I had a fun rental car this week. The Pontiac Grand Prix surprised me.
I've wanted to be a fan of the Grand Prix for a while. The problem is it's ugly. Really ugly. It's a mid-sized sedan that wants to be a sports car. But it's too long to look sporty. It's usually fun to drive, though.
And the new one I had today is really fun to drive. This car wants to go. It accelerates slowly at first, then takes off. The brakes grab nicely, and it corners well.
It also has some neat toy features. It has a Heads Up Display. The car actually projects your speed, direction, and other details on the windshield. It's like driving a fighter jet.
The information console in the dash displays all the usual data -- miles traveled, gas mileage, time to empty tank, oil life, etc. The Grand Prix also records max G-Forces. So I know at one point I had .72G on acceleration, .60G on deceleration, and .52G on lateral acceleration. I have no idea what I could do with that data, but it is very neat.
Sadly, the machine is still to ugly to be a cool car.
4 comments:
May be ugly, but you could imagine your flying a fighter jet with that display. Sounds fun.
Thanks for sharing. I used to own a GrandAm (coupe), which is somewhat similar to the GrandPrix.
I first loved the car, powerful, demanding, a cool one.
But the quality, mmmmmm, no wonder GM is in trouble. Maintenance cost me a fortune. At that time I also had a Transport. The first 3 years went great and then it all fell apart.
While I wish GM the best of luck, they are in trouble, and I won't buy anything from them before long!
Thanks for the car review! Just what the doctor ordered ;)
@eric s.: It was fun to drive. Still not sure I would ever buy one though.
@remi: I love my Subaru. Those cars have been surprisingly indestructible. I had a Grand Am as a company car a few years back. It seemed to be nothing more than a Cavalier with a whole bunch of extra fiberglass, giving it all the disadvantages for the Cavalier with none of the nimbleness.
@LDK: Let me know when you need a refill on that prescription.
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