2008 Pontiac G8 GT: Get 'em while they last

As good as a GS-X sounds, the continuation of the G8 would make more sense at a Chevy Caprice. There isn't a place for a GS-X in today's Buick lineup, and the demand wouldn't be enough to merit it.

Lutz recently said it's going to be moved to Chevy
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/11/lutz-pontiac-g8-to-continue-as-chevy-caprice-in-u-s-z28-likel/

G8 question for you. I've been looking into them recently and the boards talk about vibration issues around highway speeds, both through the wheel and in the cabin. GM hasn't nailed down a fix yet. Have you experienced this at all?

β€œOne thing's for sure, they're not building any more Pontiacs. That's too bad because the G8 GT is a great car.”

I recently returned from a round trip drive to visit friends on the Florida [ panhandle ] coast – and passed 9,500 miles on the return leg. So – as I approach 10,000 miles, I decided to document a few impressions of my 2009 G8 GT.

Executive Summary: I enjoy every drive in this car & it has met or exceeded every expectation. If it was flattened by a meteorite in the parking lot today, I’d make every effort to replace it with an identical G8 GT – same color & equipment. That is very high praise, indeed.

Car: Sport Package, Premium Package, Sunroof.

A few details: MPG has risen slowly but steadily, as I have added miles. In my first 3,000 miles, including a virtually identical trip to visit the same friends in Florida, I was averaging 18 MPG overall – and that trip MPG was approx. 22.5. This past trip – driving exactly the same route @ the same speeds, & under somewhat less favorable weather conditions [ much hotter ] for fuel mileage, I averaged approx. 25.0.

My overall average has gradually risen to nearly 20 MPG [ 19.97 according to my Excel spreadsheet ], from about 18 early on.

My β€˜best’ MPG, under near ideal conditions has risen also. Typically once each week I stop at the same station & fill at the same pump – then immediately drive 20 or so Interstate miles as the first portion of my commute to work, leaving before 6AM and entering the highway when traffic is relatively light and I can generally maintain 65 to 70 MPH. I reset the DIC at the fill. When I exit the highway portion of my commute I check the DIC. When new, the MPG would display 22 to 23. I have seen this rise to 25 then to 26 then to 28 – and this morning, best ever, it displayed 29.4 MPG. Not bad at all, in my view.

Dynamically, I still see this as the closest thing to a four door Corvette [ I traded in a C6 β€˜Vette Coupe ] on the market in the U.S. of A. - for a reasonable price. And I see the actually transaction prices, now that the initial MSRP + + nonsense has long disappeared, as a screaming bargain.

I do have some concerns about long term parts availability & service – we shall see.

Driving 6+ hours at a time, to and from Florida on this past trip, I was reminded of several things:

1 - How comfortable the cabin is. The seats remain comfortable & supportive even after long stretches of seat time. The seat, steering wheel, pedals relationship is ergonomically excellent, for me. I find the quality of the interior materials, fit & finish to be very acceptable. And I have experienced no squeaks, rattles, moans or groans – even when driven over poor road surfaces.

2 – How terrific the performance of this drivetrain is. For example, I had occasion a couple of times during this trip, on rural 2 lane roads, to blast past someone dawdling at 5 or 10 MPH below the speed limit. By the time my foot moves from steady quarter throttle in sixth gear to WOT and I start to swing into the other lane, the 6L80 trans. has quickly dropped to second or third gear and the acceleration rate is quite satisfying. Very nice.

3 – How steady & secure the handling is. I hit over an hour of steady [ often monsoon ] rain on the return leg of the trip. The car handles this annoyance very well – feels precise & secure at all times. In my daily driving, the Sport suspension performs with a near ideal compromise [ for me ] between firmness \ responsiveness and comfort. I find that the damping rates, bushings, springs and tires work very well together.

4 – I have had my issues with XM marketing \ sales \ [ automatic re-]billing, but on such a trip, I really enjoy and appreciate the choices & the good reception outside metropolitan Atlanta.

5 – The Turn-By-Turn directions are useful & generally well implemented.

6 – I enjoy having a sunroof again - with the option of closed, open, multiple vent positions, sunshade, etc. This is one feature I really missed driving the Corvette – the coupe’s removable roof I found basically useless.

7 – Fun. This car is remarkable fun to drive.
And that is very important to me.

Cheers,
- Ray
No buyers remorse here . . .

Has production of the G8 ended already??

Yes, unfortunately, production has ended. The GXP has already become a collectible, they only made 1829 of them.

Hey rayainsw, you echo my sentiments exactly. I love my G8 GT with Premium (no sport or sunroof). You do know that Vizir Lutz said the G8 is becoming the new Caprice right? Sweet. No more worries about spares!

Turn the G8 into a Buick? Seriously?
There's a reason Buick Dealerships are known as "God's Waiting Rooms".

Why not roadburner? Make it too squishy, give it a nice interior and a wimpy V6 and you have a Buick! Or, keep the GXP, give it a modified Malibu grill, and you have an Impala SS. The possibilities are delightful!

Rebadging the G8 into a Chevy Caprice is a mistake. If GM is trying to draw in a new market, it needs to create new product names and not resurrect previous models with bad connotations associated with it. When I think Caprice, I think big, fat, bloated, ugly, and meant for old people. Is that the message the new GM wants to send with this car?

I also saw the Middle East Chevy version of the G8 and it looked really tacky with those bowties on it. Perhaps Chevy needs a new logo or just reduce the size of their boring + sign.

If GM made the G8 into a Buick (which they're not), they'd be making a terrible mistake. One of the reasons they got into the mess they're in is having too much brand image overlap. Buick, Cadillac and Chevy need to have distinctly different mission statements so they don't cannibalize each other.

Personally, I think they should have dropped Buick and kept Pontiac. But they would have to only keep the G6, G8, the Vibe, the Solstice, and the Torrent. Get rid of the G5, and the Wave..

But since they are getting rid of Pontiac, I agree with the people here on inside lane when they said they should bring it over as the new Lumina. OR...make it a 4 door Monte Carlo (Dodge got away with making the Charger a 4 door). I don't think they should let this G8 platform die, they have to carry it over to Chevy, not Buick.

As a 2009 G8 GT owner I can tell you that the vibration in my car was caused by poor original equipment tires. They were replaced by the dealer at 5000 miles and haven't had significant vibration problems since. Advice: if you do decide to buy a G8, drive it at 55-70 MPH and look for steering wheel shake. This is -not- the vibration associated with "active fuel management" where 8 cylinders are cut to 4 for fuel economy. Ours has 18,000 miles and we are happy with it overall.

agree with M-thrizzle. When I think of Lutz plus Chevy Caprice, I think of cassette players and wired remote controls.

"Hey, check out my new Chevy Caprice. Really cool. Oh, it used to be a pontiac but there were some left over Caprice emblems left in storage from the 90's so they just slapped it on"

I haven't had any of the vibration issues that are reportedly common, 6100 miles so far. I think it's mostly a tire issue as well. Some think it's because so many cars sat for so long at the dealers before they started moving them with big discounts. My G8 is great and that GNX is ugly 80s-ness, but cool. I only rarely saw them back when they were new. I haven't seen one in person in probably 15-20 years.

The collectible phenomenon puts higher values on 2 door cars than 4 doors, and 1829 isn't a small number, so I don't think the GXP will be collectible for quite a long time.

People who complain about automotive logos just mystify me; but if you're going to do so, then at least know what you're complaining about. The Chevrolet logo may be referred to colloquially as "the bowtie", but it is not *literally* a bowtie. It's just an iconographic symbol.

I've also come across more than one person who didn't realize that the Saturn Motors logo was, in fact, an iconic representation of the planet Saturn (you know, the one the car company was named after).

I like the second car better. Looks like the one from that tv show "Life."

So the G8 might become a Caprice. I wonder how much it will cost to convert it to a bench seat and column shift? I can see it right now- with an Avis sticker on the rear bumper...

Like the look of the G8 and Camaro and even the Challenger (in a flat dark gray or black). They have presence.

@ 2002blksle, LOL at your comment on the leftover emblems.