AUTOWEEK REVIEW OF THE PONTIAC SOLSTICE!

2006 PONTIAC SOLSTICE
ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $19,995
POWERTRAIN: 2.4-liter, 177-hp, 166-lb-ft I4; rwd, five-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2860 lbs0 TO 60 MPH: 7.2 seconds (est.)
FUEL MILEAGE (EPA COMBINED): 23.6 mpg

Ever since it was revealed at the 2002 Detroit show, the Pontiac Solstice has been more than just a car for General Motors. Brainchild of GM’s then-new product czar Bob Lutz, the two-seater became an experiment for how quickly the automotive giant could conceive a car that would ignite the public’s interest, and then bring it to market.
Shortly after the show car was given the green light for production, the Solstice became the project everyone within GM was looking at. To everyone’s best recollection—and despite a well-publicized delay late in the process— this is the quickest GM has moved from approval to production.
In concept form Solstice promised a lot of fun and sportiness. With a Lutz-mandated, etched-in-stone, read-my-lips base price of $19,995, well, many doubted the promise could be delivered for the price. More than one GM engineer noted the “F-word,” meaning Fiero, still echoed in the halls at GM. The budget two-seat Pontiac Fiero of the 1980s had a sporty shape that promised a spirited ride, but it didn’t deliver until after the car had been killed by the company.
But Fiero didn’t have Lutz— the Solstice team’s trump card and spiritual father.
“There were a lot of times the accountants would look at something I wanted in this car and tell me I could get a similar piece cheaper,” says vehicle line director Darren Post. “I’d tell them we tried that and the cheaper one wasn’t as good, and if they wanted to call Bob [Lutz] I had his number on my cellphone speed dial. I always got the parts I wanted.”
While Lutz, now GM’s vice chairman for global product development, has had a hand in several other GM cars since his arrival at the company, Solstice is really the first car developed entirely under his watch.
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to build an affordable two-seat roadster,” Lutz said.
In September 2001, just 15 weeks before the auto show, Lutz wanted a show car for Pontiac, and he staged a sketch-off among GM stylists that was won by designer Franz von Holzhausen from GM’s California studio (von Holzhausen has since leftGM for Mazda). Solstice has been a fast-track project from the outset.
“Our goal here was not to duplicate an [Honda] S2000 or [BMW] Z3,” says Lutz. “Little would be gained in making another $30,000-to-$40,000 roadster.”
But that didn’t mean the Solstice couldn’t ride and handle like those more expensive cars.
“While everyone will compare the Solstice with the Miata,” says chassis engineer Steve Padilla, the man who has logged more miles behind the wheel of Solstices than anyone else, “the ride dynamics we were shooting for were more like the S2000, only a bit less twitchy.”
Delivering on the car’s sporty looks has been the target of everyone working on the project. Solstice is the first car built on GM’s Kappa small-car rear-drive platform, and because it is being done in relatively small volume (the Saturn Sky, Solstice’s platform sister, will debut next year), the chassis is mostly hand-welded.
Engineers raided the corporate parts bin to speed up the gestation period. Everything from SUVs to midsize sedans contributed components, and while the end result could have been a nightmare, it works.
Solstice’s heart is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder Ecotec positioned north-south for the first time. The aluminum engine with overhead cams and four valves per cylinder—mounted transversely in front-drive cars such as the 2006 Chevy HHR—makes 177 hp at 6600 rpm and 166 lb-ft at 4800 rpm in the Solstice. Down low, the engine has good pull—a couple of 4500-rpm drop-the-clutch launches proved that, as well as producing some tire smoke—and the exhaust note is tuned for a throaty growl. We will always take more power, especially in a car that looks like this, but we are not disappointed with the Solstice’s performance.
GM officials are tight-lipped about offering a Solstice with more punch, but insiders confirm a more potent, turbo­charged or supercharged model will be offered later.
The Ecotec mates to a five-speed manual gearbox that operates with nice short throws. Its action is not lightning-quick, like that on the S2000 for example, but it is tight, and engagement is crisp. The clutch takeup on the cars we drove was just perfect, and the brake and throttle pedals are position­ed for heel-and-toe downshifts. An automatic will be offered early next year.