Hello,

I've been writting here since about two weeks ago.
I've noticed that the Grand Prix GT is not taken "seriously" as a sport car, is the GP GT a Malibu covered with a sport custome?
I know 250 HP of GTP is great, but what about the 195 HP of GT?
Since I'm not a specialist don't know how is the GT ranked in sport cars.

Thanks and regards everybody.

Alex

Personally I wish Pontiac had given the GTP more balls right out of the box... 280~300hp maybe. I dont really notice the GT/SE GPs very often..I guess Ive only had respect for the GTPs after seeing their potential...in the begining (when they were first comming out in 99) I didn't think twice about GTPs either... Guess the GP itself doesnt have a serious tone to it. You have to see to believe in this case.

Well said.

I think the GTP fits in perfect with its use. Any more horsepower and it would have been a threat to the F-Body. I don't think of the GT's as a sports car. I don't even think of my GTP as a sports car. I bought it for it's commuting capabilities and cause it is somewhat sporty, yet still practical.

I almost bought a GT. I liked the way it felt on the highway. Is the suspension softer than the GTP? It felt a little cushier. It may be a little lighter than the GTP.

If your in the market for a GP go ahead and get the GTP. Ive seen too many posts from people who want the oomph of the GTP out of their GT then regret getting the GT. Granted you can get a newer GT for the same price as a little older GTP but in the long run you'd be happier with the GTP.

The GTP suspension is firmer than a GT, Jack.

That's another reason why I wouldn't buy a GT and supercharge it. My GTP has enough body roll even with the firmer suspension.

And what about the maintenance of a supercharged, i¨ve heard about owners of supercharged cars that didn´t buy them since new, and they say about the headaches because of the supercharger.
Is this for real?, do we need to get a GTP from an owner who estrictly followed the maintenance?

How can i get a good GTP, without getting in trouble.

Alex

The only extra maint. is changing the S/C oil on a regular basis and changing the coupler when they were out. Very negligable. Like I said before if your gonna get a Grand Prix get the GTP this way later on you wont ask yourself why didnt I.

i'm wishing i got the gtp theres a 1997 4 dorr gtp for 7500 neg cnd on pei i'm going to look at it this weekend

watch out for '97's. Check for an oil pan leak, windhshield wipers park in the down position, and other common problems. Some people on here should know the other common problems.

it looks clean and it only has 64k on it and never seen winter its forest green in color

$7500.00 Canadian? That's like 5 grand US I think. Sounds like a good price. Why the 4 door? You a family man? Either way have it checked out. I like my 4 door, but I think the 2 door looks a little cooler.

yeah i want a 2 door but for that price a 4 door sounds good to me i got a 4 door se and also a 87 gp with a 454 in it but i think the 454 is coming out to go in the 87 trans am that my brother and i have

Yeah! Now that's what I'm talkin' about...old school! Rear wheel drive and monster power!

My 02 GT seems to be the pefect car, for me. The 3.8L superchargers like to start getting noisy and clunky at 100,000 miles, and I'll assure you, it's not a cheap fix. The 3.8 is one of the best engines ever made, and has plenty of HP even without the supercharger. And, you don't need to run premium fuel. For durability sake, I'd recommend the standard GT with the standard 3.8.

The L67 Supercharged engine will be clunky and noisy, perhaps if you never bother to check/change the oil in the supercharger. I have almost 110k miles on mine, and it runs as quiet and smooth as the day I bought it. I know of others who have closer to 200k miles on their GTP, and didn't have these issues either.

Hey, Brian. All I'm saying is that most people out there don't maintain like we do. I have just seen many, many 3.8 S/C engines with some miles where the supercharger was rather thrashy and loud. If he's looking at a used one, chances are the S/C oil was never serviced; most people I've seen don't do it. It's kinda like transmission fluid maintenance. I'm realizing that our group here is a little more caring about their vehicle's maintenance than 75% of others out there.

Exactly, I agree with Adam, is not that the GTP IS a worse car or something is that since it needs a little more focuse on the S/C people doesn't always do the right maintenance, so is difficult to get a used GTP in conditions that don't became a problem.

Regards.

I agree Note the time of that post, and you can see why I was a little defensive I guess that's what a night of drinking will do

No sweat, Bryan. I get a little defensive even after a night of being sober!!

So you guys gonna kiss or what???

Holy crap, don't mess with Jack today.

Has all humor ceased to exist. Don't make me drive to Maine. No, really. I don't want to go to Maine.

I just found a couple of your responses funny. Don't drive to Maine, come to Mass and we'll do all the mods to your car and save you some money.

I'd say, get as new a GT or GTP as you can get. Yes, the earlier ones had quite a few problems, even though they were minor. Rear brake noise, oil leaks, front rotor warpage, shifter interlock problems, wind noise...the list goes on. GM has been really good about taking care of a few of these characteristic problems each model year since 97. So the newer of model you can find, the better the vehicle will be, on average.

check
check
check
check
check

Shall I continue?

You may continue if you like. So, how's the car besides that?!?

Keep in mind - the purpose you will be using the car for.

The GTP uses super unleaded and the insurance MAY be higher, so those are factors to keep in mind. Especially if you commute a long distance or get stuck in lots of traffic.

Oh and GTPs should not be used for towing, which might or might not be a factor for you.

Good luck!

That's sort of why I bought the GT instead of the GTP. For what I use the car for, I can't justify running and paying for premium as well as added insurance cost only for an extra 30HP or so. Maybe I'm just getting old...

OK old man. It's 40 hp and a whole lot more torque. So there. Do those mods I PM'd you about. You'll be glad you did. I almost bought a GT last year before I got the GTP, but it turned out to cost only $1900 more for the GTP and the insurance was like $30 more every six months. And there's that penis thing. It was outa my hands(the car thing, not the other thing).
Jack

First of all, I'm 29! Second, two grand for maybe 40hp and a requirement to run premium fuel (we can barely afford the cheap stuff around here as it is) isn't all that good of a deal to me. Remember, I said that "for what I use the car for". I bought it because it's a somewhat sporty, reliable, durable and practical car. If I really wanted performance, I'd buy a Vette and not mess around! And, I'd rather not talk about penises (or peni, which is the correct plural form) with you!

i think alot of people would be happier with a fairly stock gtp vs gt but as an owner of an 97 gt their are several good reasons to go gt 1st. cheaper insuance cheaper to buy so u can afford to build areal smoker. i built mine for just over 10000 canadian ist pulled the 100000 mile motor fresh rings&bearings deasent lift cam headrs venom injectors, under drive pulleys venompower module also to breath had a head shop port&pollish heads & shave 30 thou bringing comp. to 10.1 some eibach springs for handling i now dyno a true 272 whp at 5200 any gtp challengers Chico

Yeah

Hey Chico,

Those are some crazy mods! Any pics of the car? Do any appearance mods?

If you have a timeslip + proof / witness, you should go register your car on clubgp.com

It has to be one of the quickest GTs around - if not the quickest.

Oh, I have a GT (mostly demodded now - coupe) AND a GTP (sedan) ;-)

I am perfectly happy with my GTP coupe, mainly because I don't have to mod it to get some good performance out of it. I live in MA, my insurance will be over $3000/year no matter what car I have.

i bought a 2000 GT about 3 or 4 months ago, almost everyday i regret not buying a GTP

there's still a chance.trade it in!!!

I say if you intend on modifying it for speed, get the GTP. Buying a GT and then trying to put a blower on it is like all these ricers who buy the civic DX because its cheaper and then spending $5,000 on engine mods to barely get any more HP than the upscale Civic EX was which was probably only $2,000 more to begin with.

If you are just buying it as a work car and all around driver, either is fine but what you save on insurance and fuel per year by getting a GT could be significant.

I drive 100 miles a day and fill up every 3 days. I dont like the fact that Im paying $4 more a fillup for super or a higher insurance premiums because of the supercharger. (my 2004 Honda Pilot has 240 hp and costs me $300 a year less in insurance) BUT for me its an acceptable tradeoff. I bought the GTP because it had more potential IF I wanted to mildly mod it (pully, pcm, airbox etc) and it had more creature comforts and options standard.

Bottom line as I see it is if you are young and going to mod the hell out of it because some Mudstain or Mitsu beat you at the red light in town, or you just have to get that extra .01 in the 1/4 then DONT get a GT. Cuz 90% of you out there prob dont have the time or money to pull the motor and make a monster.

Just my .05
Jeff

Is the GTP more expensive to insure than the GT? For model years 97'-00', I think the GTP was technically an option package for the GT, and wasn't a separate model until '00 or something like that. If you buy used, that may work to your advantage if you buy a 97'-99'.

If your insurance company charges you more for a GTP than a GT, you should shop around for a different insurance provider. My G35 Coupe is cheaper to insure than my wife's TL. So many myths are debunked because of this.

Compared to the wife's TL, my G35 has less doors, less trunk space, less cargo space, more horsepower, and costs more, yet is somehow still about $180/6 months cheaper to insure.

For what its worth, the G35 and my GTP cost almost the same to insure.

Yes the GTP is more to insure because of the supercharger. Thats what I was told. Tried different companies too. No difference if Im 80 driving a GS Regal or 37 in a GTP. IMO its BS as both my pilot and GTP have 240hp yet they are baseing the increase of the GTP over the GT on the blower. I cant switch insurance yet as I have a ticket on my record and no one will write a new policy if you dont have a clean 3 year record in MD. Well some will but but you will pay double.

Insurance rates are based on a lot of different things. Safety equipment, theft rate, resale value, HP, age, record etc. If your $10-$15,000 GTP is the same insurance rate as your $30,000 G-35 then that suggests maybe that the GTP is expensive to insure, the G35 cheap or the acura totally insane.

Maybe all three

Hey Adam,
I hope you relize I mean what I say in good fun and not in a negative way. Is peni really a word?

Of course I realize that, Jacko! And, no, I don't think it is actually a word, it's just something I made up, that I felt discribes the P word in its plural form, humorously. I'll look into it though...

u americans have an advantage of picking your ins. carrier in ont. can. we have brokers they tell u which carrier your using iknow the gtp is a gt option but they ask ,lie and they find out they drop u a as client then u have a he-- of a time. the diff. with my broker is 700.00 can. per ann. in answer to your ? of ext. mods. 97 2dr 66 corvette midnight black lowered 1 1/2" front&back i also grafted a 66 gto hood scoop on "functional" in thunderbay we dont have a drag strip i plan to run at gimli man. this spring this is the 1st year for the car hope to run low 13sill try to post pics in near future stay tunedas a 51 year old builder any questions ill be glad to help Chico

As for ins. companys goes you can tell them its a GT with the GTP option but when they pull up the VIN They can tell you exactly what it came from the factory with. I pay $106 a month for full coverage on both my 98 GTP and my 98 Silverado with a $100 deductable. Oh and if you can get a full optioned car for close to a lesser optioned one get it. Why? Because later on down the road you wont see another one and say why didn't I get that one instead? That happened with me and my truck. I have every option but 4x4 now I see em and say damn it I shoulda went ahead and picked it up instead. Now Im stuck with this one for a while longer and in another year or so I'll be picking up a crew cabbed 1500HD Z71.

I dont know, Im 37 with one ticket and HIGH limits 100/300/100, 500/250 deductible and I drive 100 miles a day, and Im paying about $550/6 months My 04 Pilot which is about the same price as your G-35 is $450/6 months.

I think you are right about your acura, the honda/acura theft rate and HIDs really ratchet up the insurance as HIDS often get stolen. The Murano owners are having a LOT of problems with kids prying out the HIDs cuz they are only held in with plastic frames and can be put into any rice burner bya good bodyshop. People were posting pics on the murano pages about it happening a lot in NYC and Jersey.