By Cars.com Staff
Cars.com National November 14, 2008Vehicle Overview
Pontiac is offering a new economy hatchback, the G3. It's a subcompact, four-door hatchback, and (as the Pontiac G5 is to the Chevy Cobalt) it's a near-identical twin to the Chevrolet Aveo5. As such, the G3 hatch competes with the Scion xD, Kia Rio5 and Toyota Yaris.
Exterior
From the side, the G3 looks identical to the Aveo5, down to its chrome side vents. Around back, the G3 has clear-lens taillights. It also gets Pontiac's ubiquitous split grille and a unique bumper fascia and fog lamps.
The G3 is 155 inches long and 66.1 inches wide; which is about average for its segment.
- Available 14- or 15-inch wheels
- Standard fog lamps
- Standard rear lip spoiler
- Optional heated power mirrors
Interior
The G3 gets its very own instrument cluster that's sportier looking than the Aveo5's and comes with chrome-ringed air vents.
The G3 seats five and includes a standard 60/40-split folding backseat. There's 7.1 cubic feet of cargo room, but folding the rear seat increases cargo room to 42 cubic feet. Overall, there's 91 cubic feet for passengers — which is better than most of the competition, though slightly less than the Rio5.
- Available cloth or imitation-leather upholstery
- Standard air conditioning
- Standard OnStar
- Optional power windows, locks and keyless entry
- Optional satellite radio
Under the Hood
The G3 is powered by a four-cylinder engine teamed with either a manual or an automatic transmission.
- 106-horsepower, 1.6-liter inline-four-cylinder engine with 105 pounds-feet of torque
- Standard five-speed manual transmission
- Optional four-speed automatic transmission
Safety
Side curtain airbags are not available on the G3. Safety features include:
- Standard driver and front-passenger airbags
- Standard front side-impact airbags
- Standard tire pressure monitoring system
- Optional four-wheel antilock brakes
- Optional alarm system
Additional Reviews
Cars.com Expert Reviews
| Cars.com Staff | Cars.com National | November 14, 2008 |
Affiliate Reviews
| Tom Strongman | KansasCity.com | April 10, 2009 |
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