Most of America is bounded by farmlands and bisected by highways: flat, fast and straight. Perhaps these are the kinds of driving conditions Pontiac's engineers had in mind when they took the G6 and made it into a GXP.
New for 2008, GXP replaces the GTP sport trim level for the G6 sedan and coupe and offers a host of improvements -- chief among them, a 3.6-liter V-6 engine that makes 252 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque. All G6 GXP models also come with GM's Hydra-Matic 6T70 six-speed automatic transmission, performance-tuned suspension, ABS, 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels, and specific exterior and interior goodies that differentiate it from regular G6 models, including leather seats, modified front and rear fascias, unique rocker panels, body-color mirror caps, and dual chrome exhaust tips. The GXP Coupe we borrowed for a few days also came with a special "Street Edition" package that added dual hood scoops and an exclusive spoiler.
And that's where the problems began. To be perfectly frank, jaws dropped and eyes rolled when the GXP first showed up in the MT garage. No one on staff could believe that Pontiac had resorted to its old styling tricks, particularly with the muscular G8 we had only weeks earlier still fresh in our minds.
"Did you see the wing?" and "look at the schnozz..." were the two common refrains, and indeed much of the GXP package does the handsome G6 coupe no favors.
The front-end styling is only the beginning; photographer Vance groped for the appropriate description, "What is that thingie they used to put on the front of trains...?" Cow-catcher is the word he was looking for, and on the GXP it's been accentuated with a buck-toothed beaver grille.
More outlandish is the GXP's jumbo-jet rear wing -- an option included with the $990 Street Edition accessory package. This A380-size aileron seems particularly obnoxious when the car is viewed from any three-quarter position (front or back), but to be fair, it actually doesn't stick out that much. The narrowing taper of the coupe's rump is what makes it look so big; from the driver's seat, you can see that the wing ends don't actually protrude beyond the widest point of the rear fenders. Is the styling subjective? Absolutely. Will some people love the GXP styling? Possibly. But does this car look at least a generation behind the tauter and sexier Pontiac G8? Without a doubt. And that's a problem.