well, previous announcements put the 2004 GTP at 250 hp and 280 ft. lbs. of torque....now they are saying 260 hp and 280 ft. lbs. of stock..... as if the older model GTPs werent fast enough with their STOCK 240 hp and 260 ft lbs torque...this new GTP should EASILY be a 14.4-14.5 second car considering the older model EASILY hits 14.5-14.8 stock.


BY LAWRENCE ULRICH
DETROIT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER



From Robert Lutz on down, General Motors Corp. hammered a message home Wednesday: Wait 'til you drive the new Grand Prix.

As Pontiac rejects its plastic-clad past and readies several fresh models, Lutz, vice chairman for product development, promised the reworked 2004 Grand Prix would give Asian and European sedans an honest fight when it goes on sale in February.

"This is one of the best midsize performance sedans I've ever driven, especially for the price," Lutz said during a media presentation at GM's Centerpoint Campus in Pontiac.

The front-wheel-drive Grand Prix is an important player in GM's plan to revamp its midsize car lineup, which officials acknowledge has taken a back seat to truck development in recent years.

Unlike other upcoming Pontiac models, including the 2005 Grand Am sedan and coupe, the Grand Prix hasn't been redesigned from the ground up. But GM said 80 percent of its parts are new, including exterior and interior styling and lavishly upgraded performance.

"We think the Grand Prix is reborn," said Bob Kraut, marketing director for Pontiac's latest sedan, whose history dates to the original 1962 Grand Prix.

Base SE models will continue to offer GM's old-faithful engine, the 3.8-liter V6 with 200 horsepower. But the up-level GTP will supercharge that engine for a best-in-class 260 horsepower, good for a top speed of 142 m.p.h.

A special Competition Group option includes steering-wheel controls to select gears in the four-speed automatic transmission, stability control, a firmer suspension and 17-inch performance wheels and tires.

The last time Pontiac redesigned the Grand Prix in 1997, it expected 60 percent of buyers to choose the coupe version. Instead, 80 percent went with the sedan. And with coupes generally failing to lure buyers, Pontiac won't offer a two-door Grand Prix. But the Grand Prix sedan was designed to mimic the racy roofline of a coupe while delivering the practicality of a four-door. With its fold-down rear- and front-passenger seats, the Grand Prix can hold an 8-foot ladder with its trunk closed.

Kraut said owners who still demand a coupe will be served by this fall's 2004 Pontiac GTO, a V8-powered two-door that's a version of the Holden Monaro built in Australia.

GM expects top quality and reliability from the Grand Prix, built at its Oshawa No. 2 plant in Ontario. That factory was named the highest-quality plant in North America in this year's J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, displacing the usual winners, the U.S. plants of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

 

Glad to hear it. Didn't the recent pictures show Pontiac moving away from the body cladding on the new Grand Prix??

Should be intresting to take for a test drive, and nothing more.

 

yeah, the new GTP has NO cladding at all...from the front and sides i think it looks pretty good, the back is pretty fugly though...and they dropped the Coupe model for good....you can only get it in the Sedan model from now on. thats to make room for the new GTO coupe that comes out with like 330 hp in a V8 or something close to that, im not sure on exact specs on the GTP but that will be out for 2004 as well, and about 35-40k

 

wasn't the G-Force concept model
representative of the 2004 Grand Prix?

 

and i thought they were going for
280 x 2?

280hp 280 tq?

 

yeah, the G-force concept car looks basically identical to the production 2004 GTP minus the 19 inch wheels and brembo brakes of course....and as far as the power numbers, alot of people are dissapointed about only 260 hp and not the 280 that that G-force claimed to have....i guess pontiac is just trying to keep distance between the GTP and the GTO that will be out soon.

 

260HP is "best in class?"

 

Something tells that this engine will also be undervalued deliberatly. Just like the Neon SRT and others. I would not be surprised if this engine actually makes 280 or more HP and do the 1/4 mile in 14 flat. We'll see. I hope I am right.

 

And give the dog a bone...

 

I wouldnt care if they made it 500hp and 12sec. 1/4... its still a butt-ugly bloated GM

 

Too bad they dont make a manual....Any pictures of the interior?

 

i can ask my friends who work at GM....
as to why it doesn't come with a manual.
mostly, it's because of the market segment that
it's sold to.

but here is the only interior pic that i have.
enjoy.

 

I hate pontiacs, i have a cts cadillac which even after paying for a brand name like cadillac still feels like shit inside, my acura feels great. nice and tight no cheezy feelling buttons

 

That interior looks cheesy as hell.

 

GM, welcome to oh, 5 years ago......

 

Yuck.....That interior looks pretty plasticy(sp?) to me. Probably was designed before Lutz took over at GM. Maybe in a few years they will redesign it using better materials.

 

Is that really the final design on the interior? The exterior has some promise to it, and the engine specs speak for themselves, but wha the fu(k kinda interior is that????

 

Car (exterior) doesn't look too bad, but the interior is butt ugly.

 

Quite frankly, I wouldn't care if the car had 300 H.P.

It's still a little on the ugly side, and the interior design does not help.

 

Current is 240hp, 280 torque. Ten more peak crank hp is nothing. Twenty is barely a change.

280/280, as the G-Force was supposed to be for 2003 would have been cool.

GM sucks.

Also, Pontiac interiors are ASS.

 

Oh great....

Gm gets alot of things right but mess up the one thing car buyers will pay attention to at least 80% of the time.....THE FUCKING INTERIOR...WTF is up w/ that CORNBALL interior????? Didn't GM see what honda did w/the accord Interior...sheesh i hope thats not thier final production interior


Good old TYPICAL GM...just when u think they've pull it 2gether, they somehow fuck up in a not no minor way

 

You know all this Grand Prix bashing is gonna wake the GTP trolls...

 

After it's all said and done, it's still a Pontiac. They quite possibly have the ugliest cars on the market and good ol' American reliability. No thanks, I'll stick w/ Honda

 

I can understand some of the interior knocks along with the body cladding but general statements about reliability are far from the truth. In fact most GM powertrains are stouter than most out on the market regardless of manufacturer loaction.

Both GM and Honda manufacture engines that last. The difference is that GM can make a FWD automatic transaxle which can handle 300+ lb/ft which is a far cry from what Honda/Acura currently supplies.

So in the future pick items that are true to the statement, like a GM alternator. But when it comes to the major items like the powertrain, these statements are far from accurate.

 

Actually owning a GP, I would have too say the interior in that pic is horid. The exterior reminds me of the current Bonniville.

260hp?

I just wanna say that the guys that went to the Union Grove event know what the current GPs do, stock or modded.

Not all of us are trolls

 

Transaxles that can handle a ton of power don't make a complete car. Honda doesn't have to make cars that can handle a ton of power b/c they aren't about power alone. They are about a car that does many things well, not one or two. When I mention reliability I mean the entire package. I can't remember the last time I saw a Honda on the side of the road. I saw 3 domestics hanging out there yesterday.

 

yes, there really is no arguing when it comes to domestic reliability. it just isn't..bottom line

 

The vehicle as a whole can be construed to fit one's needs. A definition of an area would be needed.

Actually I see just as many, of the same years, imports as domestics broken down. That is the nature of time on vehicles, something will eventually break. Often people see what they want to see.

A broken down vehicle would indicate an issue with the powertrain or drivetrain which GM is not lacking there. If you state the knobs are falling off or trim has peeled away then I agree. But having worked on about the same number of both domestics and imports the motivational portions of the GM vehicles are stout and can handle more power and abuse. But look at the paint quality after three years and there will be a significant difference, GM bites in that department IMO.

 

I wonder how the new GP would go if it had the old 3.8 from the Grand National. That Grand National had a piece of shit body with a great engine. I used to see that car take some vettes at the track. It was easy to tweak for more power...and fast as hell too!

 

Well, it is the same block for both the GTP and the GN, they use different cams, heads, etc. Also they use different forms of FI, Eaton SC versus a Garrett turbo. But the main part of the lower end is the same.