So, what you’re getting with this Bring A Trailer auction is a Vibe outfitted with custom, irreplaceable parts. That may sound silly on the surface, but remember, the GM NUMMI assembly-built Vibe was a joint venture with Toyota – it was essentially a re-skinned Toyota Matrix, remember – and traces its lineage to the Corolla.Īnd, as it turns out, enthusiasts were saddened that these sweet parts never made it to the GM Accessories catalog. James Hunter, then Pontiac Vibe Assistant Product Manager, saw the Vibe as an alternative tuner car to Honda and Mitsubishi. But a year before that car the General gave the public another spicy Vibe concept.Īs MotorTrend notes, GM had been watching enthusiasts take their regular cars and slam them to the ground, adding in aftermarket wheels, body kits, interiors, sound systems, and more. Thomas already showed you one of them: the supercharged Pontiac Vibe GXP. Even the humble Vibe got a couple of cool concepts. Those cars exist only as one-off concept cars and as dreams living rent-free in your head.īut the General hasn’t given just supercars and grand tourers the one-off concept treatment. How many times have we seen a beautiful Cadillac concept over the years just to be saddened to see it never reach production? Remember the Buick Avista? Or the angular Northstar V12-powered Cadillac Cien supercar? GM Heritage Center General Motors has a history of rolling out rather fantastic concepts that sadly, often never reach production. The Pontiac Vibe GT-R concept was a faster Vibe for lovers of tuner culture. Now, incredibly, another hot Vibe concept has shown up for sale, and this one is even more out there. That car served as an example for how General Motors was considering some wild ideas for spicing up its lineup.
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague Thomas wrote about the excellent souped up one-off Pontiac Vibe GXP concept that popped up for sale. Or, alternatively: Not with a bang, but a whimper. Go for the prettier and nicer 2010 Chevrolet Malibu instead. G3 sales have been dismal, so they're likely still available from your local Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer.Īs for the Pontiac G6 midsize sedan, it's available only to fleet buyers for 2010. Though the EPA rates it at 26 mpg city / 34 mpg highway, we got more than 32 mpg in energetic mixed use.
We recently drove a 2009 Chevrolet Aveo, and found it competent but hardly compelling. But the G3, based on the Chevrolet Aveo, got only 6 points out of 10 in our review. We also named the 2009 Kia Spectra5 (score: 6.4 of 10) and the 2009 Subaru Impreza hatchback (score: 8.2 of 10).ĬOMPARE: 2010 Pontiac Vibe vs 2009 Toyota Matrix vs 2009 Kia SpectraĪs for other departing Pontiacs, the 2009 Pontiac G3 is slightly greener than the Vibe, achieving EPA ratings of 27 miles per gallon city / 34 mpg highway. We'd point out that it competes with the identical-under-the-skin 2009 Toyota Matrix (score: also 8 of 10), which historically has higher resale value. GM suggests that the Vibe competes with the 2009 Dodge Caliber (score: 7 of 10) and the 2010 Mazda Mazda3 (score: 8.4 of 10).ĬOMPARE: 2010 Pontiac Vibe vs 2009 Dodge Caliber vs 2010 Mazda Mazda3
Commendable fuel economy (26 mpg city / 32 mpg highway with 1.8-liter engine and 5-speed).Torquey 2.4-liter engine provides good power in AWD and GT.The AWD and GT models use the larger engine, with automatic standard on the AWD and the 5-speed for the GT.Īside from a few detail changes-air conditioning is standard, the luggage rack is offered on the all-wheel-drive model, and Ignition Orange Metallic paint replaces Mystic Blue Metallic, ooooh-the 2010 Vibe is unchanged from the 2009 Pontiac Vibe we reviewed. The base car comes with a 1.8-liter four and a 5-speed, with a 2.4-liter four and an automatic optional. There are three Vibe variants: basic, all-wheel-drive, and GT. Only a single body style, a five-door hatchback, is offered. Renewed for 2009, it scored 8 out of a possible 10 points.
#Pontiac vibe awd full#
The 2010 Vibe is one of the few compelling recent Pontiac products, and the only one we'd consider green that also did well in our full review.
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