I was picking up a car at CAMI today (for those of you who don't live around here, that's the plant that builds the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent and Suzuki Grand Vitara) and saw a G8 parked in the visitors parking. It had Michigan Mfg plates on it. At first I didn't know what the heck it was as the back end looked like an oversized Pontiac Pursuit. As I got closer I noticed the front fenders looked very BMW-ish. I then noticed the hood scoops and it clicked- a G8! Other than the blandish tail end, I like the looks of the rest of the car. Not too sure about the colour of this one- it was purple with a candy-like hue to it. I think it will do well in the market. I wish I had a camera with me. Todd
There was one at Performance World, in white. I have to be frank, I was not that impressed, I just think the General has missed the tide again, heck I paid $1.23 per litre today, not sure this is the market to be rolling out a 361 HP V8 beast, and styling was so GTO-ish which flopped. Not being contrary, just my honest opinion. The Bonneville GXP is a nicer car in my opinion but I suppose they are trying to fill two market segments with the G8, Grand Prix and Bonneville.
I picked up a little key chain digitial camera at Crappy Tire a while ago for like $16? I bought a couple to keep in the glove compartments of the cars for situations like that or, perish the thought, you have an accident and have to document it. They seem to feature these in the flyer about every month or so.
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
There was one at Performance World, in white. I have to be frank, I was not that impressed, I just think the General has missed the tide again, heck I paid $1.23 per litre today, not sure this is the market to be rolling out a 361 HP V8 beast, and styling was so GTO-ish which flopped. Not being contrary, just my honest opinion. The Bonneville GXP is a nicer car in my opinion but I suppose they are trying to fill two market segments with the G8, Grand Prix and Bonneville.
A friend of mine owns a Pontiac dealer, he promised me one of the first test drives as soon as they come in. He also said don't expect to see them in Canada until Feb. of next year. It will also be interesting to see what the pricing will be like compared to the US where they have announced the 361 HP version will list for $US 30K.
I think they expect to sell a lot of them with the direct injection 3.6L V6 which should put out ~260HP which will be enough for most people. I will look seriously at the GXP version with the 411HP LS3. It depends on what kind of performance packages they offer on the new Camaro as well. I think the US economy will be bouncing back by the first quarter of next year so in terms of timing, it may not be too bad to bring these cars on the market then.
The new GTO flopped for a number of reasons: initial price gouging by dealers, terrible marketing, and a real compromise design that saw half of the trunk eaten up by the relocation of the gas tank to meet US crash standards. Plus, most people were expecting it look a lot more like the first gen cars, hence I think the large dose of retro styling in the new Camaro. There was no faulting it's performance though. I had an opportunity to drive one a number of times and it was a kickass car! The handling and braking was superb and I roasted the rear tires several times. The interior I thought was one of the best I have ever sat in. I think the G8 has the potential to grow on people.
-- Edited by Astro Jet at 11:30, 2008-04-09
-- Edited by Astro Jet at 11:49, 2008-04-09
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
Astro Jet wrote: I think the G8 has the potential to grow on people.
-- Edited by Astro Jet at 11:30, 2008-04-09
I hope you are right.
One of my player's Dad is a plant supervisor at Oshawa and he told me they built an engineering mule Camaro and sent it to Arizona, this was just after Christmas.......He raved about the car BUT when are we going to see it ? I am a loyal GM customer, own 4 GM's right now, but that company has a lot of issue to overcome. What year was it now that they rolled out the prototype at Woodward.....2005 ???
It is true, GM takes far too long to bring cars from concept to production. Have you ever read: "All Corvettes are Red"? It is one of the best automotive books I have ever read and gives a detailed look at GM's bureaucracy and decision making process.
-- Edited by Astro Jet at 11:53, 2008-04-09
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
All Corvettes are Red is a good book. Hard to believe GM (or the other 2) get anything accomplished. To brighten our mood, here's a few shots of the new Camaro undergoing testing at Nurburgring: CLICK HERE
