Review: 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
By Michael KareshApril 27, 2009
rating summary and performance review: 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 92 comments 
2008 Pontiac G8 GT Take Two
By Jonny LiebermanSeptember 12, 2008
When it comes to cars from General Motors, I’m always prepared for disappointment. No matter how promising the new vehicle is (Corvette!), GM finds a way to let me down (Corvette seats!) Take the Pontiac Solstice GXP. Flat gorgeous. More important, that sweet turbocharged engine with its (relatively) massive power and torque. Hell yeah, right? But the shift linkage is made from hamster bedding. The interior was designed for Gitmo inmates. And the brakes -- when pushed -- stink. I mention this because I was wholly ready to be let down by the new Pontiac G8 GT.
2008 Pontiac G8 GT Take Two
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 127 comments
2008 Pontiac G8 V6
By Michael KareshMay 9, 2008
Let’s not dismiss the Pontiac G8 V6 out of hand. Sure, you give up a Smart-and-a-half of ponies with the less powerful powerplant. But 256 horsepower would have seemed like plenty even five years ago. (And the way things are going, it might seem like plenty five years from now.) For enthusiasts who’ve advanced beyond the raw thrill of gut-sucking torque, it’s not the meat, it’s the motion. Yes, Virginia, it’s possible for a car to be fun to drive even if it can’t flatten you against the seatback off the line. Ah, but does this G8 V6 fit this bill?
2008 Pontiac G8 V6
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 61 comments
2008 Pontiac G8 GT Review
By Michael KareshApril 4, 2008
The first time GM attempted to create a BMW 3-Series fighter, we got the Cadillac Cimarron. After 27 years of trying again (and again and again) to take on the rear-wheel drive driver's car, we've got a rebadged Australian import that goes by the name Pontiac G8. No question: the G8 is a far better automobile than the Cimarron (what modern car isn't?). But it's still no 3-Series. Frankly, it's not clear what it is.
2008 Pontiac G8 GT rating summary and performance review
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 131 comments
2008 Pontiac G6 GT Hardtop Covertible vs. 2008 Chrysler Sebring Limited Hardtop Convertible
By Mike SolowiowMarch 17, 2008
Spring: the season of love, flowers and convertibles. As warmer weather approaches, car dealers put away the 4x4 SUV’s and pull the drop-tops from the back of the lots in the hopes of snagging passersby wanting a vehicle to celebrate the (global?) warming weather. Pontiac tempts buyers with the G6 GT Hardtop Convertible while Chrysler lures in the public with the newly-introduced Sebring Limited Hardtop Convertible. As the only American-branded hardtop convertibles, which one truly deserves your hard-earned income? Or should both be tossed into the bonfire of the vanities?
2008 Pontiac G6 GT Hardtop Covertible vs. 2008 Chrysler Sebring Limited Hardtop Convertible
Posted in Car Reviews | Chrysler | Pontiac | 69 comments
2008 Pontiac G5 Coupe Review
By Megan BenoitFebruary 6, 2008
The Pontiac G5 Coupe reminds me of John Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice and Men.” Best-laid schemes aside, no car deserves more to be taken out to a field and shot in the back of the head. This brand-engineered blight bleeds bureaucratic bumbling. No doubt someone at GM figured that Pontiac should share some of the Cobalt love with a derivative of their own (a la the Cavalier/Sunfire). Rather than taking a pass-worthy platform and making it into something worthwhile, they gave us the G5, “lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain.”
2008 Pontiac G5 Coupe rating summary and performance review
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 127 comments
Pontiac Grand Prix Review
By Adrian ImontiSeptember 17, 2007
I sometimes get sentimental for the Good Old Days, a bygone era when gas was cheap (and the good stuff was called Ethyl), back seats were the ticket to romance, and tailfins were a mark of distinction, rather than bad taste. Back in the day, the coolest metal was Detroit born-and-bred, bearing real nameplates that paid homage to fast animals and faraway places and auto races, not to alphanumeric jumbles inspired by IRS tax forms. It was during one of these recent waves of nostalgia that I found myself looking forward to spending some quality time flogging one of America’s last remaining full-size touring sedans, the Grand Prix. That is, until I drove one.
Pontiac Grand Prix rating summary and performance review
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 99 comments
Pontiac Vibe Review
By Samir SyedAugust 22, 2007
Late last century, GM decided to fight the rising tide of uninteresting front wheel-drive cars Japanese cars by building their own uninteresting front wheel-drive cars. Three decades of trying to out-Japan the Japanese yielded the pinnacle of American wrong-wheel technology: The Monte Carlo SS. Now that GM’s hulking trucks have had their day, the automaker is busy hawking its lackluster though miserly Cobavion. This despite the fact that one of the best small cars GM has ever produced sits unloved in Pontiac lots across America. Go figure.
Pontiac Vibe rating summary and performance review
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 63 comments
Pontiac Solstice GXP Review
By Jonny LiebermanMarch 1, 2007
I once drove off the road, screaming, at 80mph. Why? I was in love. When love turns blind, men do irrational things. As far as healthy, loving relationships go, the one presaging my off-highway excursion was a malignant tumor wrapped in an iron lung. I imagine that owning a Pontiac Solstice GXP is a similar affair. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury; the prosecution calls her a “femme fatale on wheels.” I ask you: how could something this beautiful be so damn dangerous?
Pontiac Solstice GXP Review podcast continued »
Posted in Car Reviews | Podcasts | Pontiac | Review Podcasts | 98 comments
Pontiac Solstice Review
By Terry ParkhurstJuly 31, 2006
When you punch the Pontiac Solstice’s go pedal to the floor, you can almost hear that great Les McCann/Eddie Harris tune “Compared to what?” Normally, the Solstice is compared to the Mazda MX5 or its twin-under-the-skin, the Saturn Sky-- which is a bit like comparing Heather Graham to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Salma Hayek. While it's clear that the GM cars have more visual appeal than the Japanese roadster, looks can be deceiving. Has GM “made it real,” or is the Solstice just playing a part?
Posted in Car Reviews | Pontiac | 69 comments
Acura
Aston Martin
Audi
Bentley
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Chrysler
Citroen
Dodge
Ferrari
Ford
GMC
Honda
Hyundai
Infiniti
Jaguar
Jeep
Kia
Lamborghini
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Lotus
Maserati
Mazda
Mercedes-Benz
Mercury
MG
MINI
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Other
Porsche
Pontiac
Saab
Saturn
Scion
smart
Subaru
Suzuki
Toyota
Volkswagen
Volvo
POWERED