Maybe that's why stopping distance - 170 feet from 70 mph - wasn't appreciably better than in previous Solstices, despite adding higher-performance Goodyears in the same 18-inch size. Speaking of weight, the GXP gains 154 pounds in the power makeover, and the front tires are now burdened with an even greater percentage of its 3031 pounds. It's 0.1 second quicker than a Boxster through the quarter-mile, but it can't quite keep up with the lighter Honda S2000. However, the GXP requires two time-consuming shifts to reach 60 mph, so it often feels quicker than the numbers show.
![soulstice car soulstice car](https://www.summersoulstice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/SS2017-People-Portrait-9-by-Clifford-JI-683x1024.jpg)
Those times are big improvements of 1.1 and 1.2 seconds, respectively, over the base car. After we retested with premium, the GXP redeemed itself, blasting to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 14.2 at 98 mph. Our first acceleration times for the GXP were somewhat slower than Pontiac's claims, and company officials suspected our car may have been delivered - and then tested - with regular fuel. Interior sound is 5 dBA quieter at wide-open throttle. The sound is now a constant moan as it oozes through the revs it's not invigorating, but gone is the harshness as well as offensive noise of the base Solstice. After a startlingly abrupt clutch engagement, the GXP pulls smartly through the first two gears, but by the top of third, it starts to taper off. The engine is responsive, but it does take a second to wake up from idle, a penalty of the high-boost turbo.
SOULSTICE CAR DRIVERS
A big flaw that will keep drivers guessing, however, is nonlinear steering with effort that doesn't seem to build appropriately.
![soulstice car soulstice car](https://www.summersoulstice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Welchys-Payback-17_758.jpg)
In fact, this chassis so easily accommodates the added power that we hope Pontiac has plans to add at least another 50 horsepower, if not more. Even though the GXP still likes to understeer at the limit, picking apart corners is much more entertaining now that the rear tires have a chance of breaking loose under power. There's nothing like a big power boost to enliven an already capable chassis. The four-wheel disc brakes are unchanged, but added grillework around the fog lamps houses cooling ducts that direct air to the front rotors. The GXP looks mostly the same as the standard Solstice, but a black honeycomb front grille, a small chin spoiler, and dual exhausts distinguish the two. It can be turned off, but even when enabled, its intervention threshold is satisfyingly high. Stability control as standard is another GXP addition, and it's not available on the base car. The stubby shifter falls to hand and engages positively but requires a little more effort than we'd like a five-speed automatic is an $850 option. That new ratio eliminates the previously large gap between second and third gears, and the base Solstice gets this improvement as well. However, the Solstice finished just shy of the Mazda MX-5 in a December 2005 comparison test, in part due to merely adequate power (177 horses) from its somewhat harsh and lazy-to-rev 2.4-liter four-cylinder.īesides addressing that power complaint, the GXP adds a stiffer suspension, a taller axle ratio, and a shorter third-gear ratio in the same five-speed Aisin transmission. When we first drove the $20,000 two-seat Solstice, we were won over by its double-take-inducing styling, unflappably rigid platform, and competent handling. The Solstice has been a hit in its first year, selling 11,546 copies during the first six months of 2006, beating out the Mazda MX-5 Miata for roadster sales leader. Yes, the stodgy General is introducing its first gasoline direct-injection turbo at the same time as BMW. This 2007 Solstice, and also the mechanically similar Saturn Sky Red Line, packs a punch of 260 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque from a direct-injection turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-liter version of GM's four-cylinder Ecotec.
![soulstice car soulstice car](https://www.patrickssigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Olympus-Camera-Pics-047-1024x768.jpg)
Skip going out to dinner once a month, and you're there. Spread out over a five-year loan, that works out to an extra 50 bucks a month.
SOULSTICE CAR WINDOWS
That's already a good deal, but much of the optional gear on the base Solstice, such as a limited-slip differential, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, and power windows and locks - things you'd want - is standard on the GXP. Well, Pontiac is charging five grand over the base Solstice price, or $25,995 in all, for a 47-percent increase in horsepower and 57-percent boost in torque with its new GXP. In this case, that number is $2710 - the amount that separates the 2007 260-hp Solstice GXP from last year's 177-hp model.
![soulstice car soulstice car](https://www.summersoulstice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SS2019-PH_050-950x633.jpg)
But once in a while, a car comes along with a price that absolutely screams at us. Regularly driving cars that are so impossibly out of our price range makes it difficult to be as sensitive to the bottom line as someone signing the loan agreement.