|
Pontiac’s Solstice roadster certainly made a splash when it premiered last year. In fact, sales vaulted ahead of Mazda’s iconic Miata (whoops, we mean MX-5); the Solstice sold 19,710 units, putting it into the sales territory of other well-established sports cars such as the BMW Z4 and the Nissan 350 Z.
Now, Pontiac has a new performance-oriented Solstice variant that could help push its sales figures higher: the Solstice GXP. It’s got higher everything: Fifty percent more power is squeezed from its engine, thanks to its 2-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection engine, which now puts out 260 hp and an equal amount of foot-pounds of torque, too. Yes, the price for the GXP is higher, by about three grand. And, yes, the fuel economy is higher, too: 22 mpg city, 31 mpg highway, compared with the base model’s 20 mpg city and 28 mpg highway.
Wait a minute, you’re probably saying. How can the more powerful model achieve better fuel economy? What sort of trickery is going on, there?
Direct injection, that’s what. This car marks the first time that GM has used direct injection in a North American car (it’s appeared in the Opel Vectra in Europe, already). Direct injection is where the fuel is injected right into the combustion chamber of the cylinder, as opposed to traditional-style fuel injection, which injects fuel into the intake manifold. This allows for engineers to coax more power out of a smaller engine, without compromising fuel economy (and, in the Solstice GXP’s case, even making it edge out the original engine’s mileage figures).
We’re sure that the Solstice will endlessly be compared to Mazda’s MX-5 (Miata), and whereas there are striking similarities, there are differences, too. For one thing, the Mazda feels “lighter and crisper,” in the words of one reviewer, emphasizing balance, whereas the Solstice GXP puts the emphasis on raw power (with a healthy dose of fun, too). Evidence of the raw power the GXP puts out can easily be found in its 0–60 mph time of 5.6 seconds; clearly, this Solstice is no slouch.
Even with a plethora of options, you can get a Solstice GXP for just under $30,000. That’s excellent value for a road-hugging roadster with Porsche-like power under the hood. True, like any roadster, there are compromises to make (trunk space? Not much to speak of, for instance), but as long as you know what you’re not getting up front, you’ll be happy with the Solstice GXP’s blend of sassy style and peppy performance at a reasonable price.
Via: Business Week
|
|