Pontiac Solstice Carries Plenty of Wow!

Drooling over the Solstice on the show room floor is not unheard of. The Pontiac Solstice combines raw power, a raft of amenities, and knock-em-over styling causing double takes. It’s been over five decades, since the 1959 Bonneville, to find a split screen that caused so much excitement. This car challenges the BMW Z4 and Audi TT at half the price.

The Solstice comes in two different flavors, the base package and the souped-up GXP. The basic package includes a 173 horse power, 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine that still turns in respectable gas mileage. The GPX manages to squish a punishing 260 horse power engine into a 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine. Both power engines are attaches onto a five speeder manual or auto transmission. The base model does include electronic traction and stability control, limited slip rear differential, anti-lock disc brakes all the way around the car, generous 18-inch alloy wheels, and crisp satellite radio. The GXP upgrade augments the base package by adding a more responsive transmission, dual exhaust tips, leather steering wheel and shift know, and improved floor mats. After the GXP package, the most popular Solstice add-ons are fog lights, grill enhancements, and a critical Pontiac Solstice windscreen windblocker wind deflector.

While there’s much to enjoy for the Solstice, it’s not without some draw backs. The steering can be sloppy. The Solstice tips the scale at over 3000 pounds, so being quick-and-lite is not upon the abilities of this car. Also, coming out of corners, the Solstice tends to hang on. Coming off the line, the acceleration can be a bit lethargic. This car is not comfortable, with components in illogical spots and substandard parts made from third-world wages. Trunk space is smaller than your closet. When you put the top-down, if you take more than a five-minute trip, you will need a Pontiac Solstice windscreen windblocker wind deflector (also check out other convertible windscreen reviews) to arrest the harsh backwind.

Certainly the Solstice has some nits, which are made up for by its body style. Pontiac certainly isn’t known as a style leader, which the Solstice corrects. The duel-hump body work of the Solstice provide a wonderfully futuristic look. Strangers will come up and strike up conversations about your Solstice. On the balance, the positives outweigh the negatives. Drivers in search of a top-down driving blast will not regret this selection.