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SAN DIEGO — The look is assertively Pontiac: drooping snout, oversize grille, red dashboard lighting, gimmicky hood scoops.
It’s a big ol’ roomy and comfortable American sedan. The power is stunning, at least with the optional V-8, and the package is a raging value by today’s inflated standards: $30,000 or so for the GT V-8
The $28,000 V-6 model, however, is adequate in muscle.
The 2008 Pontiac (GM) G8 sedan, now hitting dealers, returns Pontiac to its place as General Motors’ purveyor of rompin’, stompin’, slightly raw, powerful cars done the Yankee way.
Oh, boy, it’s been a long time coming — and good to see.
Irony detour: The very American G8 is built in Australia by Holden, a GM unit that is its anointed worldwide expert in rear-drive cars. G8’s chief head-to-head rival, the very American Dodge Charger, is built in Canada.
G8 hasn’t the sexy name or muscle-car legacy of Charger. But if you don’t insist on the megalist of options Charger offers (backseat TV, for goodness sake), G8’s more satisfying to drive. And though the 6-liter GM V-8 lacks the cachet of Dodge’s Hemi V-8, it out-charges Charger on a quarter-mile drag strip: 5.3 seconds vs. six, according to both makers.
A GT V-8 is the “most powerful car for less than $30,000,” brags Pontiac. As good as a BMW 5 Series for $20,000 less, is how GM product boss Robert Lutz has put it. Roomy, practical, satisfying, is how you might put it. Buy it as a family car, enjoy it as a hot rod.
Even the base V-6 model has sporty accoutrements: high-bolster bucket seats, manual-shift mode on the five-speed automatic transmission, firm suspension for winning arguments with corners. The overhead camshaft V-6, similar to the Cadillac CTS base engine, overcomes a rough personality to offer pleasant scoot.
The V-8’s six-speed automatic also has a manual-shift mode. With both, you push the lever away from you to enter manual mode, which seems less handy than pulling it toward you, and the dash indicator showing the gear you’re in is too small to read easily.
The gearboxes also have a sport mode that holds them in lower gears longer. Good for performance, bad for fuel economy. In the test cars, it made shifts quite jerky, not just firmer, and didn’t get used much.
G8 has a real three-across back seat. But as has become GM’s habit, there’s no safety head restraint in the middle. GM never seems able to explain that.
G8 front seats let the user crank back the lumbar support so it nearly disappears. Other GM models harass your spine with a hard push, even with the lumbar fully retracted. Cloth upholstery in the base V-6 test car felt at least as good as the GT’s optional leather.
Artfully executed: front-seat bolsters. You want 'em high to hold you in place in exuberant cornering. But automakers often narrow the seat cushion to make room to add bolsters, leaving your rump feeling pinched. Not on G8. Big bolsters and a wide cushion nail you in place without squeezing your keister.
Power-window switches are on the center console, not the door panel, which never seems natural. It saves GM money, though, because it requires no change of a steering wheel on the left or the right (as in Australia, where the car is sold as the Commodore).
Big trunk. Lots of nooks, cubbies and stow areas inside the car. Excellent family car for those looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous crossover SUV or minivan. Underneath, the G8 is the same Holden rear-drive chassis with independent suspension at all four corners that’ll be under the Chevrolet Camaro due a year from now, GM says. No plans for all-wheel drive, as you can get on the Dodge Charger.
The base V-6 rides on 18-inch all-season rubber. Most of the time, for most people, those will be better skins than the hoo-hah, 19-inch summer-tread tires on the optional fancier wheels for the GT. Those handle well, run pretty quietly and look cool, of course. But they ride harsher, don’t work in snow and can kick the steering a bit when the car hits a bump in midcorner. Nothing that threatens control, but unpleasant.
It seems far-fetched to aver that the G8 is the equal of BMW’s 5 Series. But it’s far enough down that road that you could argue yourself into one. Especially if you like interior space, of which the G8 has gobs. Not if you value snob appeal, of which the G8 offers little.
And accessory addicts should look to the Charger or beyond for an overwhelming array of gadget options.
Just two models and a manageable list of options is one way Pontiac keeps the sticker price in check. The idea is that most every configuration would be on every boatload from Australia, so a customer could “order” one and the dealer could get if off the boat, rather than sending an order to the factory and waiting.
Emblematic: Navigation isn’t available. It will be if enough people want it, Pontiac says, but initially it’s just one more complication. Nor can you get satellite radio till later in the year.
Assuming G8 escapes first-year bugs and other quality problems, Pontiac appears about to field a winner.
ABOUT THE 2008 PONTIAC G8
What is it? Full-size, rear-drive, four-door sedan new to Pontiac. Base model has V-6; GT has V-8. Made in Australia by GM’s Holden unit.
How soon? On sale now.
How much? V-6 starts at $27,595 with $685 shipping. GT starts at $29,995, tops shy of $33,000.
How many? 30,000 a year for North America is the plan, but “I think we’ll be north of that” because of the relatively low price, says Doug Houlihan, global chief engineer for GM rear-drive cars.
The competition? Charger, Maxima.
What’s the drivetrain? 3.6-liter V-6 rated 256 horsepower at 6,300 rpm, 248 pounds-feet of torque at 2,100 rpm, five-speed automatic, traction control. Standard on GT: 6-liter V-8 rated 361 hp at 5,300 rpm, 385 lbs.-ft. at 4,400 rpm, six-speed automatic, traction control.
What’s the safety hardware? Expected belts; an array of bags: front, side and head-curtain; anti-lock brakes; stability control.
What’s the rest? Standard: climate control; AM/FM/CD stereo with jack; power steering, brakes, windows, locks, mirrors; cruise control; trip computer; remote locks; remote start; OnStar telecom system with a year of free emergency service.
How big? 196.1 inches long, 74.8 inches wide, 57.7 inches tall on a 114.8-inch wheelbase. Passenger space: 107 cubic feet; trunk: 17.5 cubic feet. Weight: 3,885 lbs. (3,995 lbs. GT). Rated to tow 2,000 lbs., carry 1,500 lbs. Turning circle: 37.4 feet.
How speedy? Pontiac claims 0 to 60 mph in 7 seconds for the V-6, 5.3 seconds for the V-8.
How thirsty? V-6 rated 17 miles per gallon in town, 25 mpg highway, 20 combined. V-8 rated 15/24/18. V-6 test car’s trip computer showed 21.5 mpg in 114 miles, mainly on two-lane highways.
V-8 delivered 16 to 20.2 mpg in 30- to 60-mile legs mainly on two-lane highways.
Tank holds 19.2 gallons. Regular fuel OK, but Pontiac says “premium maximizes performance.”
Overall: Yum
