Blackbyrd (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} blackbyrd2) wrote,@ 2008-04-29 20:57:00 |
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I saw this review of Pontiac's new G8 sport sedan over at MSN and just had to link it. And comment.
On the one hand, I drove a V6 G6 last year as a rental. It was brand new, and I loved almost everything about it. It had decent power, good handling, even decent fuel economy, for a V6. (If I was careful, which I was.) The interior was both roomy and upscale, and extremely comfortable. I drove all the way across Iowa in it.
The only problem with it was, it was a Pontiac. And an automatic.
By the time I turned it in, with 3600 miles on it, I could feel the transmission beginning to get 'soft' and sloppy. I have no idea what kind of car it would be at 50,000 or at 100,000, but I could guess. Pontiac has never impressed me, even back in the days of the old Firebirds.
This new one comes with an optional 6.0L V8. That's a 6.0 liter V8, putting the block somewhere in the 350 cu. in. area, I would guess. (a 5.0 is about equivalent to a 302, as I recall)
And a 6 speed automatic sport tranny, which you can use as a manual. 18 or 19 inch rims, a sweet looking interior. Lots of power. And all for $30k.
But it's still a Pontiac. And gas prices are currently staring $4 a gallon in the face. Who, exactly, is their market? People who want a muscle car, but are on a budget, yet too shortsighted to realize this thing will get half the mileage of your average Toyota, and look half as good? This is what Pontiac leads with?? Come ON!
Put together a smart little roadster with more HP than weight. That'll sell to the midlife crisis bunch.
Or put a luxury sedan together with the smoothest, plushest ride on the road. Spare no expense, and market it to uber-successful DINKs.
Or do the smart thing, and build something with style, with a hybrid motor or an all electric car, and catch the wave of the future. I mean, I'm 51 for crying out loud, and even I can see that the days of the gas-guzzling muscle car have been gone for 20 years, and that within 5 years, nobody would touch that car for anything, because the mileage is going to drive you to bankruptcy. Hell, you put your foot in the thing once to burn a little rubber at the light and you'll be out $50. Anybody with that much money to burn isn't going to be driving a bargain basement muscle car like this. They'll be in their Porsche or their BMW Boxter.
See, this is why America's economy is in the toilet. Because American industry is clueless.
On the one hand, I drove a V6 G6 last year as a rental. It was brand new, and I loved almost everything about it. It had decent power, good handling, even decent fuel economy, for a V6. (If I was careful, which I was.) The interior was both roomy and upscale, and extremely comfortable. I drove all the way across Iowa in it.
The only problem with it was, it was a Pontiac. And an automatic.
By the time I turned it in, with 3600 miles on it, I could feel the transmission beginning to get 'soft' and sloppy. I have no idea what kind of car it would be at 50,000 or at 100,000, but I could guess. Pontiac has never impressed me, even back in the days of the old Firebirds.
This new one comes with an optional 6.0L V8. That's a 6.0 liter V8, putting the block somewhere in the 350 cu. in. area, I would guess. (a 5.0 is about equivalent to a 302, as I recall)
And a 6 speed automatic sport tranny, which you can use as a manual. 18 or 19 inch rims, a sweet looking interior. Lots of power. And all for $30k.
But it's still a Pontiac. And gas prices are currently staring $4 a gallon in the face. Who, exactly, is their market? People who want a muscle car, but are on a budget, yet too shortsighted to realize this thing will get half the mileage of your average Toyota, and look half as good? This is what Pontiac leads with?? Come ON!
Put together a smart little roadster with more HP than weight. That'll sell to the midlife crisis bunch.
Or put a luxury sedan together with the smoothest, plushest ride on the road. Spare no expense, and market it to uber-successful DINKs.
Or do the smart thing, and build something with style, with a hybrid motor or an all electric car, and catch the wave of the future. I mean, I'm 51 for crying out loud, and even I can see that the days of the gas-guzzling muscle car have been gone for 20 years, and that within 5 years, nobody would touch that car for anything, because the mileage is going to drive you to bankruptcy. Hell, you put your foot in the thing once to burn a little rubber at the light and you'll be out $50. Anybody with that much money to burn isn't going to be driving a bargain basement muscle car like this. They'll be in their Porsche or their BMW Boxter.
See, this is why America's economy is in the toilet. Because American industry is clueless.
