QUOTE(turboman808 @ Sep 22 2008, 03:23 PM)
Next I checked out the solstice GXP. It's very fun to drive and the looks are 10 times better then the Z4 or the Boxster. The interior is really cheap. The stereo system is terrific. Half the price of a boxster S or Z4. Just as fast.
So I got the solstice. The tires that it comes with have got to be the worst tires I have ever used. Might be a slight exageration but not by much. $1200 on new wheels and tires and the car was transformed. Then I spent about $600 on some engine upgrades and now have roughly 300 hp and 310 lbs of torque.
I want to take it to get custom leather interior this winter and then finally have a respectable looking car(around $3000). But as it sits it can hold it's own against the boxster S and Z4. Few thousand more and it will have close to 400 hp and I will still only have spent $38k on the car.
I'm not sure how much, if any, performance difference there is between the Saturn Sky Redline and the Solstice GXP, but I felt the Sky did a better job with the interior and seating over the Solstice with two-toned leather and dash and brushed silver trim. I favored the angular design of the Sky over the rounded Solstice, but it's all personal preference. The Sky/Solstice is definitely the car I would have gone with as well, I think you made a great choice.
At the Dallas Auto Show the had a Solstice GXP fastback, kinda looked like a Viper GTS and the lady said it was a targa top. Everything was electronic and the rear hatch popped up a few inches and the targa slid under it. It was sweet.