Pontiac’s wicked new rear-wheel-drive muscle car celebrates the thunder Down Under.
-By Bill Heald
We live during a time when it’s not only hard to determine what cars will survive the wounded economy, but where they actually are built in the first place. GM’s Pontiac division has been a familiar American icon since 1926 and, until recently, was known for serious performance cars. GM has decided the brand will disappear in 2010, so how does it say good-bye?
Ironically, Pontiac’s demise comes right after management decided to revive its motorhead mojo and grace the marketplace with a serious, rear-drive, V-8–powered menace to society cloaked in a fairly mild mannered sedan body. And where did they look for such a machine? Detroit? No way. They rang up Australia, and GM’s Holden Division.
Oz: the land of kangaroos and desert landscapes, with lots of room to run. Big V-8s still roam across the Outback, and the legend of Mad Max lives on. If you will recall, it was Mel Gibson’s limping, leather-clad character who fought violent loons in pursuit of gasoline in the Road Warrior films, in which he was armed only with a shotgun, an Aussie Cattle Dog(in Mad Max 2), and a monstrous V-8 coupe. Granted, Max drove a Ford Falcon, but these days the nearest thing we can get (with the proper Down Under DNA) is the Holden Commodore. This sedan is now known on these shores as the Pontiac G8, and just think of it: The American market gets a badass machine with an engine and transmission created in Mexico, bolted into the car in Elizabeth, Australia, then shipped here. Was it worth the trip?
In a word, hell yeah. They even did us the courtesy of putting the steering wheel on the correct side of the car. The G8 comes in three flavors: the straight G8, the GT, and the GXP. The regular G8 is all well and good, and has a plucky little V-6, but isn’t nearly nasty enough. The GT has a much more desirable six-liter V-8 with 361 horsepower, which is acceptable. But if you really want to taste the warrior lifestyle, you need the GXP, mate. The stout 6.2 V-8 found under the bonnet pumps out 415 horsepower and sounds like an auditory wet dream when you release the hounds. This is a wonderfully nasty mill, and while it’s normally very well-behaved, it occasionally rocks the car a bit when idling to tell you it’s time to go. The standard trans mission is a six-speed automatic with a manual mode, and a six-speed manual is available. Under normal circumstances, I would say go with the manual, but the automatic transmission makes loading the shotgun and feeding the Cattle Dog much easier at high speed.
The GXP is equipped with everything you need to tame the beast, including massive Brembo brakes, StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control, a brilliantly tuned suspension, and premium rubber mounted on 19-inch polished alloy wheels. Handling is crisp and predictable, and no doubt light years sharper than that beat-up creature Mad Max motored around the Never Never. It’s a dynamic sporting platform that feels mean and substantial, kind of like a four wheeled torpedo.
The G8’s bad-boy drivetrain persona is evenly balanced by its civilized side. The interior is quiet, accommodating, and graced with logical switchgear and displays that are vastly better than GM’s typical stateside fare. A powerful Blaupunkt audio system with 230 watts and 11 speakers rocks the house, and the rear seat is big enough for a small rugby scrum. This is the thing that really sets apart the most powerful Pontiac ever from the Challengers, Mustangs, and Camaros of the world: It’s actually a very practical sedan, in terms of passenger capability, that delivers truly amazing performance. True, it has a substantial appetite for petrol, but it certainly puts the stuff to good use. Bottom line: The Pontiac name is saying adios, but it’s departing in a blaze of Aussie glory. Get one before it’s too late.
