BMW 550i vs. Pontiac G8 GT
By Jamie Kitman
The Pontiac G8 GT is the modern reincarnation of the rear-wheel-drive performance sedans that Pontiac used to build. With it, GM is gunning for the gold standard, the BMW 5-series.
For those old enough to remember the General Motors that frolicked merrily in the field of rear-wheel-drive performance, and for those who needed to learn, the new Pontiac G8 GT was seriously overdue. This modern, rear-wheel-drive performance sedan with a honking V-8 and a six-speed automatic hits the spot, especially with its $29,995 sticker price. It is cold beer on a hot July afternoon in New Jersey.
We've been here before. Pontiac first publicly pegged its sights on European competitors with the 1973 Grand Am sedan. Those were happier times for GM, market-share-wise. Good thing, too, since Pontiac's interpretation of Europe's better sedans was a gussied-up Le Mans whose highlights included a poorly located solid rear axle and considerably more flab than its Euro counterparts.
By the early 1980s, rather than sharpening the knife and engineering its way out of obsolescence, GM and the rest of America's Big Three chose to cap a glorious six-decade run of rear-wheel drive by pulling a Hollywood-style handbrake turn. In a reaction to America's first fuel crisis and subsequent CAFE standards, the Big Three embraced front-wheel-drive cars in a big way. Sure, we got the Lincoln LS in 2000 and the Cadillac CTS in 2003, followed by the Mercedes-Benz-enabled Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum (which debuted in 2004 as 2005 models), but affordable, rear-wheel-drive performance sedans remained woefully sparse in Detroit's cupboards.
Until now. The G8 GT has - wait for this - a European focus, according to GM, the estimable (and twice as expensive) BMW 5-series acting as a benchmark. That's a bit of a stretch where refinement is concerned, but the GT has an appeal all its own, based on big power, a respectably taut chassis with superior body control, and all the traction control, stability control, and limited-slip-diff stuff that 361 hp and 385 lb-ft of rear-wheel-spinning torque might demand. (The standard G8 gets a 3.6-liter V-6 with 256 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque teamed with a five-speed automatic, but it doesn't improve significantly on the V-8's mileage, at 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway, versus the GT's 15 [ouch]/24 mpg.)
What makes the G8 modern? All the air bags, emissions controls, and electronics, of course, but the real news is the independent rear suspension. Coupled with rear-wheel drive, IRS remains a surprisingly big deal for U.S. carmakers - so big, that GM had to source the G8 from Australia, because the company doesn't make anything like it here for the mass market. In fact, the G8 is a restyled Holden Commodore, a product of GM's Australian division that's a leading center of the General's current rear-wheel-drive acuity. In an earlier coupe iteration, Holden's Monaro served as the basis of the now-deceased GTO, a credible effort that was supposed to bring the faithful back to Pontiac, but didn't.
The G8 GT looks better than the Aussie Goat, although it's even heftier at 4120 pounds. Genuinely fast, it peels off 5.8-second runs to 60 mph, but aggressive throttle tip-in makes it feel even quicker. Only problem is, with gasoline speeding toward $5 a gallon, we worry time may overtake the G8 before it gets to prove itself. For one reason or another, this has been the sad fate of most GM captive imports.
Clearly, the next step is to lose some weight and for GM to create lighter, equally exciting rear-wheel-drive cars. The Europeans need to do the same. But for now, the G8 GT is a return to happier times, when high-powered, rear-wheel-drive American sedans were cheap and plentiful.