Pontiac Solstice Outselling Mazda MX-5 Miata

According to AutoWeek, Pontiac is besting Mazda in the roadster wars. The upset is particularly painful, considering Mazda's enjoyed the droptop-dog spot since 1989, when it single-handedly revived the roadster genre. The Solstice enjoyed a 2,500-unit lead in the first 11 months of the cars' first full year of competition. And the Solstice is already ahead for the month of December. Is it merely the novelty effect, or will the brand formerly known as the one that builds excitement stay on top with the higher-performance GXP model hitting dealerships. Either way, Cecil Kimber would be proud as hell. ? Mike Spinelli

http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/ruh-roh-pontiac-solstice-outselling-mazda-mx5-miata-221908.php

Does that consider the Saturn Sky as well? Easy to see how they got so popular.. finally something the general got right.

compared to the miata, i think the solstice looks amazing! even with the flared wheel arches the miata still looks like a girls car. no offense to anyone. they handle great and are fun to drive. but when it comes to looks. the solstice has it beat!

i wonder how the Opel GT is doin.

SoxXpupPeT said:

compared to the miata, i think the solstice looks amazing! even with the flared wheel arches the miata still looks like a girls car. no offense to anyone. they handle great and are fun to drive. but when it comes to looks. the solstice has it beat!

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I can't judge because I've never driven either, but on aesthetics alone, I would choose the Miata. I like the rear and the profile of the Solstice, but I hate the front, the Miata looks better to me as a whole. According to their respective websites, the Solstice has more power and torque, but also more weight, so torque/weight and power/weight are very similar. Price is also similar so it seems only time will tell if Pontiac got that one right.
Should we make a (civilized please) poll in the forum?

SoxXpupPeT said:

compared to the miata, i think the solstice looks amazing! even with the flared wheel arches the miata still looks like a girls car. no offense to anyone. they handle great and are fun to drive. but when it comes to looks. the solstice has it beat!

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Agreed. Even though the latest generation was a step in the right direction, it's always been such a girly car to me.

the Solstice also has a performance version. unlike the Miata which i havent heard n e thing new from Mazdaspeed.

Ahhh.. a car that actually sells!

I hope the numbers don't include the Saturn Sky, because once you factor those numbers in it will look even more impressive.

Redliner said:

I can't judge because I've never driven either, but on aesthetics alone, I would choose the Miata. I like the rear and the profile of the Solstice, but I hate the front, the Miata looks better to me as a whole.

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You can choose the body style that best suits you...

Pontiac Solstice GXP:

http://img96.imageshack.**/img96/6378/solsticegxp070111df6b9jf2.jpg
http://img96.imageshack.**/img96/1304/solsticegxp070411d741cwe5.jpg
http://img348.imageshack.**/img348/9743/solsticegxp07intpp3.jpg

Saturn Sky Redline:

http://img304.imageshack.**/img304/3641/102007saturnskyredline1yn4.jpg
http://img304.imageshack.**/img304/1377/62007saturnskyredline11zi4.jpg
http://img348.imageshack.**/img348/7702/skyredline07inter120c7cxp7.jpg

Opel GT:

http://img440.imageshack.**/img440/7061/opelgt070112e1129cr2.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.**/img19/8853/opelgt070212a08b1rf3.jpg
http://img439.imageshack.**/img439/838/200631615241512bdf26uy9.jpg

2.0-liter Ecotec turbocharged engine:

http://img263.imageshack.**/img263/580/solsticegxp07engineix1.jpg

also known as the LSJ Turbo. same exact engine in my car, but with a supercharger.

If you read the entire info release it says it does not include the Sky.

That's a bit suprising, the MX-5 has always been "the" soft top of choice.

Looking at those photos though, I do like the Saturn and the Opel, but the Solstice just has something a bit off-putting about it. Ick.
The MX-5 has always been a bit on the girly side, and with it's major clientel being women, I wouldn't expect that to change. That's why the little flip handles were dropped in favor of the current door handles... women kept breaking false nails.

Now, performance.
The MX-5 hasn't ever really been a straight line performance car of great significance, for a few reasons.
One: That's not the point of the car. It's nimble and sprightly, but it isn't threateningly powerful(which goes hand in hand with the styling).
Two: Mazda's seeming reluctance to fit a limited slip diff. One of the most powerful versions, only sold in Australia called the SP didn't have it, and it was lighting up a wheel every now and again.
Three: Upstaging them other Mazda sports cars. At the moment, there's a good spread. The MX-5 is the best handler(arguably), the Mazda3 MPS is the quickest in a straight line. Somewhere in between we have the 6MPS and the RX-8.

I don't know that we really need a more powerful MX-5. It's a beautifully ballanced little car, with styling that works for what it is. If you want to bolt a Saturn IV rocket onto it though, be my guest

On a side note: That Ecotec engine isn't a relative of that appauling Buick V8/V6 engine of the same name is it? We had those in Commodores of the early to mid 90s... Man they're poor engines.

I don't know about MX5s in other countries but Miatas have nearly always had an optional limited slip diff. In fact they have generally been very great mechanical limited slip diffs.

Now as for performance they are the most raced car today and for the past several years.

And I have never understood peoples complaint that it looked girly. Does the Alfa 8C look girly, no it looks sexy. But since the Miata is a relatively cheap car that fits as strong of a motor and handling for that amount of money, it is considered girly.

I prefer the looks of the 2nd gen Miata compared to the new one, though I would love to have the new 170hp engine in the old body.

However, in the end the reason to own a Miata instead of a Solstice is that the Solstice is just on the wrong side of impractical to me. I need a bit of trunk when the top is up, and I need to be able to open and close the top while sitting down at a stop light. I might, just might, forgive the Solstice for eating the trunk space when the top is up, but I could never forgive the fact you have to get out of the car to raise and lower the convertible top.

teletubby-warrior said:

You can choose the body style that best suits you...

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You are right. I forgot about it. To me, the Redline looks so much better (and the name sounds better too ) and ties with the Miata, I have to drive both. The Opel GT is the same car with other name or there is something else to it?

Props to GM. She is a pretty car.

'CruiserMan said:

On a side note: That Ecotec engine isn't a relative of that appauling Buick V8/V6 engine of the same name is it? We had those in Commodores of the early to mid 90s... Man they're poor engines.

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Different engine I beleive, the ecotec in the commodore was used right up until the VY (though you can't really tell because it changed so much, the difference between my friends VS and my brothers VY in the engine is world's apart)

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I followed a Solstice on the highway yesterday. Driven by some 35-year old investment banker on NY plates, figures, he was darting in and out of traffic like a pissed-off butterfly, weaving in front of cars and cutting people off without any turn signals. On the one hand, I felt like raping his family with a lawn auger for driving like such a cock; on the other, that Solstice looked so right.



I totally want one, GXP, in dark blue. It's so much more gorgeous in person than in those stumpy-looking photos above, and I could live with the 3mm of space for a Hershey's wrapper.

I agree that the miata looks like a girls car and the pontiac an equal in a lot of ways. although i would say there are alot of number games with the companies, i bet GM puts the sky and the solstice in the same boat. That said i see lots of short old men driving the miata. The solstice will be a great car to buy in a few years for cheep. if they are selling lots... well amen

Has GM got something right? Yep, IMHO they have and they are selling like 'hot cakes'. Now they need to follow this success up hopefully some of the decisions being made will work. I like the OPEL myself best and I would not turn one down. No Vauxhall version as yet tho'.