The Detroit Newspapers's view

General Motors Corp. teased us nearly two years ago when it unveiled the Pontiac G6 as a concept at the 2003 Detroit auto show. We’ve been eager to test the production version ever since.

The G6, which eventually will succeed the Grand Am, is a sister car to the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saab 9-3, but it looks and feels like neither. We tested a well-equipped 2005 Pontiac G6 GT, priced at $28,275.

SHE: So I’m taking Pinki in the G6 to Karen the dog groomer on Saturday, when a guy pulls up next to me at a stoplight and motions to me to roll down the window. “Hey, I like your car,” he says. I was somewhat startled. So I blurted out, “Why?” He looked at me like I was an alien from another planet. “Because I have the same car as you,” he said before speeding away in his G6. Honestly, looking at his car in side profile, it didn’t register with me that he was driving a G6. And this is my point. From a variety of angles, the G6 looks generic. And that’s terrible when it’s in a pack of outstanding products.

HE: Wrong, wrong, wrong, Miss Alien. The G6 in production trim looks every bit as good as – no, even better than – the original concept. It’s a beautiful and sexy shape, that shouts Pontiac from nearly every angle. Inside, I don’t think the G6 is nearly as distinctive, although the quality is slowly improving. The G6 wants to compete with the big guys in the $25,000-$30,000 bracket, but Pontiac is going to have to do a much better job to bring this cabin up to world-class standards.

SHE: I can live with an uninspired cabin , but I had some difficulty seeing the red backlit gauges at night. The GT’s interior is better than the one on the base G6 because it comes with standard power adjustable pedals and a power height adjuster on the driver’s seat, so you can really customize the fit behind the steering wheel. The GT version is better on the safety features, too, with standard antilock brakes with traction control. But side air bags and side-curtain air bags cost $690 extra.

HE: I have some more basic problems with the cockpit. I couldn’t figure out why the front seat backs felt so thin and uncomfortable. Then I sat in the rear and discovered that GM scooped out the backs of the front seats to give rear passengers a little more knee room. Clever idea, but front-seat occupants pay a penalty. I also had trouble deciphering the audio controls in the center stack. One other major problem in the rear seat is an acute lack of headroom with the optional panoramic roof. It’s a neat feature, but why make taller passengers suffer because of it? There are also some visibility issues with the thick rear pillars, and the plastic covering the front A-pillars was uneven in places.

SHE: The interior was weak , but the driving experience was strong. I like the way Pontiac has tuned the Epsilon chassis on the G6 GT, which comes with standard 17-inch wheels and tires. We noticed a slight shimmy at freeway speeds, but the G6 is easy to handle and park.

HE: That pushrod 3.5-liter V-6 may look old-fashioned next to the newer twin-cam engines installed in many competitors, but it seems to do the trick. It makes 200 horsepower and 220 pounds-feet of torque, and feels pretty peppy, especially next to the 3.0-liter V-6 that Ford is using to power its new Five Hundred sedan. The EPA fuel economy – 21 miles per gallon in city driving, and 29 on the highway – isn’t bad, either. Overall, I’d say this is a pretty pleasant driving experience.

SHE: It’s a pretty bland driving experience. And I hesitate to recommend the G6 when you can buy one of the premium European sport sedans for about the same price.

Anita and Paul Lienert are partners in Lienert & Lienert, a Detroit automotive information services company.