To some it’s Deja vu; to others it was simply a matter of time before GM tried to market another Holden in the United States. This time, however, the offer seems to have something to please everyone-and plenty to scare its competitors.
It will undoubtedly have the same exceptional Holden build-quality and materials we’ve come to know and love since the GTO hit the US. The G8 will be offered initially in two flavors: a “base” model, and the uplevel “GT” version. Building on the base model’s already impressive list of features, the GT adds a sportier suspension, styling cues, and of course, the all important V-8.
CHASSIS AND BRAKES
An independent suspension is standard on the base and GT models. Both sport a 114.8-inch wheelbase with 62.7-inch front and 63.3-inch rear tracks. The front suspension is a strut-type/multi-link-style design with a stabilizer bar, and camber, caster, and toe are fully adjustable and customizable. The rear suspension uses a four-link independent setup, with non-adjustable coilover shocks, as well as a stabilizer bar.
A hydraulic power steering rack is located ahead of the front axle centerline, which adds to the balance and responsiveness of the car, and the braking system is also quite remarkable on paper. Both brake systems use discs at each corner, sized relative to the trim level’s performance. Naturally, the GT features a larger braking capacity of 12.64-inch front, 12.76-inch rear rotors, while both trim levels include twin-piston PBR calipers up front and single-piston PBR calipers out back (along with integrated traction control and ABS).
DRIVELINE
The G8 Base V-6 is coupled to a standard five-speed automatic. This powertrain team is best compared to the 3.6L Cadillac CTS, as they share the same engine and transmission; however, unlike the Caddy, there is no indication that the G8 base will be offered with a five-speed manual option. On the other hand, the G8 GT comes standard with a 6L80 six-speed automatic with a steep First Gear to get the 4,000-pound G8 out of the hole quickly. While the initial offering of the G8 GT will only offer the 6L80 transmission, gear rowers rejoice, as the venerable six-speed manual will join the fray soon after production begins. Regardless of your engine or transmission choice, all that power is channeled via a two-piece driveshaft to an independent rearend with a final drive ratio of 2.92:1 for the six-speed automatic. While this may seem meager, the 4.03 First Gear should make up for any second thoughts. The final drive for the upcoming six-speed manual is 3.27.
G8 BASE-LY7 3.6L “GLOBAL” V-6
This 3.6L screamer develops a healthy 261 hp at 6,300 rpm and 250 ft-lbs at a relatively low 3,200 rpm, and incorporates interesting upgrades over the original LYZ (like a variable intake system). Controlled by the ECM, the intake manifold houses a valve in its plenum area, which opens and closes according to engine speed and load. The valve begins to open just off idle and then closes higher in the rpm band, creating two inlet plenum ports for half of the cylinders. This system allows the LY7 to develop low-end torque much greater than that of a standard 3.6L engine, while still making a lot of top-end horsepower. It’s amazing to think that to get close to these numbers before, we had to slap a 90ci supercharger onto a 3.8L. The LY7 also incorporates new Bosch dual spray injectors that have two individual nozzles for more complete combustion through increased atomization, and of course more horsepower, to boot.
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