So how does a car with scary brakes, a sloppy shifter and GM-like wallow in its suspension still manage to be fun to drive? Therein lies the magic of the Pontiac Sunfire Convertible GT. No, this car will never outgun the similarly priced Mazda Miata in terms of pure driving enjoyment, but that's not the market Pontiac is chasing with this drop-top Sunfire.
According to Pontiac's own sales literature, the 1999 Sunfire GT Convertible competes with the Chrysler Sebring, Toyota Celica, Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Golf, and Honda del Sol (Psst, hey Pontiac, Honda stopped making the del Sol in 1997). All of these models, except the dead-and-buried del Sol, have rear seats, in theory. The Miata, despite being within $1,500 and 10 horsepower of the Sunfire GT Convertible, doesn't offer seating for more than two. The Miata also doesn't have the 155 foot-pounds of torque that Pontiac's 2.4-liter, twin-cam four offers in a long, flat curve across the rpm range. So, if you're transporting four adults from Grand Junction, Colo., to Denver (with two steep mountain passes in-between) the Sunfire GT Convertible easily wins out over the Miata.
Comparisons between the Pontiac and its acknowledged competitors aren't quite as clear-cut. For example, the Chrysler Sebring Convertible costs more but comes with a larger, more powerful engine, but no manual transmission. The Volkswagen Cabrio offers Germanic handling and a better warranty, but even the upscale, and more expensive, GLS model still comes with 14-inch wheels and a wimpy 115-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine. Toyota's Celica is just too damn expensive and slow, and Ford's Mustang costs the same while offering a much higher torque figure (215 foot-pounds). Too bad it's uhhh-gly!
Conveniently left out of Pontiac's list of competitors is the Mitsubishi Spyder GS. A 2.4-liter engine, producing almost the same horsepower and torque numbers as the Sunfire, also powers this car. The Spyder weighs 100 pounds less but costs $1,000 more and comes only with 14-inch wheels as standard equipment. As for visual impact, the Eclipse may be the Sunfire's only real competitor in this price range.
If nothing else, it's apparent that 21K will indeed get you into a brand-new, drop-top automobile. Whether or not it should be a Sunfire GT Convertible depends on your specific needs. We can say, without hesitation, that the Pontiac has one of the most useful rear seats we've ever experienced in a two-door convertible. With plenty of rear leg, hip and shoulder room, this car scores big on the
"want-the-convertible-fun-but-need-the-ability-to-carry-lots-of-people" meter.
Additional high points include the capable sound system with steering wheel controls, excellent visibility (even with the top up) and an exterior design that looked sharper than most of its competition, especially in bright red, as on our test unit. With the top down and the three-piece convertible boot in place, the Sunfire stood out, even in West L.A.
If the Sunfire's sporty looks were matched by truly sporty performance, it would be a great automobile. Alas, 'twas not meant to be. Still a GM at heart, the Sunfire suffers from all the General's usual woes. A wallowy, underdamped suspension and stiff, clunky shifter made performance driving a demanding task, at best. Only the super-sticky 15-inch tires, which clung to the road like a pit bull in heat, preserved any semblance of handling ability. Actually, the Sunfire's ultra-adhesive traits made it possible to carry more speed through tight corners than its over-active suspension first indicated. A judicious use of mid-corner braking and throttle mashing soon had us sliding the bright red drop top through canyons at a rapid pace. Certainly it wasn't pretty, with the Pontiac's body sloshing up and down like Kate Winslet on a piece of Titanic wreckage, but it was possible.
While the Sunfire's suspension wallow was irritating, the car's maximum braking ability was downright frightening. Four-wheel ABS is standard equipment on all Sunfires, but we'd seriously consider making a special order to delete it. Our test unit took 155 feet to stop from 60 mph! We don't think this is the sort of excitement Pontiac is referring to in their ads. That 155 figure makes the Sunfire the worst car for braking in Edmund's testing database. In fact, only the Ford Super Duty F250 and Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 have inferior braking numbers. The problem seemed to be in the ABS computer because, under max braking, the car oscillated between trying really hard to stop and not trying at all. We have no doubt that allowing the driver to modulate max braking force instead of this particular ABS computer would have yielded better results.
The braking and shifter problems are unfortunate because, otherwise, the Sunfire is not a bad car. Even the loose suspension can be forgiven since the Sunfire, when pushed, actually holds the road through tight canyon corners. It would take only minor tweaks by GM to "fix" this car and have a real winner on their hands. That might not be a good idea, however, since a fixed GM car is first on the list when it comes time to axe models (Can you say Fiero GT?).
According to Pontiac's own sales literature, the 1999 Sunfire GT Convertible competes with the Chrysler Sebring, Toyota Celica, Ford Mustang, Volkswagen Golf, and Honda del Sol (Psst, hey Pontiac, Honda stopped making the del Sol in 1997). All of these models, except the dead-and-buried del Sol, have rear seats, in theory. The Miata, despite being within $1,500 and 10 horsepower of the Sunfire GT Convertible, doesn't offer seating for more than two. The Miata also doesn't have the 155 foot-pounds of torque that Pontiac's 2.4-liter, twin-cam four offers in a long, flat curve across the rpm range. So, if you're transporting four adults from Grand Junction, Colo., to Denver (with two steep mountain passes in-between) the Sunfire GT Convertible easily wins out over the Miata.
Comparisons between the Pontiac and its acknowledged competitors aren't quite as clear-cut. For example, the Chrysler Sebring Convertible costs more but comes with a larger, more powerful engine, but no manual transmission. The Volkswagen Cabrio offers Germanic handling and a better warranty, but even the upscale, and more expensive, GLS model still comes with 14-inch wheels and a wimpy 115-horsepower, 2.0-liter engine. Toyota's Celica is just too damn expensive and slow, and Ford's Mustang costs the same while offering a much higher torque figure (215 foot-pounds). Too bad it's uhhh-gly!
Conveniently left out of Pontiac's list of competitors is the Mitsubishi Spyder GS. A 2.4-liter engine, producing almost the same horsepower and torque numbers as the Sunfire, also powers this car. The Spyder weighs 100 pounds less but costs $1,000 more and comes only with 14-inch wheels as standard equipment. As for visual impact, the Eclipse may be the Sunfire's only real competitor in this price range.
If nothing else, it's apparent that 21K will indeed get you into a brand-new, drop-top automobile. Whether or not it should be a Sunfire GT Convertible depends on your specific needs. We can say, without hesitation, that the Pontiac has one of the most useful rear seats we've ever experienced in a two-door convertible. With plenty of rear leg, hip and shoulder room, this car scores big on the
"want-the-convertible-fun-but-need-the-ability-to-carry-lots-of-people" meter.
Additional high points include the capable sound system with steering wheel controls, excellent visibility (even with the top up) and an exterior design that looked sharper than most of its competition, especially in bright red, as on our test unit. With the top down and the three-piece convertible boot in place, the Sunfire stood out, even in West L.A.
If the Sunfire's sporty looks were matched by truly sporty performance, it would be a great automobile. Alas, 'twas not meant to be. Still a GM at heart, the Sunfire suffers from all the General's usual woes. A wallowy, underdamped suspension and stiff, clunky shifter made performance driving a demanding task, at best. Only the super-sticky 15-inch tires, which clung to the road like a pit bull in heat, preserved any semblance of handling ability. Actually, the Sunfire's ultra-adhesive traits made it possible to carry more speed through tight corners than its over-active suspension first indicated. A judicious use of mid-corner braking and throttle mashing soon had us sliding the bright red drop top through canyons at a rapid pace. Certainly it wasn't pretty, with the Pontiac's body sloshing up and down like Kate Winslet on a piece of Titanic wreckage, but it was possible.
While the Sunfire's suspension wallow was irritating, the car's maximum braking ability was downright frightening. Four-wheel ABS is standard equipment on all Sunfires, but we'd seriously consider making a special order to delete it. Our test unit took 155 feet to stop from 60 mph! We don't think this is the sort of excitement Pontiac is referring to in their ads. That 155 figure makes the Sunfire the worst car for braking in Edmund's testing database. In fact, only the Ford Super Duty F250 and Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 have inferior braking numbers. The problem seemed to be in the ABS computer because, under max braking, the car oscillated between trying really hard to stop and not trying at all. We have no doubt that allowing the driver to modulate max braking force instead of this particular ABS computer would have yielded better results.
The braking and shifter problems are unfortunate because, otherwise, the Sunfire is not a bad car. Even the loose suspension can be forgiven since the Sunfire, when pushed, actually holds the road through tight canyon corners. It would take only minor tweaks by GM to "fix" this car and have a real winner on their hands. That might not be a good idea, however, since a fixed GM car is first on the list when it comes time to axe models (Can you say Fiero GT?).
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