We rented a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix to get from New York to Massachusetts. This finishes the cars we had from December 20, 2006 to January 11, 2007.

The features:

The car we rented was the automatic 4-door sedan. It has a 3.8L supercharged V6 engine. This was the GT model which is a step up from the basic model. It is a 5-seater. The car had less than 30,000 miles on it.

The Grand Prix is 198.3 inches long by 71.6 inches wide by 55.9 inches high.

Some of the standard items that the basic model comes with include front wheel drive; 17-inch alloy all season tires; front bucket seats; height adjustable driver seat; rear split bench seat; and split-folding second row seat; OnStar and a rear spoiler.

Inside:

We knew we needed a four door because we were bringing items home with us from our daughter’s apartment. Normally a Pontiac isn’t what I would head for. However I was impressed overall with the GT model.

The specifications on the inside include 38.8 inches of front head room; 54.5 inches of front hip room; 58 inches of front shoulder room and 42.6 inches of front leg room. The back gives you 42.2 inches of rear leg room. This gave my husband and me plenty of room in the front. Looking at the back it would be a bit tight for 3 adults.

The seats went down fully so I could take a nice nap. I didn’t find the seats though to be super comfortable. An addition of lumbar supports for both the driver and the passenger would be nice.

There was a lot of storage space including two cup holders in the back.

It has 57 cubic feet of cargo space. We were not able to get the 3 suitcases we had in the trunk. We were able to with the 2006 Buick LaCrosse.

I loved what I called on paper a cockpit. As a driver I liked the way the displays turned inward. I have a problem leaning over to adjust the temperature or radio station or for that matter taking my eyes off the road. This problem is lessened because the controls are right in front of me.

My husband and I encountered a problem as drivers that perhaps after weeks of driving this car I would get used to. The nice feature of having the radio controls also on the steering wheel became a pain in the neck when I lightly touched the area in the steering wheel where they were located. The radio station kept changing. Ok maybe not a huge deal but an annoyance.

Outside and other information:

I don’t like conservative looking cars. They just aren’t my cup of tea. However the spoiler on the GT made what could be a very boring looking car pretty nice looking.

We drove the blue-green crystal car. It’s nice to know I’m not crazy. At some angles the car looked blue and at some it looked green. It also comes in black; bronzestone metallic; ivory white; liquid silver metallic; sport red metallic and stealth gray metallic.

The fuel tank capacity is 17 gallons. In the city this car got about 19 mpg and on the highway it got 28. We did mostly highway driving once we got out of New York City luckily. In my opinion this car (versus the
2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser) is too big and gets too little mpg to be a city dweller’s car.

Handling:

This supercharged GT certainly had power. There is no doubt about that. I loved the feeling of not being afraid to pass the huge trucks next to me.

The ride was incredibly quiet. I think it may have been one of the quietest rides I’ve had in a long time. Rarely did I hear the outside. The GT has an easy, smooth ride. As a passenger I am always concerned with feeling bumps because I can get carsick. I didn’t have to worry in the Grand Prix.

It even started easily i.e. I hardly heard the car turn over. It held the road alright. I didn’t think there was anything special about this. The brakes were excellent; the car stopped smoothly and quickly.

The turning was smooth. It did well overall.

Warranty:

The basic warranty is 3 years or 36,000 miles. The drivetrain has the same warranty as does roadside. You’ll get 6 years or 100,000 miles on rust.

How does it fare in a crash?

The crash test results from the NHTSA are good for the passenger; average for the driver; average for side impact front; average for side impact rear and good for rollover. The ratings go from excellent to very poor so this car did alright.

My final thoughts:

The Pontiac GT Grand Prix wouldn’t be my first choice. The city gas mileage is too low and it isn’t the style of car I like. However this review is for you. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are driving around 3 adults. It will do if you have one small child – perhaps even two but more than that will be tight.

Having said that if you like Pontiacs and like the way this looks with the spoiler and cockpit features you’ll get it for around $19,000. The price is very good.

For those reasons and the decent crash test ratings I’m bumping up my 3.5 rating to 4 stars.


http://www.edmunds.com
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/NCAP/
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ratings.htm



Other car reviews I have written include

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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