The dashboard is well laid out and the controls have been well positioned and fall readily to hand. However, I did feel that the materials used were perhaps a little lower on the quality scale than some of its competitors. The silver accents highlight the dash quite nicely, and these are cleverly continued onto the door panels. I also rather liked the stylish red backlit gauges with the chrome rings which well suited the Pontiac nameplate. The three-spoke leather steering wheel which carried the radio and cruise controls was, again, a nice touch, as was the XM satellite radio.
The optional leather seating which my tester carried appeared to be of reasonable quality, and I found the driver's seat to be quite comfortable, even on longer trips. Of course, the Torrent comes only as a five-passenger vehicle, which could be an issue if you require seating for seven. The truth is, though, some competitors in this category might well offer a seven-passenger option, but that usually comes at a cost in terms of passenger comfort in vehicles of this size.
My own personal feeling is, if you truly need a seven-passenger vehicle, then go bigger and don't try to cram everyone into what is essentially a mid-size vehicle. I think that GM was wise to go the way they did, as the Torrent provides comfortable seating for five adults, whilst still providing ample luggage carrying capacity.
Now we come to the drive, and although the Pontiac badge usually imparts a certain "sportiness" over their GM stablemates, I couldn't truly describe it as any different to the Equinox. They tell me that the Pontiac model has a sport-tuned suspension setup but, to be honest, I couldn't feel any difference at all. Now that's not to say that the Torrent Sport wiggles and wallows in the bends. Far from it! The vehicle behaves very well indeed. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it sometimes felt quite European in its handling characteristics.
I found the Torrent Sport to be more powerful than many of its competitors. Whilst others may offer 4-cylinder availability, GM decided to equip their vehicle solely with a V6 powerplant. This 3.4L OHV V6 (185 hp) provides more than ample power, and is an extremely smooth running unit. When coupled to the standard five-speed automatic transmission, it makes a very good combination. The only thing which I could possibly find fault with was the fact that there was no manual change feature on the transmission. This is something which is now commonplace on most vehicles, and in my mind, anything with a Pontiac badge on the hood should have that as standard equipment!
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| Well laid-out interior is assembled using some less-than stellar plastics. |
The optional leather seating which my tester carried appeared to be of reasonable quality, and I found the driver's seat to be quite comfortable, even on longer trips. Of course, the Torrent comes only as a five-passenger vehicle, which could be an issue if you require seating for seven. The truth is, though, some competitors in this category might well offer a seven-passenger option, but that usually comes at a cost in terms of passenger comfort in vehicles of this size.
My own personal feeling is, if you truly need a seven-passenger vehicle, then go bigger and don't try to cram everyone into what is essentially a mid-size vehicle. I think that GM was wise to go the way they did, as the Torrent provides comfortable seating for five adults, whilst still providing ample luggage carrying capacity.
Now we come to the drive, and although the Pontiac badge usually imparts a certain "sportiness" over their GM stablemates, I couldn't truly describe it as any different to the Equinox. They tell me that the Pontiac model has a sport-tuned suspension setup but, to be honest, I couldn't feel any difference at all. Now that's not to say that the Torrent Sport wiggles and wallows in the bends. Far from it! The vehicle behaves very well indeed. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it sometimes felt quite European in its handling characteristics.
I found the Torrent Sport to be more powerful than many of its competitors. Whilst others may offer 4-cylinder availability, GM decided to equip their vehicle solely with a V6 powerplant. This 3.4L OHV V6 (185 hp) provides more than ample power, and is an extremely smooth running unit. When coupled to the standard five-speed automatic transmission, it makes a very good combination. The only thing which I could possibly find fault with was the fact that there was no manual change feature on the transmission. This is something which is now commonplace on most vehicles, and in my mind, anything with a Pontiac badge on the hood should have that as standard equipment!
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| The 3.4L V6 is extremely smooth. |