aurum

Yeah, I have the same problem with my '05 Pursuit (it wasn't yet renamed the G5 when I bought it). There is some wind noise at highway speeds, mostly from the mirrors. Nothing much you can do about it, at least the noise from the engine and tires isn't too bad. As for the trunk opening, well, didn't you check the car out when you bought it? Yeah, the opening is a bit on the small side, but the trunk itself is pretty big, and the back seats fold down, so no problem. Congrats on your purchase either way!

LOL As for SE and GT meaning 145 2.2 L and 171 2.4 L ECOTECS, that's what the Pursuit SE and Pursuit GT have in Canada, respectively. I have a Pursuit SE 2-door myself. Anyway, maybe you should be a bit more optimistic? What if SE meant a 171 HP 2.4 engine, and the GT had the 200 HP 2.0L Supercharged ECOTEC from the Cobalt SS? That would be cool. That, and if they re-did the front so it had it's own one-piece sheetmetal including the Pontiac grille, instead of the snap-in, it wouldn't be a bad car. They really should dump the black plastics on the interior though, they're my least favourite part.

Wait, so they come up with a Canadian name for the car (Pursuit), knowing they may indeed decide to bring it to the states one day, but don't bother to check if that name is trademarked in the states? Also, they were discussing on the forums a few weeks ago how the new G5 would be a "U.S. exclusive". So is that no longer true? Is it just that the Pursuit model will be relabelled the G5 and sold only in the SE and GT Pursuit trims (look up gmcanada.com for details)? I'm confused. I was under the impression that GM would be remaking a unique Cobalt-based Pontiac coupe for the US market, and keep selling the Pursuit in Canada. But that made little sense to begin with - why make two versions of a Pontiac Delta-based coupe, when you can make one and stamp G5 or Pursuit and metric gauges based on where it's headed? EIther way, I hope they redesign the 'snap-in' grille. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to in my car, but it still does a little bit.

Sure, a Cobalt-based coupe called the G5 will only be available in the USA, and an identical Cobalt-based coupe called the Pursuit will be available only in Canada. (With a block heater like someone said) As for the type of car offered, right now the Pursuit is offered with a base 145 HP 2.2, and a top of the line Pursuit GT is a 171 HP 2.0 with VVT, I believe (the same engine as the Solstice). It's likely the G5 will have a 171 HP VVT as a base engine, with the 205 Supercharged engine from the Cobalt SS as the higher trim engine. "Yeah... red-lit gauges, shadow plastic trim, and black upholstery. " Well, the Pursuit DOESN'T have all red-lit gauges, just the speedometer and tachometer. Everything else is a cool white colour. I'll also bet the G5 will get a better front grille than mine: Although, if the G5 gets a better front grille, why wouldn't the Pursuit? They'll be made at the same factory. And the taillights will probably stay the same, they look very similar to the G6 as they are. You guys are right, they'll just give it a more integrated Pontiac front grille, maybe make the 171 hp engine the base and call it a day. Maybe they'll improve the interior plastics, my car's plastic looks like it was recycled from garbage bags. But hey, the Pursuit/Cobalt is a good car, for an econobox coupe. It certainly give the Civic a run for it's money.

More pictures! Bigger Pictures! Review! Please!

I hate these deals because I just bought a GM car in Canada, without any special deal or offer, aside from the 'recent graduate' deal. When they come out with crap like this it makes me feel like a sucker.

I stand corrected about the platform, I think. But is there a sufficient demand for a compact rear wheel drive sedan for GM to do this? I also agree with the people in this thread who say those front license plates ruin the look of the car.

If gas prices are high, then this is the perfect time to buy a new vehicle, albeit a smaller, more fuel-efficient one. The only reason people would wait to buy now is to they can get another gas guzzling monster SUV

Good god man, you guys are being too critical. It's a beautiful car! Also, looking at this car, it becomes clear that a Kappa based entry level compact is an impossibilty, there's no room for a back seat. In fact, Kappa is, I believe, a corvette platform shortened by a couple of feet. Meh, Anyway, it's a really nice car, much better looking than the MX-5

Ironically, I chose the pursuit over the cobalt because I like the Pontiac's grill and front end a lot more than Cobalt's. However I feel that the cobalt has a better back end, thanks to those four 'afterburner' type tail lights lifted from the corvette.

I agree. The better Pursuit front end is the reason I bought it over the Cobalt. The Cobalt did have those nice round tail lights though.

Well, for some reason Pontiac has a superior brand name in Canada. Maybe it's because while the Sunfire and Cavalier were both mediocre cars, the Cavalier was the worse of the pair. But who knows? Anyway, I've posted pics of my Pursuit Coupe in the sticky thread with the exclusive pictures.

I thought this would be the appropriate place to post these: here are pictures of my brand new 2006 Pontiac Pursuit SE Coupe. You can't see it, but this one comes with the optional sunroof. The SE Coupe comes with 16" wheels and a 2.0L 145 hp engine. The interior is slightly different from the Cobalt. The speedometer and odometer gauges light up red at night in the classic Pontiac way, but the rest of the display lights are an off white.

Well, I just bought a new Pursuit SE Coupe. I pick it up next Thurs. Obviously I did give it a test drive. My only beef with it was that it has so-so visibility out the back mirror, with the spoiler sorta getting in the way, but that's a problem with any car in this class anyway. The one I drove was a 2.1 litre 145 hp ECOTEC. Acceleration was smooth, turns were tight, and the ride was quiet. I got a good set of options on this thing for $23 K canadian including power everything, sunroof/moonroof, traction control, ABS, fog lights, MP3 CD player with subwoofer. If any of you are wondering what this car is doing in the lineup, well, Pontiac needs it to compete with the Civic. That is the car the Pursuit was competing with in my mind - I'm a recent college graduate and I wanted a sporty compact coupe, and it came down to this, the Civic and the Cobalt. The Hyundai Tiburon was overpriced. The Pursuit won out due to the superior financing GM was offering, a better look and better value for the price. While there wasn't much difference between this and the Cobalt on the outside, the Pursuit seems to offer a quieter ride with superior noise control. Plus I get the superior brand name for only a few hundred bucks difference in price. The highway mileage is 45 mpg (or 6.7L/100km), I think. This is a worse gas mileage than the Civic base engine, but still good. I'll post again when I've picked up the car and driven it for a few days.