As I've taken a great deal of time talking about ride quality and handling prowess, I'll try to be brief with regards to the car's
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| With 177-horsepower at 6,600 rpm, 166 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm,dual-overhead cams, sixteen valves and 2.4 litres of displacement atits disposal, the Solstice is definitely zippy. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
powertrain. This will be difficult, mind you, as its engine (yes, there's only one being offered at this time) is anything but boring. I suppose if you just look at the specs it isn't necessarily overtly special, what with 177-horsepower at 6,600 rpm, 166 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm, dual-overhead cams, sixteen valves and 2.4 litres of displacement at its disposal. But to leave it there wouldn't be fair, as GM's engineers, who have paid a great deal of attention to making this engine as smooth and refined as possible, yet endowed it with a sports car's snarling authority when the throttle gets blipped, deserve a heck of a lot of credit.
This 2.4-litre mill has received the same attention to detail that all of GM's Ecotec four-cylinder engines have enjoyed, in particular upgrades to reduce noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels, immediately noticeable during hard acceleration. Incidentally, its pistons feature a polymer coating and skirt design to reduce noise during cold startup, while a new, two-layer acoustic engine cover has been added, which reduces noise. Then twin counter-rotating balance shafts were added to smooth out the inherent roughness any four-cylinder produces, as well as an
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| Asia and Europe aren't the only continents building sophisticated four-cylinder engines these days. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
electronic throttle control, a low-friction roller-finger follower valvetrain with hydraulic lash adjusters, low-maintenance chain-driven camshafts, direct-mount accessories, that latter to reduce or eliminate traditional sources of noise and vibration, a full-circle transmission mount to reduce NVH, GM's Oil Life System, to reduce the frequency of oil changes, a cast-in oil filter housing, which eliminates the need to crawl under the Solstice to perform routine oil changes while, even more important to some, landfills will never receive another throwaway oil filter can from your car. GM also positioned a catalytic converter next to the exhaust manifold to accelerate catalyst "light off," reducing hydrocarbon emissions. Yeah, this technical material is hardly lightweight rambling but it needs to be said if only to show that Asia and Europe aren't the only continents building sophisticated four-cylinder engines these days.
