Gear Sports

Special edition gallery for mustang fans:

Check every image to enlarge

Living with the Solstice is a challenge. While its main competitor, the Mazda MX-5 Miata, offers a usable trunk, the Solstice does not. With only 4 square feet of cargo volume with the top up and virtually none (around 1.5 square feet) with the top down, grocery shopping is an impossibility. Editors would have to buy milk today and orange juice tomorrow.

A quick look at the test numbers from the track show impressive statistics — a 7.2-second 0-60-mph time, a 15.6-second quarter-mile at 88 mph and a 66.2-mph spin through the slalom. All are comparable to or better than the Miata.

While the Miata offers a brilliant top system that folds down with a single over-the-shoulder gesture, locking with a simple push-down — we did it once in 1.5 seconds — the Solstice is cumbersome at best. You must exit the car, pop the trunk, lift the lid, detach the roof, fold down and then shut the lid. Our best time in the Solstice was more than 20 seconds to get the roof down and locked. Thanks to a poor design, the latch hook that secures the roof to the windshield frame can be bent easily when putting the roof down for storage. We did it about a dozen times.

Dealer Service Reviews
15,000-Mile Service:
Boulevard Buick/Pontiac/GMC in Long Beach
Oct. 10, 2006

We pulled into the service drive on time for our scheduled 7a.m. appointment and were pleased to see we were the only car in line. The optimist in us saw this as the line half-empty and was looking forward to the service finishing quickly and being on our way. It turns out that the line was really half-full because it wasn’t until 9:30 that the keys were back in our hand and we were paying the bill.

Service items performed: Change oil and filter, service emission system, rotate tires and a “Goodwrench” visual inspection of tires, belts, fluid levels, etc. Total bill for parts and labor, $225.96

At all.. it’s a car that fully diserve to be driven.