2006 Pontiac Solstice

It's something like a grandfather who goes out and buys a designer shirt. Suddenly, he's not stodgy any more; the kids say he's way cool.

Pontiac was in that situation a few years back when General Motors hired a renowned car guy, Bob Lutz, as its vice chairman of global product development. In short order, he cobbled up a show car, a two-seater that was intended to be Pontiac's designer apparel.

Now, with the introduction of the 2006 Pontiac Solstice roadster, that effort has come to fruition. The Solstice is the new image car, tasked with injecting youthful spark to zap the cobwebs from one of GM's most important divisions.

From a price and styling standpoint, it gets the green flag right off the starting line. It's a popular-priced, rear-wheel-drive, two-seat roadster with flowing lines and a base price tag of $19,995. (At the outset, it was targeted as an under-$20,000 car).

Though that doesn't get you a great deal of stuff, all the basics are there. Standard equipment is minimal: a 177-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, five-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel disc brakes, cloth upholstery and a radio.

But even with options, the price doesn't get outrageous. The test car had antilock brakes, a limited-slip differential, air conditioning, an AM-FM stereo with CD player and MP3 capability, aluminum alloy wheels, cruise control, remote locking, fog lights, and power windows and mirrors. That brought the suggested sticker price to $23,380.

Major competition for the Solstice is the venerated Mazda MX-5 Miata, which has more refinement and a six-speed transmission, but also costs more. They're right in the same garage from a size standpoint, each at 13 feet 1 inch in length. The Mazda has slightly less power, but is lighter and therefore quicker off the line. It also has a real trunk, which the Solstice lacks.

The Solstice takes slightly more than seven seconds to reach 60 miles an hour. That's not what anybody these days would regard as neck-snapping acceleration. But it's not what small roadsters like this are all about.

What they are about is leisurely cruising with the top down on a sunny day, not too hot, following a twisting, traffic-free rural road that requires the driver's constant attention to details like shifting up and down and precisely clipping the apexes of turns.

In this regard, the Solstice acquits itself well. Cornering is flat and true, straight-line driving requires few steering corrections, and the ride, though sports-car stiff, is supple enough to keep rough pavement from inflicting much punishment.

With the top down, wind buffeting is minimal, especially if the windows are raised. With the top up, the driver is treated to a symphony of engine, road and some minor wind noise.

All car designs reflect compromises, of course. Given its price, the Solstice could not be expected to have a luxury interior, and it does not. There are many square feet of hard plastic. But the instruments and controls are thoughtfully designed, although digital readouts disappear in bright sunshine.

The shift linkage for the five-speed gearbox is stiff but positive, and the clutch action is light, although on the test car the clutch engaged with the pedal high off the floor, as if the clutch were showing wear.

The seats, covered in a textured cloth on the test car, were well-shaped, with decent side bolsters to hold the torso in place around corners. But they could use a bit more lower-back support. There's no lumbar adjustment.

Storage space inside the cockpit is minimal: a glove box, a couple of pockets and a small cubby located up high between the driver's and passenger's shoulders. There's no space in the console.

Manual top operation is fairly simple, but it cannot be done from the driver's seat, as is possible in the Mazda MX-5. The procedure is first to pop the trunk, either with the remote control or a button in the glove box.

That also releases two small fabric sail panels that are part of the top but are a styling feature to make the Solstice look sleek with the top up. However, they look more wrinkled than sleek.

A lever at the top of the windshield disengages the top, the rear-hinged trunk is lifted and the top then is manually folded inside. After the top is raised, the two sail panels must be snapped back into place, which means the operator has to walk around to the other side of the car.

There's not much space in the trunk with the top up--just four cubic feet--and there's room for only a few small soft items with the top down.

A couple of other minor annoyances mar the experience: with the power door locks, the doors stay locked, imparting a trapped feel, until the driver removes the ignition key or reaches up over the left shoulder to pull up the lock button. And the seatback cannot be adjusted for rake unless the driver opens the door and reaches back to manipulate a large knob.

by
Frank Aukofer

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

October 20, 2005

2006 Mitsubishi Raider

It has been 10 years since Mitsubishi dealers had a pickup truck to sell, which -- according to most dealers -- is about a decade too long.

It is frustrating for a dealer to consistently write off customers simply because the desired product isn't available. And with a pickup, no amount of salesmanship is going to convince buyers that they would really be better off with a Galant or an Eclipse.

So here comes the 2006 Mitsubishi Raider, which is really a re-bodied Dodge Dakota. This is only fair: For years, rather than build its own small truck, Dodge sold a Mitsubishi pickup as the Ram 50. Adding to the mild confusion, Dodge also once sold a version of the Mitsubishi Montero sport ute as the Dodge Raider.

The Raider comes in two basic models: an extended cab, with a pair of small front-to-rear-opening side doors, and a double cab, with four conventional doors. Either is 219.9 inches long, with the double-cab model having a shorter bed.

Engine choice is a 3.7-liter, 210-horsepower V-6, or a 4.7-liter, 230-horsepower V-8. Although the V-8 has only 20 more horsepower, it has 80 more pound-feet of torque, which is the measure of pulling power. Depending on the powertrain and other features, a Raider can tow from 2,950 pounds up to 6,600 pounds. The base transmission is a six-speed manual, but you also can get a four-speed automatic with the V-6 or a mandatory five-speed automatic with the V-8.

The test truck was an extended-cab DuroCross model, which is a midlevel designation carrying more standard equipment than the base LS, less than the XLS. It had the V-6 engine, an automatic transmission and was rear-wheel drive. Base price for the V-6 pickup is $19,180, but add the DuroCross stuff such as air conditioning, cruise control and remote locking, plus an optional premium sound system and shipping, and the total came to $25,930. Choose an all-wheel-drive XLS double cab with all the options, and it's just more than $35,000.

If you need to use the rear seat for passengers, select the double-cab model; the little flip-down seats in the extended-cab version are uncomfortable for anyone older than single-digit age. The extra space is, however, great for groceries or miscellaneous cargo.

Mitsubishi and Dodge are to be commended for making the Raider look very different, both inside and out, from the Dakota. Few body panels are shared, and the Mitsubishi comes off as an edgier, more-trendy model. The DuroCross features 16-inch aluminum wheels with P265/70R-16 radials that help give the Raider a presence.

Inside, the Raider DuroCross has supportive front bucket seats and almost as much room as some full-sized pickups. Instruments and controls are properly placed. The premium Alpine stereo system is potent.

On the road, the Raider feels like a Dodge Dakota, which is fine. The 3.7-liter V-6 has adequate power and acceleration, and returns decent fuel economy, at 17 mpg in the city, 22 mpg on the highway, with regular fuel.

Mechanically, there isn't much reason to favor the Mitsubishi over the Dodge -- or vice versa -- and pricing, feature for feature, is comparable. The difference is styling, and your brand preference. Either way, it's a nice truck, and it's good to see Mitsubishi rounding out the product portfolio.

by

Steven Cold Smith
Orlando Sentinel