2006 Pontiac Torrent

Part of the fun of writing about cars and the auto industry is the feedback received by friends, family and passer-bys during week-long test drives. There is no shortage of opinions these days concerning cars, fuel economy, fuel shortages or incentive activities.

With the latest test vehicle, one common refrain repeated itself quite often; "What is it?" and "I never heard of it."

Enter the all-new 2006 Torrent from Pontiac. Torrent? What is it?

Torrent is a mid-sized, car-based, five-passenger sport utility vehicle based on the same unibody platform as the Saturn Vue (introduced in the 2005 model year) and Chevrolet Equinox (introduced in the 2006 model year), two other General Motors' proteges.

Of the three, Torrent can probably be considered the most upscale. All come with the choice of front-wheel or all-wheel drive and sport four side doors. Of the three, Torrent and Equinox come with standard V-6 engines. The Saturn Vue is available with the choice of four or six-cylinder engines. All are designed for on-road, not heavy off-road duties.

Torrent fills a niche at Pontiac dealers, usurping the spot vacated by the much maligned Aztek, which was quietly put out of its misery during the first part of the 2005 model year. Aztek, like the Torrent, was a mid-size, five passenger sport-utility-like vehicle; but unlike the Torrent, Aztek was built off a minivan platform with exterior cues that many found less than flattering. However, Aztek owners seem very satisfied with their purchase and overly protective of their often-bullied prized possession. Problem was Pontiac couldn't find enough of these buyers.

If exterior good looks are tops on your automotive priority list, Torrent scores more subjective beauty points than Aztek. Surprisingly, Torrent is more than six-inches longer than Aztek but tips the scales with less poundage. In front, Torrent sports Pontiac's familiar twin port grille separated by familiar Pontiac logo. Rectangular-type headlights wrap to the side and a whip-like radio antenna adorns the right front fender. In back, the hatch door, hinged at the top, opens up from the bottom as one unit and includes a defroster and wiper.

Inside, Torrent is spacious enough to handle five adult-size riders with decent head and leg room. In fact, the back seat easily slides forwards and backwards creating even more leg room when needed. Rear seatbacks fold up and down with a 60/40 split. Also, the front passenger bucket seat back folds completely flat onto the seat cushion for added cargo-carrying capacity when needed.

Torrent's interior design is user friendly and comfortable. The flat instrument panel illuminates at night with bright red backlights as do most Pontiacs. The standard five-speed automatic transmission jets out from below the three ventilation dials on the center console.

Torrent's sole powertrain is a 3.4-liter, overhead valve V-6 engine cranking out 185 horses. The gas tanks hold 16.6 gallons of regular 87-octane fuel. Fuel economy checks in at 19 miles-per-gallon city and 24 m.p.g. highway for front-wheel-drive models. All-wheel drive versions average one mile less in each category.

Torrent pricing starts at $22,400 for front-wheel drive editions and $24,300 for all-wheel drive models. Each model comes equipped with air conditioning; power windows, locks and outside mirrors; compact disc and remote key less entry. Several option packages are available including side impact and head curtain airbags (the security package), cruise control and premium cloth interior (in the preferred package) and a sunroof with six-disc compact disc player (Sun and Sound package). Our front-wheel drive test vehicle included all these and ended with a bottom line of $27,540including a $590 destination charge.