The O.C.

Jeezus Future.....I'm not complaining about a "little hard plastc..." I shouldn't be able to easily full the door panel off of the Solstice's door.....it's bad, it's tacky, and I for one have not before, and won't now, let GM off the hook because of their crappy interior execution (no matter how attractive the actual styling of it is.....and it IS attractive in the Solstice.) As far as Solstice versus Miata, Pontiac better not get ego-maniacal about this car....Miata is STILL too good, too well respected and a bit better in some areas for us to all think the battle is over. Performing better? That remains to be seen.....one article says Solstice is a bit quicker and a next article says the Ecotec lacks the flexibility of the Miata. Looks a hell of a lot better? Hey in this instance, NO argument from me..... Functions better and satisfies better? Well, I'd have to say that's quite subjective and a tough claim for you to make. Have you driven both? I haven't..... Solstice is a winner, no doubt....and if I could get around the pathetic lack of storage capacity, I'm pretty sure I'd pick it over a Miata.....but I'm still going to call it like I see it.....

Uh....have you really examined the interiors of the recent Korean entries from Kia and Hyundai? In most cases they have now SURPASSED the interior quality and fit-and-finish of most GM vehicles! For absolute certain, the Kia Spectra I had as a rental car is far superior to a Cobalt in interior materials and fit-and-finish......(although I'd far rather HAVE a Cobalt than a Spectra...)

Interesting......while I was in Frankfurt (a short 2.5 days) I saw two domestic automobiles.....both I assume were brought over by their owners as opposed to purchased here... 1) pre-'93 generation Trans-Am 2) first-generation Dodge Intrepid It did give me a sense of pride to see these two cars shooting down the Autobahn in Germany!

Funny.....when I was talking to an engineer at the Detroit Auto Show, he said that the current V8 lineup would NOT fit with the Hummer H3 architecture (or the Colorado/Canyon.) That's where the original rumor of a turbo I-5 came about.... Maybe the "few years away" reflects the next-generation Colorado/Canyon/H3.....but when is THAT coming....?

"Beyond Precision?" YUCK! <_< CRIMINY! What was EVER wrong with "Premium American Motorcars?" That was probably the BEST tagline that they EVER had..... B) I was ALSO pissed when Mercedes-Benz stopped using the tagline "Engineered Like No Other Car in the World." (Even if the quality has sucked as of late.) One thing's for sure.....you'll NEVER see BMW abandon "Ultimate Driving Machine."

Yeah....I changed when C&G changed because people would occasionally ask where I lived, yadda, yadda.....so I figured I'd do like LosAngeles and some of the other guys and pick a name that kinda tells what region I live in..... ....and thanks, Ehaase....!

I agree TOTALLY! And the poor-fitting door panel is one of my main gripes (in addition to the cheap plastics.) When you see it in person, the gap is big enough to see down into the door....and you could easily grap the inner door panel with your fingers and it flexes like you could pull it right off the door. By the way.....the all-black interior looks WAY better than the VERY strange light grey/beige combo.....

Turbo200.....you know me (sorta) and you know that I wouldn't put up such a contraversial post about our new beloved Solstice if I didn't feel passionate about it... Most of us on here will still be big Solstice fans....partly because of our loyalty and enthusiasm for GM and our desire to see them produce a big hit like this. But the rest of the buying public with no apparent loyalty or enthusiasm for GM won't be as forgiving of GM on certain issues like this and I hate to see us or GM have to make excuses for it when just a little bit more attention to detail would have made this a no-excuses car. The Solstice has about a $1000-$1500 comparably-equipped price advantage over the Miata, correct? Well, I tell you what.....I'd be MORE than happy to give up that pricing advantage for a classier-level of interior fit-and-finish. Solstice shouldn't need a price discount to outsell Miata....

Roadster or not, a new Kia Rio has better interior fit-and-finish and materials..... God I LOVE the Solstice but I'm sick-and-tired of having to make excuses for what is a great overall car....just because we all love it doesn't mean it's perfect.....and my first two in-person views of the car has left me really disappointed in this aspect of the Solstice. And as far as a comparable car, the new Miata WASTES the Solstice on interior fit-and-finish.....for about the same money or a bit more.

First of all, the nasty color combination wasn't what I was talking about in "cost-cutting"....it was the really bad fit-and-finish and poor interior materials.... The color comment was just an opinion

I think maybe the comment about an 8-speed was sarcastic....... BUT I think the reason the Benz 7-speed seems to work pretty well and doesn't "hunt" around is that I believe the transmission can skip a gear or two if it needs to on acceleration and deceleration... I've NEVER been able to count 7 actual gear changes in our S500 as I accelerate from a stop to freeway speeds.....either by feel or watching the tach....neither can I when slowing to a stop....confirming what I think I read about the 7-speed skipping gears....? That would make sense......the auto picks the right gear for the particular driver inputs and vehicle performance....

He said he sat in the Yukon.....but strangely enough, you couldn't get in the Tahoe...?

As far as the window auto up/down, I too agree that GM needs to really expand their use of that feature. I'm so used to our Benz and BMW having all four auto up AND down, that it really pisses me off that my '06 Corvette (at a healthy $61,500) only has auto down on the driver side. No auto up, and no auto at all on the passenger side.

That's why you have driver-controlled window locks......

Lutz also told me that capacity issues with the 3.6L is why Lucerne doesn't have it (and also why G6 doesn't have it.) He also said that "protecting Cadillac" is why the Lucerne makes do with the "low-power" NorthStar. As much as I like Bob, I think both reasons are bullshit.....and prime examples of the fu--ed up thinking that's kept GM from recapturing the hearts and minds of all the import owners that USED to own GM cars.... I've said before.....if you don't have "capacity" for a certain engine, but it's the engine that SHOULD be used, then do something to spend the money to get additional capacity. Also, if your models are TRUE to their brand identities, then having a "high-power" NorthStar Lucerne is in NO way going to damage the image of a "high-power" DTS. You don't see Lexus fretting that Toyota has a new Avalon has a bigger V6 with more power than their ES330......?

I'm not partial to either truck-based SUVs or unibody-based SUVs.....they both have their advantages and disadvantages. The reason many people buy those Escapes, CR-Vs, and RAV-4, or those "cute-utes" is because they don't need off-road capability, but like a higher seating position combined with the flexibility of a usable cargo hold, front-or-all wheel drive for rainy or snowy conditions, ALL of this combined with an "SUV" that pretty much drives like a car. Equinox is a great GM product that would only really benefit from the Honda V6 from the VUE. The pushrod 3.5L is really the only aspect of the Chevy SUV that I dislike. Interior quality in some parts might be questionable, but the interior design overall is attractive, roomy, and quite functional.

The point IS... It's not the fact that the surfaces are hard.....it's the actual QUALITY of those hard surfaces..... MANY imports use plenty of hard plastics too....but for some reasons, they choose hard plastics that are matte-finish, nicely-grained, and attractive to the eye and touch. In GM's case, many of their hard surfaces are shiny (as opposed to matte), brittle and hollow when you rap on them, and have questionable grain-quality that doesn't seem to match the other plastics inside the cars. Impala is a perfect example. The top of the dash and door panels are soft, richly-grained, and pretty much top-of-the-class. The lower dash and door panels, for example, are hard, hollow, brittle, with a grain that doesn't even look like it's TRYING to match the rest of the interior. MAN if they JUST fixed that aspect, the Impala interior WOULD be world-class.....'cause the rest of it is pretty damn nice.

I was driving back from Bowling Green and missed the Anaheim show. OCCarNut gave me some info about the show.....did anyone else go? I hear that GM debuted the Yukon and Denali there. OCCarNut said the interiors were fantastic...and even had decent materials. On the flip side, he was less-than-enthusiastic about the Lucerne he say in person...

OCCarNut and I are going.......we go every year and stay at the Courtyard Marriott downtown.... We also hope to meet up with Evok if he goes the same weekend we do.... THIS year, however, we are going to make sure we get reservations to go through the GM Heritage Museum ahead of time..... You L.A. guys.......Spirit Airlines (we like to call it "Ghetto Airlines") usually has non-stop flights from L.A. to Detroit for around $200. You leave on a red-eye, get into Detroit around 5am or so.

To all...... My comments on the current Camry versus the current Malibu were based upon a recent 250-mile drive in an '05 Malibu LS V6 rental......and a recent (last week) rental of an '05 Camry LE L4. Let's take styling (interior and exterior) out of the equation, okay? The Camry was 10-times the car the Malibu was..... The 4cyl WAS quieter than the V6 Malibu and WAS smooth and punchy (the Camry 2.4L is FAR nicer than the Corolla 1.8L.....they are different engines.) Fit-and-finish was top-notch. As far as interiors, NO contest.....the Camry FEELS far richer and if you compare the radio, HVAC controls, and minor switchgear to what you get in Malibu, it's a drastic difference. Gauges in the Camry are the (Toyota's name) optitron instruments that when combined with the gauge typeface, give the Camry a MUCH more upscale-appearing instrument cluster than the Malibu's gauges. AND, somehow, Toyota is able to tune the Camry chassis to QUIETLY soak up ruts and bumps as well as an old Buick dynaride.....with a level of float and wallow that's much less than typical "soft" base GM suspensions. The Malibu will most likely go around corners faster....sure....but with the Malibu we also got a chassis that felt less-than-solid over bumps and ruts....with steering and chassis wiggles and shakes....and more severe impact noise. SO.....to recap the "boring" debate.....I find the Camry more impressively-competent than outright "boring." The Malibu I found "boring" because it didn't seem to have much outright talent to make up for its conservative exterior and uncompetitive interior.

Ah...but they are.... We just recently had a tow-truck back into our X5. It crunched the painted-plastic part of the front bumper....but DIDN'T damage the headlights or any actual sheetmetal.... Cost to repair was over $3K. Expensive, yeah....duh.... But for some reason, maybe safety or something, the insurance for these is not that bad and pretty competitive to domestic cars I've had in the past....

I agree.....and it's this glaring lack-of-quality that the Honda, Toyota, BMW, and Lexus devotees will continue to use as examples of why they don't think that GM stacks up... I also agree that the Solstice will still be a big hit. BUT, does that excuse the crappy interior quality? That's a tough debate....

Well, at $33K, it's certainly not a Camry competitor.... I can give TONS more examples..... Solstice is around $1,500 LESS than a comparably-equipped Miata..... Look at Ford's pricing strategy for Fusion and 500 versus similar Asians.... Tacoma and Frontier priced considerably higher than a comparably-equipped Colorado.... I'm not defending the Yen....I'm just sayin'.....with the Big 3's incentives, factored on top of their more-than-competitive MSRPs, sometimes I don't think the Japanese have as big of a pricing advantage as everyone makes out.

Sure.....Razor can have whatever opinions he wants....just as all of us can. However, to me, it seems like he's constantly grasping at whatever straws he can because more-or-less, he keeps fighting a battle of opinion that is very difficult for him to defend..... The world's a different place now and the U.S. is not the only major economic power in the world. We are also seeing the unprecedented fact that now even so-called "third-world" nations are becoming major worldwide economic powers (Korea, China, etc.) This country can NEVER go backwards to try to recapture the economic status we've enjoyed for so many decades. The U.S.A. can never remain complacent....The Big Three remained complacent for too many decades in the face of import competition.....and look at what that protectionist attitude got them.... The United States will continue to develop and build upon our economic vitality...but it won't be by ignoring the rest of the world....

Our borders are ALREADY overrun with folks coming into our country illegally.....(at least here in California, and I'm sure Texas and south Florida....)