A GM By Any Other Name

The 2010 Pontiac G8 GXP was supposed to be the feather in Pontiacs cap, the proof that would solidify the brand as General Motors' performance division, until it wasn't. The recession hit GM like a freight train, except that GM could see the train coming for a long time, but it was too fat, bloated and useless to doing anything to help itself.

Now the automotive giant lives a comfy life in Barack Obama's back pocket, where it is on a strict diet that involves daily exercise, watching Dr. Phil and cutting everything from it's diet, including half of it's brand identity including Pontiac.

The G8 GXP was supposed to bring Pontiac back to its muscle bound roots, a web that stretches all the way back to the car that sparked the muscle car era, the GTO. A proud beginning, but somewhere on the yellow brick road, Pontiac lost its way and began producing vehicles like the Aztec; a car that even a blind person would refuse to go near; mostly because their seeing eye dog would have a seizure. It's horrible i know, but so was the Aztec.

Slowly but surely, starting with their first modern crack at the sport sedan, the G6 GTP, Pontiac was putting its muscle machine back on the rails, replacing the senile Grand Prix, which was a good thing, because the only thing Grand about it was the fat it had accumulated over it's life span.


All history aside, the G8 GXP represents that perfect American ballet dance between ludicrous power, sensible convenience and the  red light showdowns that make an American muscle car what it is. The engine bay is stuffed to bursting with the 361 bhp LS3 engine that normally lurks under the hood of the Corvette.

Mix that with the only six speed manual transmission offered in the G8 range and you've got a new job painting all of the grey pavement in your neighbourhood black. That means 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, that puts the G8 in some serious territory, playing with the luxury big boys like Mercedes, BMW and Audi. And you know what, it can play ball.

It's too bad then, that the cars interior looks like every other Pontiac's, consisting of the same mystery plastic that would look more at home as part of a trash can instead of a dashboard. But the fact that is only redeemed by some nice front buckets and the splashes of 'aluminum' that coat the interior.

 It's really a shame that Canada will never be graced by it's presence.

At least not as a Pontiac, GM does one thing better than most,  re-badging.  The G8 will put it's bow tie on and be re-born as the Chevrolet Lumina SS, which isn't really saying much.  The G8 is just a re-badged version of it's UK manifestation, the Vauxhall VX-R8. But that really isn't saying much either because the RX-R8 is just a re-badged version of it's Australian older brother, the Holden Commodore.

Confused yet?

So, I guess this means that in truth when I gave Pontiac the credit for the G8 GXP, I really meant Vauxhall, and by Vauxhall I mean Holden. With a family tree this overweight, it's no wonder that GM had to cut back on the Twinkies.

Hopefully it can keep the weight off; after all, Obama's back pocket is only so big.

Finally, a Focussed RS

Before we get started, I would like to take a moment of silence for the 2009 Ford Focus RS; how tragic it is that we in the North American market may never know your beautiful face.

Annoyingly somewhere out in the Atlantic some chap in a place called England is enjoying one of the most serious Ford Hatchbacks ever made,with real race pedigree and some seriously flared wheel arches, while we in North America are out in the rain, at least for the next couple of years.

The 2009 Ford Focus RS is the latest installment in a long line of seriously fast Ford hatches, which up until the last two incarnations was quite respectable, but the first Ford Focus RS and younger brother the Focus ST just couldn't quite deliver. They were held back by some serious torque steer issues and disappointing power plants, but Ford is back with a vengeance with the RS.

Just looking at it, you can tell it is serious, its all grilles, intakes and big wheels, the huge wheel flares make it look like its trying to burst out of its own skin, which is understandable when you consider the beast that lives under the hood. It's a five cylinder monster that puts out over 300bhp, in a front wheel drive hatchback! It's a recipe for disaster that includes you, your windshield and a tree, and trust me it isn't as delicious as it sounds.

It's widely acknowledge that the most power that a front wheel drive system can handle is around 250bhp, which makes sense considering the fact that the front wheels have to deal with both putting the power on the tarmac and making sure you don't hit something made of concrete.

Ford has thrown this theory out the window and done it anyway, taming all those wild horses with a trick differential and unique front suspension set up, both of which work in ways that only Jesus could understand, if he was some kind of mechanical engineer, but he wasn't, so it remains a mystery.

This huge power has been married to some big wheels, big suspension, good looks and a big trunk, going for groceries just got a lot more interesting. The interior sports serious racing buckets in the front, styling that matches the exterior and seating for four, looking for something to solve that mid-life crisis?

You'll have to wait a few years, but until then you can be content with this.

Don't worry, its natural to feel a little sick.

Jurassic Park, Ford Style.

The baddest pick up on the market to day is arguably Ford's latest creation, the 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor. If you've never heard of it, just imagine if an F-150 got hopped up on steroids and made aggressive love to it's prehistoric namesake and you'd get the idea of what this brain child of Ford's SVT truck division is all about.

For starters it's big, just over six inches wider than the stock F-150, in fact it's so wide that it has to run marker lights, usually only required on trucks with towing duelly's bringing up the rear. It's taller, a full 4 inches over the base model and, thanks to a serious suspension system that includes some big, beef-eating control arms and serious shocks by Fox Racing, developed especially for the Raptor. Throw in some serious BF Goodrich off road tires and an optional aggressive decal set, a one of a kind grille and it all comes together quite stunningly.

The serious look continues inside, Ford has really harnessed the essence of man, wrapping the seats in black and read leather, chroming all of the serious bits and making things chunky for tough man actions, like eating cows and playing football.

This is a great truck, it harnesses exactly what SVT trucks always have, tapping into a popular trend, and doing it up to the nines. Like the Lightening did before it with the street truck scene, the Raptor not only looks great, but it is a serious off-road machine capable of taking on the Paris-Dakar on Monday, ripping out some stumps Tuesdayand taking the misses out to dinner on Wednesday.

However, one question keeps nagging me, why this? Why now? Ford has taken a big gamble marketing a Truck with a base price of  $38, 000 in the U.S and $48, 000 in Canada to a market that already is scraping through the lint, buttons and old receipts at the bottom of their wallets as it is. Is there really room for another high performance, high priced version of a familiar automotive institution?

With no serious competition from it's full sized pick-up competition, its safe to say that Ford has the market all to itself with the Raptor, a fact that will play to it's advantage. With all things considered, the Raptor is a well rounded pick up that can rip your face off all weekend and still get you to work in comfort the rest of the week, and for that reason it just might be feasible.

Maybe.

Empfang!

Welcome to my world of tires and tarmac, of turbos and tachometers, of drivers and drive-trains, basically if it has four wheels it has a home here. This is your guide to all things new and exciting in the automotive world, new cars, new concepts and a good sprinkling of the exotic to keep things interesting. I'll keep my eyes posted on the ins and outs of the automotive world, if you'll keep your eyes posted on my blog.

Deal?


Thought so.