Let’s get right down to it: What if they built a thoroughly-delightful, family-sized and powerful performance four-door sedan with all the right bells and whistles, priced so reasonably that even your mother wouldn’t object … but no one could afford to put gas into it?
Such is the problem in which Pontiac finds itself with their all-new, all-Aussie-built G8 “lite” V6 and its nastier older V8-equipped brother, G8 GT. It’s no different than the situation Dodge is experiencing with their newly-launched Challenger (two-door coupe) and Charger (four-door sedan) rear-drivers and Ford is in with Mustang (though that particular “pony car” remains true to its coupe-only roots).
Both versions of G8 deliver a ton of performance for the dollar, US, Aussie or otherwise. The baby of the family base-prices at $26,910, while the proper V8-equipped G8 can be had at only $29,310. That works out to about $1,500 each for the two extra cylinders offered by the GT, or about $30 per each extra horsepower drivers get with the V8.
(Click anywhere on this line to see the digivid G8 GT road test running on CAR NUT TV).
The buyers’ choice is for either the plain G8, with its modern, 256-hp, 3.6-liter four-cam DOHC V-6 and 
the 5L40 five-speed automatic, or the bruiser version, G8 GT, with its pushrod Gen IV L76 361-hp, 6.0-liter V-8 mated with a six-speed 6L80 Hydra-Matic. Both trannies can be set in “full auto” mode or the driver can select semi-automatic, clutchless sequential shifting. GM calls this auto/manual system as having “manual-shift capability”.
There’s a rumored all-manual six-speed shifter for the V8 coming from Oz sometime in the future, but nothing definite as yet. Unless GT sales are unexpectedly strong, though, we wouldn’t bet on it happening. Pontiac did tell us that they expect as much as 80% of the G8’s ordered to be GT models, which is a high ratio when compared to competitive cars; since we heard that directly from Pontiac, though, in mid-March, gas prices have skyrocketed. The Los Angeles Times, surveying several well-known automotive consultancies, among them JD Power and Associates and Car Lab, reported on May 31st a huge shift in the buying habits of those choosing cars offering I4 or V6 engines now favor the four-bangers, a definite change from the past. (Photo --- Busy interior belongs in a car aimed more at a family's 17-year old kid, not dad).
No matter the G8 model chosen, both the five- and six-speeds are “driver shiftable” using the console-mounted shifter (sorry, boy racers, no F1-style paddles; this car is for your dad). Our V8 tester came with a “normal” and “sport” mode choice for the six-speed; naturally, we spent most of our driving time in the sport mode, especially on the curvy parts of the over-100-mile route laid-out by General Motors’ engineering- and PR-types, and appreciated how long the system, when in sport, stayed in-gear until upshifting.
Click below to read and see more about Pontiac's all-new G8.
Both the five- and six-speeds were found to snap-to pretty fast; not as fast as Porsche’s Tiptronic, but not as slow as one might expect for a sedan-sized four-door (we’ll have to wait a few more months to check-out Porsche’s four-door Panamera model for a real head-to-head contest … not). Shifts were crisp, and once we picked a gear, the engine management computer handled the engine revs correctly, protecting against our redlining the engine, either mistakenly or on purpose.
If our family’s 1961 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible had had this manual-shift capability, my father wouldn’t have had to wonder about why the transmission in that car was constantly failing; my older brother, who was drag racing it several nights a week in Hempstead, NY, would have found manual-shift perfect for his needs.
Both the base G8 model and GT come with enough standard equipment to allow buyers to walk out of the F&I manager’s office having spent a bare minimum over base, if anything at all.
And they’ll need any cash saved for gasoline to fill G8’s thirsty and demanding 19.2 gallon fuel tank.
Thankfully, both G8 flavors run fine on 89 and 87 octane; you can forget the 91 grade, thereby saving
anywhere from 50 cents to over $1 a gallon as America enters the new world order of oil prices. We can thank GM’s electronics engineering staff for this not-so-small favor (smart move by we Americans, hmmm … our putting two oil executives in the White House for eight years).
The V6 is EPA-listed as getting 17 mpg in-town and 15 on the highway; the GT, which we tested for a full day on both high-speed freeways and tight, curve-filled mountain roads, all between Santa Monica and Ojai, CA, is EPA-certified as achieving 15 in-town and 24 open-highway miles per gallon, but we beg to differ.
Using our admittedly heavy right foot, we never made better than 17 mpg on the open road, and would expect the in-town mileage to realistically be closer to 12-or-so mpg, but definitely somewhere south of the 15 EPA miles promised.
Some gas-savings can be had by “short shifting,” just like the big boys in F1, NASCAR and IndyCar; keep G8 set in its semi-automatic mode, and simply shift into upper gears at lower rpm’s. If the engine “lugs” trying to pick-up speed, then wait a few hundred more rpm’s before upshifting. Check your mileage figures and you could enjoy as much as 10% to 15% saving in fuel costs. You could also try drafting big-rigs, but unless some TV station, website or magazine is paying you to take part in a new version of the Mobil Economy Run, leave drafting to the Sprint Cup drivers. (But it does work, if you know how to do it correctly).
Most, if not all other rear-drivers (or AWD autos) delivering the kind of horsepower which G8 GT does are generally very expensive imports (excepting, especially, Cadillac’s all-new award-winning CTS and CTS-V models). In G8 GT’s case, it’d be possible to buy two or more of them for the cost of a single (and heavily-optioned), say, BMW 5-series, Audi A4 or a VW Touareg.
It’s a rational choice which each new-car intender needs to realistically work out for themselves. If one can own a car for ½ the price yet delivers 75% of the performance and enjoyment of a BMW 5-series, is it a smart buy?
Inside and out, the car is designed for open-road, high-speed touring; exactly, in fact, what the “GT” moniker means in the first place (Grand Touring). Thankfully, there’s little of the cheap plastic exterior “handsome side cladding” (as, it seemed, the brochures and PR releases invariably called it) which for too many years, decades, really, bedeviled the appearance of too many Pontiacs. It’s hunkered down from any angle, ready for action; what the Japanese call “mighty”. And G8’s real beauty lies in that it can, if so requested, actually deliver on that promise of performance.
The company was very wise in ordering all the G8’s from Holden with the optional FE2 suspension package; helps keep the cost down for all involved and for buyers who plan on driving, as the Bentley PR folks used to say, “rather quickly,” every G8 is ready for it. Stock wheels/tires on both cars are alloys with 245/45VR18 Bridgestones . There are optional 19” alloy wheels shod with 245/40R19 rubber, also Bridgestone, available for $600. For trivia car nuts, both sets of wheels are five-spoke throwbacks to the Pontiac wide-track models of the mid-‘60s. (Photo --- Hood scoops!).
And what a pleasure it is to drive a GM/Holden-engineered rear-drive sports sedan, especially this rare one,
being under $30K. There’s virtually none of that horrid front-wheel drive tendency to “plow,” or understeer; that is, when turning the steering wheel the car tries to go straight ahead, and the front wheels don’t turn. NASCAR racers, who say their cars are “tight” when exhibiting understeer, also offer the best description of what understeer sometimes offers drivers: “Understeer,” they say, “is when you see the crash about to happen and go into the wall front-end first”. Think about it.
What drivers might experience is called “oversteer,” which is what can happen to a rear-drive vehicle when the captain signals the engine room for too much power; the rear-end tries to swap places with the front and the car winds up in a spin. This is when you hit the wall with the rear-end first. Racers say a car is “loose” when oversteering and applying too much power too quickly in either G8 could give some drivers, unfamiliar with rear-wheel drive, their first oversteer experience.
Oversteer can be controlled through judicious use of the gas pedal and steering wheel (combined with experience and knowledge) more easily than understeer; it’s more predictable (we think) than understeer.
There’s a reason most race cars, especially road- and oval-racing cars, are rear-drive or all-wheel drive (if the race rules allow AWD). And all-wheel drive offers something else entirely, more of a “neutral steer” feeling. Engineers can, to some degree, “tune” more or less understeer or oversteer into a chassis with a wrench, no matter where the drive wheels are located, front or rear. (Quad-pipes, or as we used to say at Santa Ana High, "Two times twice pipes, mon").
G8 drivers feels the tautness of the FE2 suspension not only in high-speed cornering, the steering delivering a nice, real-world feel to the operator, the front-end of the car remaining pointed where it’s aimed, but also in tight, lower-speed curves and turns, which is where many cars in this size and power class show themselves to be less than completely thought-out. A driver wants to be confident at both low speeds and high.
The suspension architecture is shared by GM and Holden for their big rear-drive cars, and it’s called “Zeta” (like that actress who married Kirk Douglas … or was it his son?). In fact, it’s basically the same suspension set-up to be found in the all-new 2009 Camaro. The system consists of by four stamped steel and cast iron links in the rear, replacing the semi-trailing arms of the Holden/Monaro/GTO.
While some might question dropping the semi-trailing arm in favor of an Bridgestone,older, but less expensive, strut system, given all that Holden has to do to the cars before the can enter the US (including turning them all into left-hand drivers), any cost-savings is a positive to the corporation and ultimately its US buyers. Struts supported by links handle the front end. (G8's V8 uninstalled, and, below, installed).
On straight, smooth runs the car is impeccable; turn on the cruise control, pump up the Blaupunkt and
relax. No “radar” on the cruise setting, though, so stay alert for those stopping short in front of G8. The car soaks up the usual bumps, Bots Dots, small missing concrete chunks, potholes, the ladders, plastic garbage cans and mattresses invariably found on the highway, and it takes-on those interminable freeway grooves with aplomb; G8 tracks where aimed, and is not swayed by any tendency to bump-steer, at least none worth mentioning.
Braking is also more predictable with a rear-wheel drive car; just remember to try and brake only when the car is headed in a straight line. That’s all for today’s driving lessons.
We know that the Germans and the Japanese (and now, Cadillac) certainly know all about making these kinds of Grand Tourers; what’s thrilling is a car with similar horsepower and handling abilities as some of those imports, with the interior and trunk space we also expect from, say, BMW and Infiniti, and being able to park it in our driveway for under $30K.
And that $30K figure naturally includes all the safety devices, all the electronic tricks and goodies we’ve come to expect as standard, from four-wheel anti-lock discs to more airbags and safety side-curtains than a five-year old could count to traction control and, with the V8, an engine smart enough to run on only four cylinders while high-speed cruising on America’s wide, straight Interstates (Active Fuel Management, GM calls it).
And buyers get GM's great remote start feature; able to pre-warm or -cool the interior before it's time to get up and go, and is useful for detecting those pesky explosives enemies might have planted on-board (or underneath) the car.
Inside, G8 is a bit too Speed Racer-ish for our somewhat, uh, “mature” tastes. In other words, judging by style and appearance alone, we think some drivers will find that there are too many buttons, knobs, screens, gauges and switches for a truly easy-to-read and operate whole out of just too many elements.
That there’s no navigation system apart from OnStar’s ”live operator” talking you to your destination, like John Wayne talking down some kid in a cockpit in a WWII movie, is, well, nearly blasphemous these days. But GM can’t be faulted for promoting their wonderful OnStar system, especially if one orders XM satellite radio along with it. The sounds pump just right through G8’s Blaupunkt sound system; and nice to see that radio-maker’s name in a Pontiac. (The standard official GM factory-issued shots of their G8).
The morning of our test drive, we enjoyed an XM satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan, and the show’s
theme was “baseball songs”. That’s exactly the kind of program XM and Sirius can offer which local, regional or even national (and conventional) radio could never afford to spend two hours on.
You can’t knock G8’s interior lay-out much, if at all. Aussies are at least as large as we Yanks, and if the average American can’t get comfortable in G8’s front or rear, they must be some species other than human.
One sore point, though: The center console tunnel which runs from front to rear is one of the widest we’ve seen in any rear-drive car regardless of the year; we know there’s a real need for a lot of room for pipes, hoses and of course the driveshaft under the cockpit, but we don’t have to like it. The tunnel definitely impinges especially on passenger legroom, front and rear. And there’s no dead pedal for the driver, either. We always appreciate its inclusion in a vehicle made for long, high-speed interstate runs, in a car clutch-equipped or not.
With that compliant but pleasurably stiff FE2 suspension (not too soft, as in a small import, and not too stiff, as in a high-end Bimmer), G8’s real livelihood depends on that V8; those of you who remember the original GTO will recognize the 6.0 Liter engine size; that translates, in this case, into 5,967cc’s, or 364 cubic inches; not quite the 389 of the Tri-Power GTO, but close enough (389cid is 6,374 cc’s, by the way; and ain’t the Web just grand if a slide rule isn’t handy?).
The pushrod V8 engine might be as foreign as rear-wheel drive to many G8 intenders. After all, there are, depending on what part of America one lives in, as many as four generations of drivers who have never owned a car from one of the Detroit Three (and those familiar with rear-drive and OHV engines know they used to be called the Big Three).
This V8, found in other GM products, most familiarly in Chevy’s Corvette, might not wind-up to redline as fast or even as smoothly as the DOHC engines from (choose one) BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, and, well, you get the idea. (The traditional "press walk-around" before our full day of driving begins).
The V6 in the G8 is an overhead cam powerplant and will be familiar in feeling and response to drivers with
experience pedaling Asian or Euro powerplants; almost all of them are DOHC units with little in the way of launch and most of the oomph found higher in the rpm range.
G8’s V8 offers a huge amount of low-end torque for winning the all-important “Stop Light Grand Prix” which is run millions of times daily across the US (the torque number is 385 pound feet, and whatever that actually means is much better experienced with the seat of the pants than understood with mere brainpower; it’s the part of the acceleration which bends the frame, what driver and passenger feel coursing through the car and their bodies).
Pontiac says the near-two-ton G8 GT will hit 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and run through the ¼-mile in 13.8 seconds at 101 mph. This more than rivals the expensive Dodge Charger ST8 with its 425 horsepower and blows away the 340 horsepower Charger R/T. Pontiac adds that G8 GT goes from 0 to 60 in 5.3 seconds. A properly-tuned older GTO or modern-day Firebird with a few tweaks would achieve both better speeds and times, but out of the crate, for a full-sized 2008 sedan, these numbers are more than respectable enough. And heck, the V8 has been tuned to provide a very nice rumble, both for those in the car and within earshot, so we recommend prudent use, lest drivers want to find themselves engaging new V8-equipped Mustangs, Challengers and Chargers (and, soon, Camaros) in anger more often than they’d like.
It’s a good thing the engine provides all that “launch,” too, because G8 GT could stand going on a good diet as much as Oprah, no matter how many Pontiacs she once gave away. We’re looking at almost two full tons of US-spec’d Aussie car, 3,885 pounds to be more exact, so the first time someone weighing over 115 pounds sits in the car, G8 is a full 4,000 pounds of sheetmetal, plastic, rubber, flesh, blood and sundry other materials we’re perhaps best not knowing.
All that weight, though, is fairly evenly distributed (the old “battery in the trunk” trick works well for G8) and, if the car is driven sportily, the weight never becomes an issue until one reaches the far regions of the 0.85g’s Pontiac says G8 can achieve on a skidpad.
Around town, the V8 gets to be a bit of a handful as the car always wants to leap forward and move a bit faster than traffic allows, like a hunting dog on a leash in a big city. On the open road, though, this is one of the cars we’d say “Yes!” to as a choice for driving, say, Los Angeles’ I-10 and then the I-15 to Las Vegas … and back the next day (maybe we should ask Pontiac for a loaner for the next SEMA Show). Certainly one of the very few cars under $30K we’d look forward to piloting for over 500 miles in a single sitting. And be able to carry, comfortably, three or four adult-sized people with their luggage and most of the necessary equipment for our TV show. (See what we mean about the too-busy switchgear and gauges of all kinds? Also, the HVAC controls are located badly, in front of the gear shift).
We think that the V6 with the five-speed, if one is willing to make the effort to use the tranny in its
“shiftable” mode, might be the best overall value for the money. Not that the V8/six-speed is boring or even too overly-predictable. Far from it, in fact; it’s a lot of fun in full auto or semi-manual because of all that low-end oomph the engine provides. That choice is up to buyers, as always; the EPA mileage figures for the V6 and V8 are fairly close, and the reality is that with a heavy foot, both engines will probably deliver numbers pretty close to the same mileage.
So hey … Who knew three years-or-so ago, when GM’s own rock star, Bob Lutz, tapped the company’s Oz division, Holden, for a US-legal version of their Commodore, that gas prices across America would be pushing $5 a gallon when it finally came to market?
Lutz is the same exec responsible for the short-lived “new” Pontiac GTO, which was built on the Holden Monaro coupe platform, essentially a bit older, two-door version of what’s underpinning the G8.
Lutz has also said that Holden might eventually be supplying we lucky US buyers with an El Camino-like pickup, what they call “Utes” down-under, but given the economy and the cost of fuel (which will make it pricier just to ship these Utes to the US), we wouldn’t bet on it. Why GM never went forward with the El Camino concept that Jim Hall and others in the company’s future design department created about a decade ago, we can’t understand. If that vehicle appeared tomorrow it’d be a hit; too few people ever got to see it.
Taking on one of the true legends of the car world would be tough enough when gas is cheap and the economy is good; bringing a foreign-made car into the US in 2004 and re-badging it “GTO” was taking-on more than Pontiac, even with Lutz’ full backing, could handle. (Photo --- Carey shooting digivid of our G8 GT tester for CAR NUT TV and this website; see the results by clicking anywhere on this line).
But Pontiac has done this before, if memory serves right, with a horrid Korean-made 1988 to 1993 LeMans, which was an Opel Kadett built under license by Daewoo (which GM eventually would purchase, which is another story; especially how The General left the entire US Daewoo dealer body high and dry, purchasing only the company’s name and manufacturing capabilities).
Pontiac’s real LeMans, the one from 1961 to 1977, was a simply neat-o rear-drive small (for the time period) car. Ironically, the Tempest/LeMans platform served as the basis for the original 1964 Pontiac GTO.
So here we are again, same place as 2004 when the Oz-made GTO hit US shores. We think G8 might have a better shot at success than that GTO, given its four doors and “family appeal,” but given the post-Bush economy and fuel prices, it will be a tough slog. One good thing is that G8 doesn’t have to convince people that it is the 21st century version of one of the world’s automotive icons, the 1964 GTO.
And G8 GT already has the hood scoop and four-pipe exhaust which the Aussie GTO didn’t have when it first came to market. So, in that sense, G8 is already ahead of the curve.
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