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Dad Plays in a Pontiac: Part One - The G5
Pontiac recently treated me and a few other writers to test five of their current models at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, AZ. I learned today’s Pontiac brand is both performance-driven, and rather practical. Over the next few days I will be sharing my experiences as a work-a-day father of four pushing Pontiac’s G5, G6, Vibe, Solstice and G8 models on the racetrack and in high-intensity safety drills.
Full disclosure:
- Pontiac/GM paid for my 2-day excursion – and a very nice dinner to boot!
- In nostaligic memory of my very first car, there is a ’64 Pontiac Catalina-shaped soft spot on my heart – it wasn’t hard to get me excited seeing what the modern Pontiac has to offer.
I’ll tell you about the Pontiac G5 first. This is Pontiac’s entry-level model, in a class with the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, and Scion tC. Pontiac states the standard 148 hp engine achieves 35 MPH (highway), while the G5 GT has 171 hp and gets about 32 MPH. I would call the dash and interior trim design “stylish” and “conservative” – nothing jarring, everything in the expected place, consistent and re-assuring. It had an unexpectedly roomy back seat, with plenty space in the rear bench for this leggy 6 footer. It probably could seat 3 adults across without awkward elbow-tucking or thigh rubbing.
I took the G5 and the G5 GT on a short autocross track set up for us. Autocross is a short, flat course with tight twists and turns marked by cones, keeping the whole thing inside a small parking lot-sized plot. Most impressive in the G5 was experiencing GM’s StabiliTrak in action – I never once felt even slightly out of control despite auto-racing-newbie choppy turns effected while my foot flew between full-tilt gas and brake. Before coming to the event I had joked with the wife about how sorry Pontiac would be when I rolled one of their cars, but after a lot of hard driving I never so much as fishtailed.
With the large back bench, great gas mileage, responsive and powerful engine, I can imagine a family's G5 the the role of a dad’s commuter car. Zippy in traffic, only sipping gas on the home/office route, and Dad would know the kids are safe and comfortable in the roomy back seat when he's got them.
in | by Ciaran Blumenfeld | Car News, | by Ciaran Blumenfeld | Editorial, | by Ciaran Blumenfeld | Mommy/Daddy Driver | Permalink |
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