This past weekend I had the chance to experience the all-new Pontiac G8 firsthand in San Diego, CA.
Many of us are already familiar with the Pontiac G8 thanks to Holden Commodore, which is essentially the same car sold in Australia. Pontiac’s new flagship sedan, which is going to be in dealerships in a few days is one bold sedan.
The 2008 G8 features either a 256 horsepower 3.6L V6 or an awesome 361 horsepower 6.0L V8. Both engines put that power to the ground through the rear wheels. The only sore spot with the powertrain is the fact that a manual is not going to be offered, initially.
Pontiac had both the regular G8 and the G8 GT on hand for us to wring out in the canyons around San Diego.
Pontiac G8:
-Our first experience with the G8 was the regular V6 powered version, probably because everyone else ran for teh V8s first. Visually the G8 looks almost identical to the more powerful G8 GT. The only differences are the taillights (red on the G8), single dual rear exhaust pipes vs the quad pipes on the GT, larger alloy wheels and chrome trim on the door handles are also part of the GT. The G8 is powered by a 256 horsepower 3.6L V6 that is mated to a five-speed automatic. The setup was more than adequate and easily competitive with many of the other midsize sedans on the market. The only issue was during hard acceleration, the engine seemed to run out of steam. Going up hill with only two passengers on board it was easy to floor the sedan and feel like it needed a bit more power. It would be even worse with 5 passengers and luggage. Even though it seemed a little under powered at times it would probably be more than adequate for most buyers.
The G8 and the G8 GT have the same exact FE2 suspension, which is definitely not a bad thing. Both models handled extremely well around the curves, also thanks to its 50/50 weight distribution with two passengers on board. If it wasn’t for the slightly numb feeling steering the car could have probably been pushed even harder. Even though I wished that the V6 had a bit more power, its handling more than made up for it. The only other issue when trying to drive it hard though the curves was the very thick A-pillar. This made it hard to see around corners.
Inside the G8 I drove was covered in a boring black cloth. Its hard texture immediately made me want to sit in the G8 GT with the leather seats. The dash design was simple although parts of it were covered in the typical GM hard plastic. The top of the dash was also covered in a weird plastic that liked to attract dust. It looked different, but would obviously be annoying when it comes time to clean it. On the center console there are two LCD screens, one for the audio controls and the other shows the current oil life and voltmeter. It seemed like a waste to have a separate screen for these two things. I would have much rather seen this space used for the audio controls, outside temp gauge or anything else other than this. The main gripe I had about the interior of the G8 was the fact that the power window switches were located in the center console, right next to the cupholders (let’s hope you don’t spill anything on them). The other annoying thing was the manual backrest adjustment which had to be turned (like older VWs). It was hard to reach and turn at the same time.
Pontiac G8 GT:
The Pontiac G8 GT is the current flagship of the two models (a GXP may be in the works with a manual). It is powered by a 361 6.0L V8 with 385 lb-ft of torque (with cylinder deactivation). The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic. It reaches 0-60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Although the engine seems insane on paper, for some reason it didnt quite feel like it. Even with the skid control turned off it was nearly impossible to burn any rubber. It wasnt until I floored it out of a corner that I was able to get the back end to break lose. Although the engine seemed like it could have had even more power, it did sound great, obviously much better sounding than the sometimes strained V6. Pontiac claims that the G8 GT will achieve 15/24 mpg. The V6 powered G8 only gets one mpg better.
The G8 GT had pretty much the same handling characteristics as the regular G8, although the GT has slightly larger brakes to help bring all that power to a halt. Once again I wished the steering was a little bit heavier or communicative when I was speeding though the canyons. My only other grip was that the car lacked paddle shifters. Normally I dont use them, but on this much wider car it was necessary. Especially since to put the car in manual mode you had to push the shifter away from you. It made it very hard to use during certain situations.
Inside the GT looks pretty much identical to the G8, although the leather was a much nicer touch. I wish that Pontiac would offer the seats with a leather/ Alcantara combination. Several times I found myself sliding around the seat. Maybe my frame is not as big as the demographic that this car is aimed at. But either way the suede would have fixed this issue.
Overall I was very impressed with the Pontiac G8, especially considering that you can get the G8 GT with pretty much every option for less than $33,000 (a well equipped G8 starts at $27,595). Pontiac definitely has a good thing going with this new flagship and I can only hope that GM has more things like this planned for the future. The only sad thing is that the new CAFE standards may stop any of that from actually becoming a reality.
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