2006 Pontiac Solstice

We asked for it and we got it: a good-handling Solstice. Well, actually we got a drive in some engineering test mules. But by all indications, the production versions of this new-for-2006 Pontiac roadster will feel appropriately lithe and entertaining to drive. Just what we were after.

In these pages ("Editorial," April), we asserted that GM and its chief car guy, Bob Lutz, were taking on a major challenge of packaging, chassis development, and ergonomics in presenting the Solstice to the world. A small, open-air, two-seat roadster absolutely must be lively and responsive in the driver's hand. It has to have balance and polish, feel compliant as well as stable, perform in a spirited fashion regardless of its actual test numbers, and generally possess a loveable character.

A Mazda Miata delivers this package, and if the world's largest car maker, with all its vast engineering resources, were to come up short, no one would even care why it happened. Shared componentry? Shortage of development time? Trying to hold to a price point? Looking for the widest possible audience? We've heard all the excuses, and they won't wash this time. A coupe or sedan that doesn't come out quite as sporty as promised is just a mild disappointment; a roadster that misses is a disaster and an embarrassment. Like an Italian restaurant with no garlic in the kitchen: Why bother?

Mr. Lutz pushed the design staff to get the Solstice on display at the Detroit show in 2002, shortly after he arrived at the corporation. Two years later, at Detroit this last January, Pontiac announced its intent to bring Bob's roadster to market in the fall of 2005 as a 2006 model. A lot happened between those two auto shows, and a lot still has to happen before the car heads for America's driveways. But we have now had a glimpse of the Solstice as a work in progress and talked to the people who are making it feel and drive the way it will, and we're encouraged. We drove two cars undergoing testing on the twisty, bumpy lanes of southern England. They were frankly way too rough to be fair representations of the finished product. But the mechanical systems underpinning them gave us some sense of what's coming and made clear what the development team is focusing on as the car takes shape.

Case in point, and a hugely important one: steering feel. Basic componentry of the system, from the steering wheel to the tire footprints, has been settled. But there's a lot of tuning going on still, which can involve rigidity of mounts and bushing hardness, geometry, and especially power-assist characteristics.