Full Test: 2005 Pontiac G6

It's time to say farewell to the Bland Am. Time to wave good-bye to the King of Cladding, the Emperor of Overkill and the Queen of Coif.

After nearly six years without a much needed makeover, Pontiac is pulling the plug on the four-door Grand Am, a car that has carried the brand's midsize sedan torch for nearly two decades.

This is good news. In its final form the Grand Am was a mullet on wheels — dated, sometimes scary and yet, hugely popular. Pontiac sold more than a million Grand Ams in the last five years alone. That's more total cars than Mazda, Porsche, Subaru and Jaguar sold in the same timeframe combined.

Replacing the Grand Am sedan (the coupe lives on for another year) is the four-door G6, which is a larger, sportier and more appealing package than its aged predecessor could ever boast. Plus the clean new look doesn't hide behind an armor of cladding.

Longer and Wider

Although its proportions remind us of the Dodge Stratus from the mid-1990s, our test vehicle, a GT model, looks good astride its optional 17-inch chrome wheels.

At 189 inches long, the G6 is just 2.7 inches longer than last year's Grand Am, yet its wheelbase is over 5 inches longer. It's also 2 inches taller and a smidge wider, making it nearly identical in size to a Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, yet it looks smaller because of its nose-down stance, short overhangs and very long wheelbase.

By giving the G6 a wheelbase equal to a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Pontiac was able to increase the car's passenger volume to match its midsize sedan competition. Although, some interior space concessions were made in developing its rakish new look.

The G6's swoopy fastback roofline eats into the Pontiac's rear-seat headroom, which is an inch or two shy of the vertical measurement in its Japanese competitors.

Trunk space is also affected. The rear deck hides just 14 cubic feet, a slight reduction from the Grand Am's cubes, but equals the cargo capacity you'll find in an Accord. If you need more, there's a 60/40-split rear seat with a hard plastic backing.

Higher-Quality Interior

The G6's smoothed exterior treatment carries into the cabin. The instrument panel sports a striking gauge cluster trimmed with bright chrome bezels, and every LED display across the dash and down the center stack is illuminated by catchy red backlighting.

The cabin is less plasticky and quieter than the Grand Am's interior, plus it's hipper than the Camry's stodgy cockpit. Still, we were forced to make peace with some cheap hard plastic materials that span the dash and the center console.

Optional leather seats are well shaped with firm bolstering, and a six-way power driver seat, tilt and telescoping steering column and adjustable pedals help the driver settle in for action. Front legroom measures nearly identical to the Grand Am, but lucky G6 rear-seat passengers gain nearly 2 inches, rivaling the Camry's spacious rear quarters.

Climate control is easily accomplished with just three large knobs, and for those skinny-minnies craving extra warmth, the two-stage seat heater controls are located at the outboard corner of both front-seat bottoms.

With no navigation system, gadget groupies will have to satisfy themselves with technological features limited to an eight-speaker in-dash six-disc Monsoon audio system with subwoofer, optional XM Satellite Radio and OnStar's safety system.

Sporty on the Road

The G6 shares a stretched version of GM's global Epsilon platform with the Malibu Maxx. The longer wheelbase and sport-tuned suspension, comprised of a MacPherson strut design with aluminum control arms and stabilizer bar in the front and a four-link independent setup with twin tube shocks and stabilizer bar in the rear, provide good driving dynamics.

It doesn't handle like a Mazda 6, or have the refined ride of a Volkswagen Passat, but it feels more coupe-ish than a Camry. It doesn't isolate you from everything outside its windows. It's comfortable, but you still hear the engine and feel the road. Some call this crude. Car enthusiasts call it personality.

The suspension is tuned firm, but soaks up all but the harshest of road bumps, even making neighborhood speed bumps a minor inconvenience. Body roll is controlled on high-speed freeway off-ramps, and the G6 GT's 17-inch wheels wrapped in 225/50R17 Continental rubber provide impressive grip.

During performance testing, the G6 snaked through our 600-foot slalom course at 61.5 mph, that's 2.5 mph faster than an Accord with its top-of-the-line 16-inch wheels can manage.

Steering is the G6 GT's weakest link. Stuck with the variable-assisted electric power steering we abhor on the Malibu, the G6 doesn't have the around-town feel of the Accord, and its steering effort is overly light, like a video game control. Road feel aside, the G6 remains easy to navigate in tight parking lots.

The G6 is also a bit schizophrenic in the braking department. Actual 60-to-0-foot braking distance is right on par with the Accord at 131 feet, yet the Pontiac's pedal lacks the progressive pressure we find reassuring, feeling squishy instead. Standard on the G6 GT are antilock brakes and traction control, a typical combination found across the class.

Increased Power

Powering the G6 GT is a 3.5-liter engine rated at 200 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 25 hp over the outgoing Grand Am. That doesn't mean it trumps the current competition, however. The segment leaders all have more power. In fact, the 3.5-liter V6 in a Nissan Altima SE-R makes 260 hp, although increased Pontiac performance is on the horizon in the form of a 3.9-liter G6 GXP.

That being said, the G6 GT never feels underpowered. The pushrod 3.5-liter V6 is as close to cutting-edge technology as a Commodore 64, but it provides enough go to keep up with most cars in the class. The G6 runs the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds, just three-quarters of a second slower than an Accord V6.

Our biggest complaint about the engine is its harsh resonance at higher rpm. Don't expect to hear a refined hum of a Camry's motor when you get on the gas. The G6 sounds more like a restroom exhaust fan about to give up the ghost.

Making the most of the G6 GT's available power is a four-speed manually shiftable transmission, which upshifts at 5,800-rpm redline at full throttle. Shifting it yourself in the manual mode doesn't actually add any performance, but it makes the experience more fun.

Better Than Before

The G6 rolls over the Grand Am without a backward glance. Pontiac owners above the 11th grade will recognize the improvement in style and performance. But the G6 hardly stirs up emotion, leaving the decision to drive a G6 a completely rational one.

And at nearly $28,000, including $4,000 worth of options, the G6 GT is priced near the top of the competition. Pontiac may be taking a huge step toward the future with the G6, but up against the Accord and Camry, which are better all-around packages with a solid reputation for reliability, the G6 GT reigns less a beauty queen and more the girl with the nice personality.

What Needs Work:
Questionable value at high MSRP, weak electric power steering, cheap interior plastics.

What Works:
Clean exterior styling; attractive, sporty gauge cluster; standard V6 power plant.

Bottom Line:
The G6 is an undisputable improvement over the Grand Am sedan, but don't expect its level of refinement to revolutionize the midsize sedan segment.

Vehicle Tested:
2005 Pontiac G6 GT 4dr Sedan (3.5L 6cyl 4A)
MSRP of Test Vehicle: $27805