marc-o

No dice... the platform was adapted from the corvette platform, that's why there's no room for the gas tank. the engine is straight from the parts bin, the tranny is from the small truck platform (i believe). Only cosmetic factors are radical about the solstice, everything out of sight is adapted or straight from other vehicles.

I wouldn't say so... the Solstice is a huge leap in terms of designs, but nothing else. The whole car is hacked together from the GM parts bin, and performance wise, it doesn't impress. The Miata is still faster, and from everything i've read, more fun to drive.

I agree...on both counts. The Civic is a very good car, the new model impresses me everytime I see it. I'm not convinced it has the awesome leap that the new Sonata does, but I haven't driven either car, so I can't really comment. I can see how given the tight times (for fuel) we are and were in, an economy car with everything (which is what the Civic is, if you option it up) is. The Fusion is a great car, but yeah, it didn't come out with the bang that it should have, for a lot of reasons. It's what Ford needs, but I'm not convinced it's a "car of the year". For those who don't know, there's a hell of a lot of good cars out there right now, the Fusion is one, but it's not the be-all-end-all. Of course, I think Motor Trend pages should be used as toilet paper if they weren't waxed and so inky, so I don't really pay attention to what they think anyways.