Entered CNET Catalog: 03/29/2006
SKU: 100529859
Manufacturer: Pontiac
Product summary
The good: Great-looking lines and meticulous handling give the 2006 Pontiac Solstice two of the key ingredients of a thrilling roadster.
The bad: A terrible gearbox means that drivers have to fight the shifter when changing down and gun the engine to maintain speed when changing up. Aside from a multisource optional stereo, cabin tech ends with the (optional) power windows.
The bottom line: The 2006 Pontiac Solstice is a car for teenage girls with a love of cosmetics or midlife-crisis guys happy to get a budget boy-racer image without the performance to back it up. Those wanting a real roadster experience should look elsewhere.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 06/23/2006
The star of Disney-Pixar's summer blockbuster Cars is a red two-seater called Lightning McQueen, a good-looking race car with a whole lot of bluster but not a lot of depth. Were it not for the fact that Lightning is, well, lightning quick, he might as well have been called Solstice McQueen. Like Lightning, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice is an impressive car on the surface--our red test model turned heads all week with its flared arches, chrome grille, and gleaming 18-inch alloy wheels--but underneath, we found it wanting in character.
The Pontiac Solstice's 2.4-liter in-line four-cylinder sounded good when pushed into the higher rev bands, but the car's performance failed to live up to the soundtrack. Poor gear ratios and an agricultural transmission have drivers constantly downshifting to keep the revs high enough to run with the traffic, while highway driving is equally laborious, as there is little torque to spare for changing lanes or passing.
When eventually coaxed up to speed, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice handles admirably, and a combination of wide wheel placement and solid suspension means that it eats corners and chicanes for breakfast--but don't expect to catapult out of a bend. In the cabin, Pontiac's premium seven-speaker Monsoon sound system (a $495 option) delivers a solid bass line via a subwoofer behind the passenger but little refinement at higher ranges, which is where you will need to keep it if driving on the highway, as the Solstice turned out to be one of the noisiest cars we've driven.
The base-model Solstice ($19,915) is perhaps as stripped down as a new car can get: There are not many cars on the market today that come with manual windows, manual wing mirrors, and manual door locks. Our test model came loaded with options, including the Premium Package (leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and redundant radio controls) for $695; the Convenience Package (cruise control, a driver information center, and steering wheel controls) for $465; the Power Package (power door locks and remote keyless entry) for $625; an air-conditioning system for $960; 18-inch alloy wheels for $545; ABS for $400; the Monsoon audio system for $395; XM Satellite Radio for $195; one year of OnStar for $695; a limited-slip rear differential for $195; and an acoustic headliner for $60. After punching all that into a calculator and adding a $575 destination charge, we could drive our model off the lot for $26,490.
The 2006 Pontiac Solstice is more of a car you wear than a car you drive. After gymnastically installing oneself in the cockpit, there is little room for anything other than a couple of CDs for the ride (to be stored in a tiny compartment between the two seats) and a can of soda, which can be stowed in a pop-out cup-holder tray also in the center console. With the top up, there is adequate clearance overhead for six-footers, but taller drivers will almost certainly need to scoot the seat back as far as possible to use the pedals, especially given the frequency that the clutch is called into action (see Performance).
Our Solstice came with optional leather seats, which provided a snug embrace, especially when throwing the car around corners, although they offered little ventilation, and long periods waiting in traffic became an uncomfortably sticky ordeal. Customers wanting to feel--as well as look--cool in the Solstice have to fork out an extra $1,000 for the car's mediocre air-conditioning system, which is controlled via one of three dials in the center dash.
As with all roadsters, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice is best driven with the top down, which involves a relatively laborious manual procedure to squash the canvas canopy down far enough to be able to close the trunk. Unlike Mazda's 2006 MX-5 Miata, the Solstice cannot be converted without opening the trunk, which is a pain if it suddenly starts to rain while stuck in traffic or--as we found--if burning up in direct sunlight. With the roof in the boot, there is just enough cargo room for two half-full grocery bags.
Despite the laundry list of options that came with our Solstice, the cabin was conspicuously spartan in terms of onboard tech. The head unit for the optional seven-speaker Monsoon stereo system provides a basic interface, including EQ controls, a number of preset buttons, and standard audio-navigation toggle switches. On a positive note, the system supports MP3 and WMA playback and provides detailed ID3-tag information for track, artist, and folder on demand via an information button. Navigation of folders and files is intuitive, as is the selection of the optional XM Satellite Radio.
The system also offers an auxiliary input jack in the front of the head unit to enable the connection of iPods and other portable MP3 players. Perhaps as a response to the open-top acoustics and the amount of noise that the 2006 Pontiac Solstice makes on the freeway (we recorded 89dB with the top up), the stereo sound quality is extremely robust (read: bass heavy), mainly due to a subwoofer installed directly behind the passenger's seat. At higher ranges, the sound quality tails off, especially with the top down.
GM's Driver Information Center is (quelle surprise!) optional on the Pontiac Solstice and controlled by a button on the steering wheel that cycles through a list of data shown via a dot-matrix display in the center of the speedometer, including average gas mileage, range to empty, and average speed. Other steering wheel buttons include stereo track/folder/radio channel and volume controls, as well ones for the optional cruise control. Neither navigation nor Bluetooth integration is available.
The bottom line with the 2006 Pontiac Solstice's interior is all about the bottom line. GM will be able to make a lot of noise about how it's offering the Solstice for less than $20,000, and on the surface, this looks like a good deal for such a handsome car. However, there are few consumers who will want to drive a brand-new car off the lot with wind-up windows and manual locks, and the optional air conditioning is essential for anyone wanting to avoid sweaty traffic jams. All told, the options on our test model came to $6,000, a substantial addition to the base price, especially considering that most of the features--ABS, CD changer, and power wing mirrors--are standard equipment on most $20,000 cars that have rolled off the production line in 2006. Even floor mats are optional on the Solstice; for God's sake, GM, can't you just include these things as standard and tack a couple of grand on the sticker price?
"Is that a General Motors product?" asked a passerby as we labored to put the Solstice's manual top down. His bemusement is well founded: From every angle, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice looks like it will drive like the wind. Flared wheel arches and front fenders, gleaming 18-inch alloy wheels, and a split honeycomb front grille give the Solstice an aggressive persona, which turned heads everywhere we went. For the first-time driver climbing into the cockpit, the promise of driving pleasure is continued with red-on-white racing dials for the tachometer and the speedometer, as well as a short shifter begging the driver to push the car up to its 6,900 redline. Alas, the racing fantasy lasts only as long as the Solstice remains at rest--the Pontiac Solstice does not drive anywhere near as good as it looks.
The specs told us that the Pontiac Solstice's variable-valve-timed Ecotec engine puts out 177 horsepower, but the 2.4-liter four-cylinder power plant barely produced enough torque to keep the car going at low revs. Driving in city traffic, we found that that Solstice was slow to get up to speed in first and second gears--both of which had to be held way more than 3,000rpm to come to life--and that third gear was next to useless at speeds of less than 30mph, again due to lack of torque.
According to Pontiac, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice's gear ratios "provide just the right revolutions-per-minute dip between shifts during maneuvers, allowing for quick acceleration." This is patent nonsense in our experience. Whenever we attempted to change up at speed, the engine plunged down to less than 3,000 revs, resulting in a dramatic loss of power. For any maneuver requiring the Solstice suddenly to increase speed, a downshift is almost invariably required, making urban driving a constant fight with the shifter and blowing a big hole in the car's gas mileage.
The Pontiac Solstice's short, sporty-looking, leather-wrapped manual gear stick is yet another cause for disappointment. While the shifter looks like it is set up for quick, snappy throws, the reality is that half the stick is buried beneath its setting in the center console. This means that the shifts are much longer and less nimble than first impressions suggest. We found that we often had to force the car into gear when shifting and that the Solstice emitted an unhealthy-sounding gear rattle at lower speeds.
When finally coaxed up to speed, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice becomes a bit more user-friendly. Its power rack-and-pinion steering is firm and responsive, and the as-standard, four-wheel independent SLA suspension and optional limited-slip rear differential made us feel like we were on rails when attacking the twisting roads of San Francisco's Presidio national park.
The EPA says that the Solstice's Ecotec engine will get 20mpg in the city and 28mpg on the highway. In more than 180 miles of mixed highway and city driving, we observed an average of 15.7mpg. While we have to admit to using a relatively heavy right foot at times, this was mainly in an effort to keep the revs high enough to retain some control over performance and prevent the car from stalling when shifting up.
The only active safety features on the 2006 Pontiac Solstice are daytime running lights and seat-belt pretensioners that cause the seat belt to tighten if the vehicle senses an accident or when the vehicle stops short. Passive safety includes four-wheel disc brakes as standard and the optional ABS; not including ABS as standard is a major black mark against the Solstice's safety.
Both driver and passenger get dual-stage front air bags but no side or curtain air-bag protection. Our test model came with the $695 option of a one-year subscription to GM's OnStar Safe and Sound plan, which provides drivers with assistance in the event of an accident, vehicle theft, or being locked out. As of the time of this writing, the Solstice had not been rated by the NHTSA for impact or rollover safety.
On the warranty side, the 2006 Pontiac Solstice comes with GM's standard three-year/36,000-mile protection, which covers the complete vehicle including tires, and a six-year/100,000-mile corrosion protection.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23out of 23 user reviews
$20k Car that looks like a $100k Car
Pros: The exterior design is downright breathtaking. The "bulging" lights remind some of the Lotus Elise. The cars back end (IMHO) looks better than the Saturn Sky's. Convertible top is a dream. Solstice is no where near as bumpy as the Miata.
Cons: Interior quality can seem rather cheap. Stereo Receiver isn't the best. Gearbox issues (slight). Power Window button placements seem a bit off.
out of 23 user reviews
Fun in the sun
Pros: Beautiful, fun to drive, affordable
Cons: It's not a hybrid
out of 23 user reviews
You have to really test this thing to know...
Pros: Has a sleek feel about it, American
Cons: Just not a good drive, not an economical pick
out of 23 user reviews
Better than CNet thinks.
Pros: Style, Simplicity, Value
Cons: Plastics is all I can think of....
Not just as someone who owns a Solstice, but from someone who's been an auto enthusiast for as long as he could afford to buy his own cars.
Firstly, this Cnet review is balls. It's so far from the practical that it's incited "this" flux of owner reviews.
The reviewer says the gearbox is clunky?
I'm unsure about that. It may be he is unable to shift properly and/or tried to downshift and knocked his chin on the steering wheel.
The 2.4l ecotec under the bonnet is not a "little ole" 4cyl putter. It's one of the most potent 4cyl motors on the road. As many will tell you, there is alot of power inside.
177hp may not sound like much, but it will straighten you up in your seat when punched properly.
Bottom line, without dissecting the orginal review (which has been absorbed with a cynical grain of salt by now) :
The Pontiac Solstice is right.
It does everything GM claims and looks better than it's price tag. All while keeping their consumers happy and re-invigorating the Pontiac Brand.
Peace
Sol Ice
out of 23 user reviews
Should have used a "little" more thought in design!
Pros: Fun to drive-"Poor" mans Corvette!
Cons: Shifting "CLUNK" SUCKS!-Radio SUCKS!-GLARE on gauges very bad!-Tilt wheel need to be higher-Power Window buttons should have been more forward. ONE more INCH in the cockpit would be nice!
out of 23 user reviews
i must agree, can anyone at CNET drive
Pros: beauty, speed, utility
Cons: you wear it
out of 23 user reviews
Pontiac Excitement is back!
Pros: Sexy body style and fun to drive!
Cons: No turbo version 'til 2007
out of 23 user reviews
Fun to drive babe magnet. What's not to like?
Pros: Great looks, great handling, decent performance
Cons: The tires suck in the rain
out of 23 user reviews
This is one head turner of a car.
Pros: Exterior Looks great and the car has ample acceleration with excellent handling
Cons: No space for anything not built into the car. No pockets or niches for commonly held articles. Glove compartment is OK but other storage areas are of little or no value. Trunk is very small and alm
out of 23 user reviews
Awesome, Cool, Eye Catcher! Buy The New Solstice You Won't Be Disappointed!
Pros: Great Design, Great Handling, Great Stereo, Great Price, Great Gas Mileage!
Cons: It Is Very Hard To Locate A New Solstice At Dealers!
out of 23 user reviews
Kevin Massey, what are your qualifications?
Pros: price, performance, styling
Cons: limitations that come with any car in this price range
The Solstice is not a muscle car, but yes, it does outhandle most "pony cars" on the road today.
The Solstice is not a luxury land yacht, and therefore it is not crammed with unnecessary gadgets that are expensive and finicky.
The Solstice is a pure roadster -- and someday soon, a coupe perhaps -- with the best styling that GM has offered in many, many years. It even has a manual transmission for those people who still know how to shift gears, thank goodness!!
So Kevin -- we know that it's not perfect. Yes, the Miata MX-5 might be a very formidible competitor. But this car is at least an 8.5 on a 10 scale. and no, i would never let adolescent girls drive this car. Parents should let their kids drive the old Accord and buy this for themselves to rediscover how fun it can be to drive.
out of 23 user reviews
Massy and CNET did a hatchet job
Pros: American car, affordable, styling is different, attractive
Cons: family car it isn't
When the Miata came out I tried it out and thought it was absurdly small inside and I am not a huge overwieght tall person. I passed on buying one.
Now Pontiac (and Saturn) produce a slightly larger, affordable, fun sports car, with slightly eccentric styling to appeal to those who want something that sets them apart, and we have to read a seemingly biased review.
I have never seen the word "agricultural" used in any car magazine or TV show on Speed to describe a manual transmission.
Something aint right with CNET car reviews in my opinion.
Your opinion is probably different so enjoy it. I won't pay any more attention to your opinion past the first read.
out of 23 user reviews
great styling, but poor features
Pros: exterior design
Cons: everything but the look of the car
out of 23 user reviews
Stereotype?
Pros: I love my car, the way it handles, feels, and looks!
Cons: Non Owners Opinions
out of 23 user reviews
Buyer Beware! The drivetrain on the Solstice has seriously design flaws!
Pros: Great looking car, would be fun to drive if it were not for the drivetrain issues
Cons: Drivetrain bangs and clunks during shifts, and 3rd-4th-5th gears exhibit loud whines while crusing.
After just a few days our car's drivetrain began clunking during gear shifts. At first the Pontiac service manager agreed that something was seriously wrong. But after a day with the car he produced a Pontiac Service bulletin (Document #1803065) entitled, "Information on Driveline Clunk Noise When Shifting Gears." The bulletin claims that the "clunk noises" as they call them are normal operating characteristics of the car. Are you kidding me?
Now, just last week the car has developed a loud oscillating whining noises (again somewhere in the drivetrain) which occurs while crusing in 3rd-4th-5th gears; still waiting to hear back from Pontiac but from what I understand they don't have a fix for the problem.
These are serious design issues that will affect the car's resale value when the time comes. Do an Internet search and you'll see it's not just an issue with our car.
If it weren't for the drivetrain issues we would give this car and 8 or 9 however the noise is so objectionable we don't even want to drive it. (VIN#1G2MB33B96Y110974).
out of 23 user reviews
coming from a Miata Mx-5 driver
Pros: Better looking than a $100 grand car, incredible handling
Cons: Clunky transmission, whistling top, no space
Disapointments:
-slugish in first, this car needs to be driven at 5k RPM's to feel it which normally it shouldn't
-Top wasnt as tight to the windshield as I would of liked, it gave off a whistling at high speeds. the top itself is much nicer, the mechanism to raise and lower it is tighter and its larger so you have to get out of the car.
-I had a leak in the rear diferencial (one day free service at my dealer)
-Transmission has no give and is clunky (Trucklike)
The things that impressed me:
-The styling is timeless, minimal and really turns heads. Every car should be this unique and i applaude GM for taking a chance.
-Roomy compared to the Miata. The miata feels like your sitting in a clown car waiting to go on stage. Just no comparison except they are both cockpick style.
-This thing handles too well! I could slide my miata out on every turn, spin it and race it around. This car is just to sticky and I haven't been able to get the back end to slide out once.
This is the first year compared to a re-engineered miata, they shouldnt be compared on that level. I went looking to buy a new miata or solstice and I couldnt even look at the miata after driving this thing. The miata is so behind the times in styling.
No doubt about it the miata is quicker (although the books say 7.0 0-60 for the miata compared to 7.4 for the solstice) but the miata feels like go cart speed compared to cars speed.
If you want to burn rubber or race your buddies in your new fast car, this isnt for you. If you want to cruise around in a unique car with enough speed to get in and out of traffic then this is the one.
out of 23 user reviews
Could be better. A lot better....
Pros: Styling and Handling
Cons: Engine, Transmission, Rag Top operation.
Sorry to the rest of the posts, but I pretty much aggree with CNETs review. My biggest complaint is with the engine. Unrefined is putting it kindly. Crap is more accurate. Noisy, whiney, sounds like it's going to fly apart when you get it into it's power band. Torque? What torque? Get used to second gear you're going to need it.
GM should have put in a V6. Better performance, and probably better or comparable MPG.
Transmission is... Clunky.... C'mon it's a roadster, and you feel like your shifting a truck!! Can you say short throw, close ratio... Get with it GM!!
The operation of the top is a joke!! With todays technology and engineering you shouldn't have to get out of the car to operate the top.
Suspension is surprisingly good. Not great, but good. I can live with that. At least they got something right....
GM's pricing and option structure is a joke!! Try and get one for less than 20,000. Yeah, right. There is no such thing as a "base model". Market it as "loaded" for around 25,000.
Bottome line. Good looks do not an autombile make.
out of 23 user reviews
Does this guy know what a real roadster is
Pros: Great styling and fun to drive
Cons: The lack of space
out of 23 user reviews
Reviewer Clearly Doesn't "Get It"
Pros: Drop Dead Gorgeous Looks, Great Handling, Great Price
Cons: Heavy, Poor Top Design-must be raised and lowered from outside the car(looks surprisingly god in the up position), Transmission could be better
Sorry, but the Sol's tranny isn't awful. It could be better, but I wouldn't kick it out of my garage for dripping oil.
Where the reviewer really misses it is with the roof design. When lowered it invades the trunk space which is puny to begin with. Just so everyone knows where I'm coming from, I'm an MX-5 Miata driver. Miata drivers enjoy a roof which can be raised and lowered manually from the driver's seat, but Pontiac has made a trade-off. They sacrificed a sensible top-design for drop dead gorgeous looks. If you ask me, it payed off. Pontiac knew it couldn't compete with Mazda in refinement, top up or down the Solstice gets attention. In base configuration I would still choose the MX-5.
It comes down to a question of whether looks or convenience is more important to you. When you go to take that weekend trip and you can't put the top down because there are two suitcases in the trunk, you may find yourself wishing you'd bought different car. Even Mazda's new retracting hardtop version of the MX-5, to be unveiled in London next week, doesn't violate trunk space when stowed(a fact that must have Mercedes cringing when compared to their $44,000 SLK.)
While its base configuration won't steer me away from the MX-5, I find myself seriously tempted by the GXP variant which brings one heck of a performance package highlighted by a 260 HP powerplant still a bargain at $25,999. Solstice has its flaws, but cars like this are seldom bought for their practicality. When designing a car like this, you choose your battles and Pontiac chose wisely, they knew they couldn't compete with Mazda straight off in the refinement department, so they focused on flash and performance and so far it looks like they've hit one out of the park. Solstice compares rather favorably with several vehicles in the $30,000 to $45,000 range. It may not have all their luxury appointments, but it's got the the looks and handling, and for a not too outrageous premium you can boost the power to a respectable level as well.
So here we are, Pontiac pulls off the unbelievable: American Company builds Affordable, Desireable Roadster.
out of 23 user reviews
Stick to reviewing Cameras
Pros: It's way too much fun to drive
Cons: Places where the front plate is mandatory
Great handling, superior sound system and dead sexy to boot.
Not for the self conscious, expect to get plenty of looks as you cruise.
I love this car.
out of 23 user reviews
Love this car
Pros: Everything
Cons: It's hard to change lanes withh all the other cars around checking it out.
It was a tuff decision, but I sold my standard Sol and went with the GXP. After looking at the technology that went into the turbo 2.0 engine, direct injection, beefed up lower end, dual scroll turbo and more, it made the decision easy. The engine block on the GXP will be able to support a lot more Horse Power than the standard Sol engine. That is if you would ever want more than 260 HP. I lost a little money on the sale of my standard Sol, even though it sold for 1K over sticker (thanks to IL sales taxes) , but I had over 3K enjoyable miles on it before selling.
out of 23 user reviews
most people "get it"
Pros: No car is more fun to drive, Period
Cons: Looks so good it gets compared to the $$$ cars
out of 23 user reviews
Can anyone at Cnet drive?
Pros: Wonderful handling with smooth ride, rare combination.
Cons: practicality, but who the heck cares? Buy the spouse an suv and get this for yourself.
It doesn't.
What it does is exactly what it was DESIGNED to do. Compete with the Mazda Miata. Some magazines have it a tick faster in acceleration, some a tick slower.
The Miata is light and nimble, the Solstice grippy and flat handling. Once again, the magazines that review CARS for a living are split.
Loaded up with options or stripped, the price is again, right with the Miata.
The noise thing? Where the hell were you putting the decibel meter? Out the window? That's completely out of left field, and again, something that's never appeared in any AUTO enthusiast reviews.
The torque thing? Show me another non-aspirated 4 cylinder that puts out more. You want to see lack of torque? Drive an S2000. Yet it is a wonderful engine, you just have to know how to drive it.
Maybe you geeks should just stick to reviewing the radio and digital information center. THAT, you're good at.
