Better late than never! I was expecting this car in showrooms by November, but it’s worth the wait.

You can bet I’ll be taking the first one at my Pontiac dealership for a spin the moment it arrives.

That sound you just heard was the Charger dying, and the RL becoming even more insignificant.

As I recall, CA36, I wasn’t forced to duck too many times to avoid all the GTOs as they flew out of the dealerships.

The GTO suffered from being part of the Holden VZ series, which was aging and being phased out. The G8 is a HUGE improvement from what I’ve heard about the VE Commodore. It also looks more aggressive than the GTO, which is saying something for a full-size sedan.

The funny thing is, though, I liked the GTO despite its flaws. And despite all the bleak news about its sales, I see them now more than ever.

About damn time. As soon as I get back to the states, I will be checking this out. It sounds like it will have good performance and a nice looking exterior.

The GTO was a good car packaged in a blah exterior. The G8 has fixed that. Good luck Pontiac.

One thing you can’t fault GTO for is performance for money. For under $40,000 total you can get a 400hp LS2 GTO and a GenTT twin turbocharger kit complete with all necessary fuel system upgrades and outrun all but a few million-dollar supercars. It gives a decent showing on a track as well.

By no means was I slagging the GTO, in fact it is high on my list of ‘next’ cars, but merely commenting that other than die hard goat fans no one seemed to notice. I especially like the fact that it is a bit of a sleeper. A little stealth is always a good thing.

I actually know of a few GTO owners that ditched the revised hood for the one with no scoops for exactly that reason.

Bring it on!

CA36: I’m interested in driving this as well. For however few years it stays around

“That sound you just heard was the Charger dying, and the ‘RL’ becoming even more insignificant.”
More insignificant? How is that possible?

Johnnycanuck: That wasn’t the GTO I woul’ve envisioned. It was too tight a fit, and felt a lot sheaper than the price would have suggested.

Ecky69: You in the war? Stay Frosty, man!

What I can’t stand is when people put racks on top of their cars to make them look like sleepers. I don’t know if that trend has caught on other places but it annoys the hell out of me seeing nice sports cars with ski racks that I know don’t get any use for what they are intended.

On a side note I wonder if those people really think they can look slow in an Evo or Porsche just because of the rack lol

The GTO is a good car. Has a banging engine, really nice interior, and I liked it’s looks despite what everyone else thinks. It also performs well. I can’t wait to see the G8 on the streets and maybe see if I can grab my hands on a PEP G8 when my current lease is up.

I like to look at racks.

I love my GTO (all 3 of them, actually!), and you’re talking to a guy who has actually sat in a G8! Let me tell you, as good as it looks in the pictures, what until you get a load of the driver’s seat. It’s the best thing since the seat in my 05 goat. And that back seat head & shoulder room… Ahhhh… Now THAT is a sleeper!

If you go to Australian web sites, the people there complain a lot about Holden cars.

We will see about quality.

That Holden GTO was U*G*L*Y.

N_yo_face: “First tires flying off Civics and now tens of thousands of Honda’s flagship sedans roaming the streets as virtual molotov ****tails.”

Brilliant!

I read in motortrend that the G8 wouldn’t be sold with a manual trans. I wish GM would get these transmissions figured out, come up with one that doesn’t get ragged on by everyone who tries it. I realize that there’s only a small percentage who buys 6 speeds, but if you’re going to put out a “performance” car, you should probably have it available.

G8 GT *is* getting a 6-speed manual mid-MY.

hateful: cali wouldn’t get a stick, anyway

GTP, that’s cool, I truely remembering reading that it wasn’t. Maybe they just met on release. jack, I guess that’s just another trade off to living in Cali. Along with dealing with mudslides, fires, earthquakes and such.

Pontiac has a potential disaster of Bob Lutz’s creation on its hands. For all the talk about globalization, it turns out that it makes a substantial difference in the G8’s window sticker that it is an import. When it reaches North American showrooms, certain features that are standard or nearly so many domestics and imports will not be available on the G8.

XM radio–not available.
OnStar–not available.
Heads-up Display–not available.
Satellite navigation–not available.
Manual transmission–not available.
Sunroof–not available.

Some will apologize for the lack of these features with claim that they aren’t needed, don’t work, and/or that the fact that the G8’s positives will make-up for missing features. I am fully confident that some of the missing features will become available later. However, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

A base G8 will hit its buyer for around $30k. Added equipment will rapidly increase the price. Few people who spend that amount of money for a car will be willing to accept excuses.

Guaranteed to hurt CTS sales. Placement in a lingering brand as a lineup savior like the CTS. Not! Sack Pontiac from the GM brands now.

F451, you don’t know what the **** you’re talking about so I suggest you shut up. Pontiac is in no way “lingering”. Pontiac has a very rich history of performance and my LeMans is proof of that. I doubt that people shopping for a Cadillac will even think about looking at Pontiac. It, like GMC, has it’s place in the auto industry and it will be around for a long time.

Having owned a previous model of this Holden in Australia, don’t expect world class finishing or reliability. Fun car but mine suffered from quality issues and once I clocked 50000 miles on it felt like it had cover 500000 miles. It’s a very simply and primitive vehicle……….What did you expect from the worlds most isolated place????

Richard, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. What VTEC-worshipping forum do you hail from?

XM radio – STANDARD
OnStar – STANDARD
HUD – Not available, but I’m curious to know where the button is on my car since you say so many domestics and imports have it. Yea..
Sat Nav – The only genuine criticism in your entire post. Hopefully will become available later, as Grand Prix had it and to take it away kinda sucks.
Manual transmission – Scheduled to be available in mid-2008
Sunroof – available

And your price is completely wrong. The base G8 starts just under $25,000. It is the 6.0L G8 GT that starts at $30,000. Thanks for playing, try harder next time.

V2, I’ve heard the move to Zeta has improved the Commodore ten-fold. All I hear is good things about it.

@ C6Racer, Pontiac rich history was in the 60’s. Today it is simply a remnant of a name for their defunct bastardized last version of the GTO that was a sleeper, but not a legacy representation of the GTO by any stretch. Pontiac needs to be axed. If you understand the buyers of the CTS first-generation you would know that many were young buyers; these same buyers will go for the G8 versus the CTS for the bang-for-the-buck. The G8 is in no way shape or form a representation of any Pontiac lineage or legacy—it’s a Holden. Pontiac is next on the chopping block as well it should be…the sooner the better. Hell, Oldsmobile had more legitimate GM history than Pontiac ever will.

Richard: who needs that ****? Who wants that ****? Maybe the stick, but the rest is useless.

All I care about is that I can talk on my cellphone when I drive and I want a manual transmission.

Did I mention that I’m missing an arm?

good, a manual will be available.

great car, if the keep it as a LHD Commodore!