My 2007 stealth grey GXP was delivered bright and early and cold this morning. Trucking was easier than getting me over there to pick it up, and no more expensive.
So, first impressions.
The color is interesting. The contract said the car is blue, the key thingie said green, and GM says grey. Pontiac made a bleen (blue-green) car for a year or two, this looks kinda like they took that and added some dark grey to it. You can definitely see all three colors there, at one time or another.
Boy, these 45 profile front tires are darty suckaz! Definitely take a little getting used to, compared to the 65 series on the Spectra and 55 on the PT.
This car has nav and all the gadgets, not all of them are particularly user friendly.
Like the damn clock, for instance. I've tapped around on the screen and various buttons, there's no obvious way to hack it to change the time. Same with the nav.
Same with locking in radio stations. Tapping around just doesn't break the damned DaVinci code here at GM.
Maybe you have to pass an IQ or GeekQ test before GM will sell you a new car full of gadgetry.
My Garmin is very intuitive and it also has pretty good instructions, easily accessible, on its face.
Not so the GM nav, it's voiceless and will require going into the book to decipher.
These are just three examples of why IMHO the boyz upstairs at GM just don't get it. And the NAV really should be up by the windshield, not down in the dash. Garmin on a suction cup is easy to see, this suckah down in the dash bowels not so much.
The dread torque steer is there when I put my foot in it. But really it's no more squirrely than a RWD with enough power to break the rear end loose. No worse IIRC than a 3.5 Altima I drove a few years back.
I went out in the country where I could accelerate uninterrupted for a few seconds, but the combo of tires that need to retire and the slightly wet and cold (23 degrees) pavement got the trac going pretty much until about 40.
Which comes and goes real quick.
So in between getting a tad squirrely at liftoff and then hitting second at about 50 and zipping right on up to 80 in the blink of an eye, I can tell ya this car has sufficient power for me.
The brakes have big power and haul down fast. With no effort.
I forget the Gs I pulled, but the brakes pulled the most Gs of the positive, negative, and lateral acceleration figgers.
There's a G meter that will only talk to you when you're stopped.
Speaking of Gs, accelerating through a curve shows a bit of squirreliness too, the rear end will definitely come loose a bit, even though it's not making the power.
This power-performance car is a new adventure and I will have to play with it a bit to get down the car's characteristics. It's been a while since the 1992 SHO, that was different because it was a stick and it didn't have the torque that this Poncho does.
Given that the OE Bridgestones (NOT summer-only as far as I can determine by reading the sidewall) are fairly well worn by my standards, i.e. 5/32 or thereabouts, and new shoes are going on in a week or so, utilizing the worn tires is probably a good way to sort out the handling.
New rubber will only increase limits and increase the speeds I'll need to sort things out.
Old worn tires are actually a plus, kinda like a wet skidpad, a good place to shake things out.
Though I've heard of tire wear issues with these cars, specifically inside rear, the outside is the most worn section on this car.
So overall this is a very nice car to drive. Jounce and rebound are very tightly controlled, and the car corners flat. Flat.
That last little brake tic really isn't needed as you grab a corner, it's just habit.
The gadgetry is interesting. It took a long time for the ATF to get past about 155 degrees. It was low 20s today.
After a good deal of driving and then a re-start and waiting in line for a few, it finally hit about 170 IIRC.
The HUD is nice in its way, but it also detracts from the instrument binnacle and gauges such as the tach, temp gauge, and fuel gauge. BTW, the temp gauge stayed at about 1/4 for a long time.
Then, after the aforementioned activities that increased ATF temp also brought the water temp gauge up to 1/2.
I'll have to ask around at W-327 boards to see what a typical reading is.
While on the subject of ATF, have you seen the new proceedure for checking it?
Manual says because it's so complicated, you might want to take it to the dealer. It's like a 12-step program, yes let's make it so complicated that nobody ever does it properly.
New and Improved.
I should probably have the D**x Kewl replaced, even if it's with new DK, just on general principle.
The Ford dealer where I bought the car actually replaced the wiper blades. Kewl. They even mic'd the brakes.
Overall I got about 25 MPG on today's little 80 mile adventure. That included some interstate, some state highway, some big hills, some townie driving and finally waiting in line for a gourmet Carls' Jr. chickensomething. Not too shabby.
Glad I bought it. I like it, I like it!!