USAtoday review of Pontiac Torrent
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2006-02-16-drive-torrent-usat_x.htm
This won't be one that wows 'em with General Motors' new dedication to premium presentation.
One of Torrent’s strong points is its attractive styling. It looks more expensive than it is. One of Torrent’s strong points is its attractive styling. It looks more expensive than it is.
Torrent, Pontiac's version of the crude Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV, seems cheap and clumsy — like the Equinox (Test Drive, June 18, 2004). The front-wheel-drive test vehicle's plastic parts were yester-tech; brittle and flimsy. The automatic transmission gearshift lever slopped, clackety-clack, through its positions. The back of the front seat feels as if it's throwing you forward off the seat. The markings on the wiggly, imprecise climate control knobs are almost impossible to see in daylight (though easier when illuminated at night).
Using the turn-signal lever — as a designer at a rival company once said about his own flop — feels like breaking a chicken's leg. Audio control buttons on the steering wheel spokes are so small they are hard to push with a bare hand, never mind a gloved one. The gear-position indicator is down by the shift lever instead of up higher in the main instrument panel. That means you have to drop your eyes from the road ahead to tell if, for example, you got the lever all the way into drive, or spaced out and left it in that lower gear you used coming down a steep hill. (Eventually the engine drone would give you a clue, but why not make it easy?)
Plastic trim that surrounds the ignition slot and covers part of the steering column was feeble and loose in the test vehicle.
The V-6 engine vibrates. You notice how much when you shift into neutral waiting at a stoplight and the Magic Fingers shaking ceases.
continued at link
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2006-02-16-drive-torrent-usat_x.htm
This won't be one that wows 'em with General Motors' new dedication to premium presentation.
One of Torrent’s strong points is its attractive styling. It looks more expensive than it is. One of Torrent’s strong points is its attractive styling. It looks more expensive than it is.
Torrent, Pontiac's version of the crude Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV, seems cheap and clumsy — like the Equinox (Test Drive, June 18, 2004). The front-wheel-drive test vehicle's plastic parts were yester-tech; brittle and flimsy. The automatic transmission gearshift lever slopped, clackety-clack, through its positions. The back of the front seat feels as if it's throwing you forward off the seat. The markings on the wiggly, imprecise climate control knobs are almost impossible to see in daylight (though easier when illuminated at night).
Using the turn-signal lever — as a designer at a rival company once said about his own flop — feels like breaking a chicken's leg. Audio control buttons on the steering wheel spokes are so small they are hard to push with a bare hand, never mind a gloved one. The gear-position indicator is down by the shift lever instead of up higher in the main instrument panel. That means you have to drop your eyes from the road ahead to tell if, for example, you got the lever all the way into drive, or spaced out and left it in that lower gear you used coming down a steep hill. (Eventually the engine drone would give you a clue, but why not make it easy?)
Plastic trim that surrounds the ignition slot and covers part of the steering column was feeble and loose in the test vehicle.
The V-6 engine vibrates. You notice how much when you shift into neutral waiting at a stoplight and the Magic Fingers shaking ceases.
continued at link
