The Route: I've driven the car heavily for only having it a day. I've already put pver 200 miles on it and my drive to work is only 15. Sadly it's hard to find nice, twisty roads around here so most of my driving has been on boring city streets and freeways. Although, I never pass up a good opportunity for taking a turn hard.
The Conditions: I picked it up in a torrential down pour last night. It finally cleared late today. Top down weather began around 6-7:00.
Exterior: The only word that can describe the Sky is awesome! It looks like a million bucks and gets more stares then any ~$25k car should be allowed. GM/Saturn/Opel did everything right with the exterior of the car, IMO. Some people feel there is excessive chrome and that's one reason I got the silver wheels.
Interior: The Sky is a small car, and this is seen greatly with the interior. Some ergo and button placement suffers as a result. Main gripes would be the window switches/mirror adjustment, cup holders, and lack of storage area.
Other then that I feel they did a good job. Everything is layed out well and the 'piano black' adds to a nicer appearance. Most of the surfaces (dash, tops of doors, etc) are a rubbery plastic that has a decent look to it. With the top down a lot it should clean up easily and resist the elements. The steering wheel is also this material, although the leather wrapped rim is an option (that I think I should have gotten). The wheel is a good size, and has controls for cruise control and the radio (optional).
The gauge cluster is easy to read, but lacks some supplemental gauges that would be nice. They added coolent temp to the digital read-out you can scroll through to make up for the lack of gauge.
The seats offer good support and hug me pretty well. Although, I'm 140-150 lbs with a 28-30" waist. A heavier person may feel tight in the cabin. Additionally, I'm about 5'8" and I have the seat only a few notches forward. Anyone over 6 feet tall may also have trouble getting comfortable.
The pedals are spaced well for heel-toe driving.
I opted for the Monsoon stereo with subwoofer behind the passenger seat. It kicks pretty good for a stock system and can drown out the small amount of wind noise you have with the top down. There is very little buffeting in the cabin with the top down and it's easy to carry on a conversation at speed.
Engine and Drivetrain: The 2.4 has a throaty-ness to it off the line that makes it sound meaner then your average 4 cylinder. The engine noise at higher rpm's actually reminds me of driving a friends 93 240SX when it was stock.
There is good torque off the line and it feels like it enters the power band over 4000 rpms. I haven't redlined the motor yet (7k rpm's) but I expect it to continue pulling harder until around 6k.
The clutch is light and easy to modulate. I have been hearing some disengagement rattle from the driveline. It's faint, but I can hear it.
The shifter is a little notchy, but is improving the more I drive it.
Ride and Handling: For as low as this car sits it is suprising how well it soaks up bumps. Ride is much better then the Corvettes I have been in. Sitting in the back of an SRT-8 Cherokee today made me wish I was driving the Sky. I'm told the Sky has slightly different shock tuning then the Solstice with a little more shock travel and different rate bump stops. The result was a hair less grip on the skidpad (according to the mags) but better ride quality.
Handling has been hard to evaluate on these roads. The Sky corners flat, has a hint of understeer, and is very responsive to quick inputs. Doing a slalom in the Sky feels similar to my MSP, and that's a very good thing. With 245's all around (with autocrossers using 285's) the Sky has a good amount of tire for its ~2900 lb curb weight.
Conclusions: Well, I bought the car, so of course I'm going to love it. It feels like it was built for someone my size, it's responsive and handles well on the street, has good torque, a great stereo, good pedal spacing, and on ok (but improving) shifter. All-in-all I think this car is a steal at this price. Nothing compares either visually of performance wise in this price range. I'm rating it an
A. It has a few small things that are quirky, but I accepted that as part of driving a car this small. Will the Red Line compete with the S2000?
