good. i like that car in the picture

car even looks good in hot pink.

Can’t come soon enough. Current one is atrocious.

yawn anyone really care??

Just in time for $5/gallon gasoline… Unless GM starts bringing some serious new technology to the market, the days of the front engine/RWD platform are numbered.

2010 is 3 years from now, president Obama will have outlawed internal combustion engines by then.

President Obama? I think not, try President Thompson or Gingrich. The democrat cancer will not triumph.

I hope not.

G6 replaced the Grand Am.
All midsized cars sold in ‘86, the grand Am has the highest percentage still running

Hillary will win the election.
I’m voting for Romney, if he wins the nomination, Michael Moore (again) if he don’t

Looks too much like Honda’s faux-Luxury TL

That is such a good looking car. I can’t wait to see the new BLS too, I like smaller cars.

As for the election…whatever happens I’m pretty sure America wants a change, I know I do.

global_lightning,
what does being RWD have to do with fuel economy? I’d love to see some actual numbers that back up your claim that being RWD will hurt the fuel economy of a mid-size sedan.

I’m glad the next G6 is going RWD, although I question why it’s so far out. The MCE better be damn good if the G6 wants to remain even slightly competitive that long out. The way I see it Pontiac shouldn’t have any FWD cars, with the exception of maybe a compact car.

“Just in time for $5/gallon gasoline… Unless GM starts bringing some serious new technology to the market, the days of the front engine/RWD platform are numbered.”

FR has nothing to do with bad gas mileage. An FR Toyota Corolla (AE86) is more than capable of returning 40mpg+, and even the modern Corvette can, and does, return mileage figures in the high 20s. I know the FF Taurus sitting in my driveway doesn’t return numbers even close to those, so yea, go re-check your assumptions.

seems cool, but why give saturn a real wheel drive version? how come every time pontiac gets a hot car other divisons get it as well, how can Pontiac be known has the performance divsion if you can get the same type of car from Chevy or Saturn.

Kenny W:
In regards to your question about RWD and Fuel economy, its not that RWD cars get bad Fuel Economy, its that a large percentage of GM’s future rear wheel drive cars were to have V8 engines. If fuel Consumption laws increase the MPG cars have to acheive the V8 engine will be out of the question, putting the entire RWD line up in question

sorry $5 gas wont be here because a democrat will be president

like changing one set of morons for a whiney bunch of crybabies (who voted for the same war they are crying about)is going to be called change, get a clue. there has been a bush or clinton somewhere in the whitehouse since 1980….27 years and we are worse now then before 1979. hopefully everybody dont think hillary will make a change; lets get some new blood in there already.

If a democrat wins the presidency, gas will be $1 a gallon, but there won’t be any gas because of the shortages that artificial price controls will cause. I guess no one learned from the Carter Crisis.

Anyway, I’m thus far very excited about this new G6. I will probably still be moving to the G8 when my front-drive G6 GTP gets traded in, but I may give another G6 a look.

no it will be higher, we need to drill in this country but we cant the democrats think northern alaska is some tropical wanderland teaming with life. which means we have to look towards the rest of the world for our future needs. if we cant find any new oil, HOW IN THE WORLD WILL A CERTAIN POLITICAL PARTY BE ABLE TO KEEP GAS LOW? if we can not produce our own oil then we pay what europe does its that simple. we are an oil producing country and thats the only reason we pay less than the rest of the world; when we can no longer produce then we will have to compete with china and india, then gas will be way over $5.

it will be a clear winner if it looks like the picture above, i think it looks great.

CTS, the Democrats know it isn’t possible, but they will do it anyway to vote pander. They will force gas prices down, shortages will occur, all the gas stations will go out of business because they are buying it from refineries that need to charge $2.50 a gallon just to break even, but the stations are legally only allowed to sell it for less than that. And then when the economy is crippled like during the Carter administration, they will just find some way to blame evil rich Republicans.

400HorseSS - I’ll take that bet. Would you mind explaining your theory a bit further? I’m curious why you feel a democrat in office would prevent $5/gallon gas.

RWD cars are here to stay. Internal combustion engines are here to stay as well. Not sure why anyone would think otherwise. Those who do haven’t read too much about the “alternatives” that would replace them. A rear drive G6? How awesome is that?! It’s this type of car that I believe will be one of GM’s top sellers and one that will give the Accords and Camrys a run for the money. The G8s and Camaros are a bit pricey and/or too much of a niche vehicle to be top sellers.

I agree that this can be MASSIVE for GM if it is done right, Piablo. There’s a huge market out there for people who want something rear-drive and sporty, but would rather have a medium-sized V6 package than go all out with the full-size V8 monsters. A lot of these lost consumers end up settling for something like an Acura TL-S. With a true rear-drive V6 sport sedan/coupe that is NOT just a base version of a heavy V8-designed car, GM could claim that entire segment for themselves.

Of course, the key phrase is “If it is done right”

^ Yes, it is always fun to watch evil rich Democrats blame evil rich Republicans. If anything, Democrats would drive prices through the roof by way of taxes in order to push socialized, oops, I mean public transportation for the plebians.

if holden and pontiac will be a tandem company for the future, then the future looks good. its about time pontiac branched away from its siblings and finally may earn the name “performance” division that it has always wanted. now if they can just get a gto/firebird to market quickly. the company quite frankly looks silly without a muscle car…hopefully sooner than later.

Wow, way to stir up some comments.
- An F/R driveline is less efficient than an F/F (or R/R) because of power transfer losses between the transmission and the differential. These can be minimized but it will still be a factor. As fuel economy requirements become more stringent (either through govt mandates or market forces), an F/R will have a disadvantage that will have to be overcome through some newer technology without sacrificing performance. Funny you should mention the AE86; I owned a 4A-GE GT-S through college and miss it dearly…

- As far as the price of gas vs the next US President: President Obama/Clinton/Gore/Romney/Richardson/Guiliani/Thompson/Gingrich/Daffy Duck can’t set today’s price of gas, even if they tried. This is determined by supply and demand. What the government can do is set long-term policies that will reduce the need for gas such as incentives for new technologies, investing in alternative sources, building new infrastructure, etc…

Quite true, Pontiac without a GTO or Trans Am on the market is like Chevy with no Corvette.

Global, you’re in for a shock then. These days, when the Constitution means nothing, politicians can do anything they want as long as they lie enough to get a simple majority. All it takes is one vote, and they can set a law like “Gasoline is not to be sold over the inflation-adjusted price of $2.00 a gallon” and it is so. An illegal action by the government, yes, but the ignorant masses won’t call them on it.

mmm i hate politics.

here it is piablo the e85 thing is a joke where the hell is a gas station that has it like lutz said there should be 1 e85 pump at every gas station across the country, the demorcrats sorta care about the working man that why the new cingress is trying to regulate prices and stop gouging, and if gas does reach $5 nobody will sell cars Toyota included, its amazing how gas can rise and lower 50-60 cents every halfhour (gouging) repulicans are raising money for next years campaigns with gas money ,i mean if e85 is a alternative source wouldnt you actually see it i live un the midwest i have NEVER seen a e85 pump its all a joke to me man

for the environmental problems they should use flex fuel on the cars it would help with gas prices. the car looks good better the any Pontiac other then the solstice

their are a number of stations that sell e85 down the street is costs 10 cents less a a Rhodes 101

my point exactly 10 cents less JOKE!!! and you get a 100 less mile on your driving range per tank too why bother we are a nation that needs gas and will always use gas, where in the country are you zuke

and diesel cost out the ass too

400HorseSS - Regulation never works. Regulation is what caused random blackouts in California a few years ago. Regulation is what caused Maryland’s electricity costs to double this summer once the industry was deregualted. It’s artificial and one day will come to haunt again. One of the big reasons oil is more expensive today than it was 5 years ago is the value of the dollar. Other nation’s currency has increased in value over the years as the US dollar has decreased. If the value of our money decreases and the price of oil increases, we will need to pay much more for the same amount of oil. Many other aspects in the cost of oil and gasoline can be found here.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/gas-price1.htm

Presidents and politicians have little effect on gas, mainly taxes. And Democrats will NEVER lower your taxes my friend. And they are very proud to say so.

supply and demand all of a sudden where was the spply and demand 3 years ago all of a sudden it happens now

Raised tensions with Iran, the Iraq war, rapidly increasing demand within India, China, and several other nations experiencing a huge industrial revolution. Things happen outside the borders of little ol’ USA, y’know.

As they say, ‘You can lead a 400Horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.’

I guess this is the result of being in the union too long.

Old news.. and I also said almost a year ago this was coming.

tensions grew when we were spending more $$$ for developing israel 30 yrs ago rather than to OPEC combined. OPEC cut our gas supply hurting the economy and leaving an energy crisis.

minimun wage 7.50 an hour gas 3.25 a gallon and rising as we argue you what they call that piablo and gtp Seperation of Rich from the Poor and ive been at gm 6 years and before that i worked at gas station for 3 yrs so i think i know a little and gtp raised tensions fron iran and the iraq war ha –why the hell are we in iraq in the first place and wheres bin laden oh yeah my bad OIL thats why Bush wont put a time table to leave he wants his oil and many more will die for him to get it but my ass wont, man for the people my ass you to jackasses must support bush i sure the hell dont gas prices are outrageous and there is no need for it how can there be a shortage but oil companies made the biggest profits EVER in american history supply and demand my soggy ass nuts.

Hopefully they offer the 2.0 liter turbo from the GXP & Redline cars. 260 hp 260 ftlbs and even under the new stricter reporting EPA numbers 28 highway mpg.

or wait till wal mart complains that profits are down because of gas prices then they’ll drop for a week or two

For the money you pay for a decent new car, which is often $21k+, I do not understand why people are expected to accept that rear-wheel-drive or fulltime all-wheel-drive should be well out of reach into the mid to high $35k range.

Why? To me, that’s a good chunk of money for a car, no matter how much you make per year. Rear wheel drive is much better for someone who enjoys driving and values the feeling the car gives you. Just because a car is rear wheel drive doesn’t mean that it has to have a 500 horsepower V8 Hemi engine and thus return only 18mpg.

Balance is very much an argument for rear wheel drive, even if the engines aren’t extremely powerful.

wow thats deep i almost gave a ****, its not a theory its the truth the prez want to lean off oil but he has a big ass f-350 HUH and he doesnt wear a seat belt he is a oil man no matter what way you try to twist my post

the u.s. government made more form oil last year than the oil companies did, this was part of clintons tax package 10 years ago…..OR DID EVERYBODY FORGET BILL CLINTONS GAS TAX WAS THE LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN HISTORY.
QUIT BLAMING G.W.B, he is an idiot yes, but not guilty of every single thing that goes wrong in this entire universe.

I’m no fan of Bush, but you play into every ridiculous lie about him ever concocted by the MoveOn types and the media, 400horseSS, you should really just be quiet. There’s plenty of legitimate things to criticize President Bush on, but when you just parrot the moonbat-spew, you just sound like a moron. Keep reciting what your union bosses tell you, they will very much appreciate it when you are out of a job and they are counting their bonuses. And please stay out of debates about gas prices until you pick up a book and learn the most basic facts about economics.

Piablo,

I know you rarely let the facts get in the way of your comments, but the electricity crisis in Califorina was a result of DE-regulation. And no, this is not an endorsement FOR regulation….

Its Amazing How Much Gtp And Piabo Know About Everything And As Far As I Know The Union Hasnt Said Anything About Gas To Us But You Two Clowns Would Be The First To Know

Using the Alpha platform for a G6 and BLS successor stateside, and Opel/Holden/Vauxhall vehicles worldwide makes sense. The decision to add it to the Saturn lineup alongside the Aura is a perfect example of GM undermining its own brand differentiation.. isn’t RWD supposed to be Pontiac’s sole purpose going forward? Keep Malibu/Aura/9-3 on the FWD Vectra platform and let Pontiac and Cadillac have something to themselves!

Autonutt’s post describes my exact feelings on this. One thing that drives me nuts about GM is that they apparently feel that every single new product they have needs to be copied across their myriad of brands. Each brand should have a dedicated purpose, with only Chevrolet being a something-for-everyone because of its brand equity. Giving Saturn a RWD car other than their get-attention Sky roadster completely undermines the goal of making GM’s line-up make sense.

Uhh, why do most people here think the picture shown with the article is the new G6. I hope that if you like this car you like the Mercury Milan cause that is what it reminds me of. That and the logo on the front of the car doesn’t look pontiac!!!!!!

“GM is believed to have previewed its Alpha platform with the Holden Torana concept (pictured) in 2004″

Does anyone here actually READ the articles?

Wasn’t this supposed to be about a very exciting car? The election is still a year away.

F/econ: Power loss has very little to do with transfer between the transmission and the diff. However, the same bracing used for performance cars corrects that. a simple brace between the Tranny and diff, very common on modern performance cars… with IRS (obviously the MUSTANG does not have this can’t and use it). This isolates the tranny and diff making them react as one system, much like the outdrives from the diff to the driven wheels. The power loss is negated and performance is improved.

Going further the biggest problem will always be the tranny itself. The mere fact that it is there will always be the biggest hurdle to good f/econ. the most efficient engine will be done in by poor shifting and over stiff transmissions. This is one reason why electric motors are so appealing. Ultimately they don’t need a tranny to do their job. But until on-board power storage and/or generation improves adequately, that is still a ways off. Given that, most modern trannies even those made for or by Detroit are more than up to the tasks of performance and efficiency.

This will be a great car with a range of useful and efficient engine and transmission options. But the pictured car above is a Holden, I think the new Commodore, and NOT a rendering of an Alpha-platform car. I could be wrong though and it is an Alpha-plat prototype rendering.

Anyway I’m looking forward to it. I like smaller cars, I think. They’re just more fun.

Uhm… Sorry. Guess not…. Sorry…

Just a little something to add to the whole oil company gouging thing. Gas Companies are making more money than ever before, astronomical amounts. I don’t won’t get into whether it’s from gouging or not…but the point is, they won’t starve if they lower the gas prices, supply and demand or not. That said, I think weening America off using so much fuel is a better idea.

a turbo 4 adn a small v6 will do well in this, and give good fuel figures
you could have a twin turbo V6 range topper

could they have picked an uglier color if this is the color they debut with they can forget the male market

Who ever thinks that the american public should be annoyed when it becomes 5 dollars a gallon is in for a serious surprise. The way that all governments are turning green and apparently cutting down on the greenhouse emitting demon (the average driver), I wouldn’t be very surprised to see your fuel prices go up to even 10 dollars a gallon.

This car on the other hand looks like something which has no design flair and just designed to fill a gap rather then actually compete on the design front against the Alfa romeo and Audi’s. GM has lost its marble because why anyone would want a mid size RWD is beyond me. For this sector it will be heavy and less fuel efficient then the Opel vectra etc… Personally I would have used the epsilom 2 platform with four wheel drive saving a load of cash on design and development.

I just hope Pontiac ditches their signature twin kidney grill. That grill kills the look of every Pontiac made, IMO, and turns an otherwise nice looking car into a 1986 Grand Am look-alike.

The Holden concept photo shown looks great. Put a Pontiac grill on it, and it will look like crap.

GM: kill that grill!!! It’s done. Cooked. Finished. Move on to new styling for the grill. Pontiac shouldn’t be defined by a cheesy looking grill, so let it go!

pia-blo-me ha ha

Z06ified,

The twin kidney grill is not likely to go much of anywhere. It’s part of their design lexicon but they do have alternatives in the same lexicon. But the grill itself looks fine, even cool, when properly executed on a car that it works with. The G6 looks good with such a grill. But not every Pontiac looks completely right with it. The G8 being a good example.

That said, the designers at any automaker have more than just you to please. The G8 looks okay but not like a Pontiac… but a Chrysler 300 wanna-be. The smoother leaner lines of previous Pontiacs, I’m thinking of the Bonneville (without the God-awful cladding) as the progenitor of the new look for Pontiac, lend a classier better aging look. The G6 takes that and makes it a bit younger looker The G6 GXP goes for flare that goes a long way to pointing Pontiac out for the performance focus division.

GM needs to back away for the cookie cutter look that hurt GM in the past. They have started to establish very good and distinct looks for each division, like it or lump it, and they should stick with it.

Let Holden keep their look and let Pontiac keep their’s.

zo6ified, i agree, if they need to change their image (which they do) then they should ditch all of the old grand am styling cues, especially the grill.

blakkar i see your point it can work if it is slightly altered, but it needs to not look cheap. the g8 dont but its a fine line, as long as it dont look like a grill from 1998.

The real problem, I have and I think many do, is that GM just tacked on a Pontiac grill on the Holden Commodore and called it the G8. This is the kind of thing GM does not need and the majority of car fans do NOT want. Pontiac has a good design language going here and taking the blockier, chunkier, Holden styling and just sticking a new badge on the car is a bad move.

As a Chevy it wouldn’t as much of a stretch. But GM has an overall US language of more flow than block. Even their trucks are smoother than most, I think only Toyota is deliberately smoother. Dropping Holdens in as Pontiacs without a full redesign makes for cars that will look out of place next to the rest of the lineup which will further repel buyers regardless of the car’s specs.

If it doesn’t look like a Pontiac, then Pontiac fans may be put off by it or worse write it off altogether on sight.

I really like the look of current Pontiacs and would be sorely put off if Holdens with Pontiac badges shipped.

Excellent news.

I see, I stand corrected. I appreciate the well thought out, intelligent, and relevant responses. With such remarkable insight, you folks could be well on your way to solving the worlds problems. The US should be proud to have great voters such as yourselves, an un-educated tard barely capable of typing a literate statement and a rusty tromboning boy who’s every third word reinforces his single digit IQ. Now which one of you two will be the first to respond with another belligerent comment?

Random Jerk - What preceded the DE-regulation? What forced the power companies to immediately raise costs upon DE-regulation? What prevented the power companies from competitively building new power stations for decades? Right, unfair regulation, years of it. DE-regulation did not cause any problems period. The problems existed long before DE-regulation occured.

Lotusfire - The problem with libs such as youself is your feel good ‘why can’t we all just get along’ mentality. The world is not so simple. Attitudes such as yours and Jimmy Carter’s, and Neville Chamberlin’s breed wars. Listening to you, one might think Iraq was such a pleasent place void of all evil and attrocities… that is until “we” arrived. Religion never existed there until now? I can’t help you. You keep watching CNN and Chris Mathews and the rest who claim civil war, I’ll keep watching my varied sources of news who claim otherwise including my soldier buddies who’ve been there. It’s tough to accomplish anything with a gaggle of hippie libs crying failure across the news networks.

I think …. I read …. above …. that Hillary Clinthong designed this car.

I’d rather have Holden’s designs as Pontiac if the pile of the vomit that is the G6 GXP is representative of the at-home design studios here in the USA.

PrimeGTP,

Question are you actually looking at these cars are just running on to get a response? The G6 GXP looks great to me. Your tastes differ and I can respect that but the way you choose to expound that difference makes me wonder what it is you really consider good design.

Piablo - LOL, what ‘why can’t we all get along’ mentality? When I did I mention anything like that? I just posted facts. The fact is most of the world hates us and for good reason. I honestly wish the world was a better place but I don’t want to get into world peace with you. I was simply correcting your post, which sounded very ignorant. Just based on facts. 1.THE TERRORISTS WERE NOT FROM IRAQ. 2.WE ARE DOING DIDDLY SQUAT TO STABLIZE THE REGION. I never said Iraq was perfect. Fact of the matter is that Saddam held a delicate balance in place there. Because both sides didn’t hate him. It’s simple. He was a puppet, maybe he was and evil puppet, but a puppet that kept balance. If we could make Iraq a better place that’d be nice…but take a look at what’s happening. We’re dying, they’re dying, terrorism is growing. Terroism has increase EXPONENTIALLY since we invaded. There is just no way around that. I never said I watched CNN…Everything I’ve said so far I’ve heard from more than one source anyway. Otherwise I wouldn’t post it…and I’ve heard I lot more trust me. And whether I believe it or not I don’t think it’s fair to post it if I don’t know for sure.

Everyone has soldier buddies. I match your soldier buddies and raise you one secret service…tsk…

piablo has left the building

Piablo is quietly slurping away on a thick meaty ****. When the load blows all over his face he’ll wipe it off and come back to type more bull****.

i never would have known before the war that shiites and sunnis hated each other more than they hate the jews. the middle east will never be fixed, there is no unity they are stuck in the dark ages rite now with their inquisitions. sounds like where the christians were 5oo years ago in their dark ages. mabe once they find themselves again as a single religion the hate will end, but doubt it.

Random jerk — you’re right the electricity crisis in Califorina was a result of DE-regulation.

I don’t trust the “free market” to manage the supply of anything people NEED. I think only the gov’t should keep credit-type info, and should issue credit scores.

George W. is a well-off white guy, and he’ll be replaced by
a well-off white guy.
And we’ll be bent over by the oil companies

Much in the way they manage social security? Or VA Hospitals? Or the Motor Vehicle Departments? Price fixing helps no one. How can anyone manage a business when they can’t even manage their own prices? And what does “white guy” have to do with anything? A well off black guy or black woman or white woman would do any better than any white guy? I had no idea sex and race had anything to do with presidential decision making. Unreal. Agree to disagree everyone.

Blakkar:

As a G6 owner, trust me, I was keeping a close eye on the G6 GXP. It’s possibly the biggest disappointment I’ve seen from GM amongst a lot of AWESOME new models I’ve seen this past year or two. A factory-ricer kit and no performance gain my much more attractive GTP do NOT a top-tier performance car make.

It’ll be funny to see what sort of premium Pontiac dealers is going to put on the GXP, especially when only my $150 intake edges my “obsolete” GTP above the GXP in performance, lol!

I may LOVE the G8, Camaro, Alpha platform, Aura XR, etc. But I will call a dud when I see a dud.

performance gain OVER*

PrimeGTP,

I am sorry if I came off as saying the G6 GXP was some kind of supercar. I was simply pointing out the styling and how I would rather that than the styling of the Holden cars. Besides which the long running news is that the to speed the platform to market, their would only be minor changes, new grills being the big thing with a few redesign to follow a couple of years later.

At any rate you should maybe look up some pics of the G6 GXP-R, a full race converted G6 GXP. I love it, though I imagine you won’t, and shows me what the G6 can really be like. This is what I’m hoping for in the Alpha-plat G6.

As for performance, Did you amp up your suspension? More power is great but cars in that class and type get more from handling.. being FF and all.

piablo you lose

400Horse, I would say that Piablo handily kicked all you whiny asshole’s butts. Now get back to work pumping my gas … since you think that having done so for 3 years makes you an economic expert.

Piablo. My point was that all these “would-be presidents” are the same. Even if a black guy or a woman of any race gets elected, that person will still be beholden to GFCs, and we’ll continue to get bent over

Being from Michigan, I need a FWD car for all weather driving. I would never consider buying RWD again. The only way I would go RWD is as a compromise if there is an E-Flex electric hybrid, then I would settle. Why go backwards and make RWD cars again? I own a 2004 Grand Prix GT and it is a super solid driving car. There is something about FWD cars that give an extra solid feel in the steering, especially on larger cars. For 99% of driving, the FWD feels more solid and tight, maybe 1% the RWD may be better by not having torque steer when entering a corner full throttle at 120 MPH, but seriously, how many of us do that?
I do not buy the argument that traction control makes a rear wheel drive good enough in the snow. I had a BMW 7 series with traction control, no where near as good as the Grand Prix in the snow. In fact when I owned the BMW 7 series it was pretty solid driving although the steering wheel diameter is so big it belongs on a truck, and plastic radiators blowing up and damaging the engine. That’s right, BMW has plastic radiators, and they are terrible, will damage the engine eventually. Anyway, when I got my 2000 Bonneville SE, being FWD, it drives much more solid than the BMW. Then I got the 2004 Grand Prix GT and it is even more solid than any car I have had. RWD can not compare to the solid feel. Sure I have had Firebirds that were pretty solid RWD, but once they hit 150,000 miles, the front end starts to loosen up a bit. Something about FWD that keeps it’s solid feel even after 200,000 miles.
If you ever looked at the front end suspension of a FWD car you will notice all the chunky solid parts, while looking at the front end suspension of a RWD you will see skinny arms that eventually loosen up. That may be the difference I believe.
Good thing, my next car will be a GM Volt, and it is planned to be FWD.