Fuelly Forums - 2006 Pontiac G6

I can't compete with the prolific RH77... but here is some info I wrote in another thread about a 2006 Pontiac G6 I rented for a month.

2006 Pontiac G6
https://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1...8/028761-E.jpg
From the front, the G6 has a sporty, if not athletic stance.

https://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1...8/028762-E.jpg
The rear is tall and round. The tradeoff of having such a bulbous backyard is a larger trunk.

Overall Impression
The G6 is a comfortable, capable car. It did most everything I asked of it with general ease. Though the car would not have been my first choice, and despite becoming accustomed to Asian and European cars, I found this Pontiac to be an overall pleasant experience.

Pros

Functional, roomy and comfortable.
Mostly easy to operate.
Reasonably good acceleration.
Relatively good gas mileage.
Pontiac finally dropped those idoitic plastic body prosthetics.

Cons

Interior seems a bit plasticy and minimalistic.
Mediocre fit and finish inside and out.
Ergonomics are sometimes obtuse.
Expect much lower than average reliability.
Large turning radius.

https://www.gassavers.org/attachment....1&d=1170905542
The trunk space was really quite impressive. It was nice to be able to fit a lot of gear in back without intruding on the passenger compartment.

https://www.gassavers.org/attachment....1&d=1170905542
Trunk lid lacks the usual hand grip to close it without getting one's hands dirty. While feeling for one, I discovered it does have razor-sharp steel edges.

https://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1...20078068-E.jpg
With that large turning circle of 36 ft., I found that turns I usually am able to make in a single maneuver, required I back up and make K-turns out of them.

https://www.gassavers.org/attachment....1&d=1170905542
It has diffucult to reach front door handles when the doors are wide open. I have really long arms for my height - and I'm 6'1". When I'm sitting in the seat, I could not easily reach the door handle to close the door. I thought it was a bit annoying but guessed that I'd eventually get used to it. I figured I'd have to either get up to go fetch the door handle, or to kinda bring it with me as I sat down in the car.

https://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/1...8/028766-E.jpg
Several times I noticed that the placement of the window switches lent themselves to being accidentally pressed.

If the rear doors had child lock-out safety devices, I was unable to locate them. I read the manual twice and looked all over the doors where the levers were supposed to be.

At the point that I had been driving this car for almost 400 miles I was still wondering why there wasn't a trip odometer. There was a regular odometer within the speedometer, as most cars have, but no trip odo with a tenths of miles digit. Eventually, while fiddling with buttons on the radio, I discovered the missing odometers. There were Trip-A and Trip-B odometers, that could be independently reset, embedded in the radio display. There was also an average MPG readout. The reset function on these readouts was somewhat counter-intuitive. I had to bring up the display I wanted to reset and then press the ENTER button.

When I picked up this car, it had about half a tank of gas in it, making the first gas refill an estimate of gallons and miles at best. It wasn't until I found the mpg readout that I was able to determine my mileage. On a mostly highway trip of about 2 hours, I averaged about 34.8 mpg round trip. After engine warmup, a recent 25 mi. trip of mixed driving in average traffic gave 36.3 mpg one way. Overall, I got about 30 - 32 mpg in mixed driving. I was pretty impressed with the fuel efficiency given that this car is from a low quality leader, has an automagic slush-box tranny with (most likely) short gearing for better acceleration numbers.

Features

Engine - 2.4 Liter inline-4 16 valve fuel injected
Horsepower - 167 hp at 6300 rpm (redline is ~5800)
Torque - 162 ft-lbs. at 4500 rpm
Turning Circle - 36 ft. (!)
Transmission - 4-speed automatic front wheel drive
Front suspension - Macpherson Strut with stabilizer
Rear suspension - Multi-Link with stabilizer
Wheels - 16" steel with plastic hub caps
Spare Tire - Doughnut
Front brakes - Ventilated disk
Rear brakes - Solid disk
Steering - Variable power steering
Cruise control - Controls in steering wheel
Power windows - All 4, express-down driver's window only
Driver seat - Power: height adjustment, manual: fore-aft, back-tilt, lumbar
Windshield wipers - Slow, fast, variable intermittent, pulse
Rear window - Integrated defogger
Headlights - Automatic delay off, automatic On/Off Headlights, daytime running lights
Exterior side mirrors - Power adjustable, triangular in shape
Vanity mirror(s) - Unlighted
AM/FM/CD Radio - Stays on until key is removed and door is opened
Trunk Release - Cable remote
Power outlets - 2 cigarette lighter type
Low fuel light - Somewhat delayed operation
Clock - Digital, in radio
Outside temperature - Digital, in radio
Tachometer - Analog electronic
Speedometer - Analog electronic with single odometer in miles (no tenths mile digit)
Seating Capacity - 5 Passenger
Seating upolstry - Cloth
Front seats - Bucket type
Rear seats - Bench type, split-folding with release in trunk
Front Airbags - Driver and front passenger
Rear Belts - all three 3-Point
Seatbelt - with Pretensioners
Rear headrests - Adjustable
Front headrests - Adjustable
Gas filler door - Unlocked, poorly-fitting
Alarm - Remote keyless with engine immobilizer
Power door locks - Remote keyless, 2 stage
Trunk release - Remote keyless
Panic horn - Remote keyless
Storage - Center console, Box, cubbyhole, and 2 cupholders
Trunk - Cavernous
Door storage - Molded plastic pockets
Seatback storage - Map pockets
Fuel Capacity - 16 gal.
EPA estimates (city/hwy) - 23/34