2004 Pontiac Grand Prix Review (continued)
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Walkaround

A coupe-like tautness characterizes the exterior design of this mid-size four-door sedan, thanks to a more extreme wedge-shape and a roofline five inches longer than the previous-generation model. The rear end is as muscular as a speed skater. Pronounced, enlarged taillights are mounted at the corners. A discreet spoiler finishes the deck lid.

Through the taillights and extended into the sheet metal are two horizontal bulges, like cladding segments escaped from the sides of a Grand Am. If this were a fashion story I would say they were to add eye interest" to the back. And oddly, they do. Anyway, following a 2004 Grand Prix down the highway is a pleasant occupation. The back is important in appearance and certainly distinguishable from its road mates.

Appearance is the most subjective aspect of any automobile. Suffice it to say I would rather follow this Grand Prix than spot it in the rearview mirror: I'm not delighted with the front end of this 2004 model.

The slightly sculptured hood is a good beginning, but when shaping lines come off the hood swooping down to trace around the grille something goes wrong for me. The resulting grille with its trademark Pontiac division is straight across on top with bowl-shape curving sides. It appears to me like a tight smirk, ungenerous and simpering. It's off-putting. The headlights are even more slanted and attenuated than on the previous Grand Prix.

The so-called Coke bottle sides are marked (marred I would say) by two parallel character lines through the two doors about a hand's span below the door handles. Gratefully, there's no cladding but these lines bother me. I think one reason the new Grand Prix looks best in black is because black hides these lines.

The black Grand Prix at the press introduction also had a solution for some of my objections to the new grille, a heavier, more important optional chrome surround. (Now if a black Grand Prix came with a crew armed with California Dusters I'd consider it in a heartbeat.)

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Interior Features

Inside is where the Grand Prix absolutely shines. General Motors cars have consistently disappointed me in their interior design. I remember the beautiful exterior of a Buick Riviera at an auto show some years back. I circled it in delight. Then I opened the door only to find the same unrelenting, ugly cliff of an instrument panel that the General had plunked into every model from Cadillac to Suburban.

I would guess that changes in GM interiors will demonstrate a singularly visible (and tactile) impact that Bob Lutz has on his new employer's products. He is known to be an admirer of Audi and VW interiors, probably the world's best, and the Grand Prix reveals progress in that direction in choice of textures, in shapes and in the feel of whatever is touched. Leather and satin nickel set the tone for the Grand Prix interior style, materials pleasant to both eye and fingertips continue the experience.

The Grand Prix seats are supportive and comfortable. The steering wheel fills the hand just right. The outside mirrors are remarkably large for a sedan. That's a feature SUV drivers often mention as a reason they like SUVs. Here are large mirrors with an informative view of the world behind and yet add no noticeable wind noise.

The instrument panel, pleasing in its three-dimensional, simple layout, is readily visible through the smart three-spoke steering wheel. The large center speedometer stands out from and overlaps the tachometer (on the left) and the circle containing the fuel and temperature gauges (on the right). Backgrounded with a shadowy grid pattern, these watch-like dials yield their information with simple, uncluttered, handsome functionality.

Technology allows the speedometer to be rimmed with only one set of numbers to designate speed in both miles and kilometers per hour. How? Punch in your choice on the Driver Information Center (DIC) and the numbers change. Cross a border, make your selection and read Ks, punch again and it's miles. No cluttering inner-ring of numbers. How cool is that?

You'll find the head up display (HUD) almost subliminal in its presence. You can select the amount of information it gives and at night, to conserve your night vision and limit reflections, you can douse the instrument panel lights completely, fly in stealth mode, and still keep tabs on what's important.

The Driver Information Center with a four-line read-out is just to the right and above your fist in a console canted slightly toward the driver. Below an organized cluster of white icons on simple black buttons and dials keep the driver tuned in, warm or cool, etc. Pleasing to look at and nothing bewildering.

As comfortable as the seating, as pleasant to look at and feel as the interior is what is really special is its functionality and flexibility. Not only do the back seats fold down in pairs or singly (60/40 split) to effectively increase cargo capacity, the back of the front passenger seat folds forward, table flat.

All this flat and nearly flat space can be accessed through the trunk (with a particularly low lift-over height.) Thus it's easy to fold the appropriate seats and load long objects into the vehicle. That kayak mentioned above or a roll of carpet or a ladder or skis or Italian market umbrellas. You can close the trunk door on anything up to nine feet long. That trunk opening besides being lower is also about ten inches wider. Boxed bikes anyone?

Lots of interior toting room is worthless if you can't get the objects you are toting through the holes in the vehicle. In shopping mall parking lots anywhere in the country you'll find cartons that once held TVs, microwave ovens, computer components and barbecues. They had to be stripped of their packing to manipulate them through the doors. Cognizant of that problem, Grand Prix designers played dentist: Open wider, please." And now the doors swing out to a few degrees shy of 90, improving ingress and egress for people and stuff.

Driving alone may not be an efficient use of fossil fuels but the fact is most cars most of the time carry only a driver. The solo driver can particularly appreciate the fold-flat passenger seat: it's a veritable desk at the elbow with indentations to keep coins at hand and a webbed elastic pouch to keep such things as mail ready for the slot from finding the floor at the first stop light.

Or have you an unlucky skier in the family? Put him in the back seat and rest that cast-clad leg on the fold-flat front seat. Mobility in luxury.

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