# Pontiac tries high-performance revival



## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

*G8 GXP - Moderators Asleep At The Wheel*

I would have posted this item in the News section but mere mortals are not allowed in the Moderators locker room. Wonder what goes on in there. Hmmm.

Rejoice brethren rejoice. Everyone except (manly) dcarlock that is. 

There will be a G8 GXP. It will carry the 6.2L with 402 HP. And.....it will be in dealerships later this year. 4.7 seconds 0-60, same as a GTO.

Whoooo Hoooo! Might have to rethink the S2000.

Unfortunately the wierd El Camino thingie is part of the bargain. The oddball only gets the G8 GT 361 HP 6.0L.

I ran across this Associated Press article when checking some stats on GM stock this afternoon. It was published Sat, March 15th.

Enjoy.

Pontiac tries high-performance revival: Associated Press Business News: US:GM - MSN Money

As for you moderators.....fer shame!


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## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

*Get Em While They're Hot*

I have the feeling these cars may only be on the market for a short run like the GTO. Market conditions don't favor 400HP sedans. If you want, one I'd snatch em up quick, lest uncle Lutz yank the plug on ya.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

My High Performance Pontiac magazine covered these two cars. They quoted the G8 GXP having a 400 hp, 400 lbs. torque neutered LS3 along with the G8 ST (el camino) having a neutered L76 (LS2 with cylinder deactivation basically) having the 361 hp. They had a bunch of pictures of the G8 ST. It looks nice, but I think they could've done more (being a prior El Camino owner I am especially critical of it). 

The question that kills me is, why couldn't they have just slapped an unmodified, non-neutered LS3 in the G8 pumping out 430 hp to be more on par with the 425 hp SRT8 Dodges that have been prowling the streets for years now. Sitting side by side and the same price, I'd take an SRT8 Charger or God forbid SRT8 Super Bee Charger over the G8 GXP any day of the week and twice on Sunday.


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## PEARL JAM (Sep 6, 2005)

Good find, Wing.:cool


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## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

Not me. I couldn't live with the crappy Chrysler interiors. I'll gladly trade 23 HP for a car with 300 lbs less weight and a Holden interior.

Besides, tests by the car rags indicate that the G8 GT will pummel the Chrysler R/T cars and give the SRT8's a run for their money. I imagine the "neutered" LS3 will be dead even with the SRT8's and easily modified.

Still, like you, I wonder why they didn't just drop the LS3 in as is. A 4,000 lb sedan is no threat to the Vette.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

I've been in an SRT8 Magnum. It had the interior of a Mercedes. But I agree with you on the LS3 statement 100%.


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## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

dustyminpin said:


> I've been in an SRT8 Magnum. It had the interior of a Mercedes. But I agree with you on the LS3 statement 100%.


Wow we had amazingly different impressions of the Chryco car interiors. When I got rid of the GTO, I almost bought a black 300C SRT8 off the lot at my local Chrysler dealer. But, I couldn't get past the cheap plastic interior that was a tarted up version of the run of the mill 300. The seats were much better but the instruments, center stack, and door panels were the same old hard plastic poorly fitted crap from the high volume V6 cars. I ended up in a Volvo XC90 V8 instead mainly because of the interior. I needed cargo capacity but the SRT8 would probably have sufficed.

And my wife's car is an R500. I wouldn't put the Chrysler in the same zip code as the Mercedes when it comes to the interior.....or drivetrain.....or suspension.....or price.


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## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

My exboss had a Crossfire SRT6, that thing was bad to the bone and is nothing more then a rebadged Mercedes. I had an '07 Charger rental car from Enterprise. It had the 190 hp or less baby v6 in it, light years from the 250 hp SXT. I guess that's what I'm comparing the SRT8 Magnum too, the plain-jane, run-of-the-mill, rental car fleet Charger that I had the displeasure of driving for a week. There are some who aren't too impressed with the Holden interior, btw. I've read some pretty terrible reviews about the new G8 (I subscribe to a [email protected] of car mags), it passes the time along with the beer drinking... One more thing, the Monaros and Commodores over in Aussie land come in 3 levels of trim, named: Functional, Sport, and Premium, fucntional being the basement, premium being the top of the line, the U.S. gets the middle grade Sport only, with very few options to pick from other then leather or cloth, now why would GM do us like that? Dodge went balls out. Flip down dvd players from the ceiling, all wheel drive, navigation system, hell, they even got an option called nauxious chemicals venting, or something along those lines where the air conditioning/heating system filters out stench from the air outside you so you can drive by a hog farm and still smell your wife's perfum, that is of course, unless she smells like a hog herself and she's inside the car with you with the windows rolled up, in which case, you're screwed.
p.s. I've read numerous times on hear about you bashing Fords. Don't you know who owns Volvo? They're nothing more then a red-headed step child from the blue oval company.


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

Dodge went all out...starting around $40K for their Challenger...what happened to the GTO when GM priced it too high???...you can get in a V8 G8 for 'bout $30 (starting) right?...The Challenger looked nice at the auto show but I'll stay GM...gotta go with Wingnut on the ChryCo interiors...blechhhh and they all look the same...hard plastic and cheap looking...including the Challenger...
Bill


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## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

dustyminpin said:


> p.s. I've read numerous times on hear about you bashing Fords. Don't you know who owns Volvo? They're nothing more then a red-headed step child from the blue oval company.


You had to bring that up. Just mean and spiteful. Yeah, I know. 

It sickened me when Ford got their hands on a brand that I love. Volvo has never been known for performance cars but they make a rock solid dependable car that's very cheap in total cost of ownership.

It took a good deal of denial, rationalizing, and pretending for me to be able to plunk down cash for a car whose profits were headed back to Dearborn. But at least thru the 06 models, it looks like Ford hasn't contaminated the Volvo product too badly.

Life is compromise!

Hopefully, Volvo is the next brand that the troubled Ford guys put on the auction block. I'm thinking Chinese ownership. And I think I'll be done with Volvo at that point.


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## GOATTEE (Nov 30, 2006)

I looked at the new Charger R/T just before I bought the GTO. I liked that Hemi engine but I agree the interior is why I did not buy. Screws were laying on the ground and the knob for the Air Cond was missing and the sales man didn't even say anything. Cheap plastic everywhere. After that I got in the Goat and it looked like a luxury car compared. The only feature I liked on the Charger was the rear DVD entertainment system.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Pontiac tries high-performance revival: Associated Press Business News: US:GM - MSN Money


*Pontiac tries high-performance revival​*
Associated PressAll Associated Press news

DETROIT (AP) - Pontiac wants to beef up its performance credentials with two new rear-wheel-drive vehicles that will debut at next week's New York International Auto Show, but the timing couldn't be worse as high gas prices test consumers' appetite for growling engines.

The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP upgrades the G8 sedan with a new 6.2-liter small-block V-8 engine that's rated at 402 horsepower. Pontiac says the G8 GXP will be able to go from zero to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. The GXP also has a specially tuned suspension and an optional new six-speed manual transmission. The sedan will go on sale late this year.

Pontiac will also launch the 2010 Pontiac G8 sport truck, a two-seater built on the G8 platform with a 73-inch cargo bed. The sport truck has the same 361-horsepower, 6.0-liter V-8 used in the G8 GT sedan. It's expected in dealerships in late 2009.

"There's simply nothing else like the G8 sport truck on the road today, and we definitely believe that there are customers who will be excited by its distinctive design, performance and cargo capabilities," Jim Bunnell, general manager of Pontiac, Buick and GMC, said in a statement.

Pontiac plans to let consumers name the new sport truck in a monthlong contest on its Web site that ends April 15.

Both vehicles will be built in Australia by Holden, General Motors Corp.'s Australian subsidiary, which developed the new rear-wheel-drive architecture. The Pontiac G8, which went on sale this year, is a rebadged Holden Commodore.

Pontiac has been due for the kind of overhaul that's reinvigorating Cadillac and Buick. In New York three years ago, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz called Pontiac a damaged and undernourished brand and said GM's resources should be focused on healthier brands such as Hummer and GMC. Pontiac's U.S. sales have fallen by 31 percent since 2002, to 358,000 vehicles last year, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank.

The high-performance G8 family was supposed to help repair the brand, but a new federal law mandating increases in the corporate average fuel economy -- or CAFE -- could put up a roadblock. Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with the consulting company Global Insight, now considers Pontiac the most at-risk of GM's eight brands.

"The renaissance was on the books, but it's basically been thrown into confusion with the new CAFE rules," Bragman said. "The future depends on what they can do with Pontiac. Can they make it a four-cylinder, turbocharged brand, or are Americans so set on it being the rumbly, rear-wheel-drive V-8 division that anything else is not going to fly?"

Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson said performance doesn't necessarily mean horsepower, but can also mean sporty handling in a crossover like the Vibe, which gets 36 miles per gallon on the highway.

"We will provide an appropriate level of performance in every segment in which we play, but that doesn't necessarily mean every car we have is going to be a rear-wheel-drive V-8," he said.

But Bragman suggests Pontiac's image as a sporty, high-performance brand also has been diluted by staid crossovers like the Vibe. Stand-alone Pontiac dealers have demanded such vehicles to ensure a full lineup, but Bragman said Pontiac needs freedom to concentrate on performance. That could happen as GM continues its push for dealers to offer Buick, GMC and Pontiac under one roof, he said.

Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Irvine, Calif.-based Kelley Blue Book, said Pontiac's return to its performance roots is a positive step, but years of lukewarm vehicles have made the brand irrelevant to many consumers.

"They're on the brink of either great success or marginalization," Nerad said.

Hopson said when he joined Pontiac six years ago, many customers were angry at the brand for abandoning its performance heritage, which dates to the John DeLorean-designed 1964 Pontiac GTO muscle car. Hopson said he considered it positive that people were upset, and not just apathetic, about Pontiac.

"Pontiac has always been about style and performance. There have certainly been times that we've fulfilled that mission better than others," he said. "We're again getting the vehicles that fulfill that mission very clearly."

The New York show opens to the public Friday after two days of media previews.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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## PWR_SHIFT (Feb 10, 2005)

GOATTEE said:


> I looked at the new Charger R/T just before I bought the GTO. I liked that Hemi engine but I agree the interior is why I did not buy. Screws were laying on the ground and the knob for the Air Cond was missing and the sales man didn't even say anything. Cheap plastic everywhere. After that I got in the Goat and it looked like a luxury car compared. The only feature I liked on the Charger was the rear DVD entertainment system.


Chrysler LX cars' (Charger and 300) interiors have been upgraded for 2008 . . . much, much more acceptable.


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## NEXSTAR7 (Jan 28, 2007)

i got tickets to the auto show through the press. and i got in the g8. the only thing i liked about it was the trunk was bigger. the interior was cheap. the sheet metal around the wheels were so easy to bend by hand. the engine cover looks like crap. they should have kept the hp to 400. just my opinion.


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## BigNick (Jan 7, 2005)

*neutered LS3?*



Wing_Nut said:


> Not me. I couldn't live with the crappy Chrysler interiors. I'll gladly trade 23 HP for a car with 300 lbs less weight and a Holden interior.
> 
> Besides, tests by the car rags indicate that the G8 GT will pummel the Chrysler R/T cars and give the SRT8's a run for their money. I imagine the "neutered" LS3 will be dead even with the SRT8's and easily modified.
> 
> Still, like you, I wonder why they didn't just drop the LS3 in as is. A 4,000 lb sedan is no threat to the Vette.


Is the LS3 neutered, or just detuned via the ECU for regular fuel? I don't recall seeing "premium unleaded" mentioned on the instrument cluster of the G8 GT that I saw at the dealer a couple days ago (the car sold before I could go back later and get a better look).


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

I had a black GT pass me the other day...I didn't get a good look but the face is unmistakable and four doors...nice...
Bill


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## Wing_Nut (Mar 6, 2005)

BigNick said:


> Is the LS3 neutered, or just detuned via the ECU for regular fuel? I don't recall seeing "premium unleaded" mentioned on the instrument cluster of the G8 GT that I saw at the dealer a couple days ago (the car sold before I could go back later and get a better look).


This is purely a guess since the only info available right now is a single press release. But, my bet is that the power drop in the neutered LS3 is a result of slight intake & exhaust differences and possibly ECU tuning in favor of a broader, flatter torque curve more appropriate to a chubby sedan. It may even reflect a marketing attempt to separate it from the Vette. Meaning that the real differences are nil and Pontiac is publicly downplaying the true HP with a conservative rating. It wouldn't be the first time GM has done that sort of thing. We're only talking 23 HP fer cryin out loud. That's a 5% drop. Not noticeable. Stop obsessing.


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