Auto Trends

Pontiac G8 GXP 017, originally uploaded by Vincent ??

It’s been awhile since we’ve visited Pontiac. What’s been going on lately?

I’ll tell you what has been happening… their last remaining stock of vehicles are getting sucked off the lots like ants invited to an anteater’s family picnic. This isn’t surprising news, as Pontiac did have some rather nice vehicles on hand as they closed the book to their story earlier this year. I’m of course talking about the Pontiac G8, G6, and to a lesser degree the Solstice. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting one of these soon to be extinct Tyrannosaurus’, you might want to think about kicking yourself off one side or the other, and here’s why…

Pontiac has announced that their inventory of popular vehicles is becoming dangerously depleted. Just how dangerous are we talking? Well, there were only about 16 Pontiac G8 GXP’s on hand as I wrote this. Considering there will be several more sources publishing these stats, you can assume this number is almost certain to dwindle as the day goes on. In case your not exactly familiar with what a G8 GXP is, I’ll make a rather long story short and sweet:

6.2-liter, 16 valve, V-8, 402 horsepower, 402 lbs-torque, Brembo brakes, 6-speed transmission, and no more than about 4.7 seconds from zero to 60.

While the G8 GXP’s are practically out the door and down the street, dealerships still do have about 530 Pontiac G6 GXP’s. While the G6 version of the GXP is definitely missing the 6.2-liter Corvette engine, you do get the price relief of about $10,000, starting the upper echelon G6 at around $28,000. The G6 features the 3.6 liter V-6 worth 256 horsepower and 248 ft-lbs or torque, the sportier front fascia (foglights, stainless grill), rocker panel moldings, dual chrome exhaust tips, “hammerhead” spoiler, and 18-inch GXP-only alloys. Not a bad way to go!

If you’re willing to forgo the GXP all together, there are about 570 Pontiac G8’s with the “GT” trim. The GT offers a 6.0-liter V-8 powerplant worthy of 361 horsepower and 385 ft-lbs of torque. On the negative side, the base G8 does not come with a “stick” manual option, but the six-speed automatic is a pretty smooth customer for those on a budget. The GT still clears 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, so you won’t exactly be getting left behind at the light. Fuel economy for the GT sits at a rather thirsty 15/24 mpg. Starting at $32,000, these won’t be around for too much longer either.

Finally we come to the Pontiac Solstice, which have about 139 base coupes and 160 GXP versions currently in inventory. The biggest difference between the base-model and GXP is about 100 horsepower, and you will notice the difference. The base Solstice has all the looks and feel of a sports car, but falls a bit flat for most enthusiasts, with its 2.4-liter, 177 horsepower, and 166 ft-lbs of torque. The 2.0-liter turbocharged GXP is a whole other story, featuring a robost 260 horsepower, 260 ft-lbs torque, and a respectable 0-60 in 5.8 seconds flat.

In these hard economic times, I can understand your reservations to part with your hard earned dollar. But owning an Australian, Holden-derived Pontiac G8 GXP just might be worth a two-month stint in the doghouse…

Just think about it, but don’t think too long!

Anxiety, originally uploaded by LostInLifeAgain

If you live in California, chances are you’ve heard of the Cool Cars Initiative. If you don’t, you will be hearing about it over the next couple years. To get you up to speed, Cool Cars is a regulation, enforcing all cars sold in California to received a solar glazing on the windows, blocking the heat and thus keeping an automobile’s interiors cooler.

While this sounds like a pretty “cool” idea initially, it is certainly not without its flaws. To begin with, solar glazed glass does not exactly have a perfect track record. While the California Air Resources Board will tell you everything has been thoroughly tested, others will say that we could be in for some interesting times as far as cell phone and GPS signals are concerned.

The other problem, is even though this is a California regulation, it will most likely become national, considering the difficulty of retooling the manufacturing process just for one state. So in effect this would effect us all to some degree. Let’s look at exactly what this could mean.

The Positive and Negative Effects of Cool Cars
On a positive note, with the solar glazing in place, vehicles are estimated to reduce up to 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. In addition, the new layer will not be noticeable, impede the drivers view, or make the glass thicker. In other words, you won’t even know its there.

Okay, but nothing good comes without the expense of something bad. To begin with, the glazing on the windows may reduce the ability of certain devices to function properly. Theses devices are assumed to be cell phones, GPS devices, criminal ankle bracelets, etc. Now, the Board has already disputed these claims, stating that there tests show no problems, although these tests were neither extensive, or conducted in mountainous areas.

Besides telling consumers the glaze is well tested, they have also offered a few additional solutions to ease consumers minds. For one, only the windshield will be coated up through 2015, allowing signal to make its way through the side and rear windows.

Two, for such items as GPS, toll tag responders, and garage door openers, there will be a non-glazed section of the windshield where the driver can literally cram all these devices within that specified area. Three, the Board claims the GPS ankle bracelets will be unaffected according to initial tests, but some feel there should be more tests done.

Sources say there could be more of this type of (not so well planned) solutions to automobile greenhouses gases coming down the pike. Let’s hope they’re wrong…

Source: LA Times

We’ve had front seat airbags in consumer vehicles ever since the Oldsmobile Toronado hit the showroom floor in 1973. Some of the earlier systems would actually be found to do more harm than good, and would not truly become a popular safety feature until 1988 when Chrysler made them standard fare in all their vehicles. By 1998, gas inflated airbags were mandatory in every car built and/or sold in the USA.

Time went on, and soon side airbags were introduced to protect passengers from the event of a serious side collision. Today, there are airbags that have been designed to protect just about every aspect of a passenger, including their precious knees.

Up until until now, however, all these features have neglected one obvious portion of just about every vehicle… The rear seat passenger.

Ford Rear Seat Airbags
Ford has announced this week that they intend to become the first auto maker to design an airbag specifically for the rear passengers. Visions of bags shooting out from the rear portion of the front seats come to mind, but this is not exactly how these will be designed. In fact, there will be very little bag to inflate period.

The Ford airbags will be a very small tubular sized air cushion sewn into the seat belt strap portion that runs across the front of the chest (as shown in above photo). As a collision occurs, the bags will inflate, creating a buffer zone across the chest and neck, offering more cushion and spreading the force of the belt related impact to more area of the chest.

The end result will be less chance of injury occurring from the narrow seat belt pushing into the chest cavity and the side of the neck. The bags have yet to be tested and approved for use in vehicles, but by most expert opinions, there should be no problems getting them passed. We will likely see these towards the tail end of 2010 on the Ford Explorer.

[Photo via ABC News]