Intrepidation

It has no B-PILLAR!!!!! I wonder how the crash tests will go.

There has been "rumors" running ramped about sales, mergers, brand selling, and so on and so for a while now. So far they've all been proven false. Until I actually hear something from an actual company, with an actual name of a person, I don't believe any of it.

When Looks Are Everything Source: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drive...photopanel..4.* Our hopes were high following the debut of the 2009 Pontiac Solstice Coupe at the 2008 New York Auto Show last year. We had not forgotten the ergonomic shortcomings of the Solstice. Nor had its functional limitations slipped our minds. It was mechanically the same curvaceous Solstice that had made us swoon in 2006. Only now it had a bitchin' hardtop. So here we stand again with hearts racing and gaze locked on the 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe. The GXP offers you 260 horsepower from its turbocharged Ecotec inline-4 and big tires to put the power to good use, so it's a lot more serious than the standard Solstice coupe. Its angled roof gives the coupe an angry, menacing stance unmatched by the roadster. This is the car we secretly want to like. In the back of our minds, we hope it's different from the 2006 Pontiac Solstice we lived with for a year in our long-term fleet. And perhaps it's a measure of the intensity of this hope that our disappointment is so devastating. Looks Only Go So Far From the moment the Solstice concept appeared at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show, GM had the attention of everyone who loved sports cars. And as the car slowly evolved toward production until it was officially introduced as the 2006 Pontiac Solstice, we tracked its progress faithfully. It brought together the Ecotec inline-4 developed in drag racing, a manual transmission from a supplier to Mazda, and a platform with a short 95.1-inch wheelbase for maneuverability and a wide track for cornering grip, not to mention an extravagantly swoopy shape designed by Franz von Holzhausen. Even today, the Pontiac Solstice is among the best-looking production cars available. And we'll put the 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe in the same company when it reaches Pontiac dealers in the coming months. Gone is the cumbersome retractable soft top. In its place is a roof that combines a removable, targa-style roof panel made of magnesium, with a fixed fastback that incorporates a cargo hatch. The Solstice coupe's aggressive new roof line is even more lust-inducing than the sweeping curves of the Solstice roadster. Conceptually, the Solstice GXP coupe is a great car. You can see the proof in road racing competition, where the Solstice coupe ran at the front of the pack in the SCCA's Showroom Stock B. This turbocharged version of the 2.0-liter Ecotec inline-4 makes 260 horsepower at 5,300 rpm and 260 pound-feet of torque at 2,500 rpm, plenty of power even though the coupe weighs 3,057 pounds. This is also considerably more power than you'll find in the standard Solstice coupe, which has a normally aspirated 2.4-liter Ecotec that does 173 hp and 167 lb-ft of torque. And it doesn't stop there. Acceleration for the GXP looks good. From a standstill it reaches 60 mph in 5.5 seconds (5.2 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip) and completes the quarter-mile in 13.8 seconds at 100.3 mph. This performance is quicker than the last Mazda Miata PRHT we tested by 2 seconds to the 60 mph mark. The GXP is four-tenths of a second slower to 60 mph than the 332-hp Nissan 370Z we tested recently, and the Z-car is also only narrowly faster through the quarter-mile with its run of 13.4 seconds at 104.6 mph. So how is the 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe not the best car ever? Personality Is What Matters Now look beyond the fastback roof line and ducktail spoiler. When we delve into the real personality behind the GXP coupe, its American heritage is clear. Give it lots of power and make it go fast in a straight line. Check. Make sure it does burnouts. Check. Wait a second; we're out of boxes to check. Comfortable cockpit with practical storage? All-day freeway comfort? We can't even stow the narrow hardtop inside the car? Never mind that; send this car through production. In Detroit, we only drive sports cars on Sunday afternoons anyway. This is the character behind a Solstice, and one not everyone can embrace. Don't expect to drive it to the mountains for a long vacation. Don't expect it to out-maneuver the Miata on a winding road. But be certain that when the light goes green, you'll smoke him and that jerk in the Porsche Cayman off the line every time. The Solstice GXP is an American sports car. It makes the numbers, but it has an unrefined and brutish quality about it. From its stark interior to the balky action of the five-speed transmission's shift action, this car pays no mind to refinement. Look no further than the Chevrolet Corvette for the personality lesson. When Personality Runs Out The Solstice GXP will never lose its looks, but its personality runs thin once the wear bars in the Goodyear tires start to show. Sure, we accept the Solstice as it is. But this car serves up a handful of crucial and unforgivable disappointments. Some key functional obstacles in the Solstice coupe came righteously through the family tree. These ergonomic challenges of the roadster's interior design are well documented. Most remain unchanged in the coupe. A lack of rear storage was another complaint on the roadster. Pontiac addressed this in developing the coupe, sort of. It added a flat rear load floor, in-floor rear storage cubbies and cupholders located behind each headrest. The optional Capuchin monkey package is a must-have to transport drinks from rear cupholder to hand, as they are otherwise inaccessible by either occupant. According to Pontiac, no drivetrain or suspension changes were necessary to shift from roadster to coupe body structure, since the overall curb weight increase was minor. As a result, the handling characteristics remain unchanged. The suspension is still underdamped and feels like it hits the bump stops through transitions. This hampers slalom speed during our tests, which the GXP coupe completed at 66.7 mph. The Miata (70 mph) and 370Z (70.4 mph) were considerably quicker under similar conditions. What's the Story Here? There is nothing ground-breaking about the 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe. Its new hardtop improves the looks of the already attractive roadster. But aside from this subtle change, the car remains a Solstice. The inherent limitations of this vehicle remain, no matter how much we hope they'll just go away. Maybe we expect too much. Though it has been conceived as a Miata fighter, the Solstice seems to promise so much more in the way it looks and the way it performs, as if it really wants to be more like a Nissan Z-car, especially since it wears a price tag that's like that of a Z-car. But the result still seems strangely unfinished. To find closure with the Solstice, we've decided to think of it as GM's project car — a work still in progress. All we can do is wait and hope that Pontiac earns enough cash to finish off this car's development and build us the Solstice we still long for.

Pontiac and the Trailer Trash Source: http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009...photopanel..5.* This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive sage and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate habit of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and magazine editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic. I don't know how to save General Motors. Do you? Wait, before you answer do me a favor and shut up. You don't know. Nobody does. Oh, there are plenty of people out there, from senators to meth dealers, who think they know how to turn the once great automaker back to great, but they don't know either. I've been covering the auto industry for more than 20 years. And in that time I've seen GM try anything and everything more than once, only to see things get worse. Cut costs? Been tried. Better product? Been tried. Fewer brands? Been tried. More interesting design? Been tried. Import more cars from overseas? Been tried. Build more trucks? Been tried. Build more cars? Been tried. Build more small cars? Been tried. More platform-sharing? Been tried. Less platform-sharing? Been tried. Think of them as brands, not cars? Been tried. Think of them as cars, not brands? Been tried. Restructure? Been tried. Restructure again? Been tried. Think more global? Been tried. World cars? Been tried. Export cars to Japan? Been tried. Vehicles with more features and higher price tags? Been tried. Vehicles with lower prices and optional everything including air-conditioning and ABS? Been tried. Cars with plastic bodies? Been tried. Muscle cars? Been tried? Rebadged Toyotas? Been tried. Short product cycles? Been tried. Long product cycles? Been tried. New nameplates? Been tried. Reviving old nameplates? Been tried. Consolidate? Been tried. Expand? Been tried? Increase fleet sales? Been tried. Decrease fleet sales? Been tried. Front-wheel-drive cars? Been tried? Rear-wheel-drive cars? Been tried. Tiger Woods? Been tried. Fewer dealers? Been tried. More Internet marketing? Been tried. Rebadge small cars from Korea? Been tried. Hummer? Been tried. Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday? Been tried. Race at Le Mans? Been tried. Sponsor baseball? Been tried. Build new factories? Been tried. Build cars in Canada? Been tried. Mexico? Been tried. Close old plants? Been tried. Improve quality? Been tried. Hire Bob Lutz? Been tried. Cater to us car enthusiasts? Been tried. Pander to the lemmings who love their Camrys? Been tried. Alternative-fuel vehicles? Been tried. Hybrids? Been tried. Electric cars? Been tried. Carlike trucks? Been tried. Halo cars? Been tried. Rebadged Holdens? Been tried. Rebadged Opels? Been tried. Let car guys run the show? Been tried. MBAs? Been tried. Alphanumeric names? Been tried. More chrome? Been tried. Less chrome? Been tried. No chrome? Been tried. http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/mech...pontiac-555.jpg And yet, after all that, they're still on the brink of bankruptcy. Disturbing. More disturbing is the implosion of Pontiac. Once a great division of the great GM, it has for decades survived on selling overstyled and under-engineered Grand Ams and Sunfires to the trailer trash of our country's midsection. And for awhile the double-wide demographic was keeping Pontiac in the black. But I never understood how selling bad cars to the low IQ, low-income, beer-for-breakfast crowd was Pontiac's actual business plan. But it was. And bad taste marketed to the dumb was good business for quite some time. And Saturn. Saturn was once a success story. Now it's dead. And for many of the same reasons. How? Why? How did Pontiac get stuck with the losers, while Honda, Nissan, Toyota and BMW became the brands of the college grads and people who eat with utensils? How did it get so upside-down? Why is there a Saturn parked beside most mobile homes, while consumers with teeth and good credit are now buying Hyundais? Why do you see more Pontiacs on the TV show Cops than any other car? I don't know the answers. Sure, the best thing about the Aztek was the styling (if you've driven one, you know what I mean), and the Ion was the worst car I've ever driven in my life, but every car company has made mistakes in the last couple of decades. Flops are part of the biz. Look at Acura. It had two terrible TLs nobody wanted before hitting it big with the third generation. And the RL has consistently missed the market. But the public gives Honda's luxury division a pass on these mistakes, while holding grudges against domestic brands for the similar offenses. Why is the first TL forgivable, but not the first G6? I don't understand it. Does anybody? -- The Mechanic, Inside Line Contributor

80,700 miles is nothing.

No one is buying Jeep. Please smk, get your facts straight.

Why replace i with the same car if it's been good to you? Just wondering.

Remember Sixty8, with the exception of the Jeep the rest of the cars are very subject to change.

I prefer Raspberry.

Polaner All Fruit FTW!

Welcome back, been wondering what happened to you!

SRX would be a nice way to go too!

That sounds just like the mentality that brought us exciting cars like teh Citation, last gen Malibu, 6000, G3, G5, Torrent...

Actually, the front is my least favorite aspect of the car. The rest is pure sex though, IMO.

Well that's what the Politics Forum is for.

So, I'll ask again, what car does she want anyway? Also, the car looks familiar...kinda like the very one you sold off to get the Cadillac back even though we both knew it was a bad idea.

If you're not going to be helpful and constructive don't post in this thread. He asked for suggestions and thoughts, not rants.

The Saga continues! http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29364095/?GT1=43001

I would go with the `09 one because it has a way better interior, and more refinement overall. Same for the Escape. What about a Liberty or a Wrangler Unlimited?

gravy

I figured it was time for a new wallpaper, and in the spirit of Transformers 2 coming out, I made a wallpaper for it.

GM moves one step closer to spinning off or closing Saturn. As expected, GM has started on its plan to close down or sell off the Saturn brand. To get the full story follow the jump. http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?sh...c=28407&hl=

I'd love to see a Grand Vitara out Jeep a Jeep, I somehow doubt I ever will. Anyway, as far as reliability goes for the Grand Cherokee, most of the issues were isolated to the `05 model, with a few effecting `06 models. Their reliability seems to be pretty good after that. If you buy new you also have the plus of the Lifetime warranty, which is great if you plan to keep it for a long time. If you don't it's not such an advantage since the warranty is non transferable. And of course, it's a Jeep, the AWD system is some of the best you can buy anywhere, and it can tow a lot more than the cute Utes.