Repair-It

Couldn't help but notice a black 2006 Grand Prix GXP at Barry's on my way home today.

http://barrymotors.com/Used-2006-Pontia ... d/19338702

Seems to be loaded. I think the price was written on it with wax pen. I'll look closer tomorrow. It may have been under $10k but we'll see.

I wonder if I could convince Jamie to drive this.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/pon ... -road-test

I love that it has wider front tires than rear. I wonder how many people have made a mistake rotating them.

I think an unloved GM product is right up your alley. The price should be cheap anyway. Too bad the W-body is such a bad platform...

It is a bad platform, but with bilstein shocks, great seats, a quick steering ratio and a lot of power (no real torque steer), it's an interesting car. Decent fuel economy on that LS4 actually (highway being more decent than city I'm sure). It has cylinder deactivation. I should stop by and drive it.

How close is the Malibu to needing to be replaced? This could be an interesting option at the right price.

It has 130k. Runs and drives fine, original shocks are still adequate, though not what they used to be. The biggest problem is the body is starting to degrade (rust in places is showing up). I feel like it's right at the point between the mileage and the body condition that it is about to plummet in value from whatever ~$2k it might be worth now. I think she wanted some kind of hatchbacky thing (like a Malibu Maxx). Admittedly the Malibu Maxx would be a far better car in almost every measurable way (except speed).

I am a big advocate of selling at the right time when it comes to used cars. It seems like it may be time to start looking around.

So I drove the car. I ended up going over the bridge, into Jamestown then back to the dealer. Gave me a little romping room. Here's my mini-review.

It sounds fantastic! Great mellow sound but definitely louder than I think it would have been stock. Magnaflow makes good sounding exhausts.

Walk around was pretty good. The paint seemed nice. It had the correct offset tires front and back.

The drivability is also very good. Great throttle response, effortless torque, even with the tall-ass gearing. The transmission actually shifted great (80k) though I have read there can be problems with it. Maybe that's like saying CTS-V1's blow up rear ends constantly...not really. It loped right up the Newport Bridge at like 1500rpm with no issues at like 60 mph. Love that. I put the hammer down and it went to 2nd. Because of the tall gearing it never really feels THAT fast but it kind of just always has torque whenever you ask for it, if that makes sense. I did a 0-60 run and I think it got to like 55mph in first. Pretty quick, and only a little wriggling in the steering wheel (imperfect road surface, too). The LS4 has pretty linear power delivery. It's a great engine. Because of how tall the gearing is, you never feel like you're going to smoke the tires (which is probably good as that's pointless on FWD) but it moves around very effortlessly. This engine would be perfect in any number of mild mannered restomods, though I'm not sure how well a RWD transmission will bolt up so maybe it's just for Fiero V8 swaps...which must be amazing to drive, as this is a 3,600lb car (only 250lbs lighter than my CTS-V, as such).

Smoother than my LS6 but most automatics seem to be smoother than manual transmission cars, at least the V8s I've owned have been (Caprice was always smoother than my Camaro). I think it has something to do with losing the original balance of the original clutch, flywheel and pressure plate, but I digress.

The seats were pretty comfortable for the kind of car it is but not as supportive as I had been led to believe.

Touch screen navigation actually seemed more modern than the unit in my CTS-V, but I think it was designed more recently (maybe 2004 or 2005 versus 2003). Maybe the screen was a bit smaller. No idea how the stereo is.

So how about the chassis, perhaps the big question mark given this car's platform? Well the chassis control was actually very nice. It rode well, and seemed pretty composed during 6/10ths cornering. I'm sure it falls apart in really hard driving but I don't think that is the intended use of this car. For a daily driver, it was great.

I should also mention that the car was rattle-free and felt pretty tight. It's amazing how old the platform is. It didn't feel terrible going down the road, in general.

Now the steering. Hilariously and predictably in grand GM tradition, there was steering play on center. More than I expected. I was actually a little annoyed that it had so much, in fact. The ratio is very quick, but between the heaviness and play, it reminded me a bit too much of B-body steering.

The brakes also didn't feel that special, but I suppose they're not that special.

As I mentioned, the back seat is irritatingly cramped for the size of this car, but the trunk was huge. I wish they used some of that to make the back seat better. There was also some water damage on the rear driver's side headliner and C-pillar cover. It wasn't wet, but it was pretty wet at some point. The passenger side rear C-pillar cover (says "airbag" on it, covering the screw hole I think) had popped off (my CTS-V has them but they are secure) and was dangling by its little string or whatever. Not the best sign of quality but stuff like that doesn't bother me, and the reason for it being off may have nothing at all to do with quality (maybe someone pulled that C-pillar cover and broke the tabs on the cover, for all I know).

So in the end, I'm sure for $12k this will be scooped up by the enlisted set that prowls the area every day. He even mentioned that. I'm sure he'll sell it quickly. But I could never justify this car for Jamie.

Getting back in the CTS-V was a breath of fresh air (steering/chassis/brakes), though I swear the LS4 has better throttle response, even through an automatic. That annoys me. You know what the drivability reminded me of? Remember how the old 2.8 and 3.1L cars used to drive? This was like that except multiplied like 10x. It was refined (ok those weren't that refined), but also very eager to go and responsive, just like those old V6 cars used to feel (except way better).

The Grand Prix GXP seems like the kind of car a "car enthusiast" buys who either doesn't have the money for what he really wants, or just doesn't know the difference. Insisting every car enthusiast should be pining for a CTS-V1 is a little ridiculous but then given the small price difference, I'm not really sure WHY someone would want to drive this @ $12k over a CTS-V1, if they actually enjoy driving and want a sedan with V8 power. If they want to look cool (in the black Grand Prix fashion sense), sound cool, and go fast, then I guess I understand. Sort of like a Marauder I guess. That would have been enough for me 10 years ago, certainly. That's what the Camaro was, right? That's exactly what it was.

As a little aside, the sales guy was kind of cool. He recognized me as a car enthusiast right away so we talked cars a bit. He asked about my CTS-V. He wanted to know how the magnaflow compared in sound to the Grand Prix as well as the performance difference. As I was saying how I got 26 mpg those times and how much I enjoy it overall, he began an admission. He goes "you know, I'm a Ford guy through and through, but I have to say, since about 2003 [perhaps with the first gen CTS?] Cadillac has really done well." We talked about their current product line and how, really, everything is pretty good one way or the other. But cars like the CTS-V2, new ATS and new CTS are VERY good. I then mentioned Lincoln and he had no problem admitting that they totally lost their way and it's kind of sad. Most of their product seems to be playing to the baby boomer set, and on the Lexus level, while Cadillac is finally playing with the big boys. He agreed with all, but also said a Lincoln that does excite him is something like a Lincoln Mark III. That's cool. Beats any of those FWD bland-machines, some of which have goofy or downright ugly styling.

Sounds like it was an interesting option, but probably not the best choice to replace the Malibu given the price tag and the fact that you don't really need the performance. I guess if it was like $8k, it might be more appealing.

It seems like the GXP is a car you step up into from a V6 4th gen F-body. It's a fine daily driver but I could never imagine it as my only "enthusiast" vehicle. It feels like a relic of 90s GM, with a class leading powertrain.

If it feels like a relic of 90s GM, it's because it is a relic of 90s GM