the road for a review.
cant forget the solstice was featured in Michael Bay's Transformers as "the one dude who got ripped in half", ironically being the only Pontiac and also the only hero character to bite the bullet in that film
RIP Jazz; he could've been in the new prequel movie given that they have a Porsche (car he originally was) with the Autobots, but nah it's Mirage.
@@ajvark Unfortunately Bay was ALLLLL ABOUT that GM money. Throughout all 5 movies there's so many awkward close ups on GMC and Chevy badges lol.
Jass still is one of my fav characters
What a good comment for my youth
Ironically, that’s what I think about everytime I see one of these
"I now think higlhy of you!"
Man, I love RCR Casual Weirdness, it's what keeps me coming back to Kunkleman Chevrolet time and time again.
Kunkelman actually owns numerous dealerships in western Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia, also known as the golden triangle in some circles.
Kunkelman? I guess it's true that Pennsylvania is full of Germans because that's a German Name, of course it's "Kunkelmann" here
Speaking of Germany and the Pontiac Solstice, isn't this the Car that is the "Opel GT" but just different Looks and some other small Changes?
The Opel GT is hell of a fun car
Prost & Cheers from the Bavarian Alps
I just used Rinaldi and Kline, and I’m wondering who stole my dog?
No one stole nothin" pal, we put yer' dog in that there hole over there, and then we went ahead and poured some of this here concrete right on top.
I remember watching keiichi tsuchiya review this car and seeing how impressed he was with the chassis and overall handling. It blew me away and then I was sad because Top Gear never reviewed it
because issa Opel in Europe
@@ComicusFreemanius I didn’t know that thank you
Clarkson tested it on an episode when he did the Laguna Seca Playstation race, but apparently really hated it, particularly due to the unfortunate transmission. I feel like they also mentioned it another time (news segment?) and said the suspension was overly hard for moderate cornering performance.
I remember that review as well.
Then again since Top Gear argued successfully in court that they're not an information but an entertainment program in order to be able to lie for entertainment purposes, you shouldn't trust their "reviews" anyway.
As a Manual Solstice GXP owner, I'd love to have you drive it and see the differences. It's very much a different beast than the base auto
bruhh, I also own a manual GXP. I'm telling you these things are still a diamond in the rough. Everyone always thinks about the NA 2.4 when they think about the Solstice which is a huge shame because these things CAN actually have power.
Same here, I'm installing a bunch of aftermarket parts from RPM Motorsports to try and get to like 350 WHP so I guess it's not fair comparison from to drive mine. I hope he takes somebody up on the offer!
@@brucesabatoni3410 Haha I submitted my car a few years back when it was stock. It's making 300hp. At lights, nobody knows what it is. I've gotten Corvette, Porsche, Viper. Then again, it does have an aftermarket Viper style hood
@@UpperRobin29 C4 corvette with a misfire, maybe. Viper? No. Porsche? Yes. Old 944? Yes.
@@brucesabatoni3410 Yeah, the only things I've done to mine are adding the wind deflector, getting adapters to throw my stock G8 wheels on it (same stock tire size between the two), and adding a backbone brace to reduce my windshield cracking. Those can all be put back to stock pretty quick though if he wanted a fully stock example.
The only thing I remember of these cars was I thought it was really cool of GM at the time to give the buyer an aesthetic option by having the Saturn be more angular while the Pontiac was curvy.
The concept car versions looked even better somehow, but overall this is one of those rare cases where the production car still had the look of the concept car. Back then the "bubbly" styling looked cooler than it does now.
The "mini-Corvette" aesthetic was even more obvious with the Sky. It was basically a baby C6.
@@benn454 that had room for a LS
@@pontiacGXPfan The Hot Rod LS7 Solstice built by Mallett was insane.
@@benn454 the one I read about was the LS2 I didn't know they shoehorned a LS7
Pontiac Solstice: official car of guys who unironically exclaim "gosh darn it."
It's a great car, Gosh darn it!
Wife’s boyfriend
Fun fact these had a spicy turbo one and were intended to have the LS3 put in it and it is a direct bolt in and actually easy swap because it was designed to go in it.
Mallet did this as an aftermarket with an LS2 T56. Gm did the turbo lnf ecotech GXP but never intended the LS3 as it would undercut the Corvette. A Pontiac Corvette fighter goes as far back as the 2 seater Banshee that DeLorean personally has his hand in. As a Pontiac fanboi I would of loved the Corvette to sweat abit. It has hell of a ring to it - Pontiac Banshee. 😁
Apparently a 2JZ also kinda bolts right up as well
I wouldn't call it a direct bolt on. An LS/LT will fit in there with some fabrication and you have to be very specific with header and oil pan choices. Engine bay is tiny as it is for the 4 cylinders it came with.
@@TheStuntastik with the LS it is small enough it fits quite well there is someone who did this swap only took a couple days to drop in and get it working
It should have debutted the Colorado Truck 5 banger, with manual trans only.
😔
My parents wanted a solstice, I remember seeing this at an autoshow when I was a kid and thinking this was the coolest car. I have nostalgia for these.
Me too! This or the Saturn sky. They ended up not buying one bc it was manual only and my mom wouldnt let my dad buy a car she couldnt drive
You guys have really upped the filming quality while still maintaining the classic rcr aesthetic!
Have they really? It's still constantly jumping in and out of focus. They've been using the same Nikon since the very start. Also lots of jigglies from electronic stabilization and slow rolling shutter.
The 60fps is gross for anything that isn’t gaming footage
@@ziginox Is that the one that can cause motion sickness?
Try a Saturn Sky Redline. Those are something else! Sure, there's a Corvette vibe going on. But it's so different. I've had lots of Corvettes. The Saturn Sky Redline is what the Corvette should've been. It's a kick ass car.
The styling is better on the sky too
Saturn Sky Redline or Pontiac Solstice GXP!
Those little turbo cars are sweet!!
Looks like a Vauxhall VX220
@@isaacsrandomvideos667 The VX220 is mid engined, it looks more like a Lotus Elise than a Solstice
Absolutely! If only they would've had a proper gear selection for the automatic transmission! Even with a sluggish paddle shifter or e shift option it would've been nearly perfect for it's time and price 🤷♂️
I miss my solstice. It was so fun when I had it. Had the 5-speed manual, and it felt so satisfying. Shame it understeered into a pole at 35mph.
I bet. I miss both of my 2002 Pontiac grand AM and 2001 Montana
You can't damn drive
@@kanagawa85 Not bad, although I'm a sucker for convertibles. Between both the 97 Del Sol and the 06 Solstice I used to have, I would run topless if the weather was even close to good enough for it. Basically as long as it was over 50 degrees and not raining, I'd have the top down.
It didn't do that. You did that.
It's a shame you drove it into a pole you mean.
I remember that the Saturn equivalent model the "Sky" was one of my favorite cars growing up, even though they were fundamentally the same. Always preferred the styling cues of that more than the odd front fascia of the Pontiac for some reason.
The Sky looked like some kind of Amazonian poisonous insect. The Solstice looked like a ladybug.
honestly i really liked them both in their own ways. I think it's cool just how subtle, yet definite, the differences were.
@@zlinedavid you have a vivid imagination
your columbia records reference was hilarious. My uncle and his band got signed with them and after their second album showed not as promising results as their first album columbia records dropped them.
The band’s name is “Dangerous Toys”
A Criminally underrated 1980’s Metal band.
What band? Genuinely curious.
at least in the 80s they used bands for tax breaks more than for hits
Following. Need to know more.
3 people on you asking, Foss. We understand if it's a little hard to get together, or if life gets in the way, but just remember... We'd love to hear your story.
Foss? Foss? Foss? We gotta know
I remember when either Hot Rod or Car Craft (can't remember which) V8-swapped one of these. It was ridiculously easy to do using almost all off-the-GM-shelf parts. It was as if they intended to offer it as a V8 at some point.
Early release?!
I.. I swear this doesn't usually happen...
Nothing goes together quite like Mr Regular and premature uploading.
the only thing that made the Pontiac Solstice cool is the fact that this was Jazz's alt mode in Transformers Bayverse 2007 movie.
R.I.P. Jazz "literally ripped in half by Megatron"
I’ve been waiting for this one! My dad and I were going to buy one when they first came out but the production kept getting pushed back so we got a 2005 MX5 MAZDASPEED instead. It was amazing but I’ve always wanted to drive a Solstice
The solstice is a cool car but you made the right decision lol.
This was the good timeline
I drove the Saturn version. I liked it, it had a great seating position and was comfortable if you're over 4'10".
@@neelsahay5227 But everyone and their mothers have a Miata. I get it, the Mazdaspeed Miatas are pretty rare but the Solstice GXP is a LOT more unique. Plus even with both of them being turbocharged, the GXP/Redline still walks a Mazdaspeed Miata.
Definitely got the better car there
There was a hardtop fastback version of this as a concept. It was on display in the lobby at the GMs. Every time I see one of those new Miata coupes on the road, I think of that and wonder what might have been had Pontiac and Saturn survived.
The hardtop fastbacks were a production car, only available in the GXP trim and only for the last model year, but you could infact buy one. Honestly it defeats the purpose of the car to me, half the fun is having the top down on good-weather weekends and hitting all the twisty roads you can find. That's what a "Roadster" is for after all.
They made about a thousand Solstice coupes in 2009 for the final production year. They're basically unicorns at this point though
GM also had a 1953 Corvette-inspired Nomad "shooting brake" wagon based on the Solstice/Kappa chassis that was a really sharp looking car that made the rounds in that era prior to release of the Solstice and Sky. I also recall a Motor Trend issue (including the design drawing) had an article devoted to a Chevrolet version of the Kappa car.......called the Stingray......which had front end elements very much like the Sky, which also happened to look like the new for 2005, C5 Corvette. I give Bob Lutz, head of GM at the time alot of credit for trying to bring GM into a more driver-oriented lineup of cars, but it proved too late for their bankruptcy and current morphing into the very bland GM, er, gm of today.
@@TheFishE77Official I think the problem is that a lot of men (and boys) think of convertibles as chick cars, and those owning them a bit feminine. They see Miatas as “hair dresser cars” not the superior autocross track car. Even the owner of this one admitted that it was his wife’s. They also don’t seem to understand that it’s actually a plus that chicks like the car. It’s a bit shallow to think, but they’re more likely to date you rather than say a truck. (If they’re the type of person who’d date you based on the type of car you drove).
That may be why the majority owning the WERE the boomers. For them, convertibles did not have that stigma. I think it also had to do with the fact that Millennials, at the time, didn’t have a whole lot of money, so buying a brand new car that didn’t even have a backseat wasn’t practical.
But back on the hardtop fast back topic, there were plenty of convertibles already on the market at the time. In fact, I believe most of us STILL aren’t sure why they didn’t bring back a trans am version of the Camaro. A two door sports car was an emerging market. Not including the corvette and thunderbird, the miata now had to deal with the existing BMW Roadster, new Nissan Z, Honda S2000, and GMs offering of the Solstice and the Sky. An “affordable” two seat sports car was quite a new concept for domestic automakers. So for a hardtop fastback, that would give them more of an exclusivity, that no automaker in the US had. As hardtop versions of these cars weren’t very fastback like, and looked more like removable hard tops. I suppose you could argue that it would compete with the Z, as the BMW version hadn’t come out yet and wasn’t in that price range. I just so happen to own a convertible AND a little 2 seater hardtop fastback, and both have two different experiences. Granted, they have less than 30 years between them, but it’s definitely a different type of vehicle that I’m glad automakers were trying to bring back. Like station wagons, there used to be a ton of these in the 60s and 70s, which typically were either British or Japanese, not American.
@@TheStuntastik i saw one on the road a couple weeks ago and my friends didn’t understand what I was going on about
It has better kidney grills than most BMW’s.
Especialy the new ones.
(shivers in disgust)
Pontiac always did
Badge swap it
GM released the hardtop version of the Solstice even after the announcement of Pontiac ending so few were produced. They're definitely collector vehicles.
Back some years ago I saw one go for 19k on eBay. Was a bit odd looking but cool.
@@MultiRokusho They only built 2600 of the hardtops from 2009-2010 before their factory got shut down. They go for like $40-50k in low milage condition.
@@UpperRobin29
yeah, can still pinch myself to not buya nice one that was on offer around here 4 years ago for around 20.000.
The absolute funniest thing, is that there's two Solstices for sale near me right now in supreme condition. A yellow and a white one
Ukraine joke?
@@mromatic17 that would be yellow and blue...
@@benjaminmcintosh857 ohh yeah my bad
The Saturn Sky looked so much better than this with it's angular lines and was virtually unchanged from the Opel GT. It's front license plate also fit without completely ruining the front of the car.
That car had a lot of potential. It's too bad that GM shackled the platform to dying brands.
Bro here in EU we have to fit front license plate even to Lambos....it looks ugly AF
@@420JackG And relegated it to 4cyl engines as to not cannibalize Corvette sales
Very true
Dude what are you smoking? Opels of that era looked dated the very day they came out. Saturn Sky is no different, ugly car.
Pontiac spent it's last dying breaths trying to breath some innovation into GM but marketing to anybody who wasn't in their 50's was completely unfathomable to them.
GM also had a toxic relationship with the Corvette, don't make anything that could effect Corvette sales but don't make any major changes to the Corvette since the 80's"
Car magazines were comparing the GTO to Mercedes' and BMW's but the boomers hated it because "It DoEsN't LoOk LiKe My OlD GtO!" Then they come out with a roadster and the suits say "Better make it look like a C1 Corvette so the boomers will like it" and they only liked LOOKING at it because it was too small for most of them to fit in.
This is a car I honestly forgot about kinda like the Chrysler crossfire just early 2000s vaporware that captured our minds at the time but here we are 15 years later and everyone has forgotten..... God Pontiac died a sad death
It makes me sad that it's in hell frying for all eternity.
now the rest of the GM family is close behind thanks to typhoid Mary
I deliver food to a regular customer that has one of these. I brought it up and if I didn't tell him I had to go, he would've talked on and on about it. Really chill dude, he gives off the cool uncle that will let you try a beer at 14 vibes. He loves this car, glad to see Mr. Regular reviewed it as I always loved seeing them as a kid.
The turbo version is definitely a lot easier to appreciate… but it never stops feel like it’s a somehow bigger than it really is. Miata is great because you can see out of it. Like the modern Camaro, GM couldn’t halo but make the Sky/Solstice over-inflated and impossible to see out of unless you drop the top.
I saw this car in yellow for the first time on the street of a suburb a few months ago. It was very beautiful. I don't know how they drive because I've never driven them myself, but it made me happy to see. The thing looks like a timeless classic.
I was interested in these back in the day. Went and saw them at the dealership. The Solstice I think clocked in at $24,995 but that was without features like AC. I was more interested in the Sky, and then the Sky Redline. When I was considering a Sky, I also considered a Solstice coupe. In the end I bought a ‘97 Miata, and never regretted my decision.
RCR dropping the new vid exactly at midnight? What’s going on?
9 here, where you at???
East coast
I know right, it makes no sense.
Also midnight here. Eastern time
10 o’clock here, MST
I've never driven or even ridden in one, but always thought they were kind of eye-catching.
I like these because they look nice and I learned how to drive stick in a pre-production model.
"A Miata is Heath Ledger's Joker, a Solstice is Jared Leto."
Either that burn was WAY too hot unintentionally or this car is really bad.
It was a bad analogy.
I'd say he did bad with the comparison, but also he was driving the Automatic Trans version too. The stick shift version even without the turbo is a completely different feeling car, all his complaints about it hunting for gears on hills, or hanging at 5k on the tach are non issues when you get to throw it into each gear yourself.
No, the Solstace is not that bad, it's heavy, it's not economical and sporty compared to the Miata, it's slow, and not well made, compared to the Corvette, and it does not handle like a BMW Z3, which was the car it tried to be the most. Once you let all that go, and accept that its spiritually closer to the Geo Metro Convertible than anything belonging on the Nuremburging ring, it's all right. Not great, but all right.
@@twotone3471 You're also bad with analogies I see. The Solstice performs pretty identically to the Miata of the same model year, the NC. 0-60, 1/4 mile, slalom and skid pad tests all produced almost equal numbers (each winning some over the other) when AutoWeek tested the two against each other. I've never driven a Z3, but have driven Miatas and Solstices quite a bit and it's nowhere near a Geo metro convertible lol. I'm not going to disagree about the build quality, at least interior wise.
@@ledheavy26 The Solstice did the numbers you stated, until brake fade took over. The Solstice hit the skidpad numbers too, but never with the confidence that a Miata inspires at the limits. It's the difference between playing with a 100$ guitar, and a $800 one. Technically both do the same things, but the quality and ease of getting those results are different. And for the Metro Comparison, the base Solstice's top speed of 117 is closer to the Geo's than the Vette's.
O, wow, you even managed capture such a magnificent Trabant (limousine) @ 3:19 on the trailer! What a treat! And the ones in blue were rarer than the white ones (the only two official colors i think). NICE!
Wonder if thats a teaser for a future episode. If so, imagine the amount of Commie Bashing Mr. Regular might do.
@@cesariojpn I dont think its a teaser… It still has German plates on it, so it was only just imported
Would be cool to see a trabi on rcr, tho
You could get a Trabant in a bunch of colors. Red, orange, two shades of blue, yellow, olive green, beige, but white or very light cream colors were the most common. The Tramp could be army green or grey
@@dvh5394 You can buy used German Plates online and just slap them on.....
@@cesariojpn well, I guess you were right…
That "The Caves of Steel" vs "TekWar" comparison is so fuckin' niche... I have no idea why you didn't remove it, but I'm glad you didn't. Masterpiece writing as always.
Partner Elijah agrees.
I still think it's a cool little car. Looks fun on back roads
“The Solstice is TekWar” has got to be the most damning indictment I’ve heard. Hours of frustration leading into a finale of epilepsy triggers and uncontrolled vomiting. This car is a Civvie11 dungeon punishment.
i don’t think i’ve ever been this early on a rcr video
Pontiac Solstice: The car your mom got, but you liked driving anyway. People liked to diss these things or say the Saturn version looked better, but I prefer the look of the Solstice. It's nice and curvy and designed from the ground up to be a convertible, so it looks natural with the roof down. To top it off, the manual version is a truly fun drive and what's more: Miata drivers wave at me in this thing. The true test of acceptance.
I really liked this car when it came out. I almost got a Saturn Sky as well, but I am glad I went with a Miata instead. Still, the Solstice has nice styling for what it is.
Miata’s are ugly. Solstice for the win!
"It's _like_ a sports car.'
"What do you mean _like_ a sports car? Is it, or isn't it?"
The Pontiac Solstice to my eye, is the spiritual successor to the first gen Corvette. Looks great. Underpowered. Meh handling. Just like the original Corvette. Even the body lines pay homage to the gen 1 Corvette.
Never thought about it that way but definitely can see it.
Sold about as well as the C1 too.
A couple old dudes in a Solstice with the top down were tailgating me one day, so I gave my windshield a good long wash. The passenger had to clean his sunglasses. They laughed about it and backed off so good for them.
That's my Pontiac Solstice story. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
ive been eyeballing a gxp and a c5 and one weird fact, im 21 and with my cridentials, the insurance on these are cheaper than a goddamn 2nd gen prius
edit: the concept started in 2002, not 2004
Since I was growing up in the time, I cant look at a solstice and not think about Michael bay's transformers, and it's not just because jazz was a solstice. It's that it looked like a concept car that somehow slipped through the cracks and went into production and it looked so futuristic in the 2000s curvy silver metallic sort of way.then in tf2 they had that concept Corvette that looked like it would compliment the solstice well, even though it was a design from almost 10 years later. Idk it's just this weird thing I've always had for these cars.
Seeing a Saturn sky on rcr would be amazing because I've only seen one in real life and it was amazing, I had no clue what it was.
I looked into these a couple of years ago when I was wanting a cheap convertible. It doesn't make much more power than an NC Miata despite the fact that it has a larger engine and weighs about 400 lb more. It also has absolutely no storage space in the trunk when the top is down. They have reasonably affordable turbo and supercharger kits for these cars though, so it could be a fun project.
I can fit two regular duffel bags in the trunk with the top down. I’ve down many road trips in the car.
It is quite the coincidence that this review has come out. I am driving an ultra base 5MT solstice right now while I am working on my C5 Corvette. The solstice is so slow and the ride is so harsh. The redeeming quality is that the handling is amazing. The steering is sharp and it corners way better than it should.
I'm totally thinking about buying one to drive around while I rebuild my z32
Why do you despise literally all of the coolest cars that grace your channel lmao
Fresh fever dream to go to sleep to instead of having with my coffee. Shaking things up for us
Pontian Solstice. The official car of wanting a Miata, but dad wouldn’t approve since the Miata isn’t American.
I used to work at a tire shop and we had one of these come in with just a little over 10k miles on it. Not a single scratch on the red paint or the wheels, the interior was still so fresh and new, factory plastic on the floor mats, etc. After completing the everything and the test drive, I was in love with it! Had that corvette feel but not the power imo
Check out the GXP Solstice though. Good power to weight and handling. GM put out a factory tune that didn't void the warranty which brought it pretty close to 300 HP on a 3000 lb vehicle. Interior was had a plastic theme, but mechanically a nice car.
Me: *about to good to bed*
RCR: *uploads a video about a car that I want*
Me: God damnit
Just make sure you get a GXP or a Redline. The 2.0L Turbo i4 is way better than the NA 2.4L
The content on this channel just keeps getting better. But I can't imagine it getting any better than this
This is some classic RCR shit right here. Nice.
These guys have the random relatability of Rick and morty writers… super rare ability
These cars always seemed under-appreciated. Sure, they’re a little rough around the edges, but it’s a nice little Sunday cruiser.
They strike me as a better Thunderbird than the (11th gen.) Thunderbird.
My Boomer uncle bought a Saturn Sky Redline the year they debuted. When talking to my cousin and one of his friends, Uncle Boomer was giddy to exclaim how powerful the V6 was...
Remember kids, lead's bad for you.
Keiichi Tsuchya actually praised this car with a manual transmission. He ranked it way better than the MX5 Roadster. Next time.. find a Solstice GXP. You'll love it.
Was about to post this, the only other thing to say about that is it was an NC1 the Solstice was up against, arguably the worst miata of the bunch. I HIGHLY suggest every nerd who likes to go indepth with all this stuff to watch the savagegeese documentary on the NC, one of the top Mazda engineers at the time goes into an amazing amount of detail about how the NC2 was improved compared to the NC1.
The stock 2.4 l engine has plenty of pep at 177 hp (not 173 hp). It is already a light car. The turbo is a different engine block to handle all that heat and a too cramped engine bay for all that turbo-generated heat. The '06 Solstice has the least repair issues too. The unique front end mimics classic vintage roadsters. The Sky front end is a compromise that many surprisingly like.
Ah yes the great value corvette
With Solstice, you can have fun within legal speeds. With Corvette, you need to go beyond it.
Actually, the Solstice surprised me when I first drove it. It felt much more nimble than I expected. Not a Miata, but closer to it than any other GM car. I also was convinced that “Quad Four” engine actually had some sporty feel. A fun little car.
In April 2007 I bought a Solstice GXP with the turbo engine and the ultra-rare Z0K competition suspension (around 25 build in 2007). It was an absolutely fantastic car with plenty of power, handling like it was on rails with zero body roll and surprisingly good gas mileage (34.2 mpg Seattle to Spokane at 70+ mph). I sold my 2006 Miata NC Sport to buy it and I never ever regretted the change as the Solstice was a far better Miata than the NC ever was. And since it was yellow boy did it get attention, soon after I bought it I was following a minivan with two teenage girls in the far back row when one of them turned around and excitedly nudged her friend who pulled out her phone to take a photo! I've owned many, many cool old and new cars in my day and I've never had that happen before or since. I bought the car for autocross and it was excellent there too, winning many events and carrying me to a 3rd of 54 entrants finish at the Solo Nationals behind only two of dozens of S2000s and Corvettes entered. Unfortunately when I got married I couldn't justify to my wife having both a Fiesta ST and the Solstice so I had to sell it, something I regret to this day. Please try and find one to test drive sometime with the turbo and either the Z0K package or the similar parts-bin GMPP suspension. I suspect you will totally change your tune on the car!
So.. somewhat out of the blue I just wound up with a 37,000 mile Sky Redline a few days ago - the turbo 2.0 liter three pedal variant. The valley between these two sibling products is vast.
Y’all should come check it out.
The Cobalt engine is a good'en. My wife's mom had a cobalt when she died. By the time her sister killed it, it was at almost 400k miles.
📍I had one for a month, I got T-boned and flipped the car with the top down. I walked a away with a creased shoe and a spilled drink. 5 star car in my opinion.
My grandfather has a Sky Redline. It’s a turbocharged model with an automatic, and it is nothing but smiles and BOV noises all the time.
I have a GXP and as people have commented, you really have to drive one in manual to do a comparison with a Miata. The GXP has upgraded suspension and with a simple tune you can get over 300 HP/TQ. It comes with a LSD standard on GXP. The manual is essential in my book if you want to be engaged with the car and really have full control…and it’s just fun.
Also with its bigger wheels and wheelbase etc., it just feels more solid on the highway at highway speeds in my opinion.
I’ve driven a NB and a NC. NCs are great cars certainly.
The pluses on the Miata are a great gear box, more parts availability since it’s still in production, more trunk space, probably better interior qualities, and the slightly simpler convertible top though the solstice is pretty easy.
But if one of your checkboxes for a car is some pretty decent power, good luck with the Miata. You’re going to have to dish out $4000 for a turbo kit (e.g. Fab 9) :-).
You picked the worst possible version - automatic NA - of the car, but: you are absolutely correct about that version of that car. I enjoyed this. Cheers.
Trivia: This is the only steel bodied car ever manufactured using hydroforming (which is usually only used for making truck frames). The car was supposed to release in 2005, but was delayed until 2006 because it took GM longer to figure out home to manufacture the clamshell hood in steel.
I remember the top gear review, "It has enough room in the back for a pail of sand...minus the pail" 🤣😂
I notice a difference style in the videography and editing of this one. Very well done Mr. Regular
I see many people don;t even know about the Solstice GXP or the GMPP upgrade for that and the Redline that was 290bhp 340ft/lbs. Look at the torque curve for that upgrade and it's a nice one. The trasn gearing is pretty good too.The upgrade also took away the learn-down feature so even better aftermarket exhausts can be used to provide more power. Over 300bhp and 350 ft/lbs in a 3200lb car is easy for the GXP and Redline. Trouble with Kappas is not power, it's getting enough tire under the car, the direct injection of the turbo cars, and the scarcity of body parts.
My grandpa has a gxp. That car is fun on the mountain roads here in Colorado, especially with the top down in the summer
I whooped ass with this car in a psp need for speed game and it’s had a special place in my heart since
I was very high off an edible while watching this. The slowmo BUSSY nearly killed me and my abs were sore the next day. God I love RCR.
As the owner of one of those 'unicorn' Solstice GXP Coupes, I'd point out that the top is a targa--it can be removed and left behind, so the lack of a folding rag top does not mean no sunburn.
There is also an optional folding targa top that can be stowed in the back and brought along in case weather is iffy...
Hope the reviewer can find a nearby Solstice GXP or Sky Redline -- w/ manual -- to get a better sense of the cars' true capabilities.
I really hope you're doing a review on that Trabbi I saw on the trailer in the background!
I owned a manual 2006 Solstice for a few years just recently and loved how it drove on dry roads even without the upgraded power, suspension, or brakes from the GXP version that came out a bit later. The car felt wide and super grippy even with mediocre tires on it, and frankly to me it felt way more stable in a high speed corner than many older Miatas that I've driven. It had some radiator issues and the cabin ALWAYS had a moisture problem in the wetter months (damn near half of the year where I live) but it was a fun car to have for a while, and a very good learning experience for me. I moved on to a Fiesta ST and honestly have more fun with it without any significant drawbacks me personally.
"All those people who never felt a girl's strappy slide up their connecting rod." A quote to make my Monday not suck 😂
I liked the manual solstice. It was fun, not quite Miata fun. But fun, great fun for a Pontiac.
I test drove a Solstice and a Miata in 2007-ish. The Miata was better in almost every way, especially when it came to the convertible top. The review doesn't touch on this, but it's a lot more complicated to put the top down in the Solstice, plus the top takes up your entire trunk when it's down. The Miata's top goes down in seconds without you having to even get out of the car, and it takes up no trunk space. And on top of that the Miata was just overall more fun to drive too. It felt a lot more athletic.
I ended up going with a 2001 Miata in the end and have no regrets.
My third grade teacher had one of these and it was the coolest car in the parking lot. I love that woman
Fun fact: the Wilmington, DE gm factory that made these laid dormant for years, fisker cockteasing the UAW for a while, before it got bulldozed for an amazon site.
Love these cars, my ex-gf's grandparents had two GXPs and I drove them both. Really quick with the turbos, they do handle pretty well too.
I’m convinced RCR is the ZERO PUNCTUATION of car reviews
When I sold Pontiacs at Jones in Lancaster I sold number 86. They were preordered. It was a great car.
Sky's and Solstices are cars that appear on WNY roads by the handful once the snow is gone. Put a few thousand miles on them in the nice weather then back into the warehouse from October to March.
this is my first time back on the channel in a while. wheres roman? also i noticed you let the owners talk about their cars some now, i like it
Just got one, 13k miles on it. It looks so much better than almost every other roadster, other than Lexus sc or old MGs
Seen one of these where the engine from the 2014 Nissan Maxima SE was dropped into it with CONSIDERABLE mods. And it was....AMAZING. It fit. It went like stink. It sounded great. THE V6 IS the engine needed for this.
I had a manual 2007 NA Solstice as my first ride when it came out and I can say it had nice short throws
I've had 2 of these, the base one and the gxp, both with the manual transmission.
The gxp was FAST... could easily drift it.
The base model with the automatic transmission was a piece of shit.
In a test between this and the NC Miata , Keichi Tsuchyia said the Solstice was the better option,because of the Torque.
Your comment "The Solstice is a....Porsche 944" at the end left me scratching my head. Sure, both cars are FE/RWD, somewhat underpowered and look great, but fit and finish on the 944 was superb and the handling was phenomenal...pretty much the opposite of what you said about the Solstice. Me? I'm old enough that I''ll take a great looking car over a really fast car every time. I'd love a Solstice/Sky or 944 in my garage. I'll use the money I save on maintenance, insurance premiums and fuel costs (compared to a Corvette) to buy a used Kawasaki Ninja for times when I feel the need for speed.
Seems like the perfect candidate for a casual little bolt-on build that you eventually take to a buddy to get properly tuned. Turbo it, give it about a two inch lift, install some stiffer shocks, put a bumper sticker on it that says "I wanted a Miata but this is nice too."? Shoo buddy.
I owned a 2008 Saturn Sky Redline. 2.0 liter turbo, rated when new 260 horsepower. It was a fun car for charging up an onramp when the turbo spools up. But most of the time its best moments were on a sunny day with the top down, on a road that you knew did not have a lot of bumps to ruin the enjoyment.
Just noticed Fredrik Knudsen in the background. Nice to see RCR hanging out with Down the rabbit hole in the PNW.
I gotta admit I've always liked the Pontiac Solstice there was gentleman that used to live in my town who did fiberglass work on boats and long story short that convertible solstice turned into a long roof shooting brake wagon (I have to add the level of OCD in the fit and finish inside n out was perfect) and it was the coolest thing I think I've ever seen done to one.
Edit: Also thank you, I already called the new baby bronco "bronco 2s" so it's only appropriate every time I see a solstice it's a Fierro pt.ll now
I love how the guy relentlessly said “her” daily driver. To make sure everyone knew it’s not his.
The regular Solstice with the 2.4 won't get out of its own way going downhill with a tailwind. The GXP will light the tires up in 3rd gear. I was looking around 2008 at both it and the Redline which all seemed to hover around the 32-36k range. after seeing this silver GXP on a local small self-owned carlot with a sticker in the windshield for 17k and GXP on the windshield I had to stop. Figured they had to of labeled it wrong, or it was flood damaged or a lemon; something weird had to be up. Come to find out, it was a GXP, it was really 17k, had ~1,500 miles, 5 speed, and came with the dealer installed upgrades for increased boost and allowing you to shift without letting up on the gas pedal. During that time peroid a lot of dealers were going under, and the way it was explained to me was for whatever reason, car got titled out from a different dealer than had went uder and was considered used. Had that thing since 2008 and it's still got less than 10k miles on it. A few things are absolutely stupid, like the interior being really cramped, the cupholders sucking and more likely to dump your drink all over than hold it, and whoever designed the e-brake put it where it's easier for the passenger to use than the driver. But for the price and how that little thing can rip, it gives hundreds of smiles per gallon.
TekWar? The Shat's ghostwritten TekWar?
Now that's a reference I'd never expected to hear.