[SkyHope]

Miata trumps competition in issue I received today. Some of what they say doesn't (imo) translate directly over to Sky, 'tho that is what is strongly inferred. Worth reading. I'm still crazed about getting a Sky for Jack.

 

[nscrbug]

If I believed every review/rating I ever read on the car I'm currently driving (99 VW Bug)...I would not be driving it 6 years later. And believe me...every car mag trashed the Beetle...and still does. :lol: At least the Sky got some favorable reviews...which is more than I can say for my beloved Bug.

 

[Way2Fast]

Consumer reports can't tell laundry detergent from soap scum. But non the less they are better at soaps than they are with cars. Don't believe ANYTHING they say, especially when it comes to autos. Anything less than a 4 door Honda is never acceptable to them. I think their testers think the steering wheel is one of the 4 wheels on a car...Idiots !!

 

[SkyHope]

CR does point out legit "weaknesses" but does not calculate a fun-to-drive factor. Nothing they said makes me a whit less excited about owning a Sky. But neither do I find anything outrageous about the review. Factor that in Sky education ('tho they tested a Sol and made the leap that a Sky will be similar results). We're not looking for the most of anything except pleasure in driving, and Sky more than exceeds in that category:driving:.

 

[redline14]

Consumer reports can't tell laundry detergent from soap scum. But non the less they are better at soaps than they are with cars. Don't believe ANYTHING they say, especially when it comes to autos. Anything less than a 4 door Honda is never acceptable to them. I think their testers think the steering wheel is one of the 4 wheels on a car...Idiots !!

It's true, CR is HORRIBLE.

 

[skyOwner2be]

You know the one thing that bothers me about people's opinions about anything, is that no matter how hard they try to be subjective, they almost never are. And I will be the first to admit I am guilty of this too. A co-worker has an SRT-4 Neon, and he was telling me about it and my response was, "I don't care how many HP they give it, it is still a Neon. That's like putting a turbo in a Geo Metro, why bother?" So I guess I can't expect other people to say with enthusiam, "Wow, nice car, and it's a Saturn, cool!" Because they won't. The usual response will be, "That's a Saturn???" Or, "That's a nice car for a Saturn." Or "Who would have thought Saturn could build something like that?" This is why I get so mad when people say they would have a solstice, but would never drive a Sky, I tell them, they are the same car!!!!!! Just because they put a Pontiac emblem on it doesn't suddenly make it cool. If anything I would think it would make it worse given how quickly Pontiacs depreciate, ever looked up blue book on a 2 year old Grand Prix? Like 1/2 price of a new one. Anyway, like I said, I am guilty of it too, so don't take everything magazines or the public says seriously, there will always be biases.

 

[krazygoat]

As someone who test drove everything from the Solstice, Boxster, Elise, Z4, and TT in my decision making process I can see where reviewers find faults.

I have not driven one but I have sat in a Sky and driven the Solstice. The top is a PIA compared to most any other convertible, but that is the price to pay for the good looks of it tucked away. There is a lot of hard cheap interior plastic, not as bad as the solstice in my opinion and even the more expensive Z4 has a pretty craptastic interior in my opinion. The power isn't stellar in the base model but it seems like a nice tuner platform to me.

The Miata's interior materials are ever so slightly nicer but the design is ugly. Driving feel is subjective. Reviewers tend to like the fact that you can get the Miata going sideways easily and controllably, but I prefer the smooth and glued feeling of the Solstice and Sky who can actually out corner a Miata. The Miata has a super easy top and usable trunk. I think the new design loses some of the classic good looks. The Sky and Solstice just kill the Miata on exterior design.

Z4, ugly inside and out, good handling, reliability issues in newer cars, fast and powerful, uninspiring and I see more Z4 on the roads in LA than I do Miatas.

TT, great looks, good interior design with real metal accent pieces not metal painted plastic. Heavy and ill handling, more of a posing car for the design crowd.

Boxster, I admit Porsche bias since I own a Carrera S, but this car is great, especially the S version. Nice interior albeit it still has some ridiculous crappy plastic, fast as hell, handles like it is on rails, lot of storage, mid-engine, BUT, options are stupid expensive and the car is pricey to start with. They are reliable and great but for the money they still are not a 911 and I don't much care for Porsche service.

The Lotus Elise gave me fits. It is a superb car that not only embarrasses every sports car around it's price, but cars costing $200+K. My 100K Porsche is nothing compared to the Elise. It is the best bang for buck on 4 wheels. It still runs in the 50's when dealers add on the few packages available to it. It is a PIA getting in and out of. You look kind of silly rolling out onto the ground of you 50K car. The interior is spartan to say the least, it is a race car first so interior niceties are pretty much non-existant. The ride is load and so firm your chiropractor will never go out of business.

So while the Elise was the best bang for buck sports car, the Sky I am hoping will be the best smiles per mile car for me. It is about 1/2 the cost of the Elise, a ton more comfy, should handle great based on my solstice drive, and looks sexy as hell.

So CR can stick that in their tail pipe and smoke it.

 

[Carnut]

Consumer Reports leans a little too far "left" for me.
Their slant is generally tilted "green", and frumpy = good

 

[richmcc]

Consumer reports can't tell laundry detergent from soap scum. But non the less they are better at soaps than they are with cars. Don't believe ANYTHING they say, especially when it comes to autos. Anything less than a 4 door Honda is never acceptable to them. I think their testers think the steering wheel is one of the 4 wheels on a car...Idiots !!

I remember when CR did a review of Personal Computers when they were fairly new. It rated PC with a slower CPU and less memory higher because the Keyboard had "a better touch". They rate everything like it is a kitchen Blender!:willy:

So that CR likes the Miata better only means to me that it might make smoothies better! :lol:

 

[Luke Sky Watcher]

As far as I'm concerned C R has never been my favorite mag. Everything I get is on their do not buy list but, I never seem to have a problem. I do not purchase based on the way they look at things!
:cheers:

 

[SkyMan 08]

The Sol and Sky are just so Hot they burn their toast......:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[SunneySky]

Who cares what C R has to say - I have had lots of bad advice from them.

 

[SkyMan 08]

Who says the people filling out the Surveys are being totally honest about their cars too...
Japanese cars have such a reputation for being reliable, that who wants to be the one that has a lemon?
Besides just take a look around next time you take a trip, there are a equal number of Japanese cars abandonded on the sides of the interstate as American cars... Something I take note of every time I go on a trip...
I have never trusted them for any products... usually when i read one of their reports I have to laugh at some of the comments they make...

 

[kingarthur]

I think it's amusing that they mention the difference in weight but don't mention differences in size of the two cars. Extra weight most often means extra durability and solidity, I might add, especially when it comes to convertibles.
I have always noted that CR seldom is right about autos. They praised the hell out of the Plymouth Valiant, leading my brother in law to buy one. Bad decision - that was the most recalled auto in history. The cowling was rusted when he took delivery. CR also warned about the Fiero's brakes, not realizing that the brakes (which were incorrectly blamed for X and J car end swapping tendencies in wet weather - it was due to high mileage, hard durometer tires and the light rear ends of those front wheel drive cars) were not an issue in the heavy rear end of the rear engined Fiero. That's what I call light bulb logic - 1) the brakes had problems (supposedly) in X cars; 2)the brakes are also used in the Fiero, hence 3) (light bulb goes off in CR offices) the Fiero will have brake problems also. That's about as damning an indictment of simpleminded automotive ignorance as I can imagine. CR is not qualified to review automobiles. Period. CR noted that the Solstice is new and hence its
reliability cannot be determined. Well, that's rather naiive - the engine is certainly not new , nor is the tranny, etc. It is, in fact, a parts bin car. Did the CR guys mention that the Miata is an all new car as well and its reliability
in question (especially in light of its program of drastic weight reductions , achieved by removing metal and material from existing parts ) ? If the weights were reversed, who can doubt that CR would describe the Solstice as "flimsy."
CR griped about the acceleration, but the impartial numbers don't support their exaggerated claims. Did CR bother to mention that a turbo version is becoming available? Did CR mention that the Miata's styling is now 15 years old and that it lacks the looks that buyers demand from a sports car? CR seems to think sports car owners are swayed by window button positions
and the fact that the top doesn't go up as easy as some other cars out there. When it comes to a car, those considerations are pretty low on the totem pole. Odd, since the Miata requires a small driver and occupant if driving comfort has any value. CR can't see the forest for all those damn trees. I'm surprised CR didn't gripe about the inability of the Solstice to handle 4X8 pieces of plywood.

 

[Jordan]

As someone who test drove everything from the Solstice, Boxster, Elise, Z4, and TT in my decision making process I can see where reviewers find faults.

I have not driven one but I have sat in a Sky and driven the Solstice. The top is a PIA compared to most any other convertible, but that is the price to pay for the good looks of it tucked away. There is a lot of hard cheap interior plastic, not as bad as the solstice in my opinion and even the more expensive Z4 has a pretty craptastic interior in my opinion. The power isn't stellar in the base model but it seems like a nice tuner platform to me.

The Miata's interior materials are ever so slightly nicer but the design is ugly. Driving feel is subjective. Reviewers tend to like the fact that you can get the Miata going sideways easily and controllably, but I prefer the smooth and glued feeling of the Solstice and Sky who can actually out corner a Miata. The Miata has a super easy top and usable trunk. I think the new design loses some of the classic good looks. The Sky and Solstice just kill the Miata on exterior design.

Z4, ugly inside and out, good handling, reliability issues in newer cars, fast and powerful, uninspiring and I see more Z4 on the roads in LA than I do Miatas.

TT, great looks, good interior design with real metal accent pieces not metal painted plastic. Heavy and ill handling, more of a posing car for the design crowd.

Boxster, I admit Porsche bias since I own a Carrera S, but this car is great, especially the S version. Nice interior albeit it still has some ridiculous crappy plastic, fast as hell, handles like it is on rails, lot of storage, mid-engine, BUT, options are stupid expensive and the car is pricey to start with. They are reliable and great but for the money they still are not a 911 and I don't much care for Porsche service.

The Lotus Elise gave me fits. It is a superb car that not only embarrasses every sports car around it's price, but cars costing $200+K. My 100K Porsche is nothing compared to the Elise. It is the best bang for buck on 4 wheels. It still runs in the 50's when dealers add on the few packages available to it. It is a PIA getting in and out of. You look kind of silly rolling out onto the ground of you 50K car. The interior is spartan to say the least, it is a race car first so interior niceties are pretty much non-existant. The ride is load and so firm your chiropractor will never go out of business.

So while the Elise was the best bang for buck sports car, the Sky I am hoping will be the best smiles per mile car for me. It is about 1/2 the cost of the Elise, a ton more comfy, should handle great based on my solstice drive, and looks sexy as hell.

So CR can stick that in their tail pipe and smoke it.

Thats a nice write up

I would really like to drive an Elise, there are 2 in town which is surprising because there is only 50k people, must be the Navy guys... But the Elise just looks like an extremely fun car..

But I know picking the Redline will not disappoint. The money will go into it and it will be great. CR was never a great source, but even they can almost give GM a good review every once in a while nowadays.