That lines up with my impressions of the Solstice GXP I drove (mechanically the same as your Sky). Tons of grip, great acceleration... claustrophobic interior (mind you, I drive a ‘91 Miata, which isn’t exactly spacious). Couple that with the lack of a useable trunk, and I’ll have to pass until I can afford a second or third car.
Also, how on earth did GM manage to make a vehicle that is only slightly larger than the current Mazda MX-5 weigh so much?
Saturn canned all of the polycarbonate body materials ~last year because first the recycled stock, then the virgin, rose in price. I thought switching to steel was about the stupidest thing in the world, it added about 500 pounds to the VUE, and not designing the SKY with it in mind probably added at least 300-400 to that.
One of Saturns big selling points was the PC body panels, indestructable from my experience (We’re on our 5th Saturn). I would have figured the CAFE hit would have been too much too.
Of course, “All conundrums related to GM can be resolved by accepting as fact that GMs core business strategy is to lose as much money and market share in as little time as possible” (Axenolith’s first axiom of GM) and this just reinforces that...