MotorWeek Road Test: 2009 Pontiac SLP Firehawk

[redneon06]

It looks alot cooler than the Cruze

[fujixsempai]

wHat CAR  do u drive dude

me- TEH FIRE HAWKKKKKKKKKK BABY...

U- SHHE WALK AWAY HE I RETARDED.

[LTRules21]

this is much faster than i expected, 4 sec to 60! 12 sec 1/4! damn

[DrClaw77]

Though the (IMO) inappropriate use of the "Firehawk" name was another example of GM marketing fail, there is nothing about this car that sucks. Pontiac getting ditched in favor of Buick was a joke. Pontiac was the best outlet for Holden in the USA, and the pure Aussie cars are some of the most awesome cars to ever come out of the GM umbrella. I think as a Chevy, it would kind of feel watered down -- esp. since GM seems to get skittish when anything gets into "Corvette" performance territory.

[baureihe151]

Since Pontiac removed the firebirds, they only built crap cars!

This pontiac is only an asian car in my eyes..........no american style :-(

I hope that pontiac will come back, but please delete this fucking asian designs!!

If GM is an american company, they should sell and show that to the customers, also here in Austria/Europe!

[chfpontiac]

@baureihe151 Huh?? "Asian designs"? The G8 (Commodore) is actually an Australian Holden GM design. Unless you never read a car magazine or opened your own two eyes over the last 3-4 years, the G8 was more of a Euro performance design than anything GM had ever sold in the USA (ever heard of the BMW 5 series?). You'd think being from Europe youd know that! Firebirds didnt sell & went away in 2002 for a reason: they were junk. Fast & pretty but terrible design. And yes ive owned Firebirds & a G8

[tobythesandwich]

This car is so fail. Not the performance. Just that it's gotten the "firehawk" name when it really didn't deserve it all that much. I am sure people will disagree with me and they are welcome to that opinion. But it's almost as shameful as GM slapping "SS" on naturally aspirated Cobalts.

[gittyupalice96]

barly any body roll... LMAO! i saw the thing almost draggin its plastic bumper on the ground every time it turned. its a stupid ass car, but i think id drive it lol

[sexyboi142]

...a firehawk was made from the G8?? o_O

[ford4point0]

Firehawk died in 2002

[170toad]

Disrespect for the firehawk name and it's only quicker because it has the supercharger. If they would've out the supercharger on the lt4 models of the firehawk then there would be no competition at all but yeah it is a firehawk due to the package

[kaschalk]

I own a firehawk. This is not a firehawk.

[Juicytone86]

nice car Pontiac FTW!

[Gordfozzfoster]

The Camaro and Firebird "F" body cars were made in St Theresse Quebec Canada. The new 2010 Camaro and G8 are based on the Australian Holden Zeta platform. ASC will make a Trans Am body kit for your new Holden Zeta camaro. ASC made the WS6. SLP made the RS/SS camaro...and Firehawks.

[TehVikingsOwn]

what allows this to be called a Firehawk if its not a Firebird?

[BigCM06]

this is NOT a Firehawk.

this is a joke.

[loudblazer]

@BigCM06 what are you talking about?

[sixstringCM06]

@loudblazer it's not a Firehawk. simple as that. it's a wanna-be that doesn't deserve the Firehawk badge.

[loudblazer]

@sixstringCM06 Ok, well idk what your def. of "firehawk" is, but a 5 seater sedan that runs a 12.1 at 124 is amazing! So it might not be a firehawk to you but its an amazing machine that rivals any super sedan, and the performance is very close to first year GTR.

[sixstringCM06]

@loudblazer you're right. it's a nice car. no one is debating its merits.

it just shouldn't be called a Firehawk. just like the new Camaro shouldn't be Camaro, and the new Charger shouldn't be Charger.

I feel like they're fucking with tradition. they should just come up with new model names instead of trying to curry favor by pandering to fans of the old models.

[ryanmtanner]

I want this

[macktenful]

They need a rearwheel drive impala with this package

[TheTrinibuggy]

the Australian version to this car looks so much better..man does America get crap!!

[sexyboi142]

@TheTrinibuggy the aussie version is nearly identical

[TheTrinibuggy]

@sexyboi142 not in my opinion..the aussie version is sexier..especially the bathurst version.

[alannapmahoney]

hey



[alannapmahoney]

OMG its a sunfire with a V8 what a joke

[sexyboi142]

@alannapmahoney no its not. the G5 is a sunfire dumbass

[ptwxxx]

@sexyboi142 Actually... correctly stating... The G5 is a rebadge Cobalt, a successor of the Sunfire/Cavalier. That's like calling a G8 a Bonneville or a Grand Prix or calling a G6 a Grand Am.

[sexyboi142]

@ptwxxx the G5 and cobalt are just bubbly J-bodies. its essentially a cavalier.

[tobythesandwich]

@sexyboi142 Wrong. The Cobalt and G5 are not J-Bodies. Not are they "essentially" cavaliers. The G5, Cobalt, and Ion all were built on the GM Delta platform. Not the J-Body.

[sexyboi142]

@tobythesandwich shape wise...they are j-bodies.and the G5 and cobalt may be on a new platform but they are stuck in its past life, the car it replaced. THE CAVALIER! i've parked my DD (02' cavi coupe) right next to a cobalt coupe and thought..hmm the cobalt is just a fat version of the cavalier....

[tobythesandwich]

@sexyboi142 Not really. They are heavily revised exteriors and interiors. the Cavalier's belt line isn't near as high, the greenhouse isn't as tall, the front and rear styling has nothing in common. There's no real styling in common between these cars.

and shape has nothing do with it's platform. They are still Delta cars, not J-bodies.

[studpuppy69]

@tobythesandwich The Cobalt is the biggest scam going, tis nothing but a Cavalier with different head lights and tail lights. GM didn't wanna spend alot of money. They both do poorly in crash tests, go figure. The motor will outlast a Chrysler, but start looking for another car after 150k if you even get that far...

[tobythesandwich]

@studpuppy69 No it's NOT a cavalier. The Cobalt/G5 are both on the Delta platform. Not the J-platform. The only thing they "might" have in common is an engine option. Nothing else is the same between those cars.

And they last fine when you take care of them. So do Cavaliers.

[Slipknotyk06]

@studpuppy69 - Cobalt was ground-up a different design than the Cavalier. It just happens to fill the same niche. The Cavalier was outdated. Much of the vehicle remained the same between its beginning circa 83 and the end of the run. The thing lacked character, lacked identity, and lacked soul. I owned an 86 and my friend had an 01. We found the vehicles to be different mostly aesthetically. The driving experience remained the same - poor.

[dodge69874]

OMG, tell me they didn't just call that gay ass G8 a Firehawk. This is just wrong.

[JoshSTEELERS]

How is that disrespect to the name? Its alot quicker than the firebird firehawk and its even quicker than the 2009 cadillac cts-v in the quarter mile.

[BLACKLACDTS]

firehawk is just the name of the package. who cares! it ran 12.1 @124mph which means it can run low 11's with that mph! this car is no fuckin joke!

[rg87ta]

Nice car but WTF? I am sure with a little more creativity, they could have come up with another name. Its like th gto. Another nice car but they should have called it a grand prix super coupe or something. I feel it would be the same as someone calling a suped up camaro a Z06, watch the vette guys get upset!

[JobeMinacum]

That fat, heavy, shitty-handling, 4 door POS is a Firehawk? NO. This is a disgrace to all the firehawks since 92.

[SuperColossal33]

@JobeMinacum

Bad handling? A G8 can keep up with a BMW M5 and destroy every other Sedan on the planet in it's price range.

However calling it a Firehawk is still stupid.

[2002regalgs]

@JobeMinacum Yeah, it's such a disgrace that it blows all the old ones into the weeds. Get a life, you tool, no one gives a crap about the name.

[JobeMinacum]

@2002regalgs Actually a lot of people do, loser. Take your little regal and sell it back to your grandmother. Look on this page, look at all the comments saying "total disrespect to the firehawk namesake" and others like that. Get a real car before you start mouthing off, you're a disgrace to the world. Do the world a favor and end your worthless life.

[2002regalgs]

@JobeMinacum Wow, I must have hit a nerve tool-man. It's just a car you idiot, no one cares about the precious Firehawk name (crap, almost no one has ever even HEARD of it) Be very careful of wishing death unto others as the good Lord will oftentimes visit your curse upon you or someone close to you. Wow, you really ARE a clueless fool to wish that on anyone much less over a lousy car!

[JobeMinacum]

That fat, heavy, shitty-handling POS is a Firehawk? NO. This is a disgrace to all the firehawks since 92.

[BIGGREENLEAF1]

GM dropped the ball with this one, it is a total disrespect to both the real Firehawk and the Trans/AM name. It wasn't good enough that GM killed these cars off but then to disrespect their memory and name???

[leotllz]

firehawk? This looks like GM wanted to compete with BMW's M3!

[VayLoc310]

I'm sorry, but no car deserves to wear the Firehawk badge other than the Trans Am Firebird! This G8 is beautiful, no doubt, but when you hear the Firehawk name, you automatically think Firebird Trans Am!

[blown0883]

i want this car.. idk if its the 6cyl

[GordonStudent]

I guarantee that there is no way that it will trap 124mph at any raceway. NO WAY. This car weighs close to 4000lbs and you need more than 500hp to the wheels alone to trap that high. A Z06 Corvette with 505HP and probably 465 to the wheels needs that much to trap over 120mph and it weighs about 3100lbs. No doubt this is an error and it should have been 114mph, as I have seen Pontiac claim in other reviews that it traps 115mph. NO WAY 124mph. A G-Tech would possibly read that high, they always do

[yellowmusicfreak]

6.0L? In a family car? Overkill. I don't think I'd ever have any desire for such....6.0s belong in Vettes and trucks. If I have the need to hit 60 in the 4 second range, I'll get a Shelby GT500 that looks way better IMO. Or a Vette.....

[Darkerheavens]

That is a 1993 Pontiac GrandAm and a Cavelier. It looks like a grandma's car.

[FDallaround]

@Darkerheavens get in and step on the gas, you will think otherwise...

[Darkerheavens]

Ha, yeah, even I admit.. I envy the motor: I want it in my firebird.

[FDallaround]

no, i want it in my firebird, but then again, i like the 3.8 for reliability, but then again, what, like 600 hp right? damn, tough choice...

[redhead5150]

Hate the body style! Looks like a done up Cavalier, designers sucked on this one. All the power but needs a Trans Am style body!!!!

[gs400s]

2 doors please

[Jim4575]

Unfortunately they don't sell well as more people want a sedan and insurance companies hate 2 door cars. They once charged a guy the same insurance rate as a CR-X when he had a Civic 2dr DX.

Now this is one badass Ponitac , this is a true collectors item. I've never seen it up here (Canada) but I wish they had. Sad to see Ponitac discontinued , I thought maybe Chevy. Oh! Well. GM had to many brands anyway. I guess the 300M is going to need a V10 to compete with that. Warp drive!!!

[XmodHotRod]

This car is impressive, but come on, the Firehawk name should have stayed with the Firebird. Real Pontiac fans know that this was just a lame marketing scheme to fill the performance void during Pontiac's last couple of years. There was no more Firebird or GTO, so we had to settle for a perfomance sedan instead of a musclecar. :(

[mushaka04]

Este es el Pontiac G8 gxp.

[L4TIn0St4NdUp]

lol it says pure pontiac this aint not shitty gm car its a Vauxhall but rebadged under pontiac name just as the Toyota Matrix rebadged under Pontiac Vibe

[dwalke26]

Now why couldn't GM send the Impala back to rear wheel drive, and do something like this for Chevy.

[Mightymopar1973]

Very, very impressive #'s, but the damn price is ridiculous considering it won't take much to get an LS1 powered F-body to run those 1/4 mile #'s.

[yurifiero]

I saw one of these yesterday so I had to look it up snice Im a GM fan. This is badass!!!

[usernamerman]

Come on how old are you? I mean this is not the Firehawk I used to know.. Have you seen any 4door Firehawk? ;)

[usernamerman]

its'a fake firehawk..

[Stevenhiggles]

@usernamerman

A FAKE? R U HIGH?

[Ocala92RTTT]

its a fake because its a name that should have never been used on a 4 door pontiac ! firehawks are firebird name only thats the way it should be !

[andyt4097]

Not a bad looking car, kinda sad to see Pontiac gone, but at least the G8 got a decent send off. And who knows, maybe Chevy will decide to release the new Caprice to the general public after some time in the law enforcement world. Thats based on the G8 chassis.

[The1soulbrother]

this iz a rare pontiac!

[firehawk584]

cough cough... only 430horses to the wheels.... for nearly 50k it should be breaking 500 at the tires not the fly-wheel but over all it's a cute little 4door... LMAO

[FirebirdDude]

Sure it's fast, but new cars don't have any style to me, they all look Japanese. Also, the Firehawk name shuld be reserved for Firebirds only. A hawk is a bird, not a....what? Oh yeah, a G8...what is a G8 anyway?........

[mrlovesjesus811]

I am stunned that this car went over 120 mph in the quarter mile......very impressive

[joshy1515]

yeah this car is australlian which is made by the holden company. just look em up... they make this pontiac and the new gto.

[daeladub]

im a gm man and i hate that pontiac isnt going to be around too much longer but if im going to spen over 50 G's on an sports sedan im goin to get the CTS-V.

[thislove1337]

what the fuck happened to pontiac?

i love them so dearly.

but they really shouldnt have named it the firehawk. it looks nothing like the trans ams or firebirds. just a normal sedan.

bullshit. its nothing to drool over honestly.

good speed and handling. the brakes suck.

whatever, honestly though they should have just brought back the firebird if they were going to make this piece of crap. fer real.

[TEAMLSX]

On another note, i'd do just about anything for that LT4 SS in the vid.

[TEAMLSX]

I can't believe they call this the Firehawk.

[thislove1337]

bullshit right?

they shoulda named it like the.

Grand g8 gt.

or something. not the fucking firehawk.

[TEAMLSX]

Yeah for real. Total disrespect to the Firehawk namesake.

[SuperWhiteWiddow]

the next motherfucker to call this SEDAN a FIREHAWK im going to straight punch a bitch in the face. what disrespect to a REAL FIREHAWK ..... FUCK THAT , BRING BACK THE REAL DEAL FIREHAWK from 95 to 02 , would love to see what they would look like but those punk pussy fags would probably fuck it up anyway. i will NEVER BUY THIS P.O.S THEY CALL A FIREHAWK . im mad as a motherfucker right now...

[juanacious]

thought there was a 92' with 350 HP...and a 93, and 94 with 300 HP......but yeah, these (92 to 02')--are the REAL HAWKS!!

[chfpontiac]

@TEAMLSX What can't you believe? 500 hp, 0-60 in 4 flat, 1/4mi in 12.1...supercar numbers from not very long ago. The last 2002 firehawk TA was only good for about 335hp,0-60mph a hair over 5 seconds, 1/4mi in about 13.5, about $40k. Those numbers are almost exactly what a BONE STOCK 09 G8 GT will do with 360hp and 400lbs heavier. It's a FAR better car, has an actual back seat,25mpg hiway,MSRP of $35k. Got mine for $29k out the door. You're right...This G8 deserves BETTER than the Firehawk label

[Slipknotyk06]

@chfpontiac - The Firehawk deserves a better platform, and its traditional COUPE platform. A GTO firehawk with this kind of power would have been vastly preferred over this rather large "sports" Sedan which is built on the same platform as the Cadillac STS.

Yes cars have gotten faster over the last 9 years, but tradition is tradition, and the G8 is not a match for the sendoff of the Firehawk name.

[chfpontiac]

@Slipknotyk06 Um, WRONG. The STS is a Sigma chassis car (AWD capable). The G8/Commodore is a Zeta chassis car. The new Camaro is also a Zeta chassis and the last I knew, the Camaro and Firebird were always sister vehicles. Therefore, I'd say it is has the bloodlines to carry the firehawk name. Besides, for 2009 the GTO was DEAD, Firebird was long DEAD and the new Camaro was at least a year away. No other car existed that could be a Firehawk. The G8 was/Commodore is a more than capable platform.

[mattingly50187]

@TEAMLSX i would, this thing is super fast for a 4 door and even fast for a firehawk

[mattingly50187]

@TEAMLSX i would, this thing is super fast for a 4 door and even fast for a firehawk..... faster and quicker than a 92 firehawk actually. 92 0-60 in 4.6secs and 1/4 mile in 13.2. this does 0-60 in 4secs and 1/4 mile in 12.1.

[AlexanderRozhenko]

@TEAMLSX Crap like this is why GM went bankrupt. I'm sorry, a G8 does not deserve to wear the Firehawk name. It belongs on a Firebird. That said, this is an awesome car and I only wish GM bean counters had axed Buick and kept Pontiac.

[themanwithsauce]

@AlexanderRozhenko Considering this is an aftermarket company's product, I think THEY are the ones that get to decide if a 4 door sedan faster than their old camaros and firebirds deserves to wear the name or not. GM had nothing to do with it. Also consider that SLP had no firebird to work with and that the new camaro and g8 share the same chasis and powertrain so this was probably an easy choice for them to do.

[niceprince]

@AlexanderRozhenko buick is too important to GM internationally

[AlexanderRozhenko]

@niceprince That's like saying Opel or Holden is too important to GM internationally. GM can make Buick in China...but in North America they should have axed Buick and kept Pontiac, IMO.

[niceprince]

@AlexanderRozhenko well i partially agree with that. however I assume they are banking bringing more of the Asian designs to the USA since everyone was buying Japanese for so long. And since Pontiac is in a smaller market it makes sense i guess lol. I feel bad about it going though.

[86toxick]

@TEAMLSX I know :(

[08RamandRogue]

If they dont make one of these with a manual gearbox, they pretty much castrated this car.

[informedskeptic]

Agreed. There's something all true sports cars need. A manual transmission. Controlling any car is a lot more entertaining with a manual. You can hold a lower gear in anticipation of punching the throttle. With an auto, you're forced to wait on the kickdown. What a bummer.

[joshy1515]

this car is australian.

[F41Driver]

No shit?

[hanscholo]

It kinda looks like a 3 series from the side. But Pontiac wont be gone for more than 15 years I guarantee it. They're going out with a bang cuz when they bring it back they'll be able to build anticipation. It's called Marketing.

[JOJOBLING09]

those rims n egine will look bad ass in my 2001 firehawk trans am

[LGSAUSAGE]

My ass.....

[alexuin]

bye bye PONTIAC.

[svt11111]

Those 1/4 mile times are BS, they have to run it on an actual track. There is NO WAY a 4,000lb 500hp(crank) car will run 124mph traps.

[Blitz3086]

On an actual track? why? It wont be driven or raced on a track anytime soon, so why not use real world pavement.

[svt11111]

Because they don't use real timing equipment that's accurate like a real track. Those #s are inflated and false.

[firehawk584]

it's a cute car for a 4door :)

[getsemanimarquez]

i wouldnt mind having to pay 56 k for this car, ill know ill have one of pontiacs best car ever created.

[caddyguy109]

You are officially an idiot. The post-factory SLP stuff aside, which is not cheap, name one other factory performance sedan that offers so much power, drivetrain polish, huge size, and luxo car quiet and smoothness for under $35k? Yeah, not much of anything.

[Got2003gtp]

Actually you may wanna get your facts correctly. Street Legal Performance= SLP Performance. A performance company specializing in aftermarket upgrades for certain vehicles. It's not a GM compnay This is what killed GM

[divooriginale]

It's too bad that this will probably be the last of the bad-ass Pontiacs. If GM has any brain cells, they will figure out how to reproduce the G8 for Buick. Cadillac's already got the CTS, GMC doesn't really count because they do trucks, and Chevy's got the Camaro and Corvette. I would love to see a real sports sedan in Buick's lineup. But what nameplate could they use?

[NA4cyl]

Grand National or GNX.

[vabrad76]

Nice performance and styling. Good job Pontiac & SLP!

[getsemanimarquez]

did you see the complete video, and any other videos on the pontiac g8 gt, or gxp?

pontiac has had bad cars over the last decade, but these cars from GMs holden division are great.

The older american cars, the muscel cars. didnt fair well at corners, that is true, but werent built for that, it was a different time, where the 0-60 counted more, the how much G's you can pull out, or the times at the figure 8.

[WastedCar]

4:17 pilot car #001

cool! I hope this car still in existence in the future and it will be a great classic muscle car!!

[sillyputtytastesgood]

That's a bad ass car. 500 HP, with almost 500 lb-ft of torque? Nice!

The only (minor) complaint I have is they should've at least given you an option to be able to stagger larger sized rear tires. 245 series are pretty small for all that torque.

And PLEASE tell me there's an available manual transmission.

[jeffzahnd]

never have been a fan of the euro/ricer tail lights. This car is a lot better than their attempt at the GTO

[tgseason12]

Firehawk? Bad ass name!

[Mario4Italy]

true

[scm11904]

where the fuck do you buy one of these bad motherfuckers