Well.. I have been waiting for some time for the Pontiac G8 to come out. I heard Derussy had one sitting outside and so on my lunch break I went out there with two friends from work and tried it out!

First off.. I have no pix but it was red. VERY RED. The stance on that car is AMAZING. Its wide, aggressive, and I loved the fendor flares.. Really you can't appreciate this car unless you look at it in person.

Interior.. Well, I am sure I will be shot but.. it's not negative. Still a lot of plastic but it is a DEFINTITE step up from previous models. The interior did not feel cheap, but it was not as refined as I hoped it would be. And whats up with the seat tilt being a knob instead of electric? I guess thats a Pontiac thing. Still lots of plastic knobs.. and no navigation.

I don't know if anyone else has drove the G8 but I have to tell you.. when the car is cranked, and I drove the GT by the way, it doesn't make much of a noise. Usually stock LSx have abit of a rumble but the G8 GT....none. The exhaust note was very quiet too, actually I did not really hear the engine or exhaust. After taking it down the road .. the pick up wasn't what I thought either. Don't get me wrong this car has TONS of power but the gear ratio (2.92?) was not that amusing for stop and go. I had the traction control on. I gunned it from 0 to about 50.. and it didn't break my neck like I hoped it would. I am sure that on the interstates its a beast! And yes, I realize this is a sedan, and its not supposed to be I guess as mean.. but no exhaust note made me want to cry.

Another thing that is the dealerships fault, and maybe the reason why I did not enjoy my ride was.. the alignment or the balancing of the tires were off. No joke the steering wheel shook, and the car pulled to the right. The sales man tried to tell me thats how the car would act until the tires broke in. LIES the Lexus had the same tires on it stock. 18' Potenza RE050A 245s.. and NO shakes or rides like that.

Over all I would tell all of ya to go drive it. It's wide, sexy, and very roomy. It kinda feels like a big car in the way of handling, but I probably just don't know any better. I guess I'll wait for the GXP to come out before I seriously think about trading in my car

You could probably put your IS in the trunk of that thing :D How was the interior of the car? Could you live with it after being in your Lexus? I wish it had the Nav system available as an option but it seems they can't get it past the feds.

You could probably put your IS in the trunk of that thing :D How was the interior of the car? Could you live with it after being in your Lexus? I wish it had the Nav system available as an option but it seems they can't get it past the feds.

Well lets just say getting out of the G8 and getting back into the IS was a bad idea.

The interior is MUCH better but.......still SO much plastic. I'm not saying our cars don't have their fair share but at least we make it look good.

The interior is MUCH better but.......still SO much plastic. I'm not saying our cars don't have their fair share but at least we make it look good.


But then again for a car under 35k, you gotta make some compromises.:D:D

I'm sure it's probably 10x better than the P.O.S Grand Am:p

The dealers near dont have them in yet...IVE GOT to drive it.

Thanks for the write-up. :)

I have requests from CL members for a G8 GT review and plan a full review as soon as unsold ones are available for test-drives in my area. Dealerships, right now, in my area, aren't allowing test drives on the V8 (GT) model....and most of them are pre-sold.

From what you describe, it sounds like more or less the same old Pontiac El Plastico interior with maybe a few new spots of decent fit/finish. Pontiac heavily promoted and advertised the the G6...but its interior, compared to its Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura cousins, was, IMO, a major disappointment...the almost all-black plastic monotone looked and felt like something out of a coal mine.

Who was the salesperson who told you that tire/wheel shimmy was a normal part of break-in? How do people like that ever wind up selling cars? :egads: Is that person's E-Mail on the card? If so, kindly tell that person that he/she is full of ****** (maybe in a polite, tactful way). Tire/wheel shimmy usually comes from one of four things (and not alignment, BTW): A laterally out-of-round tire, an out-of round wheel (which is rare with precision-cast alloy wheels), a f***ed up, uncalibrated balance machine that doesn't put the correct inner/outer wheel weights where they belong, or a poorly trained person who doesn't know how to operate the balance or tire-mount machines correctly. On rare occasions, an internal tire defect like shifted cords or belts will cause vibration or shimmy, but that is usually severe.....more than what you experienced.

In addition, although it usually doesn't cause a shimmy, the dealer PDI guys in the service shop often forget to adjust the tire pressures when the car is unloaded off the transporter. Tires are pumped way up...higher than they are supposed to be......for the trip from factory to dealership, and most of the time, the guys at the receiving end don't check them when they pull the shipping covers off, do the legal state inspection, etc..... I've gotten into the habit of taking a tire gauge and checking and adjusting all four tires myself before I do any test-drives to be sure the car will ride and handle like it is supposed to. The higher-than-normal PSIs will markedly affect ride/handling, give you a stiffer-than-normal ride, and a false impression of what its road manners are supposed to be.

I would love to drive the GXP model. It looks like a nice ride. After reading the comparo in car mags between the G8 and the 550i, it makes you wonder if it is worth $30K for the interior? :uh:

I would love to drive the GXP model. It looks like a nice ride. After reading the comparo in car mags between the G8 and the 550i, it makes you wonder if it is worth $30K for the interior? :uh:

To be fair, this thing is way faster than anything in that price category. Stock it gets ~13.5s with 105mph trap but with a tune at a dealership to use premium instead of 87, it'll get 13.1 with greater than 107mph trap. Put an exhaust and intake...you are in the 12s. You gotta love 6 liter engines :)

I would love to drive the GXP model. It looks like a nice ride. After reading the comparo in car mags between the G8 and the 550i, it makes you wonder if it is worth $30K for the interior? :uh:

Probably they had to cheapen the interior to a certain extent in order to keep the price in the low to mid 30k range, and to prevent the G8 from cannibalizing the sales of the CTS.

Can't wait for your thoughts MMarshall in regards to the fit and finish of the G8.

Can't wait for your thoughts MMarshall in regards to the fit and finish of the G8.

Thanks. :) It's coming...depends on the availability in my area of unsold models and demos.

In the meantime, it's nice to have IS_Mine's write-up. :thumbup:

I can't wait to drive it, just in pics and with a V-8, this is now my favorite G.

Oh I could go more in depth with what I saw and how I really felt about the car. That initial post was placed in a LS2 forum so I had to be careful. I'm already treading dangerous waters in the fact that I drive an import.

The G8 pulling a mid 13 would not suprise me, however, if you want any sort of GO in stop and go traffic you should put it in the shift-tronic mode. Even then, when I tested it the changing of the gears was not that smooth. It is really not a fair.. I guess comparison because that G8 is NO where in the league of the Mercedes E class, Lexus LS, and BMW 7 like it lists in it's documentation. If you have ever driven an AUTOMATIC Mustang GT it shifts like a granny.... and thats how the G8 felt! It also has the valve shut off for gas consumption, will swap into a 4 cylinder when needed. No Gas guzzles tax with this one like the GTO.

However, when the six speed edition comes out with a hopefully a little more aggressive rear end the car for being in its price range is a bargain.. due to the power it boasts. I have to tell you, the interior difference between the GTO and the new G8 was really not that different. The car I drove stickered right at 30 grand. It had ALL the options, and even the sport package. Its nice in the fact that the car already has some vette parts in it, so upgrades such as long tubes is probably not needed (L92 I think).

If you want to buy this car for performance.. then that is what will make this vehicle shine. I could not get better than 9mpg but hey I was gunning it everywhere I went just to see if it would snap my neck. The lack of exhaust note and engine rumble was a REAL sad moment for me. I don't think it will handle like a BMW like other has boasted about this car.. it felt big and clumsy, but most things are compared to my IS.

By the way, my sales man was an idiot and I pretty much made him feel that way. Being a woman, I guess they feel they can tell us anything and we'll believe it. I really believe that they pulled the car off the truck and put it our front. They did not road test it, balance it, or anything like that. Just pulled the plastic out of the interior. The fact that it can get NO navigation is a real sour spot with me. I don't want On-Star turn by turn guidance I want an actual screen so I can make changes as needed.

If you guys have any questions let me know. I knew more about the car than the sales man did and corrected him more than I should have. Yes, I was lucky to drive the car.. I walked in and "that one.. I want to drive!"

Over all, for me, it gets 3 out of 5 stars. I really looked at everything on this car, and the ANTENNA is HIDEOUS!!!!! Its HUGE!!!

just saw it two days ago and i loved the design. Just wish they kept the Vaxhaul VXR8 face!! I think Im gonna go for a test drive too when I have a chance.