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Pontiac Grand Prix - 2000-2005
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I'm looking into purchasing a 1999 Grand Prix GTP sedan (w/ 35000 miles). I've heard people say that only 93+ octane could be used with the supercharger. However, I've also heard the hobby "mechanics" say that I can put regular in, which will cause the car to run rough initially until it reprograms itself for the reduced octane. Any information on this issue would be appreciated. Also, any GTP owners out there that are dissatisfied with the fuel economy on the supercharged version of the 3.8?
Thank you!
Joshua
Hope this helps!
City was a different story. It depends a lot on number of lights, number of hills, and one's mood.
I have put 87 and 89 octane in my car before. I didn't notice any rough idle or shuddering with the 87, but it did feel like I was pulling an extra 700 lb load. I suspect my mileage would have been lower as well, especially in stop-and-go but that tank was mostly highway, and frankly once I was "up to speed" I didn't notice much. I figure though, since I shelled out the extra $$ for the supercharger, why not spend the extra $0.20/gal for the premium.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
Ken
That's a pretty neat feature. One I would have never figured out on my own. I've been reading my owner's manual but I jump around. I would have never thought to look under Retained Power Accessory--didn't even know that existed.
I've been enjoying my first week of owning a new car. I do have that pinging noise that a lot of people have written in about when I turn off my engine. I guess that's just the newness.
That's the exhaust pipes cooling off and contracting.
Rented a Malibu in Minneapolis. The motor was green but I had to give the gas pedal 30% to go from 50 to 70 mph. The GP with 3.8 will effortlessly scoot up to 70 without down shifting. Also the 3.1 motor is really coarse at anything over 3000 rpm and believe me you will be up there.
I don't recall any issues like this with Grand Prix or Regal.
www.gmpowertrains.com
(There may or may not be an "s" on the end of powertrain.)
The 3.1 has aluminum cylinder heads vs the 3.8 having cast iron. I don't know just how important this is to you. There was a lot of posting going on about this (cast iron vs. aluminum) in the Impala forum but it was a month or two ago and good luck if you could find it. They do a lot of posting on that forum.
Most of my driving is in the city so the horsepower suits me but if I could have afforded it I probably would have gotten the 3.8 based on its cast iron engine.
Well, looks like new car time for me. Had nothin but troubles with Ford, so I'm goin GM. Took my Taurus in a while back (Taurus is a Dog!) and they gave me a Grand Prix GT Rental (Not smart for Ford to give GM rentals, kinda supporting the competition,Eh?). Needless to say I loved it, did n't want to give it back. I always like the GP. Most of my realitives in MI drive Pontiacs and have nothing but good things to say. So, would you guys recommend that I buy one up? I have gone to the dealership and pretty much have one picked out. 2001 GT fully loaded with leather and CD. Let me know what you think.
What color do you have picked out? They didn't have a lot of Grand Prix's to choose from at the dealerships that I went to but I did manage to pick out a color that I liked.
I can't recall the name but there is a company making an arrangement that utilizes the wiring from the steering wheel to control an IR transmitter. You would mount this transmitter somewhere in view of the head unit. This, obviously, requires that you purchase a head unit that can be remote controlled. Other than that... I've not seen anything that will use the buttons on the steering wheel.
Here's one company that makes what you are looking for. There is another - can't find the link right now, but if I do, I'll post that one also.
http://www.discountcarstereo.com/SWRC.htm
http://www.soundgate.com/rac.html
Thanks,
kdstan
So, the best to fill is is where it is convenient. If there are several convenient stations, than where it is less expensive. The same stations usually sell higher volume of gas, are better equipped - and thus have lesser probability to have contaminated gas.
If you just want the best, Sun stations sells 94 octane "Extra" gas, for about 10 cents more.
Though, your engine does not need this. Better to left the gas to the poor soils, recent immigrants and inner-city dwellers, driving in old cars with engines which never were tuned. They really need the very best gas to decrease the knocking.
Know this very well - I drove in such a car the first two years after immigrating. And currently my car have the same 3.8l supercharged engine as yours.
There was a recall on Grand Prix's seat belts manufactured from April-May 2000. Since I just bought the car, I don't know if it was fixed. It would have been sitting on the dealer's lot all that time so I would assume they would have fixed it, but who knows.
Everyone talks about build dates so wondered how they find out this information.
Thanks,
kdstan
Would not surprised if they did the same with GP. Especially given GS and GTP basically are (is?) the same car, only in different-looking wrappers...
Dumb decision in my mind. This is just software, a set of tables in ROM. Marginal cost of software duplication is zero, and how much could cost one button?
Steering: Go to the Grand AM section. Someone installed a strut tower brace which greatly improved steering response. Only costs about $100.
Look into this if you don't want to spend $$$ on hardware add ons when the Magnasteer in your car can easily be adjusted to your liking.
This will be my wife's car (replacing a minivan of all things) as mine will remain the 2000 Bonneville SLE that we bought last December. I guess that makes us a true Pontiac household (after 20+ years of buying strictly imports!).
Believe it or not, our final list was Century, Regal and GP GT - each had their strong and (relatively) weak points but we went with the latter for styling, handling and powertrain. Personally, I think the GT is one of the best values out there today - especially at invoice with incentive financing - and my sister's experience (she owns a '98 GT) has been very positive. Plus I'm familiar with the powertrain (identical to the Bonneville) so I don't expect any problems and look forward to ample grunt at any speed.
re. K&N: heng is right about K&N's claims re. less airflow restriction (= more horsepower). Plus they are re-useable so if you own the car long enough it eventually will more than pay for itself. Downsides: i) you've got to clean and oil them periodically; ii) I've heard 1 complaint from 1 person (who may have over-oiled their filters) about fouled/ruined oxygen sensors - that can be costly.
Anyway, glad to be a part of this club.
Does anyone know if this is indicative of the steering column problems that various GM cars have had? In the cars that had this problem, did they all make an actual clunk sound?
It could be that this is normal for the Grand Prix.
Just took my 2000 GT to the dealer on Friday, and that was one of the problems.
I live in a small apt. complex, and we have to pull into the driveway, and the there are 5 parking spots, diagonal.
They could not replicate the problem, of course.
I started up this morning, and of course.. clunk.
Actually, its a pretty subdued bassy thud in my case.
Sounds like its coming from the passanger front axle area.
Very strange.
Besides that, I'm interested in the K&N Filter, as the GP seems just a little laggy when accelerating at 60 and above. Bu, its still real nice with the Wide-Track.
Bad place, very poor design.
Wish K&N had some sort of mod for that, I can't be the only one who finds them a pain.
What I find a poor design is the ashtray. I don't smoke but if I need to charge my phone with the cigarette lighter, the charge won't fit. Maybe that's just with Nokia phones.
I wanted to, since the steering on my '01 GTP could be a bit firmer for my tastes. So I brought in my car to the dealership where they knew absolutely nothing about it. (I had the same experience on my previous Magnasteer car -- a '98 Intrigue). So I went online and found a gentleman who kindly faxed me instructions from some manual (Helm?) that had instructions on how to adjust the Magnasteer. I brought it to my dealer on the next service visit and when I returned they said that the Magnasteer option didn't come up on their analyzer...that my car doesn't even HAVE Magnasteer!!!
If that's true, then the '01 Grand Prix brochure is inaccurate, but I suspect it's because the car has what they call Magnasteer II, and perhaps that isn't adjustable...I don't know.
Anyway, before telling me that my car didn't have Magnasteer, he told me he checked with Pontiac and said they said making it firmer was a bad idea, because you'd get 'memory steering" or something to that effect, where the wheel wouldn't return to its previous position after being turned...probably just some dealer b.s., right? And it's kind of a moot point if I really don't have Magnasteer!
The bottom line: If GM is going to put these features in their cars, they really ought to tell their dealers about it!
Kdstan
The K&N site says 2-3 hp for a 4 cyl. and 10+ hp for a 350 cu. in. V8. I'm skeptical about the latter numbers myself. While you're on the page, heed their advice about over-oiling.
It is a not a design defect but a manufacturing one.
Your dealer should be aware of it.
I'll be going by the dealership soon and will discuss this with them but with my luck, it won't make the noise when I'm there or they won't hear it.
One more question--To change the programming mode for door locks, as best I can tell from reading the owner's manual, you have to go into the fuse box of the car. Am I correct on that? It would seem like there would be an easier way.
Thanks!
I just wanted to say I am purchasing a 99 PG GAP sedan and I am very excited, I am currently a college student and found that my 97 Explorer was just too boring and too gas consuming. So after much research I decided to go with the PG GAP, every time I went to test drive em, it was solo different from my Explorer it blew me away, well I will update ay the day I pick it up (less than 48 hours!!!!)