The three cars are really 3 sides of the same (oddly-shaped) coin. The G8 gives you all the performance but is lacking in the gadgets and luxury. The CTS gives you most of the performance and most of the gadgets and luxury for a fair bit more money. And the BMW gives all you want of both for a heck of a lot of extra cash.

There’s a market out there for each of them respectively. Granted, that market is probably shrinking with gas prices and shrinks faster on the lower end of the scale (G8) than on the higher end (5-Series). There are people who want a very well-performing full-size sedan but don’t particularly care if the thing can order pizza for you. FOR THOSE PEOPLE (I myself am one of them) the G8 CAN be compared to the 5-Series. That is the benchmark car for what those people want in a car — it might have more than what they want, but it has what they want. And there are people who want a well-performing full-size sedan but want their car to give them Shiatsu massages while they drive 150mph. FOR THOSE PEOPLE the G8 CANNOT be compared.

The 370z isn’t a great comparison, I’ll agree; I’m thinking more of the customer base in that price bracket. Price/performance is really the only interesting area of comparison, IMO; comparing cars by class alone (number of doors, engine placement) and you get stupid stuff like comparing Veryons to Hundai Genesis.

Which is the enter point! Of course you can create a pretty lengthy list of cars that outperform a 550i or last-gen M5 for less money. BUT NONE OF THEM WOULD BE FULL-SIZE SEDANS.

Is it “luxury-laden”? Not really. It’s certainly not on par with the BMW but it’s not light-years behind either. Is it “gadget-infested”? Hell no. Which, for one, isn’t exactly a bad thing – BMW has chased away a lot of the driver purist with all the technology they’re throwing at their cars thesedays. Can you say iDrive? There’s a lot of people that want a high level of driving experience without the $20,000 worth of crap that comes attached to almost every car that offers that level of driving experience today.
No one’s saying that the 5-series isn’t worth the coin if you can afford one and if that’s what you want. And no one’s saying that the G8 is going to steal some buyers from BMW. But for the person considering a ~$35K full-size sedan, the 5-series is not only the most obvious comparison but the ONLY comparison. There’s just no other full-size, RWD, large-engined, performance/driver-oriented car on the market in the US to compare to.

I’m going to dismiss the car because I think the days of giant, 4000lb “saloons” are absolutely over, and I could care less.

Oh, and for the record, there’s no such thing as a rebadged Subaru. Mitsubishi sure did it a lot (my first fast car was an Eagle Talon, HEH) but Subaru never has.

BMW isn’t the only automaker out there that’s been refining the “balance of power, handling and grip”. Full-Size, V8-powered, Manual-Tranmission, great handling cars have been popular in Australia for generations. And they care about more than straight-line performance out there — they actually race their V8 Supercars on real racetracks rather than big circles

It’s not like this is just an opinion of Need4SSpeed. Every single automotive publication out there has been comparing the G8/Commodore with current generation 550i in head-to-head comparisons. The general consensus is that it’s almost a carbon copy — pulling almost identical lap times, handles as predictably, offers almost the same feedback, with the only notable exception being a bit of numbness is the steering. Many of the rags have stated they expected to put the GXP up head-to-head with the last-gen M5 when they get the opportunity to test a GXP (which aside from the power increase and MTX also gets a host of steering and suspension upgrades).

Yes, if you pull out the “prestige and interior quality” card then the G8, of course, doesn’t compare. But from a purely OBJECTIVE standpoint you most certainly can compare the two. It’s already been proven that you CAN compare the two objectively. There’s a lot of people out there that will sacrifice some prestige and interior quality to get a car for HALF the price. Are people who would have gotten an 550i going to go buy a G8? I doubt it. But it won’t be because the BMW offers any better objective driving experience.

Go out and drive one before you dismiss it based off the badge alone. I found that, driving around town, it was pretty easy to know you weren’t in 5-series that cost $30K more. But when you are pushing it, and paying more attention to the driving than you are the car around you (which is still pretty nice inside for $30K, but ain’t no 5-series), it’s pretty easy to forget that you’re in a Pontiac.

Also if you drive a manual right, by not accelerating hard or shifting at high RPM’s yeah you will get better gas mileage. like C6racer said.

Comment by 1981blueZ28, posted on June21 at 3:35 am”

good for you, I go to the track because I’m not scared to make turns and be skilled.

The reasons that modern automatics can get better mileage is because of computers. When the transmission and computer can help direct each other that leads to using the correct RPM for the conditions which leads to better fuel economy. Throw in the fact that modern automatics have as many gears as manuals and the inherent gear ratio advantages are gone for manuals.

Automatics that use dry clutches instead of torque converters not only get better mileage, but they have much better performance as well, which is again aided by the computers.

brassmonkey: I’ve seen a driver watching porn while he was on the 270 in MD.

Anyone with a brain knows that, with the AVERAGE driver behind the wheel, a modern automatic transmission delivers better fuel economy. If a person uses a manual trans responsibly, as opposed to flooring it everywhere or shifting at 4k rpm, then he/she will get better fuel economy than with any automatic.

I was particularly impressed with the chassis & suspension. Felt a lot tighter than I though it would for the cars weight.

In my opinion, the standard V8 isn’t quite enough power, the GXP model should fix that.

Plus, where is the pleasure in driving slush box? “six-speed automatic, which many criticize for its slow shifts”

everyone these days like to lean off the lane, talk on their phone, eat and watch porn while driving. doesn’t anyone get it? you’re driving, you’re not doing (or suppose to be doing) anything else. I still think all autos are possesed with some something unworthy happening on the road or in the shop. going to Burma, I see many people with their sticks and accidents aren’t ever a problem, maybe a few from being tired but thats all. there will always be a manual for me no matter what.

I guess GM’s manuals suck because everywhere else the manual usually still gets better gas mileage, not by much maybe but wtf?

In both the Cobalt and Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky and a lot of GM’s smaller cars it says right on the EPA’s ratings that the manuals get like 1 or 2 mpg better than the auto…

They should have offerred a 6 spd on the G8 from the beginning, because how can they expect to “compete” with BMW if they can’t even offer a decent manual. If it’s not a manual… I’ll drive it but I won’t own it…