Road Test
Regularly driving cars that are so impossibly out of our price range makes it difficult to be as sensitive to the bottom line as someone signing the loan agreement. But once in a while, a car comes along with a price that absolutely screams at us. In this case, that number is $2710 - the amount that separates the 2007 260-hp Solstice GXP from last year's 177-hp model.
Well, Pontiac is charging five grand over the base Solstice price, or $25,995 in all, for a 47-percent increase in horsepower and 57-percent boost in torque with its new GXP. That's already a good deal, but much of the optional gear on the base Solstice, such as a limited-slip differential, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, and power windows and locks - things you'd want - is standard on the GXP. So, really, it's just an extra $2710. Spread out over a five-year loan, that works out to an extra 50 bucks a month. Skip going out to dinner once a month, and you're there.
This 2007 Solstice, and also the mechanically similar Saturn Sky Red Line, packs a punch of 260 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque from a direct-injection turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter version of GM's four-cylinder Ecotec. Yes, the stodgy General is introducing its first gasoline direct-injection turbo at the same time as BMW. Shocked?
The Solstice has been a hit in its first year, selling 11,546 copies during the first six months of 2006, beating out the Mazda MX-5 Miata for roadster sales leader.
When we first drove the $20,000 two-seat Solstice, we were won over by its double-take-inducing styling, unflappably rigid platform, and competent handling. However, the Solstice finished just shy of the Mazda MX-5 in a December 2005 comparison test, in part due to merely adequate power (177 horses) from its somewhat harsh and lazy-to-rev 2.4-liter four-cylinder.
Besides addressing that power complaint, the GXP adds a stiffer suspension, a taller axle ratio, and a shorter third-gear ratio in the same five-speed Aisin transmission. That new ratio eliminates the previously large gap between second and third gears, and the base Solstice gets this improvement as well. The stubby shifter falls to hand and engages positively but requires a little more effort than we'd like; a five-speed automatic is an $850 option. Stability control as standard is another GXP addition, and it's not available on the base car. It can be turned off, but even when enabled, its intervention threshold is satisfyingly high.
The GXP looks mostly the same as the standard Solstice, but a black honeycomb front grille, a small chin spoiler, and dual exhausts distinguish the two. The four-wheel disc brakes are unchanged, but added grillework around the fog lamps houses cooling ducts that direct air to the front rotors.
There's nothing like a big power boost to enliven an already capable chassis. Even though the GXP still likes to understeer at the limit, picking apart corners is much more entertaining now that the rear tires have a chance of breaking loose under power. In fact, this chassis so easily accommodates the added power that we hope Pontiac has plans to add at least another 50 horsepower, if not more. A big flaw that will keep drivers guessing, however, is nonlinear steering with effort that doesn't seem to build appropriately.
The engine is responsive, but it does take a second to wake up from idle, a penalty of the high-boost turbo. After a startlingly abrupt clutch engagement, the GXP pulls smartly through the first two gears, but by the top of third, it starts to taper off. The sound is now a constant moan as it oozes through the revs; it's not invigorating, but gone is the harshness as well as offensive noise of the base Solstice. Interior sound is 5 dBA quieter at wide-open throttle.
Our first acceleration times for the GXP were somewhat slower than Pontiac's claims, and company officials suspected our car may have been delivered - and then tested - with regular fuel. After we retested with premium, the GXP redeemed itself, blasting to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 14.2 at 98 mph. Those times are big improvements of 1.1 and 1.2 seconds, respectively, over the base car. However, the GXP requires two time-consuming shifts to reach 60 mph, so it often feels quicker than the numbers show. It's 0.1 second quicker than a Boxster through the quarter-mile, but it can't quite keep up with the lighter Honda S2000.
