To kill time today, I decided it would be a good idea to go down to the local Pontiac dealer and take a look at the Pursuit coupe... woops. I wasn't expecting a lot - I'm an avid hater of the Sunfire, and I had this conception of GM in general as a "meh" producer with nothing to interest me.
Well, the Pursuit GT interests me. I'll try not to compare it too much to the new Civic Si, but...
Anyway, first off: looks are subjective, of course, but I really like the look of his car. The Sunfire imo was ugly as sin, but the new car is a nice looking vehicle, if a little generic (especially compared to the Civic, ahem). The spoiler on the GT is very tasteful and not over the top, and the wheels are okay. As a note, the steel wheels and hubcaps on the lower trims levels are VERY tacky - when you can see most of the steel wheel, why bother with hubcaps at all?
The GT model lists at about $24 000, and for that you get a 2.4L Ecotec four banger rated at 170hp, and a decent equipment setup including sunroof, power everything, keyless entry, remote truck release, and a seven speaker Pioneer audio system with subwoofer. Here I should mention that this system kicks the
out of the setup in the Si. The mirrors, a la European cars, fold in for tight parking spots. That said, the mirrors don't seem to suit the car terribly well... but now I'm being picky.
The engine runs very smoothly and it offers good pull for a four banger, with some noticable torque steer, but without limited-slip dif that's acceptable as part of buying a FWD car, imo. The engine is rated at 170hp, but it seems as capable as the 197hp engine in the Civic, probably because its a bigger displacement. I would certainly say the Si motor is smoother and a more "fun" engine with its 8200 RPM redline, but the Pursuit's motor pulls it with authority. The shifter is a pretty standard short-throw five speed, but it fit nicely in my hand and was easy to use. The pedals were all fine too, with a nice dead pedal for your left foot.
The steering wheel was leather wrapped (
) and a good size, and the steering was fairly solid. Probably on par with the Civic, I would say. The car is very easy to control, and I was able to get it back into its parking slot on the lot without too much trouble - if you know those lots, the parking is a bit iffy, but the Pursuit handles very nicely and I felt very comfortable with it.
Road noise was actually less than in the Si, and overall the ride was probably as comfortable, if not a little bit more so. I think the Si has more "sport" to it than the Pursuit, but I enjoyed driving the Pontiac nonetheless.
The interior I found attractive - it's plasticy, as all entry level cars will be, but its well designed and easy to control everything, and looks well put together. A nice feature was that the centre armrest folds down to cover the e-brake, giving you the best of both worlds (handbrake and a console). Very good idea, one wonders why I've never seen it done.
The seats are comfortable and held me in place while cornering, and they didn't get uncomfortable on the rather lengthy test drive, and finding a decent sitting position was easy. The wheel tilts but does not telescope.
The gauge cluster was acceptable, but I'm not crazy about it. It might have been how I was sitting, but to see the tach and speedo took a little more effort than I would have liked. Acceptable, and probably something to get used to, but first impression wasn't great.
The rear seats I didn't sit in, but I expect they're small - this is a coupe, not a sedan, and you don't buy it if you plan on having people back there often. There's a Pursuit sedan for those people.
They are a 50/50 split fold, though, so trunk space (decent already) is further expandable.
Overall, I was very impressed with this car... I was actually shocked by how impressed I came away. I would actually say this was a more enjoyable car to drive than the Si! I'd have to drive both back to back before I could comment further... but for thousands less, the Pontiac Pursuit GT is definately a solid alternative to the Civic Si. It has less horsepower and no LSD, but with a bigger displacement motor it gets up and goes just as well, and it takes the corners with as much grace as the Honda.
This is a car I could see myself owning one day... if the Honda doesn't pan out.