[legion]

The local Mitsubishi dealership, which is ironically located right next to a Pontiac dealership, has had a Solstice sitting on its lot for about a month.

Being somewhat bored this afternoon, I decided to take it for a spin.

The first thing I noticed about the car is that the clutch is super-light. I couldn't tell from feel when it was engaged. My 951 has a heavy clutch, and I love the feeling I get from the clutch pedal and drive better because the feedback is instant and unmistakable. Couple that with the very quiet engine, and I felt like I was driving blind. No engine sound and no clutch feedback.

The spacing of the gears on the shifter is nice, but the gearing itself sucks. It is gear for leisurely cruising, not performance.

And speaking of performance, while the car has more low-end torque than my 951 (which makes it move drivable in stop-and-go traffic), the engine power really starts to fade right around when my 951 really starts to pull.

I insisted that the top be down for the test drive. The 12" B pillars and 10" rear window scared me in a car that I don't know. Good thing, the rear deck is so high, you can hardly see behind you. The doors are so high, they come up to my neck, and I'm 6' 1". If I had driven with the top up, I would have had to poke a hole in the roof for my head to stick out. I think you sit about the same distance from the windsheild as you do in my F150 (very far away). This causes an interesting problem as the headliner war right at eye level. I was looking down along the hood at the road. I had decent vision of cars in front of me, but I couldn't see stop lights at all. Twice during the test drive the guy behind me honked because I couldn't see that the traffic light had turned green. In summary, you can't see behind you well, you can't see beside you well, and you can't see traffic lights or high signs in front of you...

And now the deal killer...the trunk. It has 4 cubic feet with the top up, 1 cubic foot with it down. Because the gas tank protudes right up into the middle of the trunk, these 4 cubic feet are all around the edges. Forget trying to use any sort of conventional suitcase, backpack, or ziplock baggie. If you wanted to take the car for a weekend, you'd have to tow a small U-haul trailer.

And in typical stealership fashion, they are asking $26,500 for the car, and told me it is a good price as it cost $31,000 new. (I happen to know that they cost $19,000 new...)