Review: Pontiac's new G6 blends style and speed

[Ming]

Pontiac's new G6 blends style and speed
Andy Stonehouse
April 8, 2005
SUMMIT DAILY NEWS

The front-wheel drive Pontiac G6 - the one you've seen advertised as the "first ever," complete with the somewhat shameless use of songs by those noted boosters of big business, the Clash - is a new, fun and stylistically creative automobile.

The first in a new wave of vehicles designed to replace the older Grand Am, Bonneville and Grand Prix line, the G6 is good looking, sporty, fast and comfortable. Compact and clearly hoping to compete with smaller Acuras and Nissans, the G6 does a good job of offering a forward-looking domestic alternative.

I was most impressed by a concise package that included comfortable leather seating, producing a good driving position and good views of the road. And with an ample 200 horsepower 3.5 liter V6 power under the hood, the G6 has loads of get-up-and-go, even with an automatic transmission (which can be put into semi-manual mode - more on that in a moment).

Solid handling, responsive steering and braking and a sporty but not overly rough ride made it a fun machine for a quick cruise up I-70 to hit Loveland a few weeks back. Nice weather also gave me a chance to enjoy the car's very large, four-panel panoramic sunroof, which opens to expose nearly the entire passenger cabin (the three rear panels stack up accordion-style when the roof is open, which looks precarious but seemed sturdy, even at speed).

A short, sporty stance - with emphasis on those blingy, aluminum-painted, five-spoke 17-inch wheels, a chrome-tipped exhaust port and a small spoiler on the trunk - add street appeal to the G6.

The Grand Am-styled nose is the only visual reference point to the car's ancestors; large, chrome cat-eye headlamps and turn signal clusters contribute to a poised, low-profile nose.

The tall, steep tail (with huge integrated brake and turn signals) did remind me a bit of a Neon - inside, you'll find a rather sizeable trunk with a pass-through 60/40 split rear seat, big enough to store skis or golf clubs. For nearly $30,000, I'd hoped you'd get a bit more finishing details (the trunk plate is uninsulated and the backs of the rear speakers jut out).

I liked the sweep of the body line and the cut-out angle of the rear doors; front doors were large but required a bit of a stretch to reach and close while behind the wheel.

Our G6 came equipped with the new remote-start feature, useful for cold mornings; you'll notice that hitting the remote lock button on the key fob lights up not only the headlamps but the rear backup lights.

Again, very comfortable, supportive seating - the driver's side is six-way power-assisted, and front seats are heated - and the interior is clean, simple and attractive, with a bit of hardwood-styled plastic on the doors and shift gate and leather on the wheel and shifter.

The vehicle's information system is a bit cumbersome and distracting, integrated as it is into the radio, rather than the instrument panel. You'll need to reach over and poke the button to get range, mileage, fuel economy and oil life data, and shift your attention to the center stack.

The eight-speaker Monsoon stereo (with a six-CD in-dash changer) packed plenty of bass, enough to rattle the side mirrors; I'm still not a fan of GM's hyper-stylized circles-and-buttons audio controls, but that's just me.

The G6 has a few small storage spaces up front, including a tiny armrest box, two cupholders and small storage holes in the doors.

There's no gear position information available at eye-level, except when you shift into semi-manual mode.

To do so, the G6's transmission requires popping the shifter way out of the traditional P-R-N-D pattern, which makes it difficult to drop into manual mode when you have a sudden need for extra juice.

In the back, seating is comfortable for two and a squeeze for three; the extra mechanism required for the sunroof means low headroom for taller passengers. You may also experience a bit of glare from the light-colored carpeting under the rear window.

Driving the G6 was plenty of fun, with just a bit of torque steer but generally solid and smooth handling, even at a good clip. There's loads of power and great acceleration, with good stopping power provided by four-wheel disc brakes. Standard 225/50 R17 Continental ContiTouring tires also gave the car some good all-season ability.

Article Source: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/2...NEWS/104080028

[TriShield]

Summer Daily News? Does anyone seriously care about obscure newspaper reviews?

[Ming]

Maybe we need more Pulitzer Prize Winner reviews.

[AdmiralViscen]

What makes the opinion of a high-paid writer more valuable than the opinion of a regular guy?

I'd like to read reviews from anyone who's sat in the car.

[SobeSVT]

Originally Posted by AdmiralViscen

What makes the opinion of a high-paid writer more valuable than the opinion of a regular guy?

I'd like to read reviews from anyone who's sat in the car.

Oh, no! You wouldn't like to read mine

[AdmiralViscen]

Why's that?

[SobeSVT]

Originally Posted by AdmiralViscen

Why's that?

Because I didn't like the car. In all fairness I think that the exterior is atractive but I would have liked it to be a bit more imposing and substantial. I seems a bit to "lite" for its market. The sides though are stunning, very well executed. The rear end is pure Neon or Cobalt...your pick.

The interior I found atrocious. Like a made over Malibu, but not "extreme" made over, which I think is requiered by the message that the marketing and advertising for the G6 are giving. Is pure showroom disapointment. Instruments look very nice though. There was an endless rattle in the drivers door but you can't judge the whole line by the fault of just one car.

I found the engine hesitant and a bit to overworked for a car that seems so light. Cornering and handling at large is fine but not expectacular (I guess I got spoiled by my dear and every day missed SVT Focus) the kind that you can find in any Korean mid size.

My summary for me the G6 is a nice car that does many things fine but none outstandingly.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by AdmiralViscen

What makes the opinion of a high-paid writer more valuable than the opinion of a regular guy?

I'd like to read reviews from anyone who's sat in the car.

In our local paper we have a guy who drives a dealer supplied new car every week and writes an article about it that shows up in every Sunday paper. I don't know why but I have read them for years and every one I have ever read has a positive view of the car that is being reviewed. It is this guys job and I can guarrantee that if he gave honest reviews that told the truth about a car that is just plain bad the local dealers would very quickly stop giving him cars to write about so it is in his best interest to write glowing reviews as no one is going to call him on the carpet about his obviously influenced opinion.

The difference is the car magazine industry is huge and manufacturers know that they have to send cars to be tested whether they are good or not.

[AdmiralViscen]

Originally Posted by SobeSVT

Because I didn't like the car.

Yea, neither do I.

I guess we all learned something about assuming in this topic.

[AdmiralViscen]

Originally Posted by big swede

The difference is the car magazine industry is huge and manufacturers know that they have to send cars to be tested whether they are good or not.

And so that means that the reviews are guaranteed to be unbiased? Riiiight. The big car magazines toss the curveball of manufacturer advertising and general high-brow bias.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by AdmiralViscen

And so that means that the reviews are guaranteed to be unbiased? Riiiight. The big car magazines toss the curveball of manufacturer advertising and general high-brow bias.

No I never said car magazine reviews are never biased because I believe they are once in a while. Certainly less often than most fanboys would believe. My point is that every review done by our local paper is a glowing review so obviously there are a lot of biased reviews because not all cars are great. Because of that you cannot take a local guys review and post it up like it is a worthy opinion because I could post up a glowing review of every car ever reviewed by our local guy.

[Ming]

I know the reviews you are talking about Big Swede - but they are usually very light on facts, too - reading more like a press release from GM, and often actually using snippets of a press release!!! Shameless!!!

This one at least had some critical elements to it, and was an interesting read for me.

On the opposite side, being critical of every car except a few "off limits" aspirational brands like BMW is why I dislike some of the car mags. They obviously try to out-impress one another in their degree of pomposity in their black turtleneck sweaters and nicely trimmed gray beards, fawning over the curves of a luxury car well out of their buying range while spitting on and chuckling derisively at the brands that are beneath them....brands they probably drive home in after they've done their little test drives.

[big swede]

Originally Posted by Ming

I know the reviews you are talking about Big Swede - but they are usually very light on facts, too - reading more like a press release from GM, and often actually using snippets of a press release!!! Shameless!!!

This one at least had some critical elements to it, and was an interesting read for me.

On the opposite side, being critical of every car except a few "off limits" aspirational brands like BMW is why I dislike some of the car mags. They obviously try to out-impress one another in their degree of pomposity in their black turtleneck sweaters and nicely trimmed gray beards, fawning over the curves of a luxury car well out of their buying range while spitting on and chuckling derisively at the brands that are beneath them....brands they probably drive home in after they've done their little test drives.

I agree with you. This one isn't quite as bad as the ones I'm refering too but anyone writing for a local paper is suspect to me. I love your "opposite" side description though. Throw in a nice cigar and cognac and you pretty much nailed it.

[SobeSVT]

Originally Posted by AdmiralViscen

Yea, neither do I.

I guess we all learned something about assuming in this topic.

I guess.

[Canuck]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Summer Daily News? Does anyone seriously care about obscure newspaper reviews?

Summit Daily News not Summer
Obscure newspaper and poor spelling poster
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/.../NEWS/104080028