wheels
Overview
announced in September
that the Pontiac G3 would
go on sale in the U.S. in
Driver
March. What’s astound-
ingly understandable is
Pontiac G3
Frank S. Washington
that this vehicle has come
Vehicle
in under the radar.
2009 Pontiac G3
For those not in the
Type know, and that’s just
Hatchback about everybody, the
2009 Pontiac G3 is a five-
Horsepower/Torque:
door hatchback that qual-
106/105 lbs-ft.
ifies as a subcompact.
No doubt it is a response
to the escalating gasoline
When I opened my
prices of last year.
front door to sign and get
The information on
the keys to my test car,
the Pontiac G3 is scant
my first thought was what
but since 81 percent of
is that? I was supposed
its parts come from South
to get a Pontiac G3 and
Korea and the car is as-
I had confused the moni-
sembled there, it is a safe
ker with the Pontiac G6.
bet that the Pontiac G3 is
It wasn’t until I got
a product of GM’s Dae-
ready to write this review
woo subsidiary.
and wanted to be sure
Anyway, the Pontiac
It’s Here?
that the Pontiac G3 was
G3 is a small fuel effi-
the Pontiac Vibe with a
cient and affordable utili-
name change that I dis-
tarian car. It has a 1.6-li-
drive with manual trans- highway driving.
easy to reach controls.
The driving charac-
covered that the G3 is
ter four-cylinder engine
missions, at least to me. The interior was well
I was impressed with
teristics of the Pontiac
indeed a new nameplate.
that makes 106 horse-
Beyond that, I re- done. I found the fit and
the material used to cover
G3 weren’t bad. Accel-
In other words, there is
power and 105 pounds-
ally didn’t have any com- finish to be excellent and
the seats and the inden-
eration was good; it was
also a Pontiac Vibe.
feet of torque. The car
plaints about the Pontiac that’s important. Small
tations used to texture
responsive to driver input
G3. During my week with cars with lousy fit and fin-
the dash board. Although
and the suspension was
In short?
the car, the fuel gauge ish and so-so materials
getting in the rear seat
very good. The car didn’t
barely moved. My test can be like little jail cells
was a squeeze through
ride like a subcompact.
vehicle got 27 mpg in the for drivers and passen-
the rear doors, the Pon-
Site lines were pretty
city and 34 mpg on the gers. However, the G3’s
tiac G3 had a reasonable
good, too. It’s amazing
My only quibble was
highway. The automatic interior was nicely done;
amount of headroom and
how secure you can feel
with the manual trans-
was rated at the 32 mpg it was black and had a
legroom in the second
in a small car with a high
mission; well, make
and 34 mpg for city and very simple layout with
row.
seating position.
that the clutch pedal.
I’m one of those drivers
who likes to rest my foot
on the clutch pedal. On
the Pontiac G3, it only
takes the slightest pressure on that pedal to engage the
clutch. It took most of the week to train myself not to do it.
I think that that pedal could stand a bit more torque.
Available options on my test vehicle included power
windows and door locks, theft deterrent, keyless entry
and power outside foldable heated body color mirrors for
a total of $570. Add a $660 destination charge and the
sticker came to $15,565. That’s not at all bad for first time
buyers or for a second get me to work car.
Frank S. Washington is managing partner/editor of
AboutThatCar.com <http://www.aboutthatcar.com/>
and
AboutThatCarBlog.com. <http://www.aboutthat-
car.blogspot.com/.
My point is that it’s
is equipped with a five-
tough to sell a new name-
speed manual transmis-
plate, heck, even an old
sion but a four speed au-
one, if all the news about
tomatic is available.
your company focuses
I had the manual
on government bail outs,
transmission but in a car
bankruptcies, a fired
with just a 100 horsepow-
CEO, etc., which has
er I would rather have
swirled around GM for at
had the automatic; even
least six months.
though you lose 2 mpg in
The company had
city driving. Lightly pow-
ered cars are not fun to
22 The Michigan FrontPage • May 29, 2009
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