G6 GT coupe

[01cavalier]

This past weekend I had the opportunity to drive a black G6 GT coupe.
My first impression walking up to the car is of course that it is quite a nice looking car, getting inside, again very nice, no inconsistencies in the gaps between trim pieces, easy to read instrument panel. Only thing is the interior was black, and it could really have used something to set it off, maybe chrome or something in silver, though chrome would have looked better as the shifter for the transmission had chrome on it.

The black leather seats were nice, rather comfortable with a power driver seat, and both front seats heated. The only complaint here really is that the driver seat has too much lower back support, so the longer drives did get somewhat uncomfortable, and that was after adjusting the lumbar support all the way down. The power adjustable pedals were a great touch and with the power seat, I eventually found a seat position that was more comfortable.

The seating position in the car feels higher than most cars I have driven, and gives a very good view of the road ahead. The view out the back is blocked by the rather large c-pillars, though this is something I did not have much trouble adjusting to.

The monsoon sound system did sound good, though I did not crank it to see how it would do if I pushed it. The only thing I did not care for on the radio is the information display for XM, I have a Roady 2 in my car, and that unit has a longer display, and shows 2 lines instead of having to scroll through. The memory feature on the portable XM unit is also very handy for when I want to remember a song, which I do not believe the radio has. Other than that, I had no problem figuring out the features of the radio.

Initially I though I was getting a GTP, so I was somewhat disappointed that I was "only" driving a GT. Even then, I found the car to still have plenty of power, only thing missing to me was a manual transmission. By no means was this car slow, but of course not as fast as the GTP that I had the privelege of driving about 3 months ago.

The remote start was a handy feature to have, so all I really had to do when I get to the car is unlock with the remote entry and put the key in the ignition. The engine generally ran quite smooth, maybe an occasional vibration at idle speed when parked for a while and it actually sounded pretty good, if a bit muted. Not a rough sound from the engine.

The transmission shifted very smoothly, I could not get one harsh shift from it the entire weekend, even when I was using the manual shift gate which is a feature I definitely enjoyed. Maybe it is just me, but it seems that the torque converter clutch is engaged more when in this manual mode. There are few overrides when using the manual shift control, when the engine hits the rev limiter, it did not upshift. The only override I noticed is when I neglected to downshift, under 30 MPH when applying the throttle it would then shift down to third, when decelerating under about 20 it would default to second, and when making a complete stop it would then kick into first. The transmission is geared fairly high, though does not hunt between gears when left to automatically shift, and the timing of the shifting when left in drive seemed very good.

With the 3.5 Liter engine and the transmission it got rather good mileage despite my lead foot, the first tankful I drove half stop and go traffic, and got 24.5 MPG, the second tank the car had gotten close to 27, which I consider good since about 1/4 of that was in city traffic, some on the highway and the rest on 2-lane roads in the hills. The car handled those twisty roads in the hills well, better than I had expected, and the ride was surprisingly smooth given how firm the suspension was. I drove over rough country roads, and the suspension smoothed out the ride quite well, not once was it rough.

The only other thing I found odd about the car is after dropping a friend off, the passenger airbag did not reset after he got out of the seat, and the chime went off asking that the passenger buckle up. I guess the car needs to be restarted to reset that, though this seems strange since other cars & trucks I have driven or ridden in will automatically realize that there is no one in the passenger seat after a short period of time.

Overall, I would say this is a very well done car and if you want higher mileage than the GTP, this car would be a great one to take a look at. I would not go for the black interior myself. The sticker price was a few hundred over $27,000 but this was also before the adjusted MSRP is factored in, and my understanding is that the base price has dropped on this model by $1165.00.

[AdmiralViscen]

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