Here are some more pictures of Langley Speedway's glorious past. Today is featured car number 15, a Pontiac Bonneville of local fame. Competing in the sportman or street stock class, the old Poncho saw its fair share of fender rubbing! Stay tuned for more on Langley as Biud Bussiere brings the British Columbia short track back to life!
Pontiac has been designated by GM as its performance brand and the launch of the eagerly-awaited G8 that will spearhead a revival of the American marque, but this might also be the last attempt of sportiness for the brand.
Indeed, GM said there won’t be any Trans AM derived from the Camaro and blamed the stricter CAFE regulations. Likewise Pontiac rear wheel drive models have been put on hold because of the CAFE regulations. Unless they lack expertise in making cars, how would the CAFE regulations stop making rear-wheel drive cars? As said a car dealer to Automotive News, “The plan is being tweaked because of the gas situation,” Lynn Thompson, owner of Thompson Motor Sales in Springfield, Missouri but “I hope they don’t give up on performance because they don’t have to. You can use four-cylinder engines to achieve incredible power.”
GM is using the upcoming CAFE regulations as a smokescreen to hide the fact that they might not have a clear, cohesive product strategy for Pontiac. The CAFE regulations are going to drastically change the entire auto industry, but there are available technologies that GM could use to provide ample power without sacrificing fuel efficiency. It’s hard to believe that an experienced, multi-billion dollar car corporation like GM is having so much trouble defining a brand image for one of its divisions and supplying that division with products that support that brand image.
By canceling the Trans Am, GM kills a bit more the Pontiac brand. When will it disappear?
Holden has started to roll out the G8 model off its production line which is good news for people eagerly-waiting the car to hit the showrooms. 620 vehicles will be built everyday and about half of it will leave the Australian soil.
GM has been very precautions with the G8 saloon as it expects to sell roughly 50,000 cars per year. If there is not enough demand for it, the manufacturer will be able to shift production from the US to other markets where the Holden Commodore is sold. The saloon is labelled Chevrolet in Middle East, Vauxhall on our shores and Daewoo in Korea.
In the US, the saloon will be available with a choice of two petrol engines, a 257bhp 3.6-litre V6 unit for the entry-level and a 357bhp V8 6.0-litre engine. The small engine is associated with a five speed automatic gearbox while the bigger unit gets a six speed automatic transmission. The V8 adopts the Active Fuel Management system which “turns off“ half of the cylinders under light-load conditions to improve fuel economy.
Pontiac has announced the prices for the recently unveiled Vibe which will be on sale in next February. The entry level will start at $15,895/£7,822 followed by the four-wheel drive at $19,495/£9594. The top of the range, the GT will have a price tag of $19,895/£9,791.
GM has unveiled the new Pontiac Vibe at the last Los Angeles Auto Show. Like its sister, the Toyota Matrix, it derives from the ubiquitous Toyota Corolla/Auris. Indeed, the NUMMI joint venture authorizes GM to do the styling, the final calibration and tuning for every new model. Other actions fall to Toyota. Obviously, the Japanese carmaker select the closest components available in its range, which is the Corolla model.
Compared to the previous generation, the new Vibe offers a more customized style and switches from a SUV-like design to a sportier look, especially the GT version. Nevertheless, GM still describes the car as a crossover. This a very silly marketing gimmick.
As said earlier Toyota provides underpinnings and engines, which are based on the Corolla. The entry level gets the 1.8 litre VVTi petrol unit which has an output of 132 bhp and a torque of 128 lb-ft. It is available with a choice of a five speed manual gearbox and four speed automatic gearbox. The sporty version, GT, receives a 2.4 litre engine which produces 158 bhp and a torque of 162 lb-ft. Like the entry level, the GT can get a manual gearbox or an automatic gearbox, but with five speeds. The Vibe is also available with an all-wheel drive transmission, which gets the GT engine but associated with a four-speed automatic gearbox. oddly, the entry level can also be equipped with the GT engine as an option. The rear suspension is different among the versions. The 1.8 litre model has a classic torsion-beam rear suspension while the GT gets a multi-link independent rear suspension.
On the inside, the Vibe keeps the original design, but with an improved quality, at least on pictures. The dashboard is more driver-focused with its gear stick inspired from the Toyota Matrix and Auris. Standard features include the GM StabiliTrak electronic vehicle stability system, a tire pressure monitoring system a dual-stage frontal air bags with a passenger sensing system and, head curtain side air bags, a steering column with telescoping/rake adjustability, a 115-volt, a six-way adjustable driver’s seat and front active headrests. All models are equipped with the latest version of OnStar system.
According to Automotive News, GM will unveil a coupé version of the Solstice next year.
This comes as no surprise as Bob Lutz said in an interview that it would be “a very logical thing to do”. The surprise comes from the fact that nobody expected the car to be available so soon.
The design will not be different from the Solstice concept car unveiled in 2002 but the engine will be more powerful than the current unit available in the roadster. Unfortunately a V6 engine is unlikely to be used. According to insiders a V6 engine is too heavy and would upset the balance of the car.