Dan Neil, Contributor
Celestial the saturn sky -Compared to its clonal sibling the Pontiac Solstice, the Saturn Sky is more likable in every direction.
THE Saturn Sky - the celestially seasoned version of the Pontiac Solstice roadster - reminds us that there is no idea so good that GM won't toss it in a burlap sack and beat it with reeds. With the release of the Saturn Sky, GM is unveiling a new orbital path for the Ringed Planet. Forget independence and second-channel thinking. Henceforth, the Saturn brand will stand for a better class of product redundancy.
Compared to its clonal sibling the Pontiac Solstice, the Saturn Sky is more likable in every direction. The Sky's interior looks and feels more polished and sophisticated, with gloss-black surfacing on the central console ("piano" black, if you make your pianos from moulded plastic resin) and e-brake lever, and brushed alloy trim on the shift console and door handles. The upgrading extends to the standard equipment list, with the Sky offering air-conditioning, projector head lamps, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, power accessories, keyless entry and lots of other cost-extra items on the Solstice's order list. The Sky costs about three grand more than the base Solstice and weighs 73 pounds more. Both penny and pound penalties seem worth it.
five-speed gearbox
Most perplexing - especially if you're a Pontiac dealer - is that the Sky drives better. Solstice and Sky are powered by the same 2.4-litre twin-cam four engine routing max power of 177 hp through a nick-nick, five-speed gearbox (an automatic is optional). The Sky can light the rear tires up in first gear, but it isn't really a hard-punching sports car. Zero-to-60 mph acceleration is about 7.5 seconds.
For a little corporate cupcake, the Sky is capable of some significant hard driving. The steering is sharp, taut and full of subtle feedbacks from the asphalt. The cornering grip - thanks mainly to the big Goodyears on the corners - is reliable and easy to access. With its slightly nose-heavy weight distribution, the Sky can be coaxed into nice, progressive tail-sliding behaviour that can be nulled out with a dab of throttle and counter steer.
comfortable cruiser
Once on the highway, shift the car into fifth gear and the Sky drops an octave. The Sky-walker is a comfortable cruiser, with well bolstered seats, a decent sound system and adequate protection from buffeting at speeds up to about
80 mph. The steering has good self-centring behaviour at high speed but the Sky never loses that alert, slightly darty feel of a roadster. Meanwhile, few cars at any price cut such a compellingly-shaped hole in the wind.
Of course, there are small irritations. For a car named Sky, the sky is actually quite hard to access. The top requires several awkward steps to open and close, and one step where you have to jump on the rear hatch like a crazy person to make sure it's closed.
Quibbling aside, the Saturn Sky is an immensely likeable car with a cool factor measured in parsecs. After Corvette, this is my favourite car from the General, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Source: www.latimes.com
