The goal is to sell the GT agressively in the 27/28K euro when it finally goes on sale in line with the pricing of the Miata’s and MR2’s (still sold in Europe).

For an early production car, fit and finish was already excellent. Hard plastics abound (no Golf interior, there). Ignite the engine and it settles in a pretty low (750) rpm idle. Very light girlie clutch but pulls strong off idle with no apparent turbo lag, very 1.8T-on-steroids audiesque. near the 6200 rpm mark, the wastegate openes annoyingly but there is no loss of pull, don’t know if this will be different on retail cars. Reminded me of my factory Metro Turbo…..

On the autobahn it was a joy how compliant the suspension was at high speeds over undulating tarmac and I experienced no nervousnes for a car with such a generally short weelbase through drawn out long top speed curves. I had to drive it with the top up since the temperature was constantly between 50-60 F (18-20 C) with intermittent showers. Noise from the roof was extreme at high speed due to a misalignment (there was a 1cm gap on the driver’s side where the roof meets the body, none on the passenger side) and the radio antenna was either not connected or absent.
Thanks G_D for a Tangerine Dream CD in the system. GM should use that music in their commercials!!

The seat cover material had a pleasant pattern but a bit “sweatty under humid conditions, the side bolsters just right on the outer side of the seat but a moot point towards the middle console, since, “you’re not going anywhere”. Lol. This could be resolved so that there’s a couple of extra inches for the posteriorically challenged amongst us…
Steering is european sports car like direct with good feedback from the oem dunlops. I constantly wondered if this car really had 260 horses. The combination of acceleration excellence, cornering and midrange torque in combination with a just right spacing of the gearbox made it feel like 300hp!!

I returned the car the following day an hour before my flight still some 80 km away from the airport in morning rush hour, so the goodbye’S were short and sweet. I tipped the guy for letting me have the screamer the equivalent of a w/e rental but it was well worth it.

The night before I went to a Wiesbaden Disco with the car and it attracted the looks of quite a few scantly clad party goers. (I leave some space for plausible deniability with the wife here!!)
The challenge for Oplel will be to see if the GT will be a serious sports car contender. They can sell as many as they produce!! The power is there to challenge the TT’s and Sportsters, but the looks and the reaction from the gurllz said: Miata………..

For some reason, every site on the Internet with this car says it doesn’t go on sale until the spring of 2007. Gotta wonder how one ended up in a rental fleet a year almost a year prior to intro.

The SKY and Solstice will be available with the same powertrain, for LESS money. The Opel GT will sell for 30k Euros, about $33k.

I was ready to sign on the dotted line when my company sent me on a pre-world cup business trip to Germany. Upon arrival I extended my trip over the w/e and rented a: OPEL GT!! That badge engineered wonder from across the pond.

To answer the question nobody asked, chicken or egg, actually all of the Kappa line family tree, Solstice, GT, Sky etc. has its beginning at the Vauxhall Lightning study first presented in ‘04 in Geneva. Badge engineering is a wonderful thing…….

What irked me in the end is in time honored GM tradition we are (again) getting the short end of the stick. I drove the afore mentioned GT with a 6 speed stick and the ONLY engine it is offered in Germany: the 2litre 260(!!) hp screamer!! I could only put an average 250km on the car before returning it, but it was SWEEEEEEET.

We might get a (optional) version dubbed GTP or GTX or some such here in the future AT A PREMIUM over the lame duck 177hp one… Meanwile currency adjustment withstanding the Opel costs no more in decked out autobahn ready 260 hp version. Mention THAT next time you head to the Pontiac/Saturn Dealer!!!

Supersizing, the time honored marketing gouging trick is alive and well here in the US!!!

I didn’t notice the buffeting you describe, but I spent most of my time in the car under 60 mph. You might also be taller than I am (5-9).

At one point, I tried to read a magazine on my lap while my wife was driving, and it was damn near impossible. If I’d had some duct tape, I’d have strapped it to my pants and maybe been able to stabilize the pages long enough to read ‘em. And there is no wind-blocker, either stock or optional.

They should rent this thing to Wright-Patterson AFB as a small portable wind tunnel.

Another strange little thing that fascinated me. I’m very suspicious of how carefully a car was engineered when it shows a flaw that I’m sure was detected by the very first factory tester who drove a pre-production prototype. The Sky has a brilliant red, two-inch-square jewel of a Saturn logo near the top of the “waterfall” panel between the seatbacks. It is placed perfectly so that the logo is reflected absolutely clearly smack in the middle of the rear-view mirror any time the top is down and the sun is illuminating the logo. (It has something to do with the “double reflectability” of the mirror with its nighttime anti-dazzle function.)

Now, I know that pre-prod tester came back and said, “We gotta move the logo. There’s a bad reflection.”

And I know his boss said, “Can’t afford it. Lutz will have my ass.”

Or–and here’s a horrifying thought–maybe they brilliantly engineered it so that you see a Saturn logo every time you use the rearview mirror with the top down.

You think????

Stephan Wilkinson