Useless Pontiac G8 auxiliary gauges going away for 2009

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT

We became HUGE fans of the 2008 Pontiac G8 after having one spend a week with us in the Autoblog Garage. We could find little about which to quibble, but one element of the G8 GT model we reviewed annoyed us the most. It was the giant pair of digital gauges atop the center stack that relay to the driver those oh-so-important stats of battery charge and oil pressure. Sure, that information might be handy at some point, but certainly doesn't deserve such a prime piece of dash real estate. Motor Trend's Edward Loh recently had lunch with GM's global rear-drive chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser, who revealed that the gauges would be gone for 2009. Loh correctly followed up by asking with what GM's thinking about replacing them. Oppenheiser would like to see a three-pack of performance-oriented analog gauges take their place, but it could become just another storage compartment. Then again, the center console could be redesigned to accept a full navigation system, the absence of which many first time buyers and the media have been questioning. Regardless of what gets put there, it will be better than what's there now.

View 22 Photos

[Source: Motor Trend]

Share This Photo X