2006 Pontiac Solstice Coupe Concept review

Pontiac Solstice Coupe Concept review:

Keep it simple, pure, and beautiful and it will be easy to love'. These were the basic inspirations set down by Bob Lutz, GM’s chairman of North American Operations, in creating a 'sketch-off' for the first concept vehicle commissioned by GM’s new product chief. The call went out at the end of September and by mid-October, the Pontiac Solstice roadster was under development. The program was executed in just under four months from the first sketch, to the drivable vehicle. The thesis is an affordable roadster that would sell for about $20,000, which would be very easy to build in a flexible manufacturing environment. This was accomplished using existing componentry from the GM system.

The first sketches for the vehicle actually hit Lutz’s desk as a stunning coupe penned by designer, Franz Von Holzhausen, a recent addition the GM California design studio.
The Solstice is powered by a rear-wheel-drive 2.2-liter DOHC supercharged EcoTec four-cylinder engine generating up to 240 horsepower with premium fuel. The supercharger is an off-the-shelf unit supplied right out of the GM Service Parts performance catalog. The engine is mated to a Borg-Warner performance six-speed manual transmission, the same one used in the Corvette.

The front end uses a simple and reliable strut configuration with a rack-and-pinion steering system derived from the Subaru WRX, one of GM’s alliance partners. The all-aluminum independent rear suspension is derived from GMs mid-size crossover SUV family and also doubles as the mount for the rear differential, which was derived from the new GM mid-size SUVs. Unique fabricated drive-shafts power the rear wheels. End of Pontiac Solstice Coupe Concept review.