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Coupes & Convertibles Pontiac Solstice Pontiac Solstice vs 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata
376 messages, Last post on Jan 17, 2008 at 3:20 PM
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I went to my Pontiac dealer and they are sold out of their 2006 allocation of the Solstice but would take a deposit for the 2007 Solstice. Drove the MX-5 and really enjoyed it. Big pluses for the MX-5: 1 - You can get one. 2 - Nice trunk. 3 - You really can operate the roof from inside, but it's easier if you have long arms. 4 - Can get Xenons and Advanced Keyless Entry + Start I personally like th Sky better than the Solstice, but it will likely be hard to get as well.
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Replying to: rqc (Dec 31, 2005 8:51 pm) |
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Did a head-to-head Autocross run-off between a new Miata, a Solstice and a '99 Miata that competes on the national level in SCCA C-Stock class (equipped with aftermarket shocks and swaybars). The new Miata and Solstice were bone stock except for competition alignments, and all three cars ran on new Hoosier R-compounds. One would have expected that with the same HP and 350 extra lbs, the Solstice would have had its butt handed to it. One would have been wrong. On a sub-40 second course, the Solstice averaged only 0.2 seconds behind the well-prepared '99 Miata, and almost 0.8 seconds ahead of the new Miata, which is a lifetime on a course like that. The test drivers all remarked about how easy it was to get into the Pontiac and be *very* fast the first time out, in contrast to the new Miata, which they thought needed a graduate course in body control. None of them liked the Ecotech, though.
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Replying to: ajvdh (Jan 03, 2006 1:56 pm) The Solstice is already tuned for more grip. Its emphasis seems to be more on performance numbers than fun. That would be consistent with the reviews out there. Just theories. (And again, Sport Compact Car found that the MX-5 has 15-20 hp less when the temperature is above 77 degrees.)
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Replying to: carlisimo (Jan 03, 2006 2:24 pm) Let me repeat, since you apparently skipped over this the first time, "The test drivers all remarked about how easy it was to get into the Pontiac and be *very* fast the first time out, in contrast to the new Miata, which they thought needed a graduate course in body control." To expand on that, they all thought that the Miata was not a lot of fun at the limit, having a fairly sharp transition to oversteer which wasn't predictable enough to be useful. Hunt down the article, and remember these guys revere the Miata, but even they acknowledge that the Solstice now appears to be the hot setup in C-Stock.
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Replying to: ajvdh (Jan 04, 2006 1:40 pm) The Miata's suspension is apparently pretty bad once you give it a lot more grip. I'm surprised, and I'm trying to think of why it is. Most people agree that on the stock tires, it's very well balanced and "on the edge." Maybe that specialized tuning gets totally thrown off when you have twice the grip. The Solstice does very well with more grip than stock. I don't mean to take anything away for that achievement. And it's hugely relevant to stock autocrossers, as were the early reports of better slalom and skidpad numbers from the Solstice. I think it was a conscious choice that Mazda made, to specialize its suspension tuning to work with stock amounts of grip. And that amount of grip was kept rather small, at the cost of slalom and skidpad numbers. According to some British review (never found out which), the designers kept grip low on purpose because it made the car more fun to drive. That sort of thinking was bound to be bad news for autocrossers. I didn't think it'd be that bad though. I wonder what accounts for the change from the '99 Miata.
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Replying to: carlisimo (Jan 04, 2006 3:13 pm) Do you mean compared to driving it on R-compounds, then yeah, I can see that, but that sudden transition to oversteer doesn't sound like a good thing even if you're on street rubber. If you mean compared to the Solstice, I'm curious as to what basis you have for saying so - if the Solstice can easily be pushed to the limit on Hoosiers, even with their rather sudden breakaway, why would it be worse on street tires?
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Replying to: ajvdh (Jan 04, 2006 4:16 pm) What I said about their stock behaviors is not my comparison. It's that of automotive journalists. |
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The Pontiac people didn't bother to worry about trunk space in the new Solstice since they knew that GM owners would be afraid to go out of town in this car anyway. Hopefully they will ad OnStar so they can easily call for assistance when they break down.
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Replying to: mx5rules (Jan 08, 2006 8:28 pm) and we have had the car on several.."out of town" trips already...... Do I detect a hint of jealousy here?????...why would a MX5 fan post on a solstice site????? just kidding...car purchases are a personal choice....anyway..so enjoy your miata.......
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