Car Gazing
G6 offers mainstream excitement
Convertible is pricey for a Pontiac, but folding roof keeps noise out
By Derek Price
You can tell a lot about a car by the soundtrack it prompts.
For me, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash seem fitting when I drive a pickup truck. When I'm in a Lexus, it's classical standards like Beethoven and Mozart. And I always find myself listening to strange, underground techno music when I drive a BMW.
But a Pontiac? That presents a challenge.
Until recently, I'd probably pick National Public Radio because hearing about the war, economics, genocide and snobby art reviews – anything, really – would be a nice distraction from the car I'm driving. Pontiacs a few years ago were basically Chevrolets with a kidney-bean grille – good for basic, stylish transportation, but hardly anything to get excited about.
When I started driving the Pontiac G6, though, I couldn't bear tuning the radio to NPR. The car was just too cool, in a mainstream sort of way.
So I changed to the top-20 station. It was a perfect fit.
The G6 isn't the kind of cutting-edge car that inspires eurotrash techno music, like the BMW. It has a fairly soft suspension that's comfortable for long trips, making it more of a grand tourer than a sports car.
There are several things that make it worthy of a thumping Rhianna song, though.
The engine is a good place to start. While I can't speak for the four-cylinder engine that comes in the base model, the 3.6-liter V6 in my test car is a sweet singer. It has enough power to chirp the wheels, sometimes unexpectedly, but even more impressive is the way it sounds.
It has a hint of the pleasant exhaust from a classic English sports car, like the engine is swimming in a tub full of Mr. Bubbles. It sounds spectacular without being loud or annoying.
Also impressive is the rock-solid chassis. It feels like the whole car is carved from a giant block of steel.
And the range of vehicles with the G6 name is stunning. You can get it as a four-door sedan, two-door coupe, or a hard-top convertible, which is what I tested. Prices range from around $17,000 to over $30,000 for a fully-loaded convertible.
The convertible is expensive but very, very nice. You simply press a button to have the roof fold away into the trunk, which isn't too unusual except for the fact that the roof is made of metal. While a cloth-top convertible might sound like you're driving in a tent when the top is raised, this one is nearly as quiet as a true coupe. It's a good way to have the style and fun of a convertible without the drawbacks.
Speaking of drawbacks, there are a couple of them in the convertible.
For one, the electric top takes a long time to put up and down – or at least it feels that way because the switch to open and close it is located up by the rear-view mirror, which isn't the most comfortable place to shove your finger for 30 seconds.
It's also pricey. My test car rang up at nearly $32,500, which is a lot to pay for a two-door Pontiac, even if its coolness is worthy of Hurricane Chris.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.)
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