My mom and I rented a 2007 Pontiac G5 while her car was in the shop. This Pontiac had about 2100 miles on it. It had a 2.2 liter engine with 4 cylinders.

The G5 is considered a 5 passenger coupe (2 doors) and it has front wheel drive. It’s comparable to a Honda Civic in terms of what league it’s in.

Features:

You’ll be using regular unleaded fuel in this one. Our G5 had an automatic transmission. It had all season tires; a rear spoiler; bucket front seats with cloth upholstery; a height adjustable driver seat (not power); rear seats that split to fold and seat belts that came off the plastic piece to make it easier to enter the back. Note I said easier. There was an am/fm radio and a single CD player with 4 speakers.

Inside and Outside:

The Pontiac G5 is 179.8 inches long. I had 38.1 inches of front head room and we had 42 inches of front leg room. This was more than adequate. My mom had the seat pushed back and was quite comfortable. However the person who might have wanted to sit behind her would have had to be in a car seat! The person behind me could have been an adult but at 5ָ" I was pretty far forward leaving some leg room in the back.

We had 13.9 cubic feet of cargo room. When I went to put my mom’s grocery cart in and then our groceries I was surprised at the depth of the trunk. It wasn’t as wide as other cars but it was certainly long and deep.

The display was very simple. I liked that the displays were large and easy to see. What I didn’t like was the placement of the emergency brake. There was barely decent storage however one area there was storage was in the arm rest between the front bucket seats. When the arm rest was down which is how I like to drive reaching and moving the emergency brake was awkward. It was possible but to make it the least awkward I would have to lift the middle storage compartment/arm rest.

Our car was a pretty titanium metallic color (light gray). With the spoiler it looked a lot (though they are in totally different leagues) like the 2 door Lexus which has virtually no backseat. We parked next to one and from a distance we could hardly tell the difference.

The fuel tank capacity is 13 gallons with the automatic getting about 24 mpg on the streets and 34 mpg on the highway. A manual will get you a couple more mpg. Not too bad especially when you consider the price of about $15,000.

The basic warranty is 3 years/36,000 miles. The drivetrain is 5 years/ 100,000 miles and there is a 6 year/100,000 miles warranty on rust.

Handling:

This one surprised me. Although you would think that there would be no pick up it had what I consider to be great pickup for this 4 cylinder car. I am always on my most alert while driving in southern Florida. Having pickup to veer around a too close car or to get on the highway is important. The G5 didn’t disappoint me. As a passenger my mom was very comfortable and really liked the car.

I thought the brakes could have been sharper. There was a slight hesitation to them so I made sure not to get too close to the car in front of me.

It handled wonderfully. It was an easy to drive car that hugged the road though we had no rain or icy conditions for me to test it in.

I liked the way it turned. Although the Gold Coast is not known for its rotaries (turnarounds) there were many times that I had to make a tight turn and found the car handled these tight turns well- again looking at it as a $15,000 car.

Safety:

Child safety seat, stability control and side airbags are not available. Antilock brakes are optional. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) gave the Pontiac G5 the following crash test ratings – the numbers equal how well the car did. www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Passenger – 5 stars; driver 4 stars; side impact front – 4 stars; side impact rear – 4 stars and rollover rating 4 stars. I’m not an expert, not a car mechanic, not a tester of cars but I’ve reviewed enough to think that these numbers are good.

Jo’s thoughts:

I thought the GT handled well enough. Sure I felt a bit of body roll but I would expect that in this car. I thought the seats were comfortable. The ride was quiet and smooth.

If you are looking for an inexpensive sporty looking 2-door car (Think young) then this would do. If I were looking for cars I would go for the Honda. I like Hondas better than Pontiacs- my opinion.

Still for the price and with a good safety rating I’ll give this 4 stars especially if your friends don’t mind being squashed.

My other car reviews:

Pontiac Grand Prix ~ 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser ~ 2006 Buick LaCrosse ~ 2005 Nissen Quest ~ Mazda Miata ~ 2004 Mazdaspeed ~ Toyota 4 Runner ~ 2003 Toyota MR2 Spyder ~ 2003 Ford F150 SuperCrew ~ 2003 BMW325I ~ 2000 Nissan Altima ~ 2001 Chevy Malibu ~ 2002 Chevy Prizm ~ 1998 Dodge Ram Van ~ 1996 Nissan Sentra ~ 2001 Pontiac Sunfire ~ 1999 Toyota Camry ~ 2001 Hyundai Accent ~ 1998 Chevy S-10 Pick Up ~ 1999 BMW 323is ~ 2002 Subaru Impreza ~ 2000 Suzuki Swift ~ 2001 Chevy Metro

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