November 18th 2005

I took some flak recently over an article I published criticizing the Pontiac Solstice. I also predicted in another blog that the
Donald (hairpiece) Trump publicity would put a tremendous strain on the production facilities and this would eventually show
up as assembly problems.

The theme of most e-mails was along the lines "You guys are snobs. You believe America can't build sports cars and you
won't give us any room or the benefit of the doubt". Not so, the JAPANESE built Miata was well received in Europe from
day one, so the snob theory doesn't hold much water.

So now, along come a couple of journalists from the Toronto Star and at least one of them has the audacity to write as follows;

" As soon as I sat in the sexy new Pontiac Solstice roadster, I thought ... "Oh dear".

Here's why, in ascending order:

10. The cupholders are too large and flimsy, shaking my coffee everywhere. Not like the four solid holders of the Mazda Miata
— sorry, MX-5.

9. The optional steering wheel buttons are on the wrong sides. This is dumb. Why have volume and channel controls on the right
side of the wheel just a hand's breadth from the radio?

The onboard computer is also dumb. It tells me the average speed, but not the air temperature.

8. The passenger airbag light is just above the steering wheel, right in the driver's line of sight, stating the obvious that there's
no passenger. This is really annoying at night.

7. There's basically no luggage space, with most of the trunk consumed by a huge indentation for the gas tank.
With the top stowed, there's room for a couple of small satchels in the trunk and that's it. The Miata — sorry, MX-5
 — has a complete and spacious trunk.

6. Interior storage is also lousy, unlike the Mazda, with just a glove box and small cubby behind the driver's right elbow.
And to top it off, only the glove box locks.

5. The seat belts are attached to the car and not hooked to the seat back, so they need a reeeaaal stretch back to grasp
when putting them on.

4. It's a slug, making just 177 hp from its little four cylinder 2.4 L engine. I swear my old Cavalier was quicker.

3. The dash is just a big slab o' plastic, towline grey/black at that.

2. The top is a real pain to move.

Here's the procedure to put it down: Unhook the latch above the windshield, pop the rearranged trunk, get out of the car and
lift the trunk lid, heave the top down into place in the trunk, slam the trunk shut and get back in the car.

And here's the procedure to put it back up: Wind down the windows a notch, pop the trunk, get out of the car, lift the trunk lid
and heave the top into place, slam the trunk shut, push down the left side rear cover fastener, walk around the car and push
down the right side rear cover fastener, walk back to the driver's side and get in, fiddle with the latch to get the hook in place
and lock the hook, wind up the windows. It's a real pain in the rain (which pours inside the car when the door's opened, by the way).

The Mazda, however, can do all this with a 10 second flip and tuck and without getting out of the car.

1. The cost of fines for driving without a front licence plate in Ontario will add up over the year, since it's a bigger crime to clutter
up that beautiful grille.

But as soon as I got everything stowed away, the seat belt on, the coffee finished, the top into place and the car up to speed,
I really didn't care because the Solstice just looked too damn sexy.

The Mazda Miata — sorry, MX-5 — is a better car for a similar price in every respect, with more space, more power,
more refinement and more ease of use, but there are also a lot more of them.

The Mazda slices through country roads while the Pontiac gobbles them up, hunched forward over that cruelly plated
grille like a cat.

But Pontiac's probably not bothered by my criticism, anyway — it's adding a third shift ( always a bad sign of rush 'em out
no matter what-Ed) to make them at its plant in Delaware because the Solstice is sold out this year, many of them to people
who "fell" for it while watching The Apprentice this summer.

And who would you rather trust, me or The Donald?"
M.Richardson

And then there's Mr Yap ( a name that sort of suggests a puppy pulling at his masters' trouser cuff).  

Maybe the name should have been Lap?

In his article, same newspaper, same week, he spends about 75% of his time trying to ensure that GM invites him to their
next booze up and exotic junket abroad but when all else fails, he has to admit as follows:-

" 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 refused to be rushed between gears, and the car would wobble on its relatively
soft suspension with every shift. To be fair to Pontiac, the Solstice is not a track car, nor will most of its buyers likely subject their
vehicles to track abuse in the way that, say, owners of Honda Civic Sis and Mazda MX-5s will. But it remained the only car in its
class whose keys I didn't grab for another go when the track finally became empty. Maybe the anticipation over the past few years,
waiting for the Solstice to hit the market, had built up an unrealistic set of expectations.

The car was so hot back then in Detroit that you could hear it sizzle; its stance, its low slung interior, huggy seats, curvy styling,
maybe made promises that no car, really, could ever keep. To offer an extreme sports car with such an eye popping price —
less than C$26,000 for the prettiest car of the year! — was always going to be a monumental challenge.

So my disappointment with the Solstice must be tempered by the fact that I'm glad it simply exists, that I think its mere presence
in the automotive landscape has already made the world a better place."

Don't worry Lawrence, that last paragraph will definitely get you that invitation.

And it's curious that neither of these "expert road testers" mentioned the engine, which drowns out the radio above 120Km/h
and is raucous at all speeds.

So, if you just ordered a Donald, probably at a premium price, you may want to think about cancelling it.



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