2008 Pontiac G8: Oi Oi Oi!

I think the G6 is under rated. Glad the G8 is getting some love.

I can't get seriously excited about a Pontiac until I get over the "p.o.s." 6000 STE that Pontiac sold me in the mid-80's. That should happen . . . oh . . . sometime around the time I turn 92. Yes, it was that bad.

I certainly remember the Pontiacs that Brian is referring to. From someone that used to sell them (attempt to sell, I should say... selling wasn't their strong point - if we didn't also have Mazda and Dodge, we would have starved), I say ridicule away! Of course, when I was selling them, we had hideous things on the lot like the Sunfire Convertible and Aztek and Grand Ams with more ridges, scoops, and wings than even Subaru could dream of. At least I have fond memories of the Grand Prix of that time... particularly GTP coupes. And that body style of Grand Prix looked pretty ridiculous without the "wing." The new G8 is a looker, and I hope it does well for Pontiac. If it doesn't, it's time to Pontiac to bed.

First nice looking brute to come out of Pontiac in a long time! My personal favorite is my 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible. I still love to look at its lines. I hope this car assures the division of survival in the inevitable reorg of GM.

I'm not really a big fan of Pontiac, but I've been really excited about this car.
 
I'm glad to hear that so far the impressions of this car have been positive.
 
I personally like the look of the Holden Commodore or the Vauxhall VXR more, but this one's not too bad. I can't wait to hear more about it as it spends more time in the long-term fleet.

Two words - Grand Am. And let's be honest here, the Torrent, G6 and Solstice are not great.

1487, I agree. If we are talking trans Am's, sure, but other than that I can't recall many wings on Pontiacs in the past 10+ years. Now, if you want to talk rocker extentions and fake scoops you might have something to complain about, and the G8 (which I really like) doesn't do much to avoid that cliche.
 
I had a Sunfire sedan that was tastefully styled with a very functional interior and excellent amenities (standard ABS and traction control).

Don't forget the Bonneville, I drove a GXP in the not-to-distant past (2005?) that had an absolutely horridly overstyled dash. It was a disgusting mess.
 
I agree that the Torrent and G6 are average at best, the Solstice is poor.
 
I attached a pic of an '05 Bonnie GXP interior. Try not to throw up on your keyboard/screen.

Too soon for me to have an opinion about this car but I have one complaint. It should be called GRAND PRIX not G8! I hate that ridiculous "G" naming system.

Aw, come on, bimmerjay! Didn't driving a Bonneville make you wanna put on some Ray-Bans and crank up the Kenny Loggins?

I think the G8 interior looks pretty decent - then again, anything was a step up from the Grand Prix interior!

I thought the G6 was nice enough, but that interior chrome looking plastic really made it look awful. They also use the same stuff in the Jeep Liberty. Just plain colored plastic is better than shiny, cheap plastic. With that said, I think the G8 is the best looking Pontiac in over 15 years.

Bimmerjay - I think some people find that an attractive cabin. In fact, from 20 feet, I'd think it looks nice. But that photo perfectly illuminates the incredibly unpleasing look and touch of the interior (if you've touched that interior, you know what I'm talking about).
 
The current Pontiac line-up is, in my opinion, of a similar grade to kia. The solstice has a horrendous interior (I was amazed the first time I was in one...again, 20 feet away it looked just fine....getting in, holy cow that's an unfunctional, uncomfortable, uncouth interior). The G6 would've looked good back in 1998-2000, when chrome-plastic flashiness was appreciated. The Matrix-Vibe (I was only in the last-gen so far) was the epitome of melted-down-tonka-truck grade plastics.
 
The only Pontiac I've ever "truly liked" was my friend's ~'04 GXP...and that's because it has a great powerband and he likes to thrash it :)
 
Is it wrong for me to say that? I don't think so. Is it wrong for me to say that the G8 is the first product to make me SERIOUSLY look at a pontiac car in a long time?
 
Is it wrong for me to feel that the current Pontiac slogan, "Pontiac is car", is the stupidest slogan I've heard in a logn time? Seriously....there are enough jokes about the intellect of the GM management team without having a gramatically incorrect and incomprehensible slogan...
 
Joe

at the risk of being on topic :)
 
My road trip car:
http://www.carspace.com/tmanz/Albums/1/z-1.jpg/page/photo.html#pic

tmanz, don't you go dragging everyone away from the G8 loving / bashing! That sort of thing is simply not done in a G8 discussion.

Hey Brian, can you open and close the glovebox and report back on how it feels in terms of how substantial it feels and what it makes you perceive about the car? I was at an auto show February and fell in love with the car ( I own a 2001 Grand Prix) and then my friend who hates GM vehicles opened the glove box and just said WOW. I then opened it and also said WOW, what were they thinking?
 
It seems like the engineers were asleep when they designed the glove box, it feels so brittle and fragile...worse than the nicely padded, thick feeling one in my Grand Prix. It made me change my opinion on the car to almost where I would never consider it until they fixed it, which is sad, but if they really cheaped out on the glovebox, what else did they cheap out on?

I'm happy for Pontiac. Over the years, I've had three: a '69 Firebird 350 convertible, a '79 Trans Am 6.6 and currently an '89 Trans Am GTA 5.7. Must say, I wish I still had the other two 'birds!
 
I think the G8's gonna be a big success for the brand given the strong performance/comfort/room value proposition.
 
But I have to agree with mjd1123, they should've called it the Grand Prix -- the division's "G" naming system lacks personality.

Yeah....the Grand Prix had a long history and even in it's "worst years" it still wasn't a bad overall car. People recognized it though.
 
Now the G8 has to start from scratch. There's also something odd about having a G8 offered with an 8 cylinder but most likely going to get a 6...
 
My favorite road-tripping car of all time was a 1988 ford thunderbird turbo coupe. I bought it for $200 at an auction...*sniff*
 
I get carsick in a Chrysler 300 on road trips, so hopefully not the G8!
 
Joe

The worst Pontiac interior is NOT the old Matrix/Vibe interior (acres of plastic, yes, but very good layout and ergonomics), and the Vibe was the only Pontiac recommended by C/R as of last year BECAUSE it's so related to the Matrix. The Solstice interior sucks (hey Pontiac, go sit in an MX-5 the next time you design an interior for a roadster), with horrible ergonomics and very poor materials/build quality. The MX-5 Miata absolutely blows it away in interior design and materials. I do think that the G6 interior looks good, but build quality isn't very good, and the G5/Torrent aren't competitive in their class. The G8 is a huge step for Pontiac, and it's an awesome car.
 
I hope that the next editor who writes a post about the G8 writes "G8=Excellent, All other Pontiacs to date=Excellent, Vibe=Crappy because it's built by Toyota". 1487 will piss his pants with excitement.

Between the new Vibe, G8, G6, Solstice, and the G5 I think Pontiac has some of the better exterior designs out right now. They all got clean lines, and are good looking to me. I’ll like Pontiac’s exteriors as much or better than most of the other mass market brands exteriors.
 
The Torrent needs to die, and soon. Pontiac doesn’t need a full size crossover.
 
The G6 interior isn’t anything special, but I wouldn’t call it ugly compared to some of the interiors that are out there. I didn’t mind the G5 interior, but I will admit it could use some work. The Solstice is a disaster inside. A car as good looking as the Solstice should have a better interior than that. I hope the next generation Solstice gets it right.
 
I think one of the best looking cars on the road right now is a G6 with the top down. I think Pontiac nailed it on that one. It looks pretty sharp to me.

"I attached a pic of an '05 Bonnie GXP interior. Try not to throw up on your keyboard/screen."
 
Lol bimmerjay I'm still wiping the throw up from from my screen after seeing the new Pilot.

Oh, give me a break, daytona. You and 1487 are always trying to slip in snide remarks about imports every chance you get. Referring to the Bonneville's interior was relevant to this discussion. Your comment about the Pilot was not.
 
In any case, the original point was the G8's interior is an enormous improvement for Pontiac. You should be tickled pink.

I think almost every GM vehicle is getting bluetooth for '09. And I know many people prefer the look of an integrated nav system, but something like a TomTom or a Garmin offers much better functionality. And when the tech becomes outdated, you can buy another and still be well under the cost of a factory nav system.

so far GM has been slow to embrace Bluetooth - instead they have OnStar personal calling, hands free - yes, same as BT - not exactly.

AUTHOR: cartester16
DATE: 04/18/2008 05:32:32 PM
EMAIL: emillerjunk@msn.com

AUTHOR: benson2175
DATE: 04/18/2008 05:33:06 PM
EMAIL: rkepinski@hotmail.com

ih8hyundai is absolutely correct, almost every GM vehicle will offer bluetooth in 09 (yes late, but corrected at least) and aftermarket nav screens are the way to go. Factory installed nav systems are about the worst deal you can get.
 
I definitely like the look of the G8's interior. Given what we've seen come from Holden lately, GM should really just let them dictate interior design on every new GM model. It would make for some much needed improvements.
 
I love the Solstice, but wouldn't buy one until the interior is redone with the right materials.
 
As someone else mentioned earlier, I too hate the slogan "Pontiac is Car". OK, yes I very much appreciate that Pontiac is focusing on performance oriented cars, and I am very glad the torrent is going over to GMC where it belongs (with a better name too) but the slogan just makes no sense.
 
Anyway, here's wishing you a year of fun and enjoyment with the G8, and wishing I had one too.

"Oh, give me a break, daytona. You and 1487 are always trying to slip in snide remarks about imports every chance you get
 
Are you out of your mind? bimmerjay mentioned throwing up on the keyboard and I brought up the Pilot not because its an import, but because everyone knows and agrees its ugly. Not just ugly, but f****** ugly. You could stick a Chevy badge on it too and i would still call it ugly.
 
Just so we are clear, I got nothing against imports, I just have something against biased people who make dumb statements. Your statement above would be an example.

Which Slogan is worse?
 
Pontiac is Car.
 
The Fit is Go!
 
Both are horrible in my opinion.

tmanz, I just had to comment on your 240.
is it original paint colour?
have you thought about putting chevy small block? :)
That is a one heck of a nice looking car, sir. you sir, are a connoisseur.
 
On topic. I like G8. name's kinda not great, but Grand Prix is old name, and with brand new car, this reminds me of this quote from Man in Black:
[pointing at Kay]
Agent J: Old and busted.
[pointing at himself]
Agent J: New hotness.

mahaji, thanks! It is the original color and from what the prior owner said and what I've seen it is the original paint. It has faded some over the years. I had the hood emblem off for a bit and it was noticably darker under it.
I'd get in way too much trouble with a bigger engine in it. I sometimes forget to behave with the 2.4l.
 
altimadude00,
A worse slogan was the prior generation Civic Si. I don't know if it was the official slogan but the tagline in the commercials was something like "the Civic Si, it figures"

I remember in the 90's Hyundai had the slogan...
 
"Hyundai, You'll get there someday."
 
Dumbest slogan I ever heard, I just pictured a guy standing on the freeway next to broken Excel thinking "I'll get there someday".

Brian, you should've snuck it out to the Streets of Willow Springs yesterday to join me in some good, clean fun on the track! :o)

LOL firstwagon. Or "you'll get there someday, but for now you are stuck driving one of these"

"Two words - Grand Am. And let's be honest here, the Torrent, G6 and Solstice are not great."
 
They still dont feature the ridiculous spoilers and terrible interiors that were mentioned earlier.

"Don't forget the Bonneville, I drove a GXP in the not-to-distant past (2005?) that had an absolutely horridly overstyled dash. It was a disgusting mess. "
 
The Bonneviille came out in 1999. Its hardly one of Pontiac's current or recent models. Even so, the GXP Bonneville was very cleanly styled and actually looked good.
 
The auto brand that uses the most plastic add ons today is Toyota, not Pontiac. In spite of all the hype over Pontiacs and body cladding the only model that really went overboard with that was the Grand Am.

"The Torrent needs to die, and soon. Pontiac doesn’t need a full size crossover. "
 
The Torrent goes away after 2009 model year. GMC will get its replacement model.
 
To all those lecturing about how great the G8 is vs other Pontics: Lets keep this in perspective. The G8 is worth talking about because its RWD and powerful and affordable and its on a modern platform. The G8's competitiveness doesn't prove that every other Pontiac is worthless. The solstice does have a cheap interior, but the car is cheap so you shouldn't be shocked. In terms of styling, handling and performance the car is a winner. The G6 takes a lot of flak but looks good (better than 2008 Accord and Camry) and sells well. The interior is not up to Malibu standards but is OK for the price class and age of the vehicle. It is one of the oldest cars in the class so its natural that its interior wouldn't be best in class. There are some hard plastics in places but the fit and finish is fine from what I have seen. The GP has been relatively successful and the interior wasn't even that bad. My ex coworker had a GTP and the interior had very small panel gaps and a business like appearance not unlike a BMW. The interior wasnt BMW quality, but it wasn't nearly as bad as people are stating. I sat in the G8 and I can tell you the interior is not a huge step above the GP- which is OK my me but would not be for all those who are claiming the G8 is world's better than any Pontiac ever sold before.
 
"Just so we are clear, I got nothing against imports, I just have something against biased people who make dumb statements. Your statement above would be an example."
 
That was funny.

The G8 and most other GM products (including cobalt/G5) will get bluetooth for 2009. It will be standard on G8 along with sat radio.