ResidualFreedom

I was going to a car show today at the FORD plant in Toronto. I'm in standard traffic and in the left lane going slightly faster than the right lane..I slowly cruze by three modded GTPs, mostly cosmetic modding mind you, but they stood out to say the least.. Anyway futher down the street I have to make a right so I get over into the right lane and then into the right turning lane behind an Astro van..and the GTPs also pulled into the turning lane.. The van in front of us waited for the light to turn green before going (it's legal to do that here). I let the van get about 50ft in front of me when I round the turn, all three GTPs went directly to the outside (fast) lane. I let the first GTS pull up beside me, look over then look foward. We are both going about 15-20kms / 10 -15 miles. He has an open lane in front of him and I have an Astrovan less than 60ft in front of me.

So....one more look back at the driver and "down she goes into first!", having the intake resinator off made everyone anywhere close turn their head once the VTec kicked in! I flew right up the back of the Astrovan and over into the left lane and back into the lane infront of the astrovan.. I figured if we were going to have some fun I wasn't going to try and block him if he had a faster car. Hey if your car is faster it's faster, but another question is can you handle the car safley at thoes speeds. What would make this a little more interesting you ask? how about a mile long gradual left turn.. I was concerned about being beaten by the GTPs so my eyes were goiong from the road to the mirrors to the road to the mirrors.. They definatly pulled a little on me but not much.. I more noticed them keeping the distance pretty even all the way up, every time I loooked in the mirror they hadn't moved.. amonst my road/mirror tunnel vission I hadn't noticed the RPMS, about 6000 in third (I have a 99, so only 4 gears, thay are longer than the 5), and into forth.. I must have been going close to 140 on a turn!!! damn fast!! Coming out of the turn is what??? a red light!! and downshift and downshift , I felt the rear of the car go really light and start to wobble. "Damn that's fast! WooHooo" I was making a right at thoes lights so I again looked over at the driver of the GTP, did the "respect nodd" and off I went.. wasn't needed, that just means I'm a dickhead with a faster car. That would be like someone who says "your jacket sucks a$$! mines, more expensive and sporty, so I'm better" Never understood why do that with the cars they drive.
They porbably would have taken me off the line on a straight away, but that's not where we were was it?
I was almost shaking when I was done the little corner, once the back of the car lifted and swiveled a little when I broke I was like "woooooooo girl" then "whew!!!, good girl. I'm getting you some struts for your birthday, so you won't ever have to do that again!!"
I did take the car a little passed my comfort level when braking . I have H&R Sport springs on, I know I shouldn't expect much imporvement in steering with only springs, they absolutely saved my a$$ today.. I would have have my old "SUV" springs in I would have surely lost control..


Anyway just another rant on how good this car is , even though it was only a few Pontiacs.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

I am assuming you are referring to the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP.... Yes, you are right, they would have you pretty bad off the line. A stock TL has no chance. I think even the 97 GTP did 0-60 in ~6.8 secs.

yield2s

are your rotors warped now? but really i wonder if the "all forgiving" VSA would have made the stop less hairy.

Brian_C6

I am a previous owner of a GTP. Those cars MOVE! I had it stock for 4 years and then began to add mods to it. Off the line it is WAAAAAAY quicker than my TL-S. I don't know of many qucker 4 doors than my GTP. 0-30 that car is INSANELY fast. Stock, those cars are low 15's... they begin to loose it up top. In between 40-70 they begin to flatten out. I kept it stock for years and it managed to satisfy my needs.... but like most of my cars I end up modding the shit out of it. I added the Thrasher CAI, 3.4" pulley, Gatorback belt, DHP PCM, 180 degree thermostat, U-bend removed, resinator removed, 18" chrome rims, SLP rear deck spoiler, and white SLP face guages. The that car REALLY moved. 14.2 on the track with under $1000 in engine mods. Here are some pics....





I miss the hell out of this car but my TL has something this car never had..... CLASS & DEPENDABILTY. Nothing beats raw American HP but I feel the TL has the nicer blend of everything. The VTEC engine is cool too. I can't wait to start "effin" with it

Brian

ResidualFreedom

wondering that myself now.. I was really gentle on them aftrer that. I'm sure they were SMOKIN' .. and I have a 99 so no VSA, TCS though,I don't rember seeing it flash, but it all happened so fast..

nice ride by the way!! how was the cornering on that car? that's where I was able to pull/ hold my own with them.. I knew a straight away would put me to shame, but the corners are really about how well you know your car.. maybe they were not pushin as hard, but they were a bunch of young punks, I know saftely wasn't their concern, more like braggin' rights..trurns out SC354 knows them, lol

giovanni

You were Racing Pat......Damm....I missed it.
How was the show.
3 GP THAT SC354 knows....I met them once at the timmy's on rutherford with Jeff.

Brian_C6

The GTP was very soft with stock equip. You really need to drop it and up the rim size. I think my stock tires were like 225/60/16... that's a whole lot of sidewall. The rims helped a ton but it was still too soft. The TL is much much better in that dept. My TL is just as stiff as the GTP was with the rims....except the ride quality is higher in the TL. It has a tighter steering setup and it seems to take the bumps better.

Brian

PS. The only reason I sold the GTP was b/c it had 80,000 miles on it. It found it's way to the dealership every month for something stupid... typical US Auto's.

TLS RULZ

Hi there,

I was reading this

Then I looked at your sig... You dont have SWAYS !!! I would do that before the shocks !

Trust me ... I've done 4 wheel locks going round turns and the whole car staying planted and moves exactly as predicted.

MQMH_03

so Brian C...do you think stock vs. stock..the is the TLS slower or quicker than the GTP?

TypeSDriver

You'd have to be a pretty bad driver to be pulling low 15's in a stock GTP. I've owned three GTP's (my fiance drives a black 2000 sedan) and my last one ran a 14.8 at 93.8 mph in the quarter. That was bone stock with my 12" JL sub and amp, spare tire and 3/4 tank of gas. I've raced my fiance in her GTP with me in my Type-S and it's VERY close. It's tough not to smoke the tires in those cars, what with 280 lbs of torque on hand. That being said, I usually win when we race...but she's taken me a couple of times. All in all, the GTP's are great cars...I often miss my old one. The new ones are butt ugly though!!

Brian_C6

yup, i've heard of many sub 15 times completely stock in a GTP but I think the general consensis is low 15's. 14.8 on your best run, best weather, best conditions, only once doesn't count

The TLS is very fast but the power delivery is MUCH different. The stiffer suspension alone makes the TLS seem slower. I would rate them equal in 1/4 mile but the GTP has it ALL OVER the TLS 0-30 & low end torque. You can just plain out feel the GTP better. It's like the difference of a 2 stroke and 4 stroke dirt bike.

Brian