After reading The Pontiac Solstice is a True Roadster, Mark asked me, “Is the solstice a driver’s car at all?” Ceci n’est pas un roadster.
I did some research and found a great quote from Laurance Yap of Canadian Driver, “the Solstice is not a track car.” Alas, the Pontiac Solstice is all bark and no bite.
Excerpted from Laurance Yap of Canadian Driver:
“While the Solstice was a pleasant, fun car to drive on public roads, it was quite a handful on the track. In damp conditions, its rear end would skip sideways with very little provocation, even in very gentle, large-radius corners. It would struggle to put down the power even in a straight line. The shifter, which felt tight and accurate on the road, refused to be rushed between gears, and the car would wobble on its relatively soft suspension with every shift. It was a disappointment, given the promise of the Solstice’s looks, and how good it felt on the road.
To be fair to Pontiac, the Solstice is not a track car, and nor will most of its buyers likely subject their vehicles to track abuse in the way that, say, owners of Civic Sis and Mazda MX-5s will. And also to be fair, another Solstice I tried out later the same day in dry conditions felt quite a bit better. Still, its rear end - dancing around on all-season Goodyear Eagle RS-As while the Miata hugged the road with Yokohama performance tires - was far too lively even for my hooligan tastes, and it remained the only car in its class whose keys I didn’t grab for another go when the track was empty at the end of the day.
How much of this really matters? I can’t say for sure. The Solstice never felt unstable on the road, but I drove it during two hot, dry summer days. And because it looks so sporty, and has such great specs - independent suspension all around, big tires, available limited-slip differential, Bilstein shocks -
drivers are likely to push this car harder than they might another Pontiac, and might be surprised what happens when they reach the edge of adhesion. At least the MX-5 offers, as an option, an electronic stability control system to augment its (arguably) superior roadholding. Certainly, Pontiac’s advertising is positioning this vehicle as a real sports car rather than a boulevard cruiser.”
