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With the Grand Prix,
Pontiac attempted to blend the virtues of a sporty coupe with those of a
family sedan, and failed spectacularly. Instead of mixing the two vehicles’
strong points, it incorporated their weakest ones into the vehicle, leaving
it with the poor visibility and rear seat space that results from the car’s
coupelike styling, and the stiff ride that results from the firm suspension
tuning. But the Grand Prix is still a rather large car, and still handles
like one. The only positive sporty quality that made it into this vehicle
was the reasonably powerful V6, and even that is only a standard-issue GM
powertrain.
As noted, the Grand Prix
rides very stiffly. Bumps and other road imperfections are poorly filtered,
and the ride feels unsettled even at highway speeds on smooth pavement. Road
and engine noise are pronounced, but wind noise is reasonably well-muted.
The car's firm suspension tuning prevents excessive body roll in cornering,
but the slow and unresponsive steering keeps the car from feeling sporty,
and it feels its size in fast turns. The 3.8-liter V6 at least delivers
prompt acceleration, the only remotely sporty aspect of the driving
experience, but even that area it falls well short of many competitors. Fuel
economy isn’t bad for a large sedan with a large V6, but the Grand Prix gets
poor gas mileage by this group’s standards.
Inside, the front seats
are adequately comfortable, but the poorly-contoured seat cushion feels
lumpy, and a bit too firm. And the rear seat is one of the worst in this
group, less-comfortable than most compact sedans'. The sporty roofline eats
into the headroom, and the seat had to be mounted quite low to compensate,
which, along with the short cushion and minimal leg and foot space, destroy
any levels of seat comfort. The high window line further diminishes rear
passenger visibility, especially for smaller occupants.
The dash is coated in cheap, hard plastic trim pieces that at least fit
together well. The instruments are angled towards the driver, and are
generally simple to use. The gauges are quite clear and notably large.
Getting in and out of the front seats is fairly easy, but the low roof and
small footwell greatly complicate entry/exit to the rear. The driver sits
comfortably, but the sloping windowline inhibits rearward visibility. The
trunk is roomy at least, the only merit to emerge from the vehicle’s size.
The Grand Prix straddled
this group’s price limit, coming in at $20,940, and isn’t especially
well-equipped at that price. It lacks safety features like side airbags and
stability control, which are only offered and higher trims of the car, but
does include GM’s OnStar driver assistance system, automatic headlights, a
6-way power driver’s seat, and alloy wheels.
Overall, the Grand Prix
is a large sedan priced among inexpensive midsize ones. Yet in favor of
sporty pretensions, it eliminates all possible large sedan benefits, such as
a comfortable ride and a roomy interior. It is also priced rather high to
make room for the smaller (but superior) G6 to slot beneath it in the
Pontiac lineup. Also consider the car’s poor safety ratings and gas mileage,
and the Grand Prix’s few merits are completely insufficient to save it from
ranking dead last here.
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