Pontiac G6 Convertible: My Take

Summer is the time for convertibles, and David Thomas just reviewed Pontiac’s new G6 convertible. I also had the opportunity to take a brief drive in the convertible, and found it to be a respectable offering in the retractable-hardtop segment — if you’re shopping purely on price.

Like Dave, I walked away underwhelmed with the G6’s ride and handling. The suspension is definitely tuned more for boulevard cruising than back-road carving, and yielded significant body roll in corners. With its retractable hardtop lowered, the G6 is not especially rigid, either; there was a fair amount of chassis shudder during my drive.

Maybe the G6 convertible I drove was having a bad day, but it took about 35 seconds for the retractable hardtop to motor up or down, which is about 15 seconds longer than the time Dave reports. More troubling is the fact that the top’s mechanicals quit briefly after raising and lowering the top a few times for some video work. Owners probably won’t repeatedly open and close the top unless they’re showing it off to friends (which would be about the worst time for the top to stop working), but we also ran a Volvo C70 convertible’s hardtop through the same procedure and it didn’t complain one bit.

There are seats for up to four people in the G6 convertible, but the backseat is not as comfortable as the C70’s; the backrest is upright and there aren’t any armrests. I did have more rear legroom in the G6 than in the C70.

There are a handful of retractable-hardtop convertibles on the market, but most are luxury models and are thus priced accordingly. The G6 convertible brings the technology to the masses, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more manufacturers follow suit.