Exterior styling: The G6 sedan, based on the same stretched-wheelbase platform as the Malibu Maxx, has its wheels in the right place, nicely quadratic and corner-wise. There are a few odd proportions that add up to a kind of visual consternation: The car's front tapers around the headlamps like a school eraser; the rear deck is more a rear bustle, with an arm's length of sheet metal over the rear wheel wells; and wheels and tires themselves seem small when, at 17 inches in the GT package, they aren't really.
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An American idle
The Pontiac G6 is a sales flop. At General Motors, let the impeachment proceedings begin.
RUMBLE SEAT
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday April 07, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 34 words Type of Material: Correction
Car review -- A review of the Pontiac G6 in Wednesday's Highway 1 section included a photo of a G6 with a six-speed manual transmission. The G6 that was reviewed was a four-speed automatic.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday April 13, 2005 Home Edition Highway 1 Part G Page 2 Features Desk 0 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
Car review -- An April 6 review of the Pontiac G6 included a photo of a G6 with a six-speed manual transmission. The G6 that was reviewed comes with a four-speed automatic.
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Meanwhile, the detailing of the bodywork makes the skin of the car look eggshell-thin. I wonder how many buyers look at this car and wonder what is behind the billboard?
Interior styling: The GT comes with comfortable leather-lined bucket seats, nicely bolstered with heaters. I like the soft grip on the hand brake. That exhausts my praise for the interior.
The center console is a plastic fantastic with the now-familiar stacked boxes of the audio head and climate controls, and we know what comes with familiarity. This is pretty much a style-free zone in a larger moor of monochromatic plastic and vinyl.
The G6 does have a couple of fun features, both optional: an oversized moon roof that folds back in sections so that, lined up on the roof, the car looks solar-powered; and a remote starting function.
Some options are less fun: Side-impact and curtain air bags, four-wheel anti-lock brakes and traction control are all cost-extra options on the base model.
Performance: The GT model I drove had a 3.5-liter iron-block V6 under the hood, good for 200 horsepower and no surprises at all. And -- though I can't believe I'm writing this sentence in 2005 -- this pushrod six is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. It is because of this powertrain that the phrase "thrashy and unrefined" has become the hackneyed cliche that it has.
The electric steering is numb and oddly weighted. Though I thought the ride was very nice, the handling is pushier than a mortgage-refinance telemarketer. The car has zero appetite for hard driving. You want excitement from the "Excitement" division? Try to get this thing to turn in a sharp corner.
Bah.
This is an uncompetitive product, an assertion borne out not by my say-so but by sales numbers. When ballclubs have losing records, players and coaches and managers get their walking papers.
At GM, it's time to sweep the dugout.
Automotive critic Dan Neil can be reached at dan.neil
@latimes.com.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Pontiac G6 GT
Base price: $23,925
Price, as tested: $28,280
Powertrain: 3.5-liter V6, four-speed automatic, front-wheel drive.
Horsepower: 200 at 5,600 rpm
Torque: 220 foot-pounds at 3,200 rpm
Curb weight: 3,380 pounds
Zero-60: 8 seconds
Wheelbase: 112.3 inches
Overall length: 189.1 inches
EPA mileage: 22 miles per gallon city, 32 mpg highway
Final thoughts: What a car looks like when the wheels come off
