First Drive Review
Considering the unloved Mitsubishi Diamante, the "I'm so not a Miata" Mercury Capri, and the pacified Pontiac GTO, Australian-assembled cars are about as vogue in America as Vegemite.
That may change. After flopping with the GTO, General Motors is again pumping its antipodean Holden division for another rear-wheel-drive Pontiac. Holden's mainstream Commodore sedan is due to swagger into showrooms in February 2008, dressed as the wide-track, wider-nostril Pontiac G8. Compared with the GTO, however, the G8 is an all-new car backed by an all-new global business plan. Judging from a Southern California drive of engineering prototypes, we sense this Aussie has a much better shot at greatness in America.
Say hello to the Holden VE Commodore in Australia, the Buick Park Avenue in China, the Chevrolet Caprice in Dubai, and the Pontiac G8 here. Unlike the old GTO, which was modified to satisfy our government regulators, GM's Australian-engineered Zeta rear-drive architecture is America-ready from the git-go. It will roll out of plants in three countries (Australia, China, and, eventually, Canada, once the '09 Chevy Camaro arrives) at the rate of 500,000 per year.
Such volume shrinks costs and allows GM leeway to widen the model mix with less pricey (and less profitable) versions. Essentially, we get what Mr. and Mrs. Persian Gulf get, our G8 being closest to the Middle East-spec Chevy. The G8, assembled in Elizabeth, Australia, which is near Adelaide (which is near, um, nothing), will start at $27,595 with an Aussie-made 260-hp, 3.6-liter V-6, GM's so-called high-feature six, with aluminum construction, four cams, and variable valve timing.
The G8 GT, with its Mexican-sourced 362-hp, 6.0-liter pushrod L76 V-8 featuring fuel-stretching cylinder deactivation, will run $29,995. Sitting behind the V-6 is a GM Hydra-Matic five-speed auto; the V-8 churns through a Hydra-Matic six-speed auto. A Tremec six-speed manual will become an option on the GT later in '08, we're told, although it may push this four-door Corvette into taxable gas-guzzler territory.
The G8 is sized XL, with limo-shaming back-seat legroom and a Jacuzzi for a trunk. Its 114.8-inch wheelbase is a hair longer than a Ford Crown Victoria's, and its 196.1-inch length is 0.7 inch shy of the big Chrysler 300's. At 74.8 inches, the G8 is 0.2 inch wider than a 300. Therefore, the curb-weight claims—3900 pounds for the V-6, 4000 for the V-8—if not truth stretching or headless optimism, demonstrate laudable engineering discipline.
