2008 Pontiac G8 GT First Drive

Though Pontiac has targeted the Charger with its new G8 in the domestic marketplace, the Division has a thing for BMW going back to the early '70s. Remember the first Grand Am? It was aimed at BMW. When the Grand Am nameplate was retired just a few years ago in favor of the G6, ironically it was done to change course to GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz's new heading for the Division. He stated in 2003, "We want to make Pontiac an affordable American BMW." The '04-'06 GTOs were another step in that direction and now we have the G8.

"When we were designing the underpinnings of the G8, we wanted to create a vehicle that could compete with some of the best European performance sedans in every way," said Doug Houlihan, vehicle chief engineer. "From chassis stiffness to suspension response to overall vehicle balance, we believe the G8 can perform as well as vehicles typically costing thousands of dollars more."

Though the monochromatic optional leather interior may seem bland to some, there are plenty of gauges and gadgets to keep you occupied. Or you can always order the optional Red and Onyx heated power leather seats.

Pontiac will tell you that the G8 will match the performance of a highline Beemer for $20,000 less. While that's great news for us, my opinion is that many BMW drivers buy BMWs more because they say BMW on them than any promise of performance supremacy.

Regardless, let Pontiac aim high, and whether BMW owners bite or not matters little to us as long as the Division sells its target 30,000 or more G8s. We just want a stylish Pontiac with a V-8 and rear-wheel drive that goes fast in comfort.

The '08 G8 GT does just that. On a recent 200-plus mile drive though the mountains near San Diego, the motor press wrung out a few GTs and base cars to see what all the excitement was about. Since instrumented tests weren't possible, what follows is purely a driving impression.

Employing GM's new Global RWD Architecture, even though it's completely different from the '04-'06 GTO platform, the G8 feels like the natural modernization of what the late-model GTO was. Is it as good as a BMW? I don't know. I don't drive BMWs, and my guess is that most of the readership doesn't either. For that reason-and because I, and probably you, have had a lot more experience with the '04-'06 GTOs-I'm using the late-model Goat as a basis for comparison.

Gauges are well laid out, but we would prefer analog readout for the oil pressure, and volts, too. Currently, they are digital bar graphs in the center of the dash.

If it was simply the exterior styling that kept you out of a New Age Goat, then the G8 GT should turn your head, since it's much more modern and muscular in appearance, as it should be. After all, it's new!

Happily, the G8 GT actually lives up to its Grand Touring moniker. It has ample power for most people; a smooth, taught ride; high g-cornering grip; and positive braking. It also has you wanting for nothing on the luxury side with every creature comfort known to man either standard or optional. Though it's about as fast as an '04 Goat now (Pontiac estimates 13.8 in the quarter), it should out-handle and out-brake it for just under $30,000, while the Goat was approximately $33,000.

And the future GXP promises to be on par with the '05-'06 GTO in straightline performance as it hones in on the Charger SRT8 market.

The 6.0L engine revs with ease and provides an authoritative tone at full throttle, but is church quiet at cruising speed. (Strangely, I think the standard six makes slightly more noise.) The six-speed automatic trans shifts smoothly and, with a limited-slip 2.92 rear gear and 0.67 Overdrive, high-speed cruising is done at fast idle rpm.

The steering is nicely weighted, and the suspension responded well on the tight mountain roads we traversed. Part of the fun was manually shifting the trans or just holding it in Second gear and blasting through the twisties.