I’m not sure what’s in the base...but the turbo model uses Toyota’s Aisin 5 speed. Not the best performance but it’ll take a beating that’s for sure! First gear is pretty short. Peak torque is around 3,000 rpm and peak horsepower is around 5,500 so there’s steady power through every gear and zero turbo lag.

If it was the base model 2.4, yes those are garbage. Painfully slow and just shitty. Drive the 2.0T with a trifecta tune. It'll win you over.

Solstice GXP or Saturn Sky Redline: easily the best car for the money. Super reliable, less than 3,000Lbs, 50/50 weight distribution, cheap insurance, 30mpgs AND a $300 tune puts you in C6 Vette territory. I ran mine at 23psi (320hp/340 torque) for 50,000 miles before I sold it. Never had a single issue. And selling…