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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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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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Replying to: pao (Jan 09, 2006 5:02 am) Well, the title of this thread IS 'Pontaic Solstice vs. 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata'...
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Replying to: mx5rules (Jan 08, 2006 8:28 pm) I had my share of issues with my NB Miata. GM performs much higher on quality ratings than Ford and Mazda. There is nothing to suggest the Solstice and Sky will not continue the trend.
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Replying to: rorr (Jan 09, 2006 6:05 am)
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Replying to: pao (Jan 09, 2006 8:37 am)
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