NYIAS 08: 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP!

[ctsmo]

NYIAS 08: 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP!
http://www.gminsidenews.com









NEW YORK – Today Pontiac announced the flagship of its GXP performance series, the G8 GXP high-performance sedan, at the New York Auto Show. This 2009 model will join the Solstice, G6 and Torrent GXP models in Pontiac dealerships in late 2008. The G8 GXP takes the G8’s responsive driving experience, refined passenger environment and aggressive good looks to a new level. It also delivers an enjoyable driving experience, thanks to a 6.2L V-8 that produces in excess of 400 horsepower.


“More than just raw power, the GXP delivers the sophisticated yet exciting driving experience that enthusiasts expect in a car costing far more than the GXP,” said Jim Bunnell, Buick-Pontiac-GMC general manager


Engine performance

The heart of the G8 GXP is the 6.2L LS3 small-block V-8, currently rated at 402 horsepower (300 kW)* and 402 lb.-ft. of torque (546 Nm)* pending final SAE certification. This engine is the newest member of GM’s small-block V-8 family. It features a revised, larger-bore cylinder block, high-flow, L92-style cylinder heads; larger-diameter pistons; unique camshaft and camshaft timing; revised valvetrain with offset intake rocker arms; high-flow intake manifold; and high-flow fuel injectors.


The LS3 engine has an aluminum cylinder block with cast-in-place iron cylinder liners. Larger bores help create a 376-cubic-inch displacement. The block casting also features revisions and machining in the bulkheads to enhance its strength and improve bay-to-bay breathing. New pistons were designed for high-rpm performance.


New, high-flow cylinder heads aid engine breathing and are based on the large port and valve design found on the LS7 engine and other GM L76 engines. The larger-capacity, straighter intake port-design optimizes intake flow to the combustion chamber, an effect augmented by large valves, measuring 2.16 inches (55.0 mm) on the intake side and 1.59 inches (40.4 mm) on the exhaust side.


Pending final testing, the G8 GXP is expected to deliver 0-to-60 mph performance of about 4.7 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 13.0 seconds at 108 mph.


Six on the floor

A new six-speed Tremec TR6060 manual transmission is optional on the G8 GXP. This next-generation manual smoothly transfers the engine’s power and torque to the rear wheels with a reduction in shift throw. The transmission features a host of refinements including premium gear synchronizers; stronger gears, housing, and bell housing; a single-piece counter shaft; and machined gear teeth.


The standard Hydra-Matic six-speed 6L80 automatic transmission is technologically advanced and robust. It uses a clutch-to-clutch operation and an integrated 32-bit transmission controller to deliver smooth and precise shifts. The six-speed has a generous 6.04:1 overall ratio that enables a “steep” first-gear. The result is strong launch acceleration along with “tall” overdrive ratios that lower engine rpms for better fuel economy and reduced noise.


A 3.27 final drive ratio comes with automatic-equipped GXPs, and a 3.70 gear is matched with the manual transmission. A limited-slip differential is standard.


High-performance suspension

The G8 GXP rides on the G8’s 114.8-inch (2915 mm) wheelbase with wide front ( 62.7 inches / 1,592 mm) and rear ( 63.3 inches / 1,608 mm) tracks. The four-wheel independent suspension is fully adjustable and is tuned for the highest performance in the G8 family. The GXP’s ride and handling was developed and validated on racetracks and highways around the world, including the famed Nürburgring racing circuit. It rewards the driver with sharp, immediate responses, as well as a well-balanced road feel during spirited driving.


The suspension employs a MacPherson strut design in the front and a four-link, coil-over-shock design in the rear. A direct-acting front stabilizer bar, decoupled rear stabilizer bar and lateral ball joints on the rear suspension deliver increased lateral stiffness for more responsive handling. The front suspension features fully adjustable caster, camber and toe; the rear suspension has fully adjustable camber and toe, for more precise tuning.


Steering and brakes

The steering rate for the GXP is tuned to provide immediate response with definitive driver feedback. Like the G8 sedan and GT, the GXP’s steering box is located ahead of the front axle line for a quicker, more direct feel.
The Brembo braking system matches the GXP’s boost in performance with an equivalent increase in stopping power. The system includes 14-inch (355 mm) vented front and 12.76-inch (324 mm) rear disc rotors, with special quad-piston alloy calipers in front. The alloy calipers on the rear brakes have single-piston actuation. The four-wheel disc brake system includes standard anti-lock brakes and traction control.


Wheels and tires

The GXP rides on 19-inch polished aluminum wheels with a special machined face. Performance-oriented summer P245/40R19 tires are standard, and a comparable all-season tire is available. Combined with the suspension and steering enhancements, this setup gives the GXP exceptional cornering grip.


Exterior styling

The G8 GXP exhibits strong Pontiac design cues. A unique front fascia with a lower splitter and a distinctive rear fascia diffuser contribute to its sporty look. The dual-port grille, fog lamps, bold wheels and confident, wheels-at-the-corners stance are all unmistakably Pontiac traits.


Interior amenities and comfort

The G8 GXP’s interior is driver-oriented with aesthetic and tactile details like instruments with a sporty appearance that match the car’s performance. Interior materials consist of satin and chrome trim and high-quality textured materials throughout. The instrument cluster glows with crisp, white light on the primary instruments. Pontiac’s signature red lighting illuminates the rest of the instrument panel cluster.
Standard comfort and convenience amenities include:

• Highly bolstered two-tone sport seats with color-coordinated gauge cluster and GXP embroidery
• Leather-trimmed steering wheel and gear shifter
• Power-adjustable front seats
• Fog lamps
• Alloy sport pedals
• A 230-watt Blaupunkt audio system
• XM Satellite Radio

The seats offer firm support to hold occupants in place during aggressive cornering. The standard heated leather seats were designed to deliver excellent comfort during long drives. They are available in Ebony or an Ebony/Red two-tone.


Safety

Maintaining the G8’s tradition of a full suite of standard safety features, the G8 GXP includes:

• Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and traction control
• Electronic stability control
• Seat-mounted thorax air bags and dual-stage frontal air bags for front passengers, with automatic passenger sensing system
• Roof rail side-impact air bags for both seating rows
• OnStar

High-Resolution G8 GXP Images

[ChevyRules]

Wow, they detuned the LS3 by a lot. Why not just stick the LS2 in it?

[sigma]

Originally Posted by ChevyRules

Wow, they detuned the LS3 by a lot. Why not just stick the LS2 in it?

Because I don't think the LS2 is going to be in production much longer. The upshot of this is... how hard would it be to flash a couple of chips and get that extra horsepower back?

BTW- That car in red looks so so so so so mean. I want one.

[Jimmy Jive]

Is this legit? Seems a little early for an official press release...

"...produces in excess of 400hp." 'In excess'? Sooo... 430 like the LS3 has? Or de-tuned somewhere between 401 - 429hp?

Also, a little disappointed all they did was add new wheels and a new front air-dam...
I wanted the twin-grilles on the front of the HSV model. Atleast the tail-lights...

[ctaylorzl1]

Wow, way to knock off 30hp for no reason! Mabey GM didnt want it to quite compete with a LS3 Camaro, but honestly! Just give it the 430hp it deserves, its not like that drop in hp will relate to a extra mpg or 2. So help me if the Camaro gets the detuned LS3 also!

[sigma]

Originally Posted by ctaylorzl1

Wow, way to knock off 30hp for no reason! Mabey GM didnt want it to quite compete with a LS3 Camaro, but honestly! Just give it the 430hp it deserves, its not like that drop in hp will relate to a extra mpg or 2. So help me if the Camaro gets the detuned LS3 also!

Not only does this help the fuel economy, it will help keep the insurance affordable.

[ctaylorzl1]

Originally Posted by sigma

Not only does this help the fuel economy, it will help keep the insurance affordable.

It may help with insurance, but seriously after 400hp whats the difference??? Especially between 400 and 430. And I really doubt the drop in hp will correlate into any gains in MPG's

[E. Haskell]

402hp....430hp....it doesn't matter - the car will be awesome with anything over 400hp and a 6-speed. I can see them running low 13s in the 1/4 and 0-60 in 4.7-4.8.

Now that's a family car that hauls the mail!!!

[E. Haskell]

Opps, I missed this part:

Pending final testing, the G8 GXP is expected to deliver 0-to-60 mph performance of about 4.7 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 13.0 seconds at 108 mph.

Yeah, that's fast!!

[Kamshaaft]

The LS3 is a potent mill is it not?

I'd be really thankful buyers will get a detuned LS3 rather than an out of the box or even a Holden tuned LS2 variant, if I were in the market.

[Hunter]

This car lives to rape the world and eat your children!

[E. Haskell]

Originally Posted by Hunter

This car lives to rape the world and eat your children!

Sounds good to me.

[eb110americana]

Possible reasons for the LS3 drop from 430/436 hp and 424/428 tq to 402 hp and 400 tq:

1) To clear the gas guzzler tax that people will not be willing to pay on a G8 GXP.

2) To align the torque curve of the LS3 with the additional 800+ Lbs. of the G8 over a Vette.

3) To decontent the Pontiac over a Corvette (same old GM).

4) This is the rating on 87 octane regular vs. the 93 octane optimized Chevy.

I'm okay with 1 and 2, but if it's reason #3, they need to stop deliberately handicapping their vehicles. GM needs to build the best car it possibly can for the price no matter what, not worry about internal politics over "who gets the better one."

Anyway, at least it's fast even though the SRT8 Chryslers/Dodges are more powerful with 425hp and 420tq. The front bumper looks even more generic than the standard model, and the rear "diffuser" is pretty weak. All can be forgiven if it's only $2K or less over the cost of a G8 GT. $32K would be quite reasonable, even $35K would, but not much more than that. The wheels are sweet though, and hooray for the manual 6 speed!

I'm not really their target demographic anymore though. While I probably would have gone for the G8 about 5-10 years ago, I'm now more interested in something smaller and more efficient. Namely Alpha. I could even go for a Kappa based small coupe/sedan. And this is coming from someone who drove a supercharged Bonneville SSEi and owns a Trans Am.

[Phoenix]

Everything's good except I was hoping for the HSV GTS taillights.

[blkwrxsti]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Jive

Is this legit? Seems a little early for an official press release...

"...produces in excess of 400hp." 'In excess'? Sooo... 430 like the LS3 has? Or de-tuned somewhere between 401 - 429hp?

Also, a little disappointed all they did was add new wheels and a new front air-dam...
I wanted the twin-grilles on the front of the HSV model. Atleast the tail-lights...

It seems legit - there must have been an embargo, because it's all over the web now (even though still not on media.gm.com). On a side note - I'm not really interested in what Pontiac didn't do - the car just went from 361 to 400 hp, and picked up a manual trans.

The rest I can fix in a slow weekend installing a supercharger kit from LPE (if it starts to bother me). Also note that Automobile magazine compared the 2008, with a mere 361 hp, to the BMW 550. Said that it offered the same numbers and the same size, but not the same feelings as the 70K Beemer.

[joshls]

Really wanted the new taillights. That's the biggest G8 weakness in my opinion. Is 400 HP really going to make a huge performance increase with the weight of this vehicle? How much is it going to cost?

[E. Haskell]

Originally Posted by joshls

Really wanted the new taillights. That's the biggest G8 weakness in my opinion. Is 400 HP really going to make a huge performance increase with the weight of this vehicle? How much is it going to cost?

It's not just 40hp....

The six-speed has a generous 6.04:1 overall ratio that enables a "steep" first-gear. The result is strong launch acceleration....

A 3.27 final drive ratio comes with automatic-equipped GXPs, and a 3.70 gear is matched with the manual transmission.

Plus, the manual will have less parasitic loss, so more power gets to the ground.

[one night stan]

I've been a long time viewer of gminsidenews, but this is my first comment.
...I felt compelled to register membership just to share how disappointed I am with the GXP.

It lifts your heart to see an Australian product do well in the States. From what I gather on forums, the response to the g8 has been enthusiastic, even in the United Arab Emirates and UK.
So for a long time i kept thinking "Just wait till they get the up-spec HSV derived GXP!. It should blow them away."

the HSV GTS comes with

-Magnetic Ride Control Suspension (ala 599 GTB ferrari, corvette, audi TT)
-its own set of LED tail lights (to differentiate it from the commodore) situated lower which looks slightly sportier
-its own set of side vents (again to differentiate it from the commodore) behind the front guards to advertise its sports-spec credentials; albeit non-functioning.
-20” shadow wheels
-larger spoiler; I know this has ricer connotations in the US (it’s derived from Australian V8 touring car culture) so I can understand the product change for the market taste.

But I can't understand why the Pontiac deleted these other options.
It looks tame to me.
In Australia it was common and too easy for entry-commodore owners to put HSV body work on their rides and HSV developed the rep of being simply a rebadged commodore – that was until the product differentiation HSV decided to invest in with the VE series.
Also, HSV owners felt ripped off even after paying the extra premium.

I feel the same thing could happen stateside.
The GXP looks no different to a g8

[DuSpinnst]

Originally Posted by sigma

Because I don't think the LS2 is going to be in production much longer. The upshot of this is... how hard would it be to flash a couple of chips and get that extra horsepower back?

BTW- That car in red looks so so so so so mean. I want one.

Probably has a more restrictive exhaust than the Corvette.

[Maxwell]

If this new Pontiac G8 GXP doesn't succeed then the brand should be closed down.

Awesome car! right in so many ways.

Just needs to be priced right for the brand to be a revelation to sports sedan enthusiasts..

35 would be great.