The G8 GXP's sub-$40,000 starting price puts it at the pinnacle of the performance-per-dollar race, right alongside the standard Corvette and the Cadillac CTS-V. To get a car with similar accommodations and power from any other brand - if they even offer one - would require several thousand more dollars at the least. But is bang-for-the-buck enough to prop up the ailing Pontiac brand and the slow-selling G8 in particular?
We reviewed the G8 not long after its arrival in the U.S., and our main quibble with the car was its lack of power - but we were given the V6 version. The GXP is certainly liable to no such criticism, and at its $39,995 base price, plus $695 for the manual transmission, the range-topper is likely to be a very pleasing package on the whole.
Unfortunately for GM and Pontiac, it was never intended to be a volume seller. Even if it were, and with fuel prices at five-year lows, the 13mpg city/20mpg highway rating would likely force some buyers to reconsider.
But regardless of the G8 GXP's power to save its brand, or even the possibly endangered G8 family, it's a performance bargain that any petrolhead can enjoy, at a price many can afford.
