The Fox News 2008 Pontiac G8 GT review is a little late, considering the 2009 G8 has been on dealer lots for a few weeks now; but we’ll take it. In true Fox News fashion, this review IS fair & balanced. Great job Gary Gastelu.

Fox News wastes no time in pointing out that in today’s “green” society, the G8 may feel a little out of place and out of date. We know its not a gas sipper, but EPA estimated 24 mpg on the highway is pretty damn respectable when you’re talking about a 361 horsepower, good ol’ American V8. Thanks to active fuel management that deactivates four cylinders when they’re not needed, the Fox News test car was outperforming the EPA estimates significantly. With the cruise control set at 75 mph, Gastelu was achieving 26 mpg and at 60 mph, a whopping 33mpg! That’s 4 cylinder Camry territory!

The need for Pontiac to reinvent is long over due. The Solstice definitely couldn’t carry that burden alone. So with the Grand Prix being a little dated, and not really establishing a great rep in recent years, it was time to make a change. “The brass at Pontiac called their corporate cousins at Holden, General Motors’ Australian subsidiary, and asked if they wouldn’t mind sending a few of their popular Commodore sedans this way. You see, down under they like big beefy rides just like we do, and the Commodore is available with a Great Barrier Reef-sized 6.0-liter V-8 tucked under the hood”.

Between the “initial phone call” to Holden and finally getting the G8 in the sates, a lot of things happened like rising gas prices, Prius envy (can we coin that?), and CAFÉ standards. According to Fox News, because of these changes “cars like the G8 were suddenly four-wheel bogeymen”.

“It’s a shame because this is a great car — a fantastic car — and probably the best that Pontiac has ever made. Yes, even better than the Bandit’s Trans Am” says Fox News.

On the outside, Gastelu notes the G8 as having a “foreign look” that draws inspiration from the likes of BMM and Saab. The appearance is brawny and powerful without the typical plastic cladding we’ve all come to know and hate from Pontiac’s past.

The powerful pushrod V8 is pure power, however, the tranny is a little slow to react when you first punch it, minimizing the initial “kick in the pants” you would expect. After the initial punch Gastelu says “you might as well be on the North Shore of Oahu catching a 25-foot wave. The rush of power is so smooth and linear that if you didn’t already understand the appeal of large displacement engines, you’ll be ready to trade your surfer-bead necklace for one now. Pontiac claims that this is the most powerful sedan you can buy for under $30,000 and no one is in dispute”.

On the inside, the Fox News writer notes the interior as impeccable and deceivingly enormous, constructed with some of the finest materials.

The Fox News review of the Pontiac G8 is one of the best we’ve read in a while. Please jump on over and check it out in its entirety.

Check out the other Pontiac G8 Reviews at G8Nation.

[Source: Fox News]

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It’s been an exciting week for Pontiac G8 news. Unfortunately, one of our biggest stories this week was our most disappointing. Contrary to reports last week of the 2009 Pontiac G8 GT getting an optional 6 speed Tremec stick, G8Nation confirmed with Pontiac Communications Manager, Jim Hopson, that the 2009 G8 GT would only be offered with a 6 speed automatic. If you want a stick, you’ll have to wait for the 2009 G8 GXP.

There were a few changes in command reported as well. Dave Gibbons will be overseeing Pontiac G8 production in GM’s Asia Pacific region and Holden Executive Director of Manufacturing, Rod Keane, announced his retirement, just as Holden announced the HSV W427, the fastest street legal car in Australia.

Scott Burgess of the Detroit News published his second review of the Pontiac G8. This time he spent a week with the G8 V6 sedan in Florida.

Shortly after getting his driver’s license, Chicago Cubs right fielder, Kosuke Fukudome was spotted driving a 2008 Panther Black Metallic (80U) G8 GT at Wrigley Field. Kosuke took it nice and slow as he exited the parking lot, unlike our friends from GM High-Tech Performance who tuned a stock Pontiac G8 GT to go 0-60 in 5 seconds flat.

Finally, our good friends at GM supplied us with the official 2009 Pontiac G8 colors and color chips.

Keep sending us your Pontiac G8 news and questions.

• 2008 Pontiac G8 0-60
• Official 2009 Pontiac G8 Colors With GM Color Chips
• G8Nation.com Exclusive: No 6 Speed Manual for 2009 G8 GT
• Video - Kosuke Fukudome Drives a Pontiac G8
• Holden HSV W427 - Fastest Street Legal Car in Australia
• Rod Keane Retires - GM Holden Executive Director of Manufacturing
• Review 2008 Pontiac G8 V6 by Scott Burgess
• Dave Gibbons to Oversee G8 Production

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On December 11, 2007, the Chicago Cubs signed Kosuke Fukudome to a four year, $48 million contract. As much as we love the Pontiac G8, we can’t honestly say that it would be our car of choice with that kind of money; however, Cubs right-fielder and lead-off batter, Fukudome would.  Immediately after getting his driver’s license, he spent some of his $48 million on a 2008 Panther Black Metallic (80U) G8 GT.

Add Kosuke Fukudome to our list of celebs who love the Pontiac G8:

1. 50 Cent and his Pontiac G8
2. Vin Diesel drives the G8 in Wheelman
3. Adam Carolla drives a Liquid Red (62U) G8 GT on SpeedTV
4. Amanda Beard will give love to the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST
5. Kosuke Fukudome Drives a Pontiac G8

[Source: G8Board.com]

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For those of you who don’t know, Mike Simcoe is GM’s Global Design Director.

Some background about Mike…after earning is degree in industrial design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Mike Simcoe left Australia and headed to the UK where he obtained a job at Ogle Design. While at ­Ogle, his design portfolio included everything from baby strollers to helicopters. In 1983, he returned down under where a friend convinced him to accept a job on the design team at Holden where he initially worked on vehicle interior design.

Simcoe rapidly made a name for himself at Holden and was named senior designer in 1985 and chief designer at Holden in 1987. He came to the US for the first time in 1990 and before he returned to Oz in 1992, he conceived the Buick Sceptre concept.

He flew under the radar back at Holden for a few years until 1998. Things changed in 1998 when the Commodore Coupe concept was revealed. It morphed into the ‘01 Holden Monaro. Simcoe recalls, “That’s the one project that changed things for me, and made me really visible to GM. It was purely an inside design job where we knifed and forked a coupe together out of the Commodore sedan.” Although the plan called for vehicle profitability with sales of just 4,500 coupes, when production ended in 2005, the Monaro had sold 55,000 units. The curiosity of GM management was piqued by what they were doing down under

Bob Lutz visited Holden, where he was Simcoe and his team working on the Commodore VE, “The first from-the-ground-up production car Holden had ever done,” Simcoe says. It was also the car that was so appealing to Lutz that it became the basis of the Pontiac G8. (The Monaro had been translated into the Pontiac GTO.)

In this video, Mike Simcoe narrates a 3:48 second walk around of some of the 2008 Pontiac G8 exterior design cues.

[Video Source: Car Buyer's Notebook]

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I guess we need to create a new category called “G8 Related Crimes”. First we had the story about Robert Steinmiller who stole a brand new 2008 Pontiac G8 GT from a dealership lot, only to be found by police with the aid of OnStar.

Today we bring to you a story about another 2008 Pontiac G8 GT owner who is on the wrong side of the law. A yet-to-be-identified suspect in Little Havana Florida, not happy with the increasing price of gas, took matters into his own hands and decided to help the community by reducing the price of gas. This “Robin Hood” rigged the fuel pump at a local Citgo station to supply free premium gas to at least 7 cars.

Frank Veloso Sr., the owner of the gas station said , “…a man rigged a fuel pump, allowing people to steal an estimated 100 gallons of gas.” “I lost $1,000. It’s not right, people stealing gas,” Veloso said.

“It’s not our fault that the prices of gas have gotten so expensive, but now because of the expenses that we have to incur to protect ourselves, it only makes sense that we’re going to have to raise prices even more,” said Frank Veloso Jr., the owner’s son.

Local police have yet to identify the owner of the White Hot (11U) 2008 Pontiac G8 GT. According to Veloso, its because they have not yet seen the surveillance video. If you know any police at the Little Havana PD, please send them over here to peep the vid.

[Source: Kare 11]

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Ok…so we’re kicking ourselves right now because we came across the “The Making of the Pontiac G8 Spy Hunter Video” video back on May 1. We’ve had it on our “to do” list, but simply never got around to publishing it on G8Nation. Maybe if we had more writers (hint hint), we would have been the catalyst that started the fuss over this story earlier this week…umm…except it would have been 4 weeks ago.

We hang our heads in shame and apologize to the G8 community for not getting this info out sooner. So now we wait to break our next big story and hope that it gets picked up by AutoBlog. If you have any G8 related stories, please share them with us. We’ll give you props and make you famous overnight.

Anyway…back to the vid.

So Leo Burnett of Digitas has struck gold with this video. He has been trying to bounce back from the the embarrassing Cadillac Escalade Super Bowl commercial a few years back and it looks like he did it. The Spy Hunter video is great to watch, but getting a chance to see “behind the scenes action” is somehow even cooler. Witnessing the transformation of the G8 into “The Interceptor”, the driving simulator, etc. makes us want to see more of these vids.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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