nüvifone™. The navigation phone.
With the July 4 holiday upon us, the citizens of the United States will be celebrating American traditions such as freedom, family and barbecue. Well, I can think of a couple of other American traditions worth celebrating such as muscle cars and the thrill of a race. And in today's video we get both traditions as we celebrate racing with the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
This fun vid is almost like a mini-movie. First, we get an evolutionary slideshow of some the beautiful birds from the past, set to the theme from WWE's Undertaker (ooh, scary!). Then we hop aboard the Trans Am as we go for a ride, street racing against a Toyota Supra. Finally, we land at the drag strip, where a more modern Firebird smokes and peels out on the asphalt. Dig the wheelie as the front end launches off the ground at 4:45 mark. Killer.
This last weekend hosted the 33rd birthday of my life. Hooray! When I was making my wish list for all the great things I wanted to receive (but didn't) for my birthday, I also started thinking about some dream cars that I would love to own. So this week, I've dedicated my blog to my favorite cars that I wish to own one of these days.
One car I've always wanted to own was the Pontiac Fiero. My parents always advised me against getting one (y'know, with that whole "the engine might catch fire" thing). If you see one on the road nowadays, the Fiero has more than likely been restored. This video details the piece-by-piece restoration of a 1988 Pontiac Fiero, and boy does this thing look awesome. This is the only car that can be painted yellow or orange that I could stare at all day. Beautiful.
DETROIT--General Motors said last week that it will stop building the Pontiac G6 GXP sedan and coupe at the end of this model year, as well as the Chevrolet Impala SS and Cobalt SS sedans and the Cadillac STS-V.
Pontiac representative Jim Hopson said Friday that the GXP decision is not related to the phaseout of Pontiac, which GM plans to accomplish by the end of 2010. It stemmed from an earlier decision to pare Pontiac down to a niche brand, he said.
"There is a movement here to reduce the build complexity -- that's the number of trim levels we sell, not the nameplates -- so that was the decision behind taking out the GXP," Hopson said.
He added: "We'll have more information in the weeks to come of exactly when each Pontiac vehicle will go out of production."
At Chevrolet, the Cobalt SS coupe will continue "a while longer--to be determined," said Terry Rhadigan, a Chevrolet representative.
"Demand was pretty light for both models, and so it was a business decision that we made based on the demand," he said.
GM just launched the Cobalt SS sedan in 2008--and quickly discovered no demand for it. "It had a pretty short run," Rhadigan said.
GM does not release sales data on trim levels. Through April, GM sold 32,065 total Cobalts, down from 66,660 in the year-ago period. GM sold 45,047 total Impalas through April, compared with 98,478 a year earlier.
(Source: Automotive News)
As it shrinks its North American product portfolio, General Motors is negotiating with Toyota Motor Corp. to designate a new GM vehicle that would be built by the automakers' joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.
If the talks succeed, they would lead to a new model for one of GM's surviving brands--Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, or GMC--said GM spokesman Jim Hopson.
The Pontiac Vibe crossover is now GM's only product from the NUMMI partnership in Fremont, Calif. GM said last week that it will end production of the Pontiac line, including the Vibe, by the end of 2010.
Hopson said GM is talking with Toyota and NUMMI to identify another vehicle to be built at the former GM plant in Fremont.
"We're negotiating to see how best to utilize that facility," Hopson told Automotive News. "We're clearly not backing away from our partnership at NUMMI."
GM and Toyota began building small cars together at NUMMI in 1984. In addition to the Vibe, the plant now builds the Toyota Tacoma pickup and the Toyota Corolla small car.
The venture was designed to produce cars on a 50-50 basis for Toyota and GM, with each company getting 100,000 to 120,000 cars a year.
But for many years, GM's take from the plant has been much smaller than Toyota's. In 2008, NUMMI built 271,202 vehicles for Toyota--149,341 Corollas and 121,861 Tacomas--and 70,839 Vibes for GM.
GM has little in its product portfolio that resembles the Vibe. The Korea-built Chevrolet Aveo 5 and Pontiac G3 are five-door hatchbacks smaller than the Vibe.
"There's really nothing wrong with the Vibe," Hopson said. "Its only problem right now is that it is a Pontiac."
Hopson said GM is not thinking of continuing production of the Vibe with a different brand badge.
(Source: Automotive News)
General Motors is recalling nearly 1.5 million midsize cars from the 1997-2003 model years have a defect that lets oil drip onto the exhaust manifold and flame up, potentially leading to an engine fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The recall includes 1997-2003 Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix, the 1998-1999 Chevrolet Lumina and Oldsmobile Intrigue; the 1998-2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo; and the 2000-2003 Chevrolet Impala equipped with the naturally-aspirated (without a supercharger) 3.8-liter V6.
According to the recall notice, if the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire.
Dealership technicians will remove the spark plug wire retention channel at the front of engine and install two new spark plug wire retainers. The quick fix is free.
(Source: GM Owner Center)
(Source: NHTSA recall notice)
From the rear view, the Pontiac G3 in virtually indistinguishable from the Chevy Aveo5.
(Credit: GM/Pontiac)Pontiac Manager of Communications, Jim Hopson confirmed, on the GM Fastlane Blog, that Pontiac would be selling the G3 in the U.S. General Motors must have something of a penchant for cannibalizing their own sales, because the G3 is obviously just a rebadged Chevrolet Aveo5, the cheapest least expensive new car in America.
When challenged on about the matter of the econobox G3 not fitting into Pontiac's claim of building exciting vehicles, Hopson states, "True, it's not a RWD V8, but that's why the G8 is sitting in the same showroom." What he fails to mention is that oftentimes there will also be an Aveo5 sitting in that same showroom.
Hopson does address the similarities between the two models stating that "the G3 and Aveo share a lot of components, true. But Toyota and Lexus also share components." That's right, he seriously drew the Toyota/Lexus analog. We spend an inordinate amount of time in a Chevy Aveo5, our test car for stereo installs, and we can say that there's nothing Toyota- or Lexus-esque about that vehicle.
However, component sharing and badge engineering are two different things. Toyota and Lexus buyers are two very distinctly different segments of the market, which isn't necessarily the case with Chevrolet and Pontiac buyers. Even if they were, we seriously doubt that putting a new bumper/headlamp combo on an Aveo makes it a vehicle substantially higher quality or perceived value.
2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
(Credit: Pontiac)Back in July, our editors spent time with the Pontiac G8 GT, complimenting the vehicle on its muscle car engine, yet noting the lack of a manual gearbox option. Perhaps Pontiac reads Car Tech, because they've released the specs on the 2009 G8 GXP and they've bumped the power and included a six speed manual transmission.
Users on the GM Inside News Forum have unearthed a PDF dyno chart on GM's media site that shows the 6.2 liter LS3 V-8 engine from the Corvette transplanted into the G8 GXP generating 415 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. Power will be sent through a six speed manual transmission. The six speed automatic transmission is still available.
The GXP will also feature larger 19 inch wheels and Brembo brakes, as well as slightly revised front and rear fascias.
Inside the cabin, the Pontiac will feature an updated steering wheel, but will retain the same limited audio options and lack of GPS navigation that the GT version suffers, so perhaps Pontiac's engineers haven't been listening to the Car Tech editors after all.
The dreams of making Pontiac into an exclusively rear-wheel-drive brand have been put on hold, possibly permanently.
Small front-drive cars will make up a significant portion of Pontiac's future product line. And like most everything in General Motors' stable, Pontiac's future lineup is affected by new corporate average fuel economy requirements and GM's tight cash supply.
The bottom line: It will be difficult to create a unique identity for Pontiac, separating it from Chevrolet.
G3: An entry-level car based on the Chevrolet Aveo is likely to be imported for the 2009 model year. The G3 would be developed on GM's global Gamma architecture.
Sedan: A sedan sized between the Aveo and Pontiac G5 is under consideration for Pontiac or Buick for the 2012 model year. Because Pontiac and Buick are sold under one roof at most dealerships, only one brand will get the car, which likely would be imported.
Sedan: In light of high gasoline prices, a Pontiac based on the 2010 Chevy Cruze may arrive as early as the 2011 model year. The car would be developed on GM's new fwd Delta global vehicle architecture. It likely will replace the G5.
G6:GM management has flipped-flopped product strategy on this model several times.
Initially, the automaker planned to restyle and re-engineer the G6 around the 2011 model year. The car was scheduled to be developed on GM's next-generation Epsilon vehicle architecture.
Then, in an effort to distinguish Pontiac from Chevrolet, GM decided to make Pontiac a rwd brand. The redesigned, rwd G6 was slated to debut around the 2012 model year. GM's new rwd Alpha architecture was expected to be used.
At this point, the G6 strategy is in flux.
G8: The G8, assembled in Australia, is the first car sold in the United States that was developed on GM's global rwd vehicle architecture, known as Zeta. The car went on sale earlier this year as a 2008 model.
Pontiac will expand the G8 line with a 2010 G8 sport truck, the G8 ST. The truck, a niche product also out of Holden, is reminiscent of the Chevrolet El Camino, which featured a small pickup bed.
Solstice: The 2009 product line is doubled with the addition of a fastback coupe.
The Solstice line will get higher-horsepower engines, but not a V-6. The car is a candidate for GM's new 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder engine.
What happens next will be based on Solstice sales and whether GM can afford a next generation.
Vibe: Pontiac launched a restyled, re-engineered Vibe for the 2009 model year. The hatchback likely won't be due for a freshening until the 2011 model year.
Torrent: The Torrent crossover ends production in 2009. That leaves Pontiac a car-only line, which is what GM wants it to be as part of the Buick-Pontiac-GMC sales channel.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)
With a 6-liter V-8 and brawny styling, the 2008 Pontiac G8 GT looks like the return of American muscle, only, it's not. The new G8, an example of International brand engineering, actually comes from Australia, where it's called a Holden VE Commodore. These origins explain some odd styling around the cockpit, such as window and mirror controls mounted on the console and a big red display showing battery charge and oil pressure.
The central point of the G8 seems to be the big engine, not really the best peg to hang your hat on these days. The car looks good, but it takes some styling cues from BMW in the heavily flared front fenders complete with vents. When we first looked at the cockpit, we thought we were in for a tech treat because of the big LCD on the stack. But the car doesn't make good use of that display space, merely showing audio information. Likewise, a voice button on the steering wheel got us looking for Bluetooth or voice command, but then we found the button merely activated OnStar.
