Wanna see a red Pontiac G8? Yeah, we thought so
The folks over at Kicking Tires had no intention of running into a red prototype Pontiac G8, but when they saw it, they whipped out the camera phones and did a great job with the limited tools at hand. The result is a pre-production look at one of the most anticipated vehicles for the 2009 model year. You can see from the pic that the silver Pontiac logo from the Chicago show is still present on this tester (we like it a lot), and as it turns out, on the right vehicle, the classic Pontiac grille looks quite nice on the right product. We'd agree with the Kicking Tires crew that the G8 looks better in red than it did in its showcar charcoal.
We've heard a lot about the Zeta platform over the past year or two, and the G8 is likely to be the first example of GM's flexible RWD platform here in the States. After driving the Holden Commodore down under, we're more primed than ever when the G8 finally hits production at the end of the year.
Kicking Tires got three pictures of the G8, and you can check them out here. Our shots of the G8 at the Chicago show are below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Dr. Woo 10:34AM (5/07/2007)
That is one hot tamale.
This car is singlehandedly making me reconsider my policy on never buying anything conceived outside of Germany. Affordable, exciting RWD V8 4-door performance with a quality interior and a 6-speed? Where do I sign up?
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FLR 10:53AM (5/07/2007)
Wow! I like that in Red!!! That will look very nice in my garage!
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Chet 10:58AM (5/07/2007)
The red certainly makes it look more like a Pontiac :)
The sedan gets a styling pass where the coupe got soundly rejected. This is the way of the automotive world...
It's attractive enough. I suspect it'll get conquest/pent-up sales just because it's a rear-drive V8. (Not everyone loves the Charger/300 styling and interior.)
Question is, does GM have the sense to make a $42,000 version with a full-strength LS2/LS3 motor?
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bmw122487 11:01AM (5/07/2007)
I think my 3-series now has a valid reason to be seriously nervious about its garage space. Love the color.
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jtk 11:09AM (5/07/2007)
Don't be so sure about that quality interior. I took part in a marketing demonstration and they had two verions of the upcoming G8. Both had identical exteriors, but one had the interior from the gallery above and the other had a decidely downmarket interior in comparison (very GM-like). The people running the survery told us to only pay attention to the lower class interior and that our comments should only apply to that version. Not a good sign if you ask me.
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Juan 11:16AM (5/07/2007)
Red looks good. Silver logo looks great.
But if the interior is going to be butchered by the bean counters, I won't want one.
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roadside observer 11:18AM (5/07/2007)
Kudos to Bob Lutz and the designers at GM. Outstanding work, people!!!!
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GM guy 11:59AM (5/07/2007)
The interior will be as is photographs..
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Esprit bird 11:39AM (5/07/2007)
Great Grand Prix replacement! seriosly, it does infact look good.
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Bob-o 11:40AM (5/07/2007)
That looks terrible. Bring the Commodore, not this crap.
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Guenther 11:46AM (5/07/2007)
Me likey. I wonder how the V6 model will do. Is this thing at all lighter than the LX's?
As for the logo, that would be a really slick, subtle way to differentiate special models. VW was doing that with different colors in the labels, like a black, green or red "i" in TDi.
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Chris P. 11:50AM (5/07/2007)
I think it's like 200lbs lighter than the LX's if I recall correctly. As for the photos, it's amazing how much cell phone cameras have changed our lives.
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TriShield 11:57AM (5/07/2007)
There's a video on YouTube of this red G8 in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q3fGlldBIk
The car has two interiors. The GT is loaded has leather, nav screen, and electric everything. It's identical to what we've seen on the show car minus the leather dash. The V6 G8 has a cloth interior without the screen. Here's a photo of it.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c132/Dragon978/Cars/G8_interior.jpg
It's not "downmarket", the materials and assembly is the same on both. Edmunds also drove a Commodore SS which has the same interior pictured above.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=120615/pageId=123000#2
Check out the slalom on this thing. The G8 is going to be one wicked car.
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Mike 12:02PM (5/07/2007)
I'm gonna sum up my thoughts to nay sayers, and critics.
If you don't like it, then you don't have to buy it. It makes little difference to me what YOU think. I'll make my own decision when it shows up at my local Dealer.
I have little patience for arguements about cars any more. Why people gotta get all mad about cars is beyond me. If you like it, great. If you don't, great. Stop trying to portray yourselves as folks who have a clue. Because, in the end, you're opinion only matters to you.
ITs like a movie critic. Do I listen to them? No.
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GM guy 12:02PM (5/07/2007)
....the interior will be as photographed.
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Ligor 12:16PM (5/07/2007)
#14.
we are jsut trying to point out why GM fell to 2nd place and why people are moving away from buying a GM product.
most car enthusiast could care less if te interior is not great, but the rest of hte hurd buys from how things look and feel, so it the interior fells and looks cheap and tey have a better option they might opt for it.
and you know that only a very small % of the buying public cares about best handling/performance.
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paul34 12:26PM (5/07/2007)
Not sure. I liked the charcoal better (ideally black).
This red reminds me of the "old" Pontiac too much - which isn't a good thing =(
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rojo cuello 12:45PM (5/07/2007)
Looks like an Acura TSX
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mk 12:55PM (5/07/2007)
love the red paint. The new logo looks good, too, but like the car, would look better red. (the clear part could be clear red...)
Bob-o, The commodore is the same car. Change the front bumper cover and the name plates on the trunk, and it is a Holden Commodore SS-V.
And Chet... which coupe would that be? The Monaro-GTO? That is a much older design. The Monaro was based on the previous Commodore, not the VE-Zeta chassis Commodore that is re-badged for the Pontiac G8.
I would love to see a more angular coupe than the Monaro-GTO was, based on the VE Commodore, on this Zeta platform. Something more original and new than re-playing the Camaro, as the Zeta Camaro concept is doing. A new "G8 Grand Prix" as a sleek new coupe? Sounds very interesting, and probably would look better than the Monaro's softer lines.
the only down-side to this car is the weight. nearly 4000lbs is lighter than the Charger, but still definitely no featherweight. It is a big car, though.
It is a Grand Prix replacement that is as big or bigger than a Bonneville.
It certainly will be interesting, and at least it has
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jg 12:55PM (5/07/2007)
' I think my 3-series now has a valid reason to be seriously nervious about its garage space. Love the color.
'
I thought I was the only one with a 3 series and a Grand Prix in the garage.
'ITs like a movie critic. Do I listen to them? No.'
Why not? Film reviews can be some of the funniest articles you'll ever read.
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