Aug 06 Automobile GXP first drive

[Axel]

Didn't say much, but some insight into our Sky Red Line
...slower 0-60 than GM's numbers, but nice press on steering/handling

Automobile Magazine, August 2006
Driven: Pontiac Solstice GXP
Scoop! Exclusive first drive of GM's turbocharged roadster.

Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Pontiac Solstice has been the rare ray of sunshine in General Motor's winter of discontent. The Wilmington, Delaware , plant is working three shifts and Saturdays keeping up with Kappa-car demand, now stretching beyond Pontiac and Saturn (Sky) to Opel (GT) and Daewoo (G2X). Andrew Aquilante drove a Solstice to a podium finish in its SCCA showroom stock debut, and slideways champion Rhys Millen is hanging tail in a Red Bull-sponsored Solstice drifter. Tuners, including GM's own Performance Division, are juicing Solstice engine bays with hot V-8s like its a reincarnated 1932 Ford.

The best news is that the turbo edition, rumored from Kappa's birth and affirmed at this year's Los Angeles auto show, is ready to motor beyond Mazda's MX-5 to play in the performance-roadster league. Tested here first, the ripped 2007 Solstice GXP packs 260 hp and 260 lb-ft (of torque). The only powertrain carryover is the cylinder count. Revised 2.0 liter block, head, crank, rod, and piston architecture is force-fed with direct-injected fuel and turbocharged-and-intercooled air.
The Solstice GXP's appearance is in a word, stealthy. The front bumper is molded with D-shaped brake-cooling dimples and an intercooler goatee. In back are dual exhaust pipes, a discreet GXP badge, and an optional lip spoiler. The side view is unmolested.
Underneath, the GXP has a taller axle ratio, a shorter third gear, Bilstein dampers, 20 percent firmer spring rates, fatter antiroll bars, and a few stiffer bushings. ABS, stability control, and a limited-slip differential are standard. Goodyear Eagle F1 all-season radials share the base car's 245/45/WR-18 size, but the new rubber is tuned for sharper steering response and minimal tail wag.
If the standard Solstice is Pontiac's poodle, the GXP is its whippet. Boost rises quickly just past idle, with peak torque invigorating the driveline by 2000 rpm. With the throttle floored, ajnd 18 psi of boost tickling your ribs, you need a quick hand to keep up with gearchanges. The joy begins petering out by 4500 rpm, but there's still plenty of urge up to the 6300-rpm redline. The run to 60 mph is a fleet 5.7 seconds, only a tick slower than the Ford Mustang GT, and the quarter mile clicks by in 14.2 seconds at 99 mph. Boasting a specific output exceeding that of every turbocharged enine on the market save Porsche's new 911 and Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution, the GXP's four-cylinder is the strong, silent type, thanks to its small displacement, twin balance shafts and recycled exhaust energy.
Lively road manners are a pleasant surprise. Compared with the heavy and lethargic tenor of the regular Solstice, the GXP feels alert and anxious to please with the firm, responsive steering and tenacious grip. Lessons learned turning this car on the Nurburgring's Nordschleife sing through the chassis and controls loud and clear. Body motion is promplty snubbed, the suspension steps resilently over bumps, and rapid-fire control orders are executed wihtout complaint.
Even optioned up with leather and chromed wheels, the Solstice GXP's price is unlikely to break the $30,000 barrier. At least, that is, until Pontiac dealers tack on their cut for selling you one. Don Sherman

0-60 5.7 sec
0-100 14.5 sec
1/4 mile 14.2 sec @99 mph
Peak acceleration 0.68g
MPH in gears (1)34 (2)57 (3)85 (4)129 (5)143
Conering L/R 0.92g/0.92g
Braking 70-0 mph 160 ft
Braking peak g 1.08g
Weight, distribution front/rear 3020 lb, 52.8/47.2%
On Sale fall 2006 price est $26000
Engine turbocharged 2.0L I-4, 260hp, 260 lb-ft torque
Drive: Rear-wheel

[Aeain]

Remember this is pre-production. Pre-Production ION Red Lines were said to do a 15.2s Quarter Mile.

[KruxRedline]

Originally Posted by Aeain

Remember this is pre-production. Pre-Production ION Red Lines were said to do a 15.2s Quarter Mile.

I saw that on some 1/4 mile list and I wanted to cry. Don't we run as low as 14.3 stock?

[matt]

Originally Posted by Aeain

Remember this is pre-production. Pre-Production ION Red Lines were said to do a 15.2s Quarter Mile.

Exactly. Plus the car they tested was more than likely with less than 500 miles on it. I expect to see some 13's out the turbo Ecotecs.

[cvenom2122]

all depends on what it it making at the wheels too for all you know its only making 225 whp and 225 tq w/ rwd

but if it is making 260 whp and 260 wtq awesome and that car better run mid 13's

[Axel]

Does seem like an emotionless article to me. In the "Vile Gossip" editorial piece by Jean Jennings ironically she talks about:

We're up to our usual car-magazine tricks, "driving" prototypes that don't always tell us much about the real car. It's a time honored tradition.

She talks about a couple of "first drives" that didn't count...

The worn-out Dodge Viper that was a tired piece of crap, wired together after a couple of thousand hard engineering test miles. At 65 mph, it felt like 100 mph. At 100 mph, the engine roar sounded like I was sitting in the middle of a Chris-Craft, sand was blasting my cheeks, the wheel was tugging right and left in my hands; and the hood shake was scaring me.

She goes on to say:

"What can we tell you about the way a production Camaro would actually drive?" writes senior editor Joe DeMatio on page 52, after he has taken the handbuilt Detroit auto show Chevrolet Camaro out for a spin. "Not a helluva lot." What he really meant to say was, Nothing. Not a goddamn thing. The car isn't real, as he so clearly explains. But if you think we weren't going to take General Motors up on its offer to roll the creeky Camaro prototype around the Milford test track (especially once we heard that every magazine, newspaper, and Web domain in the universe had been invited to "drive" it, too), then you must be reading this beacuse there was nothing to read in the dentist's waiting room but ancient copies of Highlights For Children.

Speaking of the GXP, she says:

Turn to page 36. Although this isn't tucked into our annual, jam-packed Sneak Preview section, Don Sherman delivered a killer car-magazine scoop. He and he alone drove the Pontiac Solsctice GXP --the one we've all been waiting for, the one with the 260-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. This is no delicate concept car, but a one-off working prototype of the actual car that will hit the showrooms this fall. We'll never tell how it happened, but Sherman not only drove it, he tested acceleration, braking, and cornering performance. Now that deserves an exclamation point!

[vandy0419]

Originally Posted by Aeain

Remember this is pre-production. Pre-Production ION Red Lines were said to do a 15.2s Quarter Mile.

If you're Alpha you run 15.2 stock!

[Aeain]

Originally Posted by vandy0419

If you're Alpha you run 15.2 stock!

Haha Owned