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impression of my rental G6


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Wow, its been a while since I've started a toppic, let alone post here! I prommised Ven that I'd write about the G6, so here I am. Basicaly, 2 weeks back, my 9-3 went in the shop for some warranty work and they needed the car over the week end. After speaking with the sales guy, he agreed to pay a rental for me over the week end. I was lucky enough to get a G6! YAY!

I had never got in one and haven't driven any new GM vehicles in a loooong time except for my dad's silverado and 9-5. The only thing I could compare it to, to see if they had improved a great deal was my long gone, '99 olds alero.

I'll get right to it...

Car: 2006 Pontiac G6 4 door, base model? (had the 2.2L ecotec) upholstered and painted in a sandy/ gold colour in and out.

Interior: Loved the seat adjustments, especialy the power up-down button (very convenient as I am rather short). Interesting and intriguing gauge cluster arrangement. GM corporate stereo was very decent and fairly easy to control. Clean and crisp sound quality. I did get confused with some of the buttons though but got use to it in a jiffy. Rear legroom and overall cabin space was better than I expected.

Exterior: Styling is nice and clean. Thank god Pontiac has no more clading! Panel gaps and alignment of parts are better than before although will have to see in a fiew years of usage, how well it holds up. A reasuring thump of the door hints at a good seal and substance to the doors.

Drive: The car was smooth and handling was very good for its class in my oppinion. This would be what I call a car for dummies as far as driving goes because it is so easy to drive and has barely any feedback regardless of what you throw at it. I remember reading complaints about how the electric steering has a lack of feel and is unpredictable. I loved it. you could feel its speed sensitiveness slack off when you came to a stop and then tighten up once you picked up speed. Effortless steering. I wish I had electric steering in my 9-3... but shes a whole other beast on her own ;-) . I have got to say though that I wish the 2.2L ecotec had more to offer. You could barely notice it was even there sound wise when the windows are shut, but open them up and she moans and groans like she doesnt even feel like lugging you around. I did like the immediate torque response from the throttle on acceleration but that's all you got.... It's downhill from there. I would rather the 2.4L that I had in the Alero.

Overall: This was a great improvement over its predecesors and I love the direction GM is going with this. We all know Lutz is the one to thank for this. As far as the competition, this car is right on par with "the others" in my perspective of quality, package and feel. I would need to realy go out and test a bunch and do further research to realy get to the nit & gritty. All in all, the car would need the new 2.4L Ecotec to get my stamp of "Impressed".

Cheers!

Edited by TurboRush
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It has the 2.4L Ecotec, fyi. And it probably felt like that because the damn thing is so heavy. Needs to lose a few hundred lbs before a 4cyl will ever feel acceptable in it. But I will agree... the 2.4L Twin Cam packs punch for what it's rated at. Feels great in the Sunfire GT my mom has. Other than refinement, that is... but I digress.

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It has the 2.4L Ecotec, fyi. And it probably felt like that because the damn thing is so heavy. Needs to lose a few hundred lbs before a 4cyl will ever feel acceptable in it. But I will agree... the 2.4L Twin Cam packs punch for what it's rated at. Feels great in the Sunfire GT my mom has. Other than refinement, that is... but I digress.

Whoa.... I could have sworn I remember reading 2.2L somewhere in the specs a while back.... I did take a quick peek under the hood but didnt spend much time looking at it since it was just a big plastic cover over the engine. Well then, this puts a new perspective on the 2.4L for me! But yeah, its a heavy car for that engine I guess.....

Can you tell I havent been following much of this lately? lol

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I own a 2006 G6 GT with the 3.5L V6.. I absolutely love it.. I feel it is on par with the accord and altima.. it dont really "feel" like a GM car.. I have to look at the steering wheel to make sure that arrow head really isnt an H... it seems very well put together, no squeeks, no rattles.. I drove the G6 with the 2.4L and wasnt too impressed with it.. it was too slow, and felt a bit "buzzy".. so i decided to go with the 3.5L V6.. im averaging about 29 mpg on mixed driving so that isnt bad. but fuel economy is worse than my previous car a 2004 cavalier, i used to get around 36 mpg in the cavalier.. and thats about the only thing i miss about that car.. this G6 and the cavalier is no comparision.. the only thing the cavalier would win is fuel economy, and you would get close to that with the 2.4L G6..

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It has the 2.4L Ecotec, fyi. And it probably felt like that because the damn thing is so heavy. Needs to lose a few hundred lbs before a 4cyl will ever feel acceptable in it. But I will agree... the 2.4L Twin Cam packs punch for what it's rated at. Feels great in the Sunfire GT my mom has. Other than refinement, that is... but I digress.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2.4L in a Sunfire wouldn't be the same engine as in a G6. A quick google search brought up a wikipedia article on the Sunfire, including engine list, and the 2.4L for the Sunfire was retired at the end of '02, and that motor was rated at 155hp. The current 2.4L has VVT and is rated at like 170hp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Sunfire

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The Sunfire had an Ecotec, but it was the 2.2L, same as the Cobalt now. The 2.4L Ecotec is the same as the one in the Cobalt SS Non S/C, and the Solstice.

But for some reason it only developed 167 instead of 170 in the Cobalt and 171 in the Solstice. I was told it was an exhaust issue.

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Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2.4L in a Sunfire wouldn't be the same engine as in a G6.  A quick google search brought up a wikipedia article on the Sunfire, including engine list, and the 2.4L for the Sunfire was retired at the end of '02, and that motor was rated at 155hp.  The current 2.4L has VVT and is rated at like 170hp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Sunfire

Well duh... :P
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  • 2 months later...

The Sunfire had an Ecotec, but it was the 2.2L, same as the Cobalt now. The 2.4L Ecotec is the same as the one in the Cobalt SS Non S/C, and the Solstice.

But for some reason it only developed 167 instead of 170 in the Cobalt and 171 in the Solstice. I was told it was an exhaust issue.

145170[/snapback]

Actually it is a WEIGHT issue. Weight can effect horsepower.

By the way. My dad has a the i-4 G6. Personally I like it quite a bit, so much so I am buying one this week. The G6 is probably the best mid-size car that GM has released in years, and probably the first time they put out something on par with thier competitors (in this case I think the closest comparison is the Nissan Altima).

I know it may not have as much kick as the V6, but it is still more then enough pickup for a non-enthusiat. Though I think the V6 is a GREAT model.

Edited by lostletters
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