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Pontiac Bonneville
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Comments
I do believe reducing gas consumption will reduce the economic leverage of illegitimate oil rich governments and the looney religious factions they spawn. Improving the average gas mileage will therfore make the global cleanup after 9/11 more efficient.
Iguess the decision will come down to gas mileage and dependability between thw Bonny SE and Avalon XL
I think both car's could use a LSD. The Aurora so it can make use of high RPM launch, and the SSEi so you can put to the floor and use all that torque in 1st:)
It took a lot to get me to buy the Bonneville - my first North American car - but I'm glad I did.
ice
I wouldn't recomened that intense trans with 3.69's, wouldn't that decrease your top end alot?, the 4.0 revs to 6400, so it does fine cruising at 140 with 3.71's . and besides you already say your having traction problems at low speeds, id keep the 2.93 with a limited slip that thing would really grab hard with a set of 255's or 245's.
ice
ice
ice
My current stats (5 weeks of ownership) are:
80 mph @ about 2050 rpm
22-24 mpg
I drive daily ~80 miles, mostly fwy.
Also, couldn't figure out the part# on this board; does anyone have the correct one?
This car is amazingly FANTASTIC!!! I had owned a 98 Dodge Intrepid ES (V6, 3.2L, 225HP, 225T) and the Bonnie simply leaves the Pid in the shade...
The model # of the K+N in my 2000 SSEi is:
MM33-2086
Got my 2000 back from its 3rd trip to the dealer for a leaking trunk. They had it 5 days this time and swear they got it fixed. We'll see. I had a Sunfire for a loaner for 3 days and about 300 miles and let's just say it made me appreciate the Bonneville even more.
My wish list for the GXP:
1. Firmer ride. If you have ever been behind one of these cars, they look like a sompetitive swimmer doing the breast stroke with all of the bobbing up and down.
2. Better handling and less of a numb feeling in the steering wheel. Speed sensitive steering or no, there just isn't the feeling of preciseness that I would like to see.
3. Functional head rests. Enough said.
4. Trunk release button back on the driver's door.
5. Kick ..... stereo. This has been discussed before. The Bose system is nice(get ahold of the Eagles live on their reunion tour doing Hotel California to give the bass a true workout) but I don't think we're asking too much for a car at this price point to do better.
6. Same fuel economy as I get now. That's being really greedy, I suppose, since the comparison is between the V-6 and the V-8 but a fella can hope.
7. Almost forgot but a true limited slip differential.
You listening out there, GM design team?
Unfortunately, these things are not available widely (for example, forget about tirerack.com) and they're extremely expensive - this is the most I have ever paid for tires but I'm already convinced that it was money well spent.
Highly recommended - especially for changeable winter conditions. Ideal if you don't want to have to change tires twice a year.
I just have never been as impressed with a tire before.
ice
Dale
The 4.4L is a derivative of the Aurora engine. There has been no word on other applications that I'm aware of. On a related note, you wonder what car salesman do all day. When I stopped the other night at the dealer to get mine out of the shop, I was talking to the salesman who had sold me the car. He had not heard of the GXP nor had the owner's son.
The 4.4L is a variant of the Premium V8 family (Northstar and Aurora). It's just a new displacement. There was a recent press release about the Performance Division, and the GXP was mentioned along with the V-Series and some other vehicles. So it looks like the GXP will be a "Performance Division" model, so it's possible the SSEi will stay on as the highest-end non-tuner version of the Bonnie. I imagine the GXP will be a fair bit more expensive than the top non-tuner version, although if it goes over $40,000 (especially if it's way over) then that will just make me miss the Aurora with it's $32,000 V8 all the more... The Grand Prix GXP will be out at least a year earlier than the Bonnie, I believe. So maybe the price premium on the GP GXP will give an idea of how much more the Bonnie GXP will cost (although the GP GXP doesn't get a new engine).
It would make sense to me to drop the SSEi in favor of the GXP. I don't think the GXP is a 40K car and with the SSEi still around it would force the GXP to be close to that point.
I see what you are saying about dropping the SSEi. However, I think it may depend on how GM views the Performance Division and the in-house tuner cars. If it is AMG-like, it would make sense to keep the SSEi as the premium non-tuned car. But there will be some overlap in product that way (which may be ok, especially if the "tuned" version has a large price premium).
I think this would be a great idea, it would basically mitigate the negative characteristics of front wheel drive (power-on understeer, torque steer, and wheel spin).
They are available aftermarket for $500 (Intense) and $1000 (Quaife) for any car with the 4T65 transmission.
TIA
After Saturday night, I can definitively state that the Bonneville's Bose system is superior to the sound system of the Beetle Turbo S. We had dinner at our friend's and one thing led to another with he and I out in their driveway at 10:00 at night in the freezing cold trying to destroy each other's eardrums with the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" album. I was just afraid that the paper would have a note about a prominent local attorney(not me) served with a summons for excessive noise in his own driveway. I was very surprised at how much better either car system was than his home system which is no slouch in its own right. At any rate, I claim victory by a clear margin.
:^D
VIN of the car the mirror came from: 1G2HX52L1R4226464
Thanks in advance.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=4290953645.
That's a Sony website that hosts digital pics, video clips, etc. You'll have to sign up to see the album, but it's free.
I have seen that part of the Sopranos episode that the GXP was in, and it is clearly the concept car. Apart from the V-8 that will be in the production version, they are hard to tell apart. The grille is the only obvious difference. The production car has a Solstice-like grille. My favorite pic is of the production GXP in the courtyard of the Guggenheim museum. Enjoy!
Happy Holidays!
I thought the same things about the fog lights. If I was designing the GXP I would have left the front fascia pretty much alone. I like the aggressive look of the current SSEi front end. But somewhere along the way somebody at Pontiac must have decided the new look was better. Oh, well. I still want one!
Too bad it's not debuting this year since I don't think I can wait another year before getting a new car.
By the way, has the interior changed much?
First things first - they're cleaning up the exterior and adding a V8. Yes, we'd like them to clean up the interior a bit - oh yeah, and make it RWD. Still, we might buy it anyway.
If only...
Happy holidays you all - and all the best for '03.
ice
Right now I just want an idea of how much it's going to cost to get one! ;-)
http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=4290953645
The 2003 photo shows the new seating design which can also be seen on the production GXP (the Guggenheim photo). The GXP will apparently have a two-tone pattern as evidenced by the photos of the concept car interior, and the Guggenheim photo. Looks like the basic instrument panel and door panel layouts aren't going to change. I'm not sure if I like or don't like the carbon fibre inserts. I guess I'll have to wait until I see one up close and personal.
Looks like they changed the guage cluster and moved the heated seat controls to the center shift area. I wish they improved the interior quality a bit, although the exterior is very sleek and athletic looking.
I can get a really, really good deal on a 2003 SSEi now, but I think I will be kicking myself in a year if I do that now.
I got out with the oil life monitor displaying 20% left, but I had no time to replace the engine oil. With the altitude varying by almost 8000ft., at the end of the trip there was still 3% left. I'll change the oil tomorrow and won't wait to see what happens when it reaches 0%...
;^)
BTW, after over 50gals., the average mileage was about 27MPG with a mix of 70 to 80MPH highway driving, 30 to 50MPH hills and some urban stretches.