Did you ask this in the Solstice forum as well? I wonder what they are saying over there.

 

some of the guys on one of the solstice forum, faced with a long wait mentioned considering an S2k in view of the good price you get one for now. In the end that may be what I do. I'm pretty good at waiting tho, waited 2.5 years after putting a deposit down to get an elise. Had lots of cool cars but the elise was by far the most fun, just couldn't afford to keep it.

Chris

 

For a while I had an interested in the Solstice just out of curiosity of that Pontiac would even consider such a car. The styling was good and a quick read of the spec's looked very impressive: forged aluminum double wishbone suspension at all four corners, close ratio 5 spd tranny, rear wheel drive, 177 hp / 170 tq I4, etc. etc.

But as I watched the deveopment and compared it to the smattering of details leaking out about the new Miata it became less and less impressive. What little trunk space you have is horridly designed with the rear-hinged trunk. The 177 hp engine is offset by the weight of the car, quoted by GM at 2860 lb. (about the same weight as an S2000, right, but with 63 less hp?). Plus Pontiac has delayed the release because of fitment and material problems. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. And then there's the lingering suspicion that, well, it's a Pontiac.

Needless to say the car was soon crossed off my list. Still, I'm interested to see what the actual production version will be like and how good Pontiac does with it.

Supposedly they benchmarked the Solstice off the Miata . . . The previous generation Miata. The new '06 Miata looks very impressive. Similar 170 hp engine rating but with 340 fewer lbs. Superior z-fold top design that I think out classes the S2000 top. Significantly siffer chassis. Yadda yadda yadda. For a year I had been really lusting after the new Miata. And while I think it's a great improvement for the Miata line I'm realizing that even with a 20 % power bump it's still not worth shelling out for a new car.

Since the end of May I've been quietly doing my research and have largely settled on the S2000. Everything I've read about it and all the people I've talked to about have been very impressive. I'll wait to drive one until next year when I'll be able to afford a used one better. But so far everything about the S2000 is pointing to a REALY good car.

To my mind there isn't a question between the S2000 and the Solstice. You should be able to get an older S2000 for about the same price as the Pontiac offering.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?in...article_id=7671

Pontiac plans on producing a supercharged version, with 240HP, it will definitly give the S2000 a run for its money...

just an fyi...

 

cross shoppnig a solstice and a S2000
i'd say get the MY06 miata.....a decent one can be had for $23K

 

[QUOTE=zboy,Jul 26 2005, 07:41 AM] [URL=http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?intAsvPageCurrent=12

 

Like the Scion TC supercharger? Hah.

 

No like the S/C on the Ecotec in the Chevy Cobalt...

 

I often find myself agreeing with this dude.

There's a thread on here about "you should not buy an s2k if..."

"...you would consider a solstice" should be one of the qualifications. I'm not saying anything bad about the solstice, I'm just saying the S2000 requires a special kind of owner. It's a weird car... It's not particularly fast in a straight line, it's noisy, it's rough, it revs too high for some people's comfort... the list goes on.

It's like in order to own one, I think you should not even have to ask about other cars... especially a pontiac which on paper does not add up.

When I bought mine, I had fallen in love with honda though my CRX already and I almost didn't need to test drive it. I just knew it was my dream car.

 

One thing i don't understand, Is the S2000 really going to be that much cheaper for you than the Elise you couldn't afford? The solstice will be half the payment of the Elise.

60 month purchase

Elise~ $800 per month
S2000~$600 per month
Solstice~$400 per month