[Driver72]

Not many of you here will probably care, but my buddy who works freelance for one of the nations largest car mags will be driving the Pontiac G8 GXP for the photoshoot tomorrow.

Will post some details of his thoughts.

****Edit: OK below is a briefing of what he told me after the drive/photoshoot of the G8 GXP:


Ok, here goes.
I just got off the phone with him.
It was raining on and off here in LA all day long today.
I thought maybe they'd cancel the photo shoot and drive, but they didn't.

The car was a Blue Pontiac G8 GXP with a 6MT tranny.

Yesterday it was at Willow Springs doing the performance testing for the magazine, they did not release the details of the testing, but know this, the car magazine allowed the photog and driver today to take their new $5000+ VBox (professional unit) along with them today.
On a damp day here in LA on a nice straight road in Malibu, a non professional driver (but he's a friend of mine and like me we've been car enthusiasts for a long time and he knows how to drive well) was able to get a
0-60 in 4.79 seconds. This is an uncorrected time and done on a road that was recently damp, with a driver who was driving the car for the first time.
I'd bet the official times from the magazine are probably in the 4.6 second range when done on a track with better conditions.

He said the 6MT is great. Very smooth and easy clutch.
The tranny is the same from the Corvette, but they mentioned the clutch is much smoother and easier than the last Corvette he drove.
He mentioned he was able to get this time by launching somewhere around 2600 rpms and not slipping the clutch but not dumping it either, but a smooth progressive and quick release.
He was disappointed that the car came with 245 Bridgestone rubber ALL around.
He thought with 265 or wider rear rubber he'd have even better off the line times.
He did say the 245 rears did make for some entertaining sliding.

You are able to turn the stability control completely off, but it's either on or off.
With it on, he said it wasn't overly intrusive, and allowed a bit of slip, but not much.
Personally I think it would of been nice to have a "sport" mode where it wasn't completely off, but did allow more slippage than when it's on.

He said the sticker price was $36k on the car and it's only real option is the moonroof (other than transmission choice). No NAV.

He said, compared to the G8 GT (which the exhaust note is a bit soft) the GXP was near perfect. He thought it could MAYBE use a bit more sound, but that would only be for those who really like a rumbling exhaust. But he didn't feel any need for it to be any louder for a stock V8 sedan.

Suspension wise, he was impressed. Doing a bunch of side to side chicanes on the canyon roads he said it handles great. The magazine won't allow them to cross the double yellow line for the photography, but he said once he was still able to run the car hard around corners and sweepers and for a 3850 lbs car it felt great.
He did say the rear suspension seemed a bit high though.

He loved the seats too. Not sure if they are the same in the G8 GT but said they were comfortable and the bolsters were more than sufficient for hard canyon driving.

That's about it.
You'll probably see the full test by this magazine in a couple months.

Well hope this gives you guys a bit of an insight into the G8 GXP.
You'll definitely have to pick up a copy of the magazine when it comes out. But I'd bet if you are a car enthusiast in the slightest that you guys already have a subscription to this magazine already anyway.

Take care.

PS Maybe, just maybe one of the two guys that were out with the car today might be inclined to post up too, but he'd probably rather remain mum.

[skierman64]

I think the G8 is a good looking car. Hopefully the driving dynamics keep up with the looks. Looking forward to hearing what you and your buddy have to say.

[alpineweissM3]

I care and look forward to reading about it.

While most of us here wouldn't buy a Pontiac, most of us are car enthusiasts and would enjoy reading about the GXP.

[Deda]

please do!

[shift330]

Those are nice. I'm not crazy about GM interiors (I'm not bashing, I've got an '02 Sierra Diesel) but the G8 is a great looking car with a good amount of power. I'm sure it would be fun.

[ALPINE6SPD]

I have a lot of respect for that car under 40k

[skierman64]

Originally Posted by ALPINE6SPD

I have a lot of respect for that car under 40k

+1

[Driver72]

First post edited and updated now with the details.

[skierman64]

Nice writeup, thanks for sharing. I'd love to see a pic or two.

[Driver72]

I will ask him if he was able to take any pics himself.

[alpineweissM3]

Thanks for posting. What an awesome price...$36k...i would have thought $40k.

If I wasn't blessed to be able to afford an ///M, the GXP would probably be my vehicle of choice.

[lyndon_h]

i'm seriously considering this for my next car. The thought of saving 10k over a 335 and getting an additional 100hp/80tq is nice. And if you're patient, you can prolly get one with one of the 0% interest deals and save an additional 4k in interest.

[Driver72]

Originally Posted by lyndon_h

i'm seriously considering this for my next car. The thought of saving 10k over a 335 and getting an additional 100hp/80tq is nice. And if you're patient, you can prolly get one with one of the 0% interest deals and save an additional 4k in interest.

Oh there is no doubt, that even though the stealerships will try and pretend that this car is some M car or ZO6 or something they will try to add a "dealer mark up" of $2-5k on the car at first.

However, it won't take long before they wake up and say, "hmmm, our economy is in the toilet, gas prices are still on the high side and will probably go up and this is a large V8 powered sedan. Plus even though technically it's a Holden, it's got a Pontiac badge on it, maybe we should consider hoping we can sell these cars at $500 above dealer cost."

Then go in and offer them $200 above invoice.

Would be a pretty SWEET ride for $34K or so.
And since Corvette mods are cheap and readily available at this point, you can mod this thing and add 50-100 hp for probably a couple grand.

It's on my list of serious considerations at this point too.