brillo

So I found out that a Pontiac dealer near me was having a rather impressive media launch event for the arrival of the new G6 sedan, and I decided to check it out due to my general auto enthusiast curiosity.

Now you may ask the question, you have a rx8, one of the best handling, looking, and driving vehicles on the road, why in gods name would you waste your time looking at an American family sedan possibly doomed to the rental fleets of the country?

Good question…the answer is pretty simple, the G6 is a good representation of where GM, and Detroit is going with its new bread of cars designed to compete with the imports. I find that looking down the ladder gives you a good idea to what the DNA of a manufacturer is made of (I give you the Mazda3 for example), so I figure the G6 is pedestrian enough to give me an idea of what levels of quality and refinement are coming form Detroit. I’m not against American cars, in fact I live for the day when American makes make or exceed those of their foreign rivals, I think America is closing the gap, and it can’t come soon enough, as Detroit is largely on the rocks financially.

Ok, enough so hows the car? Well, for one I really like the exterior shape and design, its larger than it looks which is nice for the interior space, there is a ton of leg room in the back. Both the 16’’ and 17’’ wheels are good looking, I hear that you can also get it with 18’’ as an option. The exterior build quality was very tight, the paint was quality, I couldn’t see any orange peel, the door seems were smooth as were the edges. The interior material quality was good on the top end model (I saw a loaded version with leather and the panoramic sunroof), the leather felt like leather (unlike current GM leather), the dash materials were similar to the 8’s, the buttons turned a little loose, but the doors closed with a good thud. The seats were supportive and well contoured. I’m not really sold on the sunroof that stretches the length of the car, but I’m not a big sunroof fan anyways. My only real complaint was the steering wheel which has a ugly design, other than that, the interior I thought was rather nice.

I got to drive a loaded version briefly which really showed how solid and rigid this car is, much like the mazda6. HUGE difference over the grand am in terms of bump absorption which also helped in terms of the handling. The car has roll, but its progressive and predictable. The car’s suspension seems to absorb bumps in the road with little complaint, and always felt in control. The much maligned GM electric steering was rather light, but not artificial feeling IMO. The steering wasn’t as sharp as I would like, however, this is coming from someone who drove a Mazda6 and RX8, and Mazda knows steering.

The 3.5L Pushrod V6 has been rather well refined, its quiet, has good torque down low, and gets 21/29 MPG. It accelerates decently with the tranny, which I forgot to try in its manumatic mode.

Overall, I can away pretty impressed. It has style which will sell the car, refinement in the ballpark with its competitors, lots of room and decent power. Most complaints I’m sure GM will address in next years model (such as the light steering), after they get some feedback. Looks like detroit may finally be "getting it"

Next up, my Corvette review

ALMOST8IT

The G6 should be fairly well refined, the platform and many parts are shared with the Saab 9-3 (and Chevy Malibu which seems to good reviews despite its bad looks). Published reports in the car mags also indicate that Pontiac will get a convertible version of the G6 in its second year, courtesy of Saab engineering.

Brillo, I am with you 110%, I hope this is a sign of things to come from GM. By the way, I looked at the new Vette the other day it looks great and the interior is significantly nicer than the C5. I haven’t driven it yet, so I can’t report on the ride.

irish8

Nice review brillo.

- Irish

ATL-6s

Nice review.