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First Pontiac G8 Prototypes Roll Off The Line

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Old Jul 4, 2007 | 06:48 AM
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First Pontiac G8 Prototypes Roll Off The Line

First Pontiac G8 Prototypes Roll Off The Line



GM Holden celebrated today as the first Pontiac G8 engineering prototypes to be produced at Holden Vehicle Operations in Elizabeth rolled off the line.

The G8 will be available in Pontiac dealerships in the United States in early 2008 to take its place among General Motors' flagship high performance vehicles.

The Pontiac G8 performance sedan will be the first North American product to be based on GM’s new global rear wheel drive architecture, developed by the global team based here in Australia.

Production of the Pontiac G8 is scheduled to commence at the Holden plant in late 2007, bringing the production line to a maximum capacity rate of 620 cars per day.

Announcing this production milestone was Holden Executive Director of Manufacturing, Rod Keane
GM News Release

It's also available at http://www.drive.com.au/ and here


It looks really, really good in red........

Last edited by SharpShooter_SS; Jul 4, 2007 at 11:50 AM.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 07:08 AM
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I like the aggressive look - fixes one issue I had with the 04-06 GTO. Also noticed they 'retuned' the LS2 to give it more power down low (at the expense of power up high). Probably a good move for a car like this - should make it quite fun to drive.

Will be interesting to check them out when they hit the lots. Thanks for posting.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 07:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Bob Cosby
I like the aggressive look - fixes one issue I had with the 04-06 GTO. Also noticed they 'retuned' the LS2 to give it more power down low (at the expense of power up high). Probably a good move for a car like this - should make it quite fun to drive.

Will be interesting to check them out when they hit the lots. Thanks for posting.
It isn't an LS2 It's an L76, different heads (LS7 based) and intake manifold and a very small cam.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 10:25 AM
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The thought that it wasn't really an LS2 crossed my mind...guess I should have done some research first. Still, 6.0 Liters with a lower powerband than the real LS2 should do well for it.

Bob
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 10:58 AM
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I don't know what's really going on, but at least 1 engineering prototype of a production G8 has been around since before the NAIAS (though a concept debuted at Chicago) over 6 months ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhz0y...elated&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsY4Q...elated&search=

I was told there was a LHD VE Commodore sedan made up for Pontiac when I was in Oz last November (the red car in the video which made the rounds last February, perhaps?).

Maybe by engineering prototypes they mean trial run of production vehicles for evaluation?

Last edited by guionM; Jul 4, 2007 at 11:02 AM.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 11:31 AM
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I'm not a fan of the Pontiac dual hood scoop, but other than that, the car looks fantastic. It seems a little thick(tall) from the door sill to the roof, but it could just be the pics.

Dan
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 11:37 AM
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Originally posted by GuoinM

Maybe by engineering prototypes they mean trial run of production vehicles for evaluation?
This is what I inferred from the article. The thread at GM InsideNews included some nice-sized pictures that apparently have been seen meaning they apparently predate the article, but by how much I don't know. I wasn't able to find any pics, even thought the (parent) source of the images was disclosed - http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/.

The GM release has a single small pic of a red G8 in it. The "production" car has the regular Commodore SS wheels on it and not the HSV sourced units the show car in Chicago sported. Red makes the car look smaller (to me) than the aforementioned Chicago car appeared to be, certainly smaller than my GP.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 09:07 PM
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Awesome looking car. I like that grill/hood better than the Holden. Rims look good too.
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 09:40 PM
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"that's hot"

... seriously
Old Jul 4, 2007 | 10:09 PM
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Nice looking car.
Old Jul 5, 2007 | 06:58 AM
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I'm actually not liking the looks. Maybe it's the color.
Old Jul 5, 2007 | 08:35 AM
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Please get rid of the chrome accents in the front grill or make it an option.
Plastic chrome is so played out.
Old Jul 5, 2007 | 09:31 AM
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I'd venture to call it the poor man's M3, but this car may be better.
Old Jul 5, 2007 | 11:05 AM
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GOD, I LOVE THAT CAR.

The G8 is the first 4 door car I have seriously considered owing for my daily driver. Once the initial shock dies down, and the dealers stop gouging, I will give this car some serious consideration.
Old Jul 5, 2007 | 11:55 AM
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Originally Posted by number77
I'd venture to call it the poor man's M3, but this car may be better.

How do you figure?



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