2008 Pontiac G8 GT: The Great Rear Cupholders Debate Rages On

I agree, Scott, these are practically useless. Of course, other folks think we Americans are nuts for worrying about cup holders.

That's stupid, who wants a big gapping hole to the trunk while using the cup-holders. It makes the cabin noisier too, because the trunk is not well sound insulated.

Plus, it's really wide, cuts into hip space.

Also, this is not a good set-up if your using the cup-holders and have an accident. Anything small and loose in the trunk can become a projectile.

It seems like a poor design to me.

And I think that other countries where drivers/riders don't understand our cupholder needs spend much, much less time in their cars than does the average American driver. I have no stats to prove this, but I feel it's a fair statement.

Everyone was right: technically there are cup holders, but from a practical point of view they may be undesirable. A padded folding centre piece, like in the back of my old Lancer GTS, would have been a better design.

I'd rather have the flip down back seat than have the cupholders. I think they chose the lesser of two evils on this one. Probably more complaints about not having a fold down rear seat than two cupholders. Besides how much action do rear cupholder's really get?

I've seen bad cupholders before, but usually on motorhomes, aftermarket conversion vans and strollers.

These are worse, because the open trunk makes it dangerous for anyone in the cabin if the driver makes an emergency stop. Cantaloupe, comin' through!

And then there's the road noise, as carguy mentioned.

No, in this one I'll go old-school; I'll clamp my soda between my knees. Nothing really is better than this.

Piss poor. It's called not paying attention to detail. It's half ass. If GM would stress the details more like some other automakers, maybe they would be slightly better off. I'm not saying that cupholders are the most important thing in the world, just that little signs of half-ass ness really stick in the minds of car enthusiasts like most of us that blog on this website.

Come on, who the F cares?!?! Do a burnout and see if your rear seat passengers give a $hit about cupholders.

+1... Cup holders are nice, but if that is what is twisting your giblets about this car, get an Accord.

@gjupp:

There is no reason you couldn't have both a flip-down back seat and the cupholders. Thus, this is half-assed.

These cupholders are no better or worse than those in the current and past 3 & 5 series BMW's not to mention the miniscule swing out joke that was the previous style C-class "cup" holder.

The G8 has acceptable front seat cupholders and the rear ones look like they would actually hold a cup(!) which is not something you can say about the cupholders in many performance vehicles. Forget presentation and remember practicality.

The Mercedes SLK has cupholders too. They're about 2 inches deep and they come out just under the speaker at the top of the console. You tellin me you're going to legitimately call that a cupholder? No. So don't gripe about the G8 and it's poor presentation of useable cupholders.

I'd rather have ugly cupholders that worked than attractively integrated cupholders that didn't.

Actually, I like this design a lot! This provides a tabletop surface for having a quick meal inside your car. The opening into the trunk could be useful for taking things (like food and drinks) out of the trunk without ever leaving the car (or having to stop). The hard surface could also be used to writing, working on a laptop, etc.

Frankly, I don't follow why this is a bad design.

Bottom line, this car was designed by a society that has much more civilized views on the appropriate time and place to enjoy a beverage, and they had to dumb it down and put in a stupid fix to appease ridiculous American bad habits.

"this is not a good set-up if your using the cup-holders and have an accident. Anything small and loose in the trunk can become a projectile."

So can 32 oz cups full of acidic carbonated liquid. So can the i-pod you leave on top of your center armrest. So can the cellphone you drop in the front seat cupholder (unless you drive a BMW, then this is impossible), so can the briefcase you left open on the front seat. Point being, you get in an accident, yes, something in the trunk could become a projectile, but if you get in an accident serious enough that trunk projectiles become a problem, you've got bigger problems than things coming through the rear seat pass through.

That is dumb! I mean even on my Mazda 6 you have to put the center armrest down, but opening the access to the trunk? Wow.

zoomzoomn-

Dumb maybe, but tell me. How many times have you used the rear cupholders in your Mazda 6?

Also, +1 to wk for noticing the flat surface that would be level if you were seated there.

My 2009 G8 GT has a plastic cover over the pass-thru. So apparently someone down-under agreed with your complaint.

I read this blog post and thought alot about it, and I agree with WK. I actually think this is a good design.

The improvement needed is a lockable "door" the the trunk that can drown out road noise and prevent flying debris, allow access to the trunk by passengers, or lock to prevent trunk theivery by unscruplous valets.

Otherwise, it's got a very nice large flat hard surface for food, travel games (and a big enough back seat for those travel games), a spot to put a laptop, etc.

The cupholders look to be the right diameter, if not very deep.

My only complaint from this picture is that the fold-down is SOO large that it might cramp 180 pound rear passengers in their seat, and it'd be nice if the edges were padded vinyl instead of raised hard plastic for, you know, actual armrest use most of the time.

Worst idea ever - No.

joefrompa, since a piece of trim breaking off of the 370Z already is proof why Japanese cars are better than all other cars, it follows that inconvenient (to some) cupholders would be further proof that cars from the Detroit 3 are worthless. So yes, any perceived slight from a Detroit car does in fact equal "Worst Idea Ever".

Stov - Arguments like that hold more weight when you attack the hypothesis instead of the bias. When you attack a bias in an individual, they tend to dismiss you. They still dismiss you when you attack the hypothesis, but then they have to rebut which forces them to think through what you are saying.

Seeds the doubt man, seeds the doubt.

Lovers of good cars from all countries (myself included - no, I'm not a domestic fanboy. My favorite brand is Mazda, and yes, I sheepishly admit I kinda like BMW) have been trying to attack the hypothesis for years, and it hasn't made a dent. I've decided to become a Japanese import/anti-Detroit fanboy, to see if it felt good. Instead I feel like an idiot whenever I put the persona on. I just don't get it. It is so much more fun and pleasant to enjoy good cars no matter where they come from, without having to weed out some truly good cars just because they come from a company you have an internal, historical bias against.

Why is Pontiac being killed again?

Not enough cars like the G8.

technically yes it does have rear-seat cupholders.

but they do suck. good to hear they fixed it for 2009.

no, it's not a big deal. but anything worth doing is worth doing well!

This is a great setup.
This is a GM.
You suppose to be haulin them 2 by 4s in your G8.
What you think you city nerd doing with a G8?
ya, city nerd.

Scott,
Thank you for providing one example of a vehicle that does the rear cupholders better than the G8. I think that saying that this is the "Dumbest thing I've ever seen." is taking it a bit far, but I do admit that the cupholders are poorly done and may have been better left out.

A couple of questions for the other commenters here, just out of curiosity:

1.How often do the rear cupholders get used in your cars?

2.What kind of stuff are you regularly hauling around in the trunk that will become projectiles in the event of an emergency manuever or crash?

3.Has anyone actually opened their pass-through and noted the difference in cabin noise?

Also, let's not forget that there is a padded center armrest contained in the center section of the seat when it isn't folded down for using the cupholders/pass-through.

wk also makes a good point with respect to a table area. Perhaps more useful while the car isn't in motion, but still a valid point.

One more thing, Scott, can you go through the other long-term vehicles with backseats and catalog if/how rear cupholders are implemented? I am very curious because so many of the commenters here seem to think that this is an outrageous violation of "paying attention to the details".

Thanks,
DJ

OMG, that hard plastic for the elbows! I bet rear passengers are suffering from broken elbows and bruises and worn-through patches in their shirt sleeves because of that hard plastic they are practically forced to rest their elbows on. Class action lawsuit! It's dangerous. Get the IIHS to do some crash tests with the rear cupholders down and tell me there aren't some serious elbow injuries that should give the G8 a poor rating for backseat safety!

Well, the set up could be better. The cup holders in the 97 Grand Prix that was dead in my driveway not too long ago had padding where someone would rest their elbow, but you didn't have to pull down the entire seat to get the cup holder.

And just a point for adavis2493: You don't need the cold weather package to get cup holders in the back of a 3 series. They're there regardless, but to get fold down seats you need to get the option or cwp

The previous gen Infiniti G35 sedan has the similar design, except that the center fold-down piece is narrower and there is a plastic cover shuts the opening to the trunk. It is not a bad design in G8, but it could use some improvements.

A couple things.

1. The Commodore is a family car down under.
2. The trunk is surprisingly well sound insulated.
3. This car is practically meant to drive long distances exclusively.
4. Seat comfort and sheer size of rear seats speak volumes of this^.

Bearing this in mind, with 2 kids, their "soda's" and some books, toys, gameboys, etc, this makes sense. Plus you can store bigger, flexible things in the trunk, e.g. blankets. For the long haul this could be great.

I've driven 7 hour hauls with the pass through open, and it didn't make the slightest difference with regards to noise. The only thing I might add is that it is really wide, not practical for larger adults, and it is a bit of an eyesore. But a practical one.

I agree that the smaller fold down should have cupholders, instead of the console lid flipping out.

I should have prefaced my earlier comments by saying that the G8 is an awesome car, and I would buy a GXP in a heartbeat if I had the cash, but...that doesn't change the fact that GM overlooked this detail. They knew the G8 was headed for North America so they should have taken the time to put the cupholders in the armrest and add a door to cover the hole to the trunk. I'm glad that they have fixed the situation a bit now, but it should have been done right from the start. My 2004 Accord had a fold down rear seat, cup-holders in the armrest and a door, with a lock, behind the armrest to access the trunk. That was a thorough set-up.

This is the same GM that sent the Astra to Saturn but couldn't bother changing the digital clock from military time to standard time. I'm just saying.

This is like GM minivans of the 90's putting round depressions in the back of the modular seats so that when the seat is folded, they serve as cup holders. This is nothing new from GM. (I'm not attacking anything GM has done or is doing, I'm stating a fact.)

This is just a ploy to increase the cup holder count to attract buyers with a family to make it easier to purchase because little Jimmy in the back seat will have a place to put his sippy cup.

The REAL demographic of this car wouldn't care about the rear seat because anyone sitting back there would be holding on for dear life and trying not to get carsick. If that is the case, access to the trunk would be necessary because that's where the barf buckets would be stored.

The G8 DOES have rear cupholders as numerous people said. The armrest design is stupid but the car has rear cupholders.

Oops, I was wrong. Got home and looked at it, my 2009 G8 GT is exactly like the 2008 in the picture.

>My 2009 G8 GT has a plastic cover over the pass-thru. So apparently someone down-under agreed with your complaint.

Its a pretty terrible design. Just imagine braking hard and having stuff from the trunk fly forward into the cabin just so ppl in the back have somewhere to put their drinks or so they can rest their arm. Brutal!

At least the front cupholders aren't on the backside of the front passenger seat.

This is a big, nice riding car that's great for a road trip. Not having proper rear cupholders should shouldn't be an issue but it is. What do you do if you have 5 ppl on board? There are no cup/bottle holders in the rear doors either (i think).

Or instead of braking hard, accelerate or corner aggressively. Those things don't really look like they could hold anything in place securely and guess where your drink can fly and spill into now? Into the trunk. That would really cap off a wonderful road trip wouldn't it.

It does not have rear seat cupholders. It has trunk-mounted cupholders. No way I'd want to deal with the added noise of driving around with the pass-through open all the time.

b_boy_007

Unless you drive a minivan I defy you to provide one example of a car that has rear seat cupholders that will hold anything in place securely under "braking hard, accelerating or cornering aggresively"