[EldoFan]

This rant has been a long time coming, now with the apparent castration of the G8 GXP, I've got good reason to vent......

The Corvette is America's sports car and one of the best handling & performing sports cars in the world, there's no denying that. It's a shining symbol of American automotive ingenuity & prowess.

However, Wagoner, Putz & everyone else at GM needs to stop putting this car on a ****ing pedestal, so far ahead/above of every other GM product!

If you can stick a 550HP V8 into the CTS-V, then you should very well give the G8 (the flagship of GM's supposed PERFORMANCE division) some real balls and stick a 430-500HP monster between the GXP's flanks.

If the upcoming CTS-V can be considered a 4-door 'Vette (it's been described as such in either MT or C&D--can't remember).....then the G8 could therefore be interpreted by some as a 4-door Camaro and should be powered by an engine just as beefy, if not beefier.

Oh....and while we're on the subject.....let's not forget Cadillac's XLR. GM's crown jewel, their 'luxury-performance' division cannot survive on sales of the DTS, CTS and Escalade alone. Along those same lines, their reputation cannot be considered 'world-class' in the same sense as BMW or M-B is if the excellent design, engineering & execution is applied to just the CTS. As a Cadillac, the XLR is little more than a luxed-up Corvette........yet the Corvette, from lowly Chevrolet, gets more refined, powerful powertrains and the most sumptuous of interiors. Oh and the XLR-V? Yeah, that thing is a joke in no way deserving of a $100K price tag. Once the ZR-1 comes out with a price tag around/above $100K....you'll see exactly what I mean.

My point: Treat all 'halo cars' equally where performance & features are concerned, otherwise the reputations of other divisions (besides Chevrolet) will stagnate and/or suffer!

 

[Hitman1970]

I do not understand the detuning of the LS series engines as the weight of the other vehicles they will be in will drive down the performance of those vehicles.

 

[EldoFan]

I do not understand the detuning of the LS series engines as the weight of the other vehicles they will be in will drive down the performance of those vehicles.

Exactly.....why turn other vehicles into slugs? Lower insurance premiums & avoidance of 'gas-guzzler' and other associated taxes are valid, if annoying reasons...

 

[Joevette]

the corvette started it all for GM. It embodies the most advanced technologies that GM has to offer, always has always will. the G8 is only rated lower because of exhaust/intake restrictions not because it can't have as much hp as the corvette, the old GTO had the same motor as the vette. No matter what any other division thinks about the corvette it will still be near the top of anything GM makes.

 

[BMW FAN]

Its probably for some stupid reason like CAFE or something. The G8 should be a higher seller than the Corvette, right? Therefore the G8 will hurt GM's CAFE more than the Corvette. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Skank Boy]

Didn't the GTO (when it was around)and Vette put out the same amount of H.P?

 

[HoosierRon]

People pay for power. People pay for technology. People pay for the best. When people pay $65,000+ for a CTS-v or Z06, they do not want to look next to them at a stop light and see Smokey and the Bandit in a $29,000 car with the same engine.

You want 550 hp in your sedan? Then be prepared to pay $65,000 for it. And if you cannot afford $65,000, quit your whining.

 

[ctaylorzl1]

Wow, way to explode over 30hp! The detune in the GXP is probably to save in a mpg or 2 so it dosent qualify for Gas Guzzler tax. The G8 is susposed to be a performance bargin(just as the Camaro will be), and the GG tax would really cut in on that! I didnt really think of that when I first read about the detune of the LS3 for the G8, but if thats the case it makes sence now! When you are buying a $60g CTS-V the extra GG tax probably wont matter, but when you are going for a mid to high $30's the extra thousand or two might really make a difference!

 

[vcs2600]

Doubt very much the G8 would sell any better with 500HP.

 

[E. Haskell]

The GXP will outperform its competition - I don't see a problem.

If need be, they can always raise the HP in the future.

 

[psece]

Wow Eldo, you got to stop holding things in....

As far as I am concerned, it wouldn't matter if the G8 had the extra power. How do you identify with the G8? I agree that the GTO should be special as it has the history. But the G8 doesn't. It is a very generic name and I wouldn't want to have to come up with a marketing campaign for it.

Bring back the Tempest as the v6, regular version. Then call the V8 version the GTO. Sadly, they should be the only Pontiac's...

EDIT: Or even better, the V6 twin turbo for the GTO..... And maybe keep the vibe....

 

[DuSpinnst]

Don't you people get that it could be due to the routing of the exhaust and the intake breathing.

 

[member12]

Well....I doubt that for $34000 a G8 will be as performance oriented as the Corvette. It's bigger, heavier, and taller.

That being said, I don't think they could sell the car at those prices with the Z06 engine.

 

[chickenkicker]

It's also possible the G8 GXP is under rated, like GM did with the LS1 f-bodies and the LS1 Corvette.

If that's not the case then I'm guessing it was either a move to avoid a gas guzzler tax or to help bring up CAFE. Even if the slight detune, assuming that' s the case, increases MPG by 1 to 2 GM might see it as a good compromise, like for example if the 430hp version missed the gas guzzler tax cut off by only 1-2 mpg over the limit.

In all honesty if you want that extra 28hp put a good exhaust system and intake on it and you'll be right around 430 again.

edit: I just saw DuSpinnst's post, the exhaust and intake routing for the car might make the difference as well since the Corvette probably has straighter exhaust and intake routing. Also is the exhaust true dual or is it a 2 into 1 into 2 on the G8?

 

[crooner214]

Just a thought here, but for a few hundred dollars in chip flashes, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume you could get at least that 30hp back?

 

[RamJet502]

I don't know what everybody is crying about, GM threw us a bone with the G8. Look at GM's current lineup, very nice but nothing really exciting (Corvette excluded). The G8 GXP is going to be north of 400HP, that's damn exciting. Name a competitor (other than the SRT Charger) that can touch those numbers in a similar price range?

 

[NoNameDenton]

I don't know what everybody is crying about, GM threw us a bone with the G8. Look at GM's current lineup, very nice but nothing really exciting (Corvette excluded). The G8 GXP is going to be north of 400HP, that's damn exciting. Name a competitor (other than the SRT Charger) that can touch those numbers in a similar price range?

The GXP is supposed to appear at the New York auto show, here is a story I found on it

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/sedans/gm-confirms-pontiac-g8-gxp-and-ute/

 

[t-rex]

I don't get GM's obsession with the Corvette either.

If the upcoming CTS-V can be considered a 4-door 'Vette...

So the CTS-v will be bought primarily by fat, balding, middle-aged men with little hoo-hoo's who buy a flash car to pick up some young cheap bimbo after they've left their wives?

Nearly every 'vette I've ever seen was driven by men who remind me of Stan Zbornak...

 

[mgescuro]

I agree with much of your rant.
All of that runs up into something I've been saying for a while now.

GM does great at building cookie-cutter cars, and can even differentiate them to an extent. But the moment a car calls for a specific niche or is a specialty car -- GM drops the ball.

This is why I believe GM might be better off spinning off Cadillac and Saab. Because these 2 brands rely on a specific identity, that GM seems incapable of offering them. Their cars just end up looking and acting like gussied up Chevys. There's nothing there but a soulless car.

GM seem incapable or unable to give divisions or other cars the same attention they give Corvette. And even then Corvette still needs a bit more than they've given it.

It sort of gives you the feeling that GM has no clue where their priorities lie.

 

[vcs2600]

Corvette has a real dedicated fan base. GM knows the buyers and they know that they'll snap up whatever special edition gets produced. Their other cars don't have that advantage, or they have the dreaded "traditional customer" (old and cheap).

Still, complaining about the lack of power in the G8 is daft.