GMI Member "Beau": I've driven a black G6 GTP Coupe with the 6-speed!

[Ming]

From this thread: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/s...864#post330864



I've driven a black G6 GTP Coupe with the 6-speed!

Over the years I've become a bit more discerning in my approach to vehicle critique. So it will be reflected in this summary. P.S. Im typing on a crappy laptop keypad, Im used to split key ergonomics so I apologize for the typos.

Outside: Looks better in person. Wish the mirrors were painted. body panel fit is tight and clean. Exhaust setup looks clean and well done. The car desparatley needs to be lowered to finish off the look. It kinda looks awkward similar to the scion TC, only the TC seems worse in terms of the wheels/tires fittin the chassis.

The extended wheel base length. looks just fine in person.

Under the hood:

Very clean and tidy. Kinda a tight fit. Room for a single turbo if battery were re-located. Intake design looks exactly like you would expect a bean counter to design :] It will yeild lots of whp if an aftermarket one were provided.

Inside the car:

a LITTLE bland for me, no enough gagets, but lots of cars are going with the minimal approach. Overall it looks very attractive though. Two problems. The silver by the steering wheel controls looks.. well it loks terrible to me. It'll get scratched in an instant, its just painted plastic. But you would get over this in a hurry. Secondly where you grab the door, on top where your finger tips could go in, they put like this ULTRA LAME piece of rubberized plastic, that was lke popping out from closing the door. Its almost like a little rubber coin tray liner with a little nipple on it to keep it in place, the problem is there is a 1/4 inch gap all the way around so it looks like somone cut it out with scissors and thre it in there as an after thought. But no big deal.

Another complaint is that the ledge of the window is too high, so I can no longer rest my arm on the wndow ledge. Very annoying.

Sunroof was the standard, single rocker swtich, kinda cheep, but gets the job done.

Backseat is adequate.

The seats are quite comfortable, this car was a cloth interior.

***** Onto Drivetrain and shifter info: ******
Firstly. The shifter is in just the right spot, with just the right length. (im 5'10") Feels kinda short to me, the throws are predictable ( in a good way) just the right length for daily driving/spirited sprints. The shifter looks very high quality. Sturdy and properly balanced.

Clutching - good combo again of sport and ease. First time driving it I barley bogged the car. The clutch has an engagment thats very fitting. The seat adjusts appropriatly for good cluch feel. (Never had to heal toe, the car had sufficent idle torque to get moving, but you would be able to heel toe if needed easily)

Ok Now for the motor 6 speed combo.

Sound - I have a big complaint with this motor. You can't HEAR CRAP! Its So quiet! The dealer said, out of the people that test drove it, they all said they wish they could hear the engine or exhaust. Well gang you cant :] BARLEY. No distinguishing tone or note. The engine is very smooth, but has a little bop some times at idle. Not perfectly smooth a idle.

Its easy to get moving in this car. Although I expected more bottom end with the car and less top end. Well the car has more top end then I expected as well.

If anyone here has driven a 3.8 Sii or Siii either in NA or SC form (ive got a 98 gtp, its now NA but was SC'ed) You will notice a perpetual power drop off right off the line. But with the 3.9 it holds strong right to redline.

Now. Tranny.

First gear is useless in a race. Now i'm sure I would figure out how to drive it properly with more time, but lets say you've engaged 1st gear, and your crusing at like 10 mph. Floor it, give it like 300 rpm, wait for the cam to phase, and then the tires will break loose, only for the TCC to catch the fault about .5 seconds later.

In second, I honestly don't remeber if it can take full throttle. Im pretty sure it can, but I know if you try and shift it aggressivley TCC will take over and bog you for a split second.

Third gear feels fast if you wind it all the way out.

On the highway, 6th gear puts you at a very low and acceptable rpm. It will result most people 30mpg in my opinion. It does lack the power to climb a steep hill in 6th but, thats to be expected. This isn't a turbo diesel

Now. You can shift quickly the tranny and clutch respond just right for speed shifts. While giving you a bit of slop so your not causing the car to buck all the time. (Im wondering if this is a dual mass system)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now. Today. Wednesday, we are going to dyno the turbo kit I've developed for 98 Grand Prix GTP. We are expecting some good numbers out of this for a almost bone stock GTP with an injector swap and L36 Lower and Upper Intake installed.

I say this because I drove the G6 with the intention on wether or not I should select it as my next turbo kit platform.

At first I thought man 9.8:1 CR Thats no good. But, I realized that GM recommends 87 octane. Not 91 or 93. That alone is a selling point.

Piston oil sqirters and an aluminum head are the reasons for this.

My prediction is that we will be able to obtain 300 crank horse on high octane with the following mods.


Tune*, Intake, and full heads back exhaust.

Tune being the key. With better top end effiency, we can now raise the revlimited (valve springs willing) and continue to phase the cam to continue to allow for better flow.

I have a feeling we will be able to gain big power changes with these mods, because frankly they are probably a big restriction.

But I cannot STAND TYPING ON THIS POS LAPOP ANYMORE... So Im out, If you guys have any questions hit me up

[Ming]

If you do buy this car and mod it, you MUST post here and let us know your results.

Thanks for the excellent review! Sounds like a sweet ride.

[IAMCANADIAN]

thanks for the great review, I wanted a Grand Prix GTP or GXP as my next car, but the G6 GTP sounds like an awesome choice as well.

[Beau]

Thanks Ming, I didn't know this was going to be a formal write up. If you prefer I can write out a much more well thought out review.

IAMC the grand prix is a great car. If you prefer a manual though, there are few times where you will never regret buying an automatic GP. However, the GP is a stout vehicle and will last nearly forever if well taken care of.

On the other hand, if you want something a little bit more stylish, perhaps a bit more modern. Something where you can get on the ground floor of modifications and improvments while enjoying a well rounded ride from the beginning. A G6 3.9 is the way to go, especially with the 6-speed.

I would like to point out as with almost every GM drivetrain we wont be seeing the REAL 1/4 and 0-60 and WHP numbers/times until vehicles are broken in. So once someone gets about 30k miles on a G6 6speed, we shall know what its capable of. Id say 14.7s or so. Not sure the MPH.

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by Beau

Thanks Ming, I didn't know this was going to be a formal write up. If you prefer I can write out a much more well thought out review.

IAMC the grand prix is a great car. If you prefer a manual though, there are few times where you will never regret buying an automatic GP. However, the GP is a stout vehicle and will last nearly forever if well taken care of.

On the other hand, if you want something a little bit more stylish, perhaps a bit more modern. Something where you can get on the ground floor of modifications and improvments while enjoying a well rounded ride from the beginning. A G6 3.9 is the way to go, especially with the 6-speed.

I would like to point out as with almost every GM drivetrain we wont be seeing the REAL 1/4 and 0-60 and WHP numbers/times until vehicles are broken in. So once someone gets about 30k miles on a G6 6speed, we shall know what its capable of. Id say 14.7s or so. Not sure the MPH.

I don't really know how to drive a stick so it doesn't matter to me lol, but thanks for the recommendations

[blurryimage]

I bought a black G6 GTP 6-mt with leather a few weeks ago. I now have 1600 miles on it after a 800 mile round trip. gear 6 if you are going 80 mph has no problem with hills or accelerating and you get 29 mpg but if you gas it at all then it will drop. It already seems faster then the day I bought it. The car is great on road trips. XM is a must also. The vanity mirrors are crap. My friend broke the passenger side just by opening it. If you dont have tranction control on in first it will just spin the tires all through the gear. Sencond will chirp but that is it. I really want to know what the 0-60 time is but I cant find it anywhere. Overall this is a great car that is fun to drive and get looks

[Ming]

Sweet, good to see someone who bought one with a good review! Welcome to GMI blurryimage. Or should I say - "To GMI welcome, hmmm!"

[jnak00]

I just picked up my new baby on Friday. It's a black GTP coupe with the six speed. Some quick impressions:

- It's quick, even though I haven't pushed the engine beyond 3,000 rpm yet

- The brakes are great - I had to make a full pedal emergency stop over the weekend. I don't think my old car would have stopped in time

- Shifting your own gears is a blast. I've had automatics in all my previous cars so I don't really know what a "good" shifter feels like, but this one seems fine to me.

- The car is very quiet - you can barely hear the engine until you hit 2,500 rpm.

- Fuel economy has been so-so in the city, much better on the highway. I expect this to improve once the engine breaks in

I'll post a more detailed review once I've had the car for a couple weeks.

[gmsickofan]

jnak00 Do you have a digital camera? Take some snaps if you do plz!

[01cavalier]

Im glad the 6-speed seems to have more than enough power. I drove an automatic a couple months ago, took off pretty fast off the line, was doing 90 in no time, or so it seemed, but Im used to a 115HP 2.2 Cavalier. Im not sure I agree about the negatives about the interior, felt and looked very nice to me, very comfortable.

[XaviousOrgus]

The G6 is a great car!! I highly recommend it! The more you drive it, the more you love it!!

[Swahili]

Overall the consensus of the G6 GTP 6 spd is really positive. Good news for Pontiac! The G6 coupe is a really good looking car, I think as Ming said, lower it a bit and you'll have one mean looking car. I'm also really interested in learning about how the G6 GTP takes to modifications so please tell us what/how/if and the results.

[jnak00]

Originally Posted by gmsickofan

jnak00 Do you have a digital camera? Take some snaps if you do plz!

Any special requests? Also, where's a good place to host them?

[Buick61]

I've driven the GTP manual and automatic. DO NOT, under any circumstances, consider this car without the manual. It makes all the difference between a fairly quick run of the mill mid-sizer and a fun to drive, relatively rare, diamond in the rough.

The manual and clutch are truly gems in an otherwise costume jewelry package.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by jnak00

Any special requests? Also, where's a good place to host them?

www.Tinypic.com