Was hoping some of you had some experience with Pontiac.

I am looking at getting my fiance a Pontiac G8 GT. Was hoping you guys that have had them or been around them could tell me more about them. Never owned one or known anyone with one. Thanks in advance.

Anyone here from Australia? The G8 is basically a rebodied Holden Commodore, the 4dr version of the Monaro/GTO; but has been updated somewhat according to what I've read. They should be arriving in the dealerships soon, if they aren't already at the bigger cities. IIRC the GT will have a 6.0L or 6.2L LS-family engine from the US.

Are they out yet? I haven't seen one

Anyone here from Australia? The G8 is basically a rebodied Holden Commodore, the 4dr version of the Monaro/GTO; but has been updated somewhat according to what I've read. They should be arriving in the dealerships soon, if they aren't already at the bigger cities. IIRC the GT will have a 6.0L or 6.2L LS-family engine from the US.

LOL, I didn't figure anyone had one. I was just wondering about Pontiac in general. I previously had a nissan and their service was terrible. So needless to say I will not own another Nissan.

The GT has a 6.0L w/ 341hp and 380lb. The GXP that is coming out later has the 6.2 with over 400hp.

Are they out yet? I haven't seen one

Yes, they are out. At least my local dealer has them. They may only be in the large markets right now. I live in the DFW area. We went to look at an Enclave for my fiance and say the G8. I think we are pretty much sold. The thing is nice. And fully loaded it is extremely and reasonable. MSRP is under 33k fully loaded on the GT. Her uncle works for GM so we should be able to get the GMS discount or at the very least GMDS.

Just thought someone might have had some experience with Pontiac in general not necessarily the G8.

I have had 2 pontiac cars. Both were nice but don't use the same componentss as the G8. from what I understand it's set up like the GTO, in that case it would be a good car.
Between the two I would go with the Enclave or it's sister the GMC Acadia.

I have had 2 pontiac cars. Both were nice but don't use the same componentss as the G8. from what I understand it's set up like the GTO, in that case it would be a good car.
Between the two I would go with the Enclave or it's sister the GMC Acadia.

Yeah, we went in wanting to get an enclave. I'm not so big on the Acadia. Not sure why since they are about the same vehicle LOL.

I am really sold on the G8. I think it will be fun to drive too. My fiance thought she wanted an SUV and then got in and and felt it was a bit too big LOL. So she is ok with a car now. She's not big into the sporty 2 door cars. And they high mpg cars for the most part aren't that attractive. So I think the G8 is gonna be the answer. She may be driving my truck for a few weeks after we get it. I am sure I am gonna want to play with the new toy. :D

Just got my wife an Impala yesterday. $25,000 minus my GM retiree discount. Pretty nice car. 2nd trim level, 2LT, 3.5 engine with leather seats and sun roof. Should get pretty good gas mileage.
Was looking at the Impala SS for $30,000. That is a nice car. I drove one ans it has pretty good power.
Ted

We are a totally Pontiac household and plan to ad the G8 GT to our stable. We are having problems locating one in the gray color with a sunroof. So far red and black and been delivered to the local dealers...

They will have awesome HP #'s that we plan to tweek!

His:
2000 Bonne SSEi (drag car - for sale!)
2004 Bonne/GXP
1964 GTO

Hers:
2002 GTP/GTX
2000 WS6 T/A
and then there's my lovely lil' GMC! :)

Thanks for the replies everyone.

http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232347

I'd suggest a Valentine One to go with the car... especially for your fiance

The G8 GT actually has 361 hp and 385 lb/ft. It can be had for less then 30 grand, that is a pretty good price if you ask me. From everything i have read people really like them, they drive very well, and the interior as really nice, and it is rear wheel drive. I have a 2004 Grand Prix now and i like it, the dealership has always been good, and no mechanical problems, only has 44,000 miles on it but no problems yet.

The Pontiac GTO, which is engineered by the same 'tards, is a very hit or miss proposition. The dealers are ignorant to the built-in problems.
1. Unadjustable rear camber
2. 5to1 ratio rear springs (1/4" spring sag = 1.25 inch rear suspension sag)
3. Improper alignment specs from GM
4. Very large number of APP (throttle) failures
5. Ruptured struts in the lot
6. Collapsed strut mounts
7. Strut rubbing on the tire
8. Ruptured control arm bushings
9. $200 replacement key (battery not serviceable), and it is absurdly large
10. Software gremlins = faulty gauge clusters
11. Excessive number of wheel shimmy issues (runout on hubs, rotors, and wheels are horrible)

The list goes on, and that happens to most of them. ****** Holden, and ****** Pontiac. The GTO design was 6 years old when it hit the shores in '04 and it has more problems than all the vehicles in my fleet combined.

The G8 may be better but I highly doubt it. Try GTOFORUM or LS1GTO and pickup on their talk about the new G8.

If you ask again, I'll tell you how I really feel about them. And the dealer is the same for my GMC trucks, and they can figure those out.

The Pontiac GTO, which is engineered by the same 'tards, is a very hit or miss proposition. The dealers are ignorant to the built-in problems.
1. Unadjustable rear camber
2. 5to1 ratio rear springs (1/4" spring sag = 1.25 inch rear suspension sag)
3. Improper alignment specs from GM
4. Very large number of APP (throttle) failures
5. Ruptured struts in the lot
6. Collapsed strut mounts
7. Strut rubbing on the tire
8. Ruptured control arm bushings
9. $200 replacement key (battery not serviceable), and it is absurdly large
10. Software gremlins = faulty gauge clusters
11. Excessive number of wheel shimmy issues (runout on hubs, rotors, and wheels are horrible)

The list goes on, and that happens to most of them. ****** Holden, and ****** Pontiac. The GTO design was 6 years old when it hit the shores in '04 and it has more problems than all the vehicles in my fleet combined.

The G8 may be better but I highly doubt it. Try GTOFORUM or LS1GTO and pickup on their talk about the new G8.

If you ask again, I'll tell you how I really feel about them. And the dealer is the same for my GMC trucks, and they can figure those out.

Wow, do i sense a bit hostillity

Wow, do i sense a bit hostillity
I love rear wheel drive with manual trannies, but THIS CAR SUCKS in the engineering department. I have the 350 horse version. Pulls stronger than my '98 Z28, shifts easily (for a 6spd), clutch is buttery smooth, headlamps are awesome, 29mpg on the highway (when all 4 wheels point the same way), 16 mpg City, but the rest is junk. I noticed your Camaro avatar. My lease ends in Aug, but GM is still up in the air on when production will start, so, there may may be a Rustang in my future (Dodge Challenger is auto only, for now, plus only 3 colors, come on.)

I love rear wheel drive with manual trannies, but THIS CAR SUCKS in the engineering department. I have the 350 horse version. Pulls stronger than my '98 Z28, shifts easily (for a 6spd), clutch is buttery smooth, headlamps are awesome, 29mpg on the highway (when all 4 wheels point the same way), 16 mpg City, but the rest is junk. I noticed your Camaro avatar. My lease ends in Aug, but GM is still up in the air on when production will start, so, there may may be a Rustang in my future (Dodge Challenger is auto only, for now, plus only 3 colors, come on.)

Sorry to hear that you've had so much trouble with your GTO. My 2005 has been flawless. They do have (IMO) a few difficiencies from the factory, but they're easily remedied in most cases.

For example:
- Pretty much all suspension ills can be corrected by upgrading to various Pedders parts. I run Pedders springs/bushings, Koni shocks, and Hotchkis swaybars and its night and day compared to stock yet still rides nicely.

- Strut rub is (to my knowledge) only a problem with the 17" wheels and 245's that GM spec'ed (the Holdens all had 18's and 235's up front). A simple 3/16" hubcentric slip-on wheel spacer in front should alleviate the problem if aftermarket wheels/tires aren't in the plan.

- Stock manual shifter SUCKS and should immediately be replaced with aftermarket unit (GMM Ripshift highly recommended).

I agree that the keys are PITA.

I imagine that the G8 will address many of these issues and will prove to be an excellent performance value. If I were in the market I would definitely be looking at one although I would wait for the manual trans version and the possibility of a higher-performance "GXP" variant, which will likely get the LS3. Although, we all know the potential of the L76 setup so that wouldn't be a huge issue for me.

I love rear wheel drive with manual trannies, but THIS CAR SUCKS in the engineering department. I have the 350 horse version. Pulls stronger than my '98 Z28, shifts easily (for a 6spd), clutch is buttery smooth, headlamps are awesome, 29mpg on the highway (when all 4 wheels point the same way), 16 mpg City, but the rest is junk. I noticed your Camaro avatar. My lease ends in Aug, but GM is still up in the air on when production will start, so, there may may be a Rustang in my future (Dodge Challenger is auto only, for now, plus only 3 colors, come on.)


I have never driven a GTO but ridden in a few, so my opionon it only from this perspective. They seem plenty quick, for me anyway. I thought the interior looked nice, exterior not great but not the worst. I can't wait till the new camaro comes out. I think it will be much better then the challenger as the challenger is just a two door charger. I think the interior is ugly for a muscle car, the Camaro is much better and so is the Mustang. The camaro will handle much better then the Mustang because of the IRS. The powerplants in the Camaro will be much better then anything offered by Dodge or Ford, more powerful and get better economy. And hopefully the Camaro will come out with a stick right away, not a year after like the Challenger.

We just dyno'ed ours yesterday on pump 87 gas which is what the dealership filled her up with and what the owners manual recommends. Then we did our own custom tune. Easy pickup of ~18 hp.

http://www.3800pro.com/forum/dyno-results/19894-dyno-results-g8-87-octane.html

We've got a set of turbos on order - to come soon!

Now I would like to see some quarter mile times. I bet that thing can move.

i just picked up an 09 G8 GXP with the 6.2! Beautiful Car...

Track times to come:

http://www.3800pro.com/forum/dyno-results/23528-taking-pontiacs-new-g8-next-level.html

GXP that just came in and had some TLC

http://www.3800pro.com/forum/dyno-results/25935-2009-g8-gxp-a6-aps-tt-dyno-results.html