2007 Pontiac Grand Prix

2007 Pontiac Grand Prix

GM seems to have a lot of random brands, and no one seems to know what each brand is supposed to “specialize” in. If you look at Toyota, things are pretty simple; Toyota for the “normal” cars, Lexus for the “luxury” cars, and Scion for the “youth” cars. GM on the other hand have Chevy, which I’m no longer certain if it’s the normal car branch of GM or the cheap car branch; Cadillac, which is American luxury apparently; Saturn which used to be the cheap branch, but with the addition of rebadged Opels from Europe Saturns aren’t that cheap anymore; Buick… I really have no idea, maybe the less luxurious Cadillac; and GMC, which as far as I can tell are just all the Chevy trucks and SUVs sold with a different badge. Then we get to Pontiac. With the exception of the G8 and the old GTO, which are rebadged Holdens from Australia, Pontiacs are essentially Chevys with prettier bodies. There was a point in time when Pontiac was the sporting branch of GM, but honestly 90% of their line up is no sportier than a fat man eating chips.

The car I’m here to review today is quite ironically named. The Grand Prix name makes this car sound like it’s something quite special, and as if it would be more at home at Daytona, rather than a day trip, but that definitely isn’t the case…

Positives (sort of): Okay I’ll make this short, because there’s no other way to do it. Now, if you’re looking for a car so big that parking becomes a bit of an issue, this is a car to consider. The Grand Prix is incredibly cheap too, considering the size, and if you buy one you can tell your friends “Yes, I have an enormous car with an enormous trunk… which is quite practical for the family outing and I only paid about 20k.” These days, you’ll be lucky to get a well equipped Mini Cooper for 20k, but if you go with the Pontiac, you get what’s essentially a full sized sedan for the same money. However, in this instance it’s like being able to buy 20 pounds of oatmeal for $20; very filling and it can feed you for a long time, but most people would rather have a $20 steak instead.

Negatives: Since the Grand Prix is a sheer monstrosity on the outside, you really have to ask yourself why on earth the interior is so small. It’s far from being a squeeze festival but if you compare the interior space to the exterior dimensions of the car it’s astonishingly small. What’s worse is that the interior feels smaller than it really is. If you climb into a Camry, you get the feeling that you can swim inside the car, and that’s a good job considering the Camry is a smaller car!

Now if you’ve ever read a review I’ve written about a Toyota’s interior, you’ll see me use words like “quality,” “ergonomic,” and “well laid out,” but there’s no need for that vocabulary in the Grand Prix. The interior trim is simply appalling because it is made of plastics so cheap, that Barbie dolls suddenly think they have real breast. What makes it all worse is that Pontiac decided to make all the plastic bits a bit bumpy, which actually makes everything look even cheaper. Then there’s the layout of the dash itself, which is a mess. There’s air vents placed in a completely random fashion; there’s really small knobs and randomly placed buttons making it hard to make any mid-drive adjustments to the AC or radio; also, despite having a really large gauge cluster, the odometer readout is located on a separate display off to the right!

Well, enough about aesthetics and onto if the Grand Prix lives up to its sporting name… and oh dear… The one thing American cars usually have in the sporting department is power, and it’s no different with the Grand Prix. For the same money as a very basic Camry, 6, Altima, or Accord you get a large 3.8 liter V6 engine churning out 200 hp rather than a puny 2.3-2.5 liter I4. However, there’s a very good reason why GM can offer you a V6 for I4 money… this engine is plain crap. First off the fuel consumption is hilariously bad given the power rating… then, there’s the fact that Honda gets 190 hp out of the 2.4 liter engine in its Accord, which should make the folks at GM feel a bit embarrassed. Sure the Honda is down massively on Torque, but you have to remember, the Accord’s engine is smaller by 1.4 liters… and a 1.4 liter engine can make small European hatchbacks fly. What’s more is that the engine is really heavy and unsophisticated; add on the massive weight of the rest of the car and the Grand Prix will struggle to keep up with a Japanese mid-size sedan… of course if you get the GXP model with a big V8 the story will be a bit different, but so will the price.

I’m usually a proponent of handling rather than straight line speed, so perhaps the Grand Prix can claw back some points by proving to be more of an alpine handler rather than a dragster. Sadly, I’m going to have to say it can’t. I’ll be the first to admit that the Grand Prix is a better drive than a Camry… most things are… but compared to a 6, a sports car this isn’t. The reason for this is the fact that the Grand Prix has a big heavy engine over the front wheels and this really spoils the weight balance. In addition this enormous boat of a car is front wheel drive so the recipe for under steer is in the car’s design. I’m not going to talk about the steering and pedal feel because there isn’t any, so in all this isn’t an inspiring car to drive.

Conclusion: This review was a bit harsh because the Grand Prix isn’t a horrible car, but the problem is being okay doesn’t cut it anymore, especially when you can go and buy something better for around the same price. The only way the Grand Prix would make sense over an Accord or a 6 is if you like the idea that you can nearly jam a mattress in the trunk, or if for some reason you feel that a mid-size sedan just isn’t big enough and you only have around 20k to spend. However, if you want an utterly enormous sedan for cheap might I suggest the Ford Taurus instead?

Summary:

The Good: This car is properly big

The Bad: Size isn’t everything apparently…

Verdict: Well, if you want a large Pontiac… save up some money and get a G8!

Random stats:

Engine: 3.8 liter V6, 200 hp, 230 lb-ft torque

EPA Estimates: 18/26

2007 Toyota Matrix

2007 Toyota Matrix

I’m not 100% certain where the “sport wagon” idea came from, but it certainly was an odd idea. Of all of the things we can classify as “cars” (things that aren’t trucks, minivans, SUVs, etc) the station wagon is definitely the last thing you would expect for a can manufacturer to sell as the sporting model of the lineup. Despite this, Mazda has been able to sell this idea with great success with the Protégé5 and the Mazda3 “Sport Wagon;" then, Toyota decided to pick up on the idea. They took the mundane Corolla, decided to make a sport model of it, but made it in the shape of a wagon for some reason. Sure there is the Corolla XRS sedan, but we all know that Toyota really meant for the Matrix to hold the sporty pretensions.

The real question is “did it work?” Well you can certainly tell Toyota was trying. The Matrix has funky, “sporty” looks, bigger wheels than the Corolla, and the option of the high revving 2ZZ-GE engine out of the Celica GT-S. Things were firmed up and Toyota was really trying hard to advertise it as a “sport wagon” everywhere you looked. That’s all well and good, but in the end the answer to the question is yes, I mean no, definitely no… you’ll see what I mean after you read the rest of the review.

Positives: This car is easily a better, brisker drive than the normal Corolla. The body roll has been greatly reduced in the corners, the steering is sharper, and the pedal response is much better. More importantly, the Corolla tends to have rather twitchy handling but that has been solved here. If you nudge the steering wheel for a small correction, a normal Corolla tends to twitch about for a bit, but the Matrix... doesn’t! Everything about the Matrix is much sharper and more solid than the Corolla which it’s based on and that’s a good thing.

Once you crack open the doors you’ll find that the interior space on the matrix is huge. You can easily fit in bikes, medium sized furniture pieces, and other things inside; so, this is definitely a practical car. What’s more, when you sit down you’ll find the driver’s seat is very comfortable and body hugging like on any proper sports car.

The basic 1.8 liter 126 hp engine under the hood isn’t very powerful but that VVT-I business Toyota stuck on it has made it a decent power plant. The Matrix isn’t hugely fast, but that little engine is definitely gutsy enough to make the car feel reasonably quick. There’s loads of low down power which can make you snap into your seat from take off and that’s rather surprising from an engine with such weak torque figures. It genuinely is a good engine.

Oh dear I fear I ran out of good things to say about the Matrix…



Negatives: Usually when you make a car sporty, you’d want to give it a nice low down driving position to at least make the car feel like a sports car before you even start the engine… how did Toyota get this part so wrong? When you first get into the Toyota Matrix, you’ll notice that you’re sitting higher than people in SUVs. This means that you have to scoot the seat up much closer to the dashboard than most cars in order to reach the pedals, and this winds up giving you the same sort of driving position bus drivers are accustomed to.

Now I know that Pontiac makes a sister car to the Matrix called the Vibe, but that’s no excuse for Toyota to start using low end materials for the interior. You can tell that Pontiac was responsible for designing the interior because those odd shapes and random air vents are textbook Pontiac, but seriously why did Toyota decide to use the same materials? This is the first Toyota I’ve driven that has felt plain cheap on the inside. The dashboard and other bits of the car for that matter are made completely from really hard scratchy plastics. You won’t find any of this cheapness in the normal Corolla, so it’s a bit of a shame that it’s here in the Matrix with huge neon signs pointing at it.

I did say earlier that the Matrix feels shaper to drive than the Corolla, but the steering wheel is completely lifeless and feels like it’s turning the car via remote control. The gas and brake pedals are quite responsive but they’re so light, that you just can’t tell how far you’re pressing down on them. These things instantly kill any fun this car could have been capable of bringing, which honestly wasn’t all that much.

The Matrix just feels way too heavy to be an actual sports car. Even really heavy sports cars like the Nissan GT-R (yes a completely different league but it’s relevant) feel nimble and light despite the weight; however, the Matrix feels heavier than it actually is which is quite a difficult feat to pull off! The driving dynamics are on paper more composed than the Corolla but you always feel that extra weight through the corners and when you’re accelerating. Something about that weight really upsets the feel of the car and makes it feel “wonky.” If you go through a corner at speed you almost get the feeling the car is saying “okay, I can do that but I don’t want to do it again.” This sounds counter intuitive, but it’s seriously how I feel… the less sharp less sporty Corolla drives better and feels more fun.

Conclusion: Yes the Matrix is a sportier sharper wagon version of the Corolla, but Toyota seriously could have done much better. The real shame is that all the charm that you’d normally find in a Corolla has gone. The normal Corolla isn’t a driver’s car by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a weird essence of fun to it which is completely missing in the Matrix.

The only reason I can think of for getting a Matrix over a standard Corolla is for the extra space, but even then I would be telling people to head over to Pontiac instead. The Vibe is essentially the same car only cheaper and with a longer warranty, which makes it better. Overall though, go with a Mazda3 wagon. It’s roughly the same price, it’s more powerful, it’s better equipped, drives a million times better, and it doesn’t feel cheap on the inside.

Summary:
The Good: Very spacious… and yeah…
The Bad: This is just a wagon… that sport bit is a lie
Verdict: How did Toyota let this happen?

Random Stats:
Engine: 1.8L I4, 126 hp, 122 lb-ft torque
EPA Estimates: 30/36 (old EPA standard)

2008 BMW 328i

2008 BMW 328i

If you’ve read enough of my reviews you’ll know that I’m not the biggest fan of the average BMW driver. The vast majority of people who buy BMWs only buy the car for the badge, and generally people who buy stuff only for the brand value aren’t the nicest people you’ll ever run into because they’re trying hard to show how their life is turning out to be a rounding success compared to yours. The irony about buying a 3-series BMW though is that you’re not actually showing the world that you’re rich and successful… you’re actually telling everyone you’re a bit of a fraud. I mean if you buy the cheaper Toyota Camry, no one will ever inquire about your financial stability, but buying a 3-series somehow raises questions. The reason for this is simple. If you are actually well off and somewhat rich, you’d probably have the larger more comfortable 5-series BMW, but having a 3-series kind of gives the impression that you bought one because you aren’t actually rich but you want to look it. Of course, things are even worse if you get a 1-series!

Fortunately, there’s actually a good car hidden behind that BMW badge. You would be hard pressed to find a car reviewer who doesn’t like driving a BMW 3-series. Most people in this profession use the 3-series as a benchmark in which to measure other cars with, because it’s just that good and BMW has made its name in making sport sedans, so they’re unlikely to ever screw it up. The 3-series has led its class in driving dynamics ever since dinosaurs roamed the planet, and that’s quite a feat. Now though, it must face the ultimate test, because finally, I got my hands on one.

Positives: Now, the 3-series as I’ve said is praised by nearly everyone in the world for its excellent driving ability, and I have to say it’s all absolutely true. Great driving always starts from the steering wheel and the way it feels in your hands, and the BMW 328i has everything right. The steering wheel is fat rimmed, heavy, and very sports car-esque. The steering response is razor sharp and if you turn the wheel even the slightest bit the car will change directions. If you’re a heavy coffee drinker with shaky hands that might seem bad; but if you aren’t, it’s quite a good thing to have because the car will turn exactly to where you point the wheel, and that lets you carve corners with greater precision. Also, every time you take a turn, the steering wheel will give you all the feed back and information you could ever want and it let’s you know that if you wanted to, you could probably go around that same turn about 100 mph faster. Even if you do take a turn at an insane speed, the car doesn’t roll at all, and you never get the sense that you’ll ever overstep the bounds of what the chassis can handle. The car always remains planted and composed, so in the end you’re left with just pure driving fun.

In addition to the fantastic handling, the brake feel is excellent, the throttle response is superb, and the engine has plenty of power for you play around with. However, with 230 hp on tap in a car roughly the same size of a Corolla, I thought the 328i would be a lot quicker than it was. The car is still more than quick enough for the average person but for some reason it doesn’t feel quick, and in my world of avoiding speeding tickets, the feeling of speed is much more important than actual figures.

Another aspect that really adds to the driving experience is the seats which hug you in a race car fashion. If you’re wondering why I think this is a good thing… A. I think it’s more comfortable that way and B. It makes sure you don’t slide out of your seat when you’re cornering too quickly. With that said, if you’re considered to be on the fat side, you may find the seat to be a little… shall we say, non form fitting.

To summarize, I almost couldn’t believe that I was driving a four door sedan, because I’ve driven sports cars that have felt less sporty. I can easily see why the world’s automotive press love this car because this is a genuinely good car to drive. It’s a bit of a shame though that most people who own one probably don’t know just how good a driver’s car this really is.

Negatives: So I’ve established that the 3-series is an excellent car to drive, but unfortunately that’s where the fun ends. Most of what I’m about to complain about I wouldn’t complain about normally, but in a car costing this much, it has to be said. The base price of a 328i is around 32k (my test car was the base model) which is a lot for a small car. You can argue that since the BMW is a luxury car, a lot of the cost can be justified but I really think it can’t because there’s nothing at the 32k level that you can’t find in a mid level Civic. Also, if you do go ahead and add in all the options you’d normally want in a luxury car, you could have purchased a beach house instead.

If you want an example of things that are missing, there’s zero leather in the base model. The seats are made from a fancy vinyl and even the steering wheel lacks cow skin. I can’t think of any other car with some sort of sporting pretension that doesn’t have a leather steering wheel. In fact I can’t think of any car over 20k that doesn’t have a leather wheel. What’s worse is that BMW has added fake stitching to the plastic steering wheel to sort of mimic the leather wheel, which I think makes it feel plain cheap.

Sure this car has power windows and remote locks, but so does every car costing over 20k. Another thing cars costing over 20k have is a power seat, but there isn’t one in the base 3-series! BMW does have a reputation of making nearly everything an optional extra, but wow. If the base car was something like 25k this wouldn’t seem so bad, but it isn’t. Also, this high base price wouldn’t seem nearly as bad if Lexus didn’t make the IS250 because the base IS costs 32k as well, but it has leather everywhere and it has power seats and many other things the BMW doesn’t have as standard.

For the size of this car, the backseats offer reasonable leg room and the trunk size isn’t too bad. In fact I’d call it spacious compared to the Lexus IS, but let’s not forget the simple Toyota Corolla is actually larger all around. Sure the Corolla is in a completely different class, but you have to bear these things in mind when you’re going to be spending this much money on a small car.

Conclusion: So the 3-series is everything that I thought it was… an excellent driving overpriced, tiny car that only makes sense if you care about the badge value or if you just have some extra cash to blow. If you want a proper sports sedan, with leather, with power seats, with GPS etc for around or less than 32k, what’s wrong with a Mazda6 s? Sure the 6 doesn’t drive quite as well as the 3-series but it’s certainly good enough to make you feel like you’re not missing out on anything. Sure saying I drive a Mazda doesn’t have the same wow factor as saying I drive a BMW, but like I said before, no one will ever question how well off you are in a Japanese mid-size, and pretty much no one will think you’re a jerk for driving one.

Summary:

The good: Absolutely excellent to drive

The bad: The price is rather steep

Verdict: If you think the drive is worth the extra money it’s a hard car to fault

Advice: If you really want one, find a good lease offer rather than purchasing one... it's cheaper that way

Random Stats:

Engine: 3.0 Liter I6, 230 hp, 200 lb-ft torque

EPA Fuel Estimates: 19/28