2008 Pontiac G8: Center Stack

It comes from a country that is either drowning or sunburnt 365 days a year. What do you expect? I (and I'm sure the rest of the owners) have gotten used to it, but it is a little weird. I can certainly see how it would be irritating bouncing from car to car each night of the week.

I'm glad you narrowed your dated comment to the center stack. I initially thought you meant most of the interior came off dated.

As to the center stack, let's call it retro. High tech retro? :)

Pontiac ditched the readout on top of the center stack for 2009. Without it the rest of the console seems fine to me. The rest of the design appears perfectly fine to me. The radio display reminds me of the ones that VW is just now rolling out.

I see nothing dated about the center stack. It looks thoroughly modern to me. Of course I have cars that the most high tech part of the dash is the analog water temperature gauge.

Considering I had an '09, I never had those god-awful gauges at the top. I was thankful for this.

I also found that the buttons, once one learned exactly where they were, were much easier to operate than in just about any other car I've been in. They're typically larger and offer more tactile feedback to the user. By comparison, our last three cars, an Acura, a Ford and a Mercedes respectively, all carry twice the buttons, have a smaller central display and don't feel as good to push. It's elegant in its simplicity.

That it muted and not shut off was nice. I liked the tuning button and menu control knob. I also liked the center mounted window switches. My only gripe ever was that the buttons to the side of the screen as well as the two larger A/C controls were backwards. Not a huge deal considering my wingspan and I understand why it's this way, but a minor annoyance nonetheless.

My thoughts are (a) since I just signed in to comment on the Corvette Gran Sport article from the front page, why do I have to sign in again to comment here, and (b) since the car is no more, why worry about the somewhat dated design of the center stack?

I hate the Atari gauges, but that's why I got an '09. I am happy with most of the usability of the radio and I love that there are actual knobs and not just buttons. Also glad that they apparently made the '09s truly mute instead of just greatly reducing the volume.

I'd echo the comment about the stack design resembling earlier A4's, and specifically I would highlight the 2001 model. Here's a pic...

http://images.forbes.com/images/2001/03/19/test_interior_377x281.jpg

I think the screen really helps a lot though, and it's good news to hear that the 80's gauges are gone. Too bad the rest of the car is gone now too.

What does the 2009 centre stack look like?

The Atari display is one reason I was content to wait for a 2009.
The rest looks & works well - for me.
- Ray
One of those G8 GT owners.....

I don't think you're being too harsh. It isn't a deal-breaker awful setup, but it is probably the weakest area of a generally excellent vehicle.

I'd probably get over that in about sixteen seconds

Ok, top crud is gone, but that being said people on the forums have made that into a good looking setup... Still has the atari feel due to the coloring though.

Anyways all the buttons are well labeled, about the only one I would give you is the knob on the right not doing tuning. As for the volume push not turning it off, I didnt think it would the first time I sat in the car. The thing that gave this away was the power buttton on the right. So the push doing mute is correct in my book for this setup.

One thing thats a general letdown, is that it does not give me the name of the station and the music that is playing. The car has that much realestate on the screen and cant display this information?

The biggest disappointment is that I have this giant screen and no nav, plus not getting the name of the band and song when on an FM station. I'd prefer the right audio button did the tuning instead of the directional switch next to it, but it's not a biggie. And having to hit the external temp button every time I start the car up is annoying, but seriously... These are all minor quibbles.

@mdpensfan - I totally agree. Cheaper GM cars have mirrors with the temp display in them. Why couldn't they have just done that? I do miss the song names, but I mostly listen to XM now. They got me hooked with the 90 days free. I could only tolerate about 3 days of regular radio before I snapped.

what's the point of updating G8? the car is out of production...

You know I get tired of these people that say whats the point in updating the blog if the car isnt in production anymore. By that logic the second it turns 2010 all cars 2009 or older should be droped off the blog.

Just because the badge doesnt exsist anymore doesnt mean the car will just dissapear off the streets.

For it being out of production its better than 90% of the cars in the IL fleet that are in production.

So you get tired of it, so what? It is not better than 90% than the rest of the fleet. It will not disappear, it never really was around actually. It sold in very small numbers.

How is it not better than 90% of the fleet?

Hasnt busted parts off requireing a visit to the dealer, no parts falling off the bottom, no readout issue, or steering wheel issues. Seems to be better loved than 90% of the fleet when looking at all the posts. It gets hit in minor things but its not post after post of ripping it a new one.

Very small numbers is a good thing, but I bet I could pick a car or two in the IL fleet that will sell the same if not less.

Never really understood the hate the car gets to be honest. Its worse than when I had my BMW. Before my car got branded as a richy rich, or a snob. Now people love the car, like how it drives, love the power and when they ask what car is it all excited like... I let them know and I get a "oh", I guess its ok for a Pontiac...

Granted trying to step back into a BMW currently but its not against the car its self, heck I think its better than most BMW's I have sat in or owned. Im just tired of the dealership my car has to go to.

I dont hate this car at all. There is just no point to it anymore. I said it was fun and reliable, dont get insulted, I was not talking about you, just the car that happen to own. Why would you care what somebody says about it? If you like it then good for you! Its YOUR money, spend it how you like! A person who cares what other people think about what they drive obviously had problems.

Heh I would be the same on any car saying to be off'ed due to it not being manufactured. Because these cars will be looked for due to the price here in a few years. Its always nice to see what editors see long term reguardless if the company is around.

GM is GM reguardless of the brand it wears. If they had a Saturn I would defend it staying on the blog. For instance the other day I got to see a daewoo car with new dealer plates. We all know this was a cash special sure, but would be nice if your buying that to see as many reviews that are mot forum reviews on that car. I am sure the game will happen to this G8.

I know the daewoo is a bit off center, but hope it brings a point across. In fact people at work look at the g8 blog to see how it holds up, because they want one in about a year or so. So them having it after the branding goes away is completely valid.

Having is brushed away is pointless because people will still want it, thus the daewoo ever being bought in the first and making it this many years.

Ah, but the G8 GT will be relevent in 2011 when it returns, as a Holden Statesman, in Impala Police dress, thus becoming the snide BMW owners worse nightmare.