Short Take Road Test
TESTED
We maintain respect for the storied nameplates of Pontiac’s glory years, despite the fact that many of us at Car and Driver grew up when General Motors’ “excitement brand” was slinging LeMans-badged Daewoo hatchbacks, A-body Pontiac 6000 sedans, and a parade of laughable Firebird Trans Ams that helped steer the brand toward a decade-long addiction to injection-molded excess. Oh, and we can’t forget the Aztek, even though we’d like to.
But when GM decided earlier this year that Pontiac was a noncore entity, and thus disposable, the wasting away of the legendary division was all but complete. One only needs to look at the company’s media website, where the only current Pontiac highlighted is the 2010 Vibe—a rebadged Toyota Matrix hatchback that muddied the brand’s ethos more than anything else—to see that the pioneering spirit behind the muscle car has been completely forsaken. Thankfully, the Vibe aside, Pontiac’s exit from the marketplace will be marked by the smoking tire treads of its most powerful and probably best vehicle ever: the 415-hp 2009 G8 GXP.
As American as Country-Fried Eucalyptus
When it arrived from Australia in 2008 as a reskinned Holden Commodore—much like the equally short-lived Holden Monaro–based GTO of 2004–06—the aggressively styled, rear-wheel-drive Pontiac G8 seemed in theory to be perfectly suited to reviving the brand from mediocrity. The GXP variant, which debuted a year later with a tauter suspension, an optional six-speed manual gearbox, and a Corvette-sourced, 6.2-liter V-8 in place of the standard car’s more pedestrian V-6 and V-8 mills, gave additional hope to Pontiac enthusiasts everywhere.
We’ve covered this car several times before, all examples of which were equipped with the $695 manual transmission and shorter rear-axle gearing. But of the 1826 GXPs that made the voyage from Down Under, more than half sported the standard six-speed automatic like the one you see here. Price as tested: $40,960, including destination, gas-guzzler tax, and a $900 power sunroof. Now, we almost always prefer to row our own gears, but seeing as this was likely the last outing we’d have with a GXP, we had to see how it stacked up to the manual. To our surprise, it did—admirably.
Just as Capable, Just as Cool
With a mere 57-pound weight penalty, the self-shifting GXP mirrored its manual-equipped counterpart in nearly every performance category. The 0-to-60-mph sprints and quarter-mile runs were identical at 4.7 and 13.3 seconds, respectively, with the manual’s 109-mph trap speed edging out the automatic’s 107-mph best. The automatic, however, was slightly quicker from a rolling start, topped out at a governed 148 mph to the manual’s 146, and managed 0.88 g around the skidpad versus 0.85 g. Although the automatic’s 70-to-0-mph braking performance of 161 feet was five feet longer than the manual’s, our 14-mpg observed fuel economy was the same for both.
Away from the test track, the automatic rarely limited the GXP’s ability to grip or drift around corners. Although it lacked wheel-mounted shift paddles and reaching for the manumatic shift gate on the passenger’s side of the console sometimes felt awkward, the six-speed auto’s sport mode was highly intuitive and responded quickly to our various driving styles. Whether we felt like a relaxing cruise or a good back-road romp, the gearbox picked up on how heavy our right foot was and adjusted its shift strategy accordingly.
With nearly everything else the same between the two models, our Liquid Red tester exhibited the solid overall composure that we’ve praised before in previous tests. The standard Brembo brakes are a welcome confidence booster, the chassis is well balanced and responsive for a big sedan, and comfort and ride quality are good considering the level of performance. If we had to nitpick, we’d point out that it’s too easy to mistake the GXP for lesser G8s—even with the top model’s handsome 19-inch alloys—the simple yet spacious interior feels of no higher quality than that of the last GTO, and the list of amenities is rather short for a $40,000 car, with keyless entry and navigation noticeably absent.
A Hard Launch into History
As of this writing, fewer than 15,000 Pontiacs remain on dealer lots, with probably just a handful of G8 GXPs in the mix. With GM’s brass continuing to assert that the car has no future in the U.S., even as a Chevy-badged police cruiser, these hot-rodded versions will surely be collectible. We still prefer the manual and the clutch-dropping antics that come with it, but as only 800 or so were made, the premium for that enjoyment likely will soon exceed the $700 option price. At least we won’t have to sacrifice much if a lightly used automatic comes our way in the near future.
