Topic: /DRIVE disrespects the Solstice GXP

[Steelmesh]

Here is the Solstice mentioned on a popular automobile channel:

"What was that? GS, GX?"

 "I got to be honest with you, don't even know. Don't Know, school me"

"Those were the worst"

"Let's not make [the episode] about the Pontiac Solstice"

"Ha Ha, Ha Ha"

"So much scuttle, the car would twist in 3 different directions"

"Okay change the subject, let's talk about air-cooled Porches"




https://youtu.be/aBKQc_27ORc?t=9m3s Starts at 9:00

It appears no one on this program has been in one. They just need to go for a ride or drive one and it will certainly give them an actual opinion.  All of the "twisting" he mentions is solved by the braces.

[elff]

but is there in stock form, so their statement is accurate

[Steelmesh]

but is there in stock form, so their statement is accurate

Solstice is the worst automobile...I disagree and not sure what framework you're using by saying this here is an accurate statement. 

They responded to a comment I left on YT, suggested they may do a segment on the Solstice to make up for it the push back 

[TomatoSoup]

Solstice is the worst automobile...I disagree and not sure what framework you're using by saying this here is an accurate statement. 

Elff is merely saying that in the car's stock form it twists a lot. 

But still, I would disagree with that too.  For a convertible, it's pretty stiff even in stock form.  Braces make it better, of course, but the article saying "So much scuttle, the car would twist in 3 different directions" is pretty bogus.

[Sol Asylum]

Elff is just bitter, he f'd up his car by moding the hell out of it and somehow that was GM making a shitty product.

[Gentleman Jack]

Elff is just bitter, he f'd up his car by moding the hell out of it and somehow that was GM making a shitty product.

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

Wait... I modified my with a garage wall. What am I laughing at?

[elff]

Actually there are Multiple stages of my Sky Redline

Stock from GM, left a lot to be desired from a stiffness and suspension point of view. 
Stock Turbo is fun and very responsive. Even better with the GMPP tune.  K04 is a great turbo that makes a small engine feel much bigger than it is with little to no lag.

DDM Braces and BC Coilovers cured all suspension issues and made the car a handling beast.
 
Stage 2
DDM 2871 Hybrid Turbo on E47.
Corvette eater!  Never lost a race with this combo.  Loved it but unfortunately I was revving it more than the stock valve springs could handle. 
Bent 9 out of 16 Valves which was my fault

Last Stage
DDM Engine Build with a surprise EFR kit
This is where the car went to shit.  DDM ed up big time
Loads of issues from the instant I got it back
Was not even finished when I arrived.
I finally got good numbers and thought I had everything DDM didn't do right fixed, and then the Timing chain went.   Due to all the effort I put in to fix the stuff DDM failed on, I bailed on it and upgraded to something Epic.

While there were some issues from it being a GM, my car's problems and the reason I ultimately got rid of it were 100% caused by DDM having the car for multiple years and not delivering on what I paid for, and letting the car sit, verse working on it, during the time period they had it.

But, the way GM handles its customers, handled it's bail out and how shitty Chevy dealerships treat Kappa owners combined with how they try to bury recalls, [Ignition and passenger Airbag sensor come to mind]
I will never own another GM.

[Kelu]

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

Wait... I modified my with a garage wall. What am I laughing at?

BUhahahah ... Now I am happy that I didn't have a garage .... Weirdo also here

I agree, I hate how stock Kappa handles, reviewers don't care about mods because they address to large public to have large audience, that's the reason we are here on this forum, even we are part of the large audience, we care how it can be modded to enjoy what we like. (coming from a bad driver who did over drag "strip" 300 runs in the kappa and under 100 laps on a track)

[elff]

I did put 200 miles on Ryuk today to help JohnnyGXP work on his.  His trans was moving around and after removing all the braces and exhaust to look at how the torque arm was mounted....we discovered the housing on the diff was cracked (lowest one on the side) and only 3 of the bolts were holding it but they were all loose.  We removed them all, added blue loctite and torqued them down and did our best with the one that goes into the broken location.

Was a fun day. I really like his GXP. It has the 2871 hydrid turbo, all DDM braces, OZ rims and looks sharp

[SHiNY]

but is there in stock form, so their statement is accurate

Why are you all making fun of the Elff? I believe his statement is accurate. I remember hitting a bump on the Cross Island Parkway and my Sky twisted in several directions. The addition of the brace was amazing and she have been standard equipment on all our cars.

P.S. Elffs are never wrong and make amazing cookies.

[Sol Asylum]

I don't know about others, but I do it because it's fun.

[TomatoSoup]

SHiNY!  You're back!  I was just thinking that I'd missed seeing you and wondering where you'd gone.

[Critterman]

Because we can and if they are picking on him they forget about me.

[SHiNY]

SHiNY!  You're back!  I was just thinking that I'd missed seeing you and wondering where you'd gone.

Thanks TS! I took some time away as I felt I don't have valuable input; however, I can BS with the best of them

All is well, I hope you are too xoxo

[elff]

I will also add, that you are my favorite person to hug.
No reason

[Gentleman Jack]

I will also add, that you are my favorite person to hug.
No reason

Me?
Thanks. I guess?

[Rockchops]

looks and sounds like a guy who wears a fedora when he wants to be fancy

[Steelmesh]

Actually there are Multiple stages of my Sky Redline

Stock from GM, left a lot to be desired from a stiffness and suspension point of view. 
Stock Turbo is fun and very responsive. Even better with the GMPP tune.  K04 is a great turbo that makes a small engine feel much bigger than it is with little to no lag.

DDM Braces and BC Coilovers cured all suspension issues and made the car a handling beast.
 
Stage 2
DDM 2871 Hybrid Turbo on E47.
Corvette eater!  Never lost a race with this combo.  Loved it but unfortunately I was revving it more than the stock valve springs could handle. 
Bent 9 out of 16 Valves which was my fault

Last Stage
DDM Engine Build with a surprise EFR kit
This is where the car went to shit.  DDM ed up big time
Loads of issues from the instant I got it back
Was not even finished when I arrived.
I finally got good numbers and thought I had everything DDM didn't do right fixed, and then the Timing chain went.   Due to all the effort I put in to fix the stuff DDM failed on, I bailed on it and upgraded to something Epic.

While there were some issues from it being a GM, my car's problems and the reason I ultimately got rid of it were 100% caused by DDM having the car for multiple years and not delivering on what I paid for, and letting the car sit, verse working on it, during the time period they had it.

But, the way GM handles its customers, handled it's bail out and how shitty Chevy dealerships treat Kappa owners combined with how they try to bury recalls, [Ignition and passenger Airbag sensor come to mind]
I will never own another GM.

Thank you for sharing your perspectives on this 

[wspohn]

Why are you all making fun of the Elff? I believe his statement is accurate. I remember hitting a bump on the Cross Island Parkway and my Sky twisted in several directions. The addition of the brace was amazing and she have been standard equipment on all our cars.

You have to wonder about a car that the manufacturer basically says you can't drive hard unless you replace the cheaply executed rear suspension  structure with a better one - and they happen to sell the better one.

But I guess it is the same rationale as they used to sell the NA cars with really inadequate OEM tires that were so bad that some people drove them to the tire shop so they could toss them and put something decent on.  I always thought that they should have offered decent tires as an extra cost option, but maybe that would have highlighted how cheap they were being.

Long tradition of that sort of thinking, though - in the old days you normally had shock absorbers that were good for the warranty period and usually seemed to expire the day after that expired.

And ellf - I never buy a car because I like or dislike the manufacturer, I buy cars because I like them and I put up with whatever that entails even if it is poor after sales service.  Are you saying that if GM came up with a blindingly good small sports car, you'd refuse to consider it because they didn't do what you wanted with a previous model?

[elff]

Yes I would for 2 reasons
1. I won’t reward a company for bad business practices and customer support
2. I absolutely don’t trust GM from a safety point of view.

They have proven that they are more prone to hide potentially death causing defects than repair them
And
They have proven that they will do whatever they can to not fix a recall worthy defect unless forced to

There are plenty of other choices out there in which these problems don’t exist.

[elff]

BTW - all stock shocks on the Kappas, even the FE3 model were kind of crappy.
They were a compromise of comfort at the expense of performance.

[Kelu]

Stock turbo Kappas shocks were Bilsteins ... no further comments

How I saw Kappa, especially compared with similar EU models:
GM dropped the strongest parts and not the lower engineered parts so you can't tune it or to be at the limit of anything, I can mention:
- transmission made to hold more power than delivered (gear box and diff) - crappy ratios for racing but it was a GT, not a race track
- Engine and around it: fuel system to reach 400hp, head which can sustain big airflow in the mid range, block, rods, block greater than 400hp, intercooler, pipes and exhaust OMG oversized at least
- stiff chasis - stiffer than Corvette at that generation
- strong equal suspension in all corners using bilsteins (better than in Vette at that generation - vette C6 was still on leafs)
- great balance of weight: 52%-48%
 
I don't want to compare with anything point by point with EU models of that age because it will be embarrassing for EU.

My bottom line: it was a great car and a great value for the price, not perfect but but far better than anything on the market and can be modified to make it for your own taste.

PS: I do miss it ...

[Steelmesh]

Yes I would for 2 reasons
1. I won’t reward a company for bad business practices and customer support
2. I absolutely don’t trust GM from a safety point of view.

They have proven that they are more prone to hide potentially death causing defects than repair them
And
They have proven that they will do whatever they can to not fix a recall worthy defect unless forced to

There are plenty of other choices out there in which these problems don’t exist.

I worked the front lines in an Chrysler Group LLC Assembly Plant, I will never support FCA ever.  I didn't like the management culture, the work environment and saw so much waste.  I was working around ~75 hrs per week with 1-2 days off per month.  Some days I had to cover other areas, so I would come in 4 hours early before my 11 hour shift. I wore a dust mask all day everyday in the plant, after 3 days you could put the mask next to a new one and it would be notably grey. I became sympathetic to the UAW, in my mind Chrysler management justified workers needing a Union.  After I left (I quit my direct employment position), I realized it was really a toxic spiral of death, management vs. the UAW.  Chrysler was already 'meh' to me before this, now they are dead to me.

Also, I went back to FCA for contract work in 2017 years later...it was either that or find a new job (since I said I would never work at Chrylser again, I am a directly-hired employee of an engineering firm FCA contracts, so I didn't technically work for Chrysler I justified).  Once again, Chrysler pissed me off with their ridiculous managers, for example talking to one of the heads in a meeting reporting on my progress: "I am struggling to keep up with tracking details for these 26 dyno cells, there are a lot of triage issues taking up my time."  "Steelmesh, I need you to add these 7 vehicles to your list to track".  Did You Just Hear What I Said?!  I also had nothing to do with vehicle testing, wtf?  It was an inefficient mess... 

So both the manufacturing and development sides of FCA are an inefficient mess, I can't support this company knowing this first hand.  To a certain degree, I don't doubt Ford and GM have their issues...but I worked with a Ford development team for as long as I worked at Chrysler, it was much better and more positive.

[wspohn]

Chrysler, GM, VW - like many manufacturers they have red ink, not blood in their veins, but unless you are on a futile campaign to try and change that, I think one might as well ignore the corporate attitudes and just look to the cars themselves to decide what you want to buy.

I'll buy a car that I want from anyone, provided it isn't made with slave labour by underage children chained to the assembly line.

If taking a stand against corporate attitude is your bag, you are going to limit your car choices and you are not going to change those manufacturers one iota.  If taking the stand makes you feel better than owning the car, I guess you win.

[TomatoSoup]

Well I have similar antipathy toward Chrysler, but not for the same reasons.  More because of the poor mechanical design and poor reliability that I've experienced with the 4 Chrysler cars we've had in the household over the years.  I kept saying that the next one has GOT to be better, but it never was.

Despite this I still would love to have a Guilia.  Had an Alfasud Sprint ti back in the 80's and despite the reliability (going through a distributor cap every 4-6 months, for one) I still loved that car.  Sigh.