I finally saw one at a local dealer, so I thought I'd check it out. Styling wise, it looks pretty good, but it does seem to be going after the import car market. Sort of reminds me of an Acura RSX.
Price as equipped was a hair under $33,000 Inside, there was enough adjustment to the power seat to get me comfortable. I did have to lower it all the way down, and move it all the way back, but I wasn't lacking for leg room. (I'm 6'2") The steering column has tilt and telescopic, so it was easy to get the wheel right where I like it. It also had power pedals, and I adjusted them right down as far as they would go. I tried moving them up, but it just felt weird.
I didn't like the "Driver Information Center" on this car. I like the one on my 2000 GP GT way better. For starters, this one is part of the radio display, so it's lower on the dash and the writing is way smaller (red block lettering) . I found it was too hard to drive and look down at the radio and try to scroll thru the many different screens of information.
From the driver's seat, there is two HUGE blind spots. I could not see the rear quarter of the car on either side. I had to completely rely on the side mirrors. I couldn't even shoulder check all that well. Looking out the rear view mirror, I couldn't see much either. That back window has a mean rake to it and it looks tiny thru the mirror.
I decided to check out the back seat. All the reviews I've read mention the large amount of leg room in the back. I needed the leg room to scrunch down about a foot so my head wouldn't touch the roof. Sitting straight up, I had to c*ck my head forward and I'm not kidding you, my shoulders were touching the roof. Obviously the back seat is for children and midgets.
The trunk is tiny. The way the roof line slopes leaves very little height to the trunk. The back seat is a 60/40 fold down, so you've got length. I don't think I could fit my wife's suitcase in the trunk, the trunk opening isn't tall enough. I could fit my suitcase in I'm sure.
Under the hood. the 3.5L looks shoe horned in. There's not much room for anything. I mentioned the lack of a transmission dipstick, and the salesman had to go ask someone about it. He came back and told me it was "filled for life" Right....who's life? Mine or the tranny? The salesman also pointed out the trademark honeycomb grilles. Not only do they look good, they allow air to pass thru them to cool the rad. WOW what a feature. When did they figure that out?
OK now for the drive. I noticed a lack of road feel in the steering. I found out later that this model uses the electric power steering. The car felt good in turns, but I wasn't really getting any feedback from the steering wheel. As for cornering, I drove hard thru a few sharp corners and the car drove thru nice and flat showing no signs of body lean. It seemed like this car could pull itself out of any corner, but I couldn't tell from the lack of feedback.
The tranny features a "driver manual shift control" that the salesman incorrectly called "tiptronic" You pull the shifter down and to the right, and it goes into manual mode. Pull back on the shifter to downshift, push up to upshift. I decided to try it out, so I downshifted to 1st and stomped on it. Let me say this about the performance of the car. It doesn't seem like it's going that fast. They did a lot of work on soundproofing, so you don't really hear much of the engine or exhaust. I also didn't really feel the torque of being pushed back in my seat but....back to the shifter.... When I floored it in first, the damn thing revved up so fast that I bumped the rev limiter, causing the car to fall on its nose, and then launch again. (causing me to bump my head off the headrest. I would have expected the tranny to shift itself out of first even in manual mode, but it thankfully doesn't. It appears it truly is "manual mode" So I slammed it again and shifted thru 3 gears and that car was flying. Still didn't feel like it, but the speedo indicated a high rate of speed.
The brakes are absolutely stunning. I made a bit of a panic stop and the car slowed hard ,fast, and straight with no significant sign of nose dive. I felt completely in control.
The one thing that I absolutely hated on this car and the only other G6 coupe on the lot was the paint. There was so much orange peel in the finish of the 2 cars that the reflection off the paint didn't look like looking into a mirror, it looked like stained glass. One of the cars also had some very rough edges on some of the panels. On a black car I could see and feel how rough the edge of the trunk lid was where it met the quarter panel. I would be quite upset if I ordered a brand new car and it came with a finish like this. Pontiac has got to step up the quality of its finish if it's trying to compete with the import market. The finish was almost as bad as some new Dodge vehicles I've checked out recently.
I'm now waiting for a call from the dealer to let me know when the G6 GTP coupe comes in. (3.9L 240hp 6 speed manual!!) AND the Pontiac Solstice.
I was shocked to find the price of the GTP was only about $2000 more that the GT. Maybe the GTP coupe could be the replacement for my GP.
I'll let you know what I think after the test drive.
Jay S