Road Test
Pontiac's PR machine kicked into passing gear when this car began rolling into showrooms in late April. The corporate spin merchants say it's a "game changer" and, further, that it "breaks new ground."
It's easy to make allowances for a little hyperbole. After all, how many winners has GM fielded over the past few seasons? Let's not go there. But let's not avoid a reality check, either. The G6 convertible represents exactly one real breakthrough: It's the first hardtop convertible to break the $30,000 frontier - that would be breakthrough, as in "penetrate from above." You might observe that the 1957 Ford Skyliner, with its retracting hardtop and a base price back then of less than $3000, would cost a little more than $20,000 in contemporary bucks. But the Skyliner was not a success - it lasted two years - and try finding one for less than $30,000 today. One that hasn't been made into a planter.
So, let's say first modern hardtop convertible under $30,000, and first of its kind from Pontiac. But neither of these achievements will yield any market edge for long. VW is ready to roll out the Eos [previewed in our April issue], and we expect a retractable hardtop with the next-generation Chrysler Sebring convertible this fall. This means the G6 will have to succeed on its car virtues - going, stopping, turning, comfort, et cetera - as well as its dual personality. And what might those virtues be? Hey, that's why we're here, dudes.
The G6 shares the same basic structure, including the same 112.3-inch wheelbase, as its coupe and sedan stablemates. Not only is the wheelbase the same, almost all the exterior dimensions are the same, two doors or four, folding top or solid. The only difference between coupe and convertible is this droptop's decklid height, which is 1.7 inches higher, at 42.9 inches. The G6 engineering team is quick to point out that this doesn't really affect rear sightlines, and we have no reason to disagree.
We have no reason to disagree with the subtle reshaping required for the foldaway roof, either. Conversion from coupe to convertible often yields strange proportions, lots of rear deck and not much greenhouse - the turtleback look. That's not a problem here. The G6 convertible looks much like the G6 coupe, and since styling is the coupe's strongest suit, this is not a bad thing.
Pontiac assigned the convertible development program to Karmann USA, headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan. Over the decades, the company (it originated in Germany) has created more than a few convertibles. For Pontiac's folding hardtop, the Karmann people looked at designs involving two and three roof sections, settling on two, primarily to preserve the same roofline as the coupe's.
At about 68 inches from windshield header to the bottom of the backlight, this is a long folding hardtop, and like all of them its operation is fun to watch. Push a windshield-header button, and the leading edge of the double-hinged rear decklid yawns open, the top rises, folds itself in half (36-inch roof, 32-inch rear window), and stacks in the trunk. Then the trunklid resumes its position, doubling as a tonneau cover. The whole process takes about 30 seconds. And speaking of trunk, there's not much left in sunshine mode. With the top up, it's six cubic feet. Top down, it shrinks to two.
Another intriguing factoid: The top will not operate at temperatures below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Why? Because GM thinks it shouldn't. Do you hear lawyers talking? Yes, you do.
Inevitably, losing the structure of a proper roof compromises chassis rigidity. Convertible development entailed compensatory stiffening along the rocker panels, windshield framing, and central tunnel, efforts that yield a reasonably stiff unibody, although we detected hints of cowl and steering-column shake on bumpy pavement.
