As many of you know...I have an 04 Comp G right now. I am seriously eyeballing a GXP and will probaly buy one. Since I have looked at the Comp G so long...I can pick out pretty much all the differences......so here are some quick observations.


#1- Looks like GM put a ton of money into the interior revision...sadly...I am not sure who will notice. Compared to my Comp G, there are tons of parts that have to be new part#'s....however I am not sure who will notice the difference. I really think the only parts that carried over were the dashboard and center stack housing. The gauges, and miost the bottons are new. The console is revised, along with the steering wheel...the list goes on and on. Problem is...they are not improvments that you will notice unless you have driven an older GP. Overall...the interior still has the love it or hate it styling. The biggest improvment IMO is the laminated metalic trim that won't wear off like the old stuff did.

#2- The cruise control has been moved from the dedicated Toyota like stalk under the steering wheel to the traditional GM wiper stalk. I have always dispised the steering wheel stalk cruise...and on the GXP I hate it more because that stalk already has 15 other functions on it. I feel like I need an engineering degree just to turn the fog lights on


#3- The car definatly feels faster than the old Comp G. I attribute this mostly to the less aggressive TQ managment on the GXP than raw power. the Comp G always seemed odd. You could floor it...and it would kinda sit there and think for a while untill the TQ managment poured on the power. The GXP seems like an unrestrained beast in comparison. Pretty much, you floor it, the world blurs, and pray you can keep the wheels pointed in the right general area. TQ steer is a major issue in this car...much more so than the Comp G.

#4- Handling wise....I don't feel as comfortable with the GXP..at least initially. The Comp G feels extreamly buttoned down and has heavy accurate steering. The tradeoff is it rides like a dumptruck. The GXP has a bit lighter steering, and while the Bilstiens are great cruising....but the amount of float the introduce when husled is a bit alarming.

#5- Gas milage I observed on my test drive was horrible. I get about 23mpg in the Comp G. The GXP I drove had 100 miles on it and was getting about 15mpg. The instant econ always seemed horrible unless you had you foot off the gas coasting. Looking at the instant economy...you could tell the DOD kicked in because of the huge jump in economy. However with the cruise on the DOD never appeared to kick in, and the gas milage stayed in the low 20's. Crusing at the same speed, by Comp G will get in the 30's.



All in all...I was very impressed with the GXP and am seriously considering getting one. I have looked at an Impala..but it is just not my style I guess...I am a Pontiac person/

 

I'm a big fan of the GXP too. Just to add to your observations:

A person who has only seen the interior in pictures will not be impressed by the changes, but seeing it in person makes quite an impression. Especially for someone who's never seen the old interior, the new one gets very good first impressions from what I've seen so far by my customers. The new darker color (for Ebony) makes a huge difference compared to the dull gray. Also, the chrome rings around vents spice things up nicely, IMO. And for the GXP, that "engine turned" aluminum around the gauges really looks sharp.

I don't mind either way, but I did like the cancel feature the old unit had.

Don't forget about that music coming out of the tailpipes.

Lots of people on the GP boards have been getting all over the place for mileage, especially at first. They have been getting better, for the most part, once they have more miles on them and start breaking in.

 

It always makes me feel good to know there is at least ONE person out there that buys more cars than me


I'm at the point where I like everything on the turn signal, but thats just because I've been driving GM for so long w/ that arrangement that it's just second nature.


Same here, all city gets us 14.6 ! Not sure where they got that 18mpg from.

 

I hate the interior on our GTP so much that I can't picture myself getting another Grand Prix without a completely new interior.... even if the upgrades address many of the issues.

Sad, too, because the GXP would probably be on my radar screen otherwise.

 

Before:


After:


It's hard to tell from these pictures, but it really makes a huge difference, especially in person.

 

I won't dismiss it, since I haven't sat in a new one... however, I have a laundry list of complaints about the 04's interior.

Looks like they "spiced it up" a little with touches like the chrome rings, etc... I give a big thumbs up for that... but, here are some other issues I have with it:

1) The seats are terrible. They are hard and uncomfortable.

2) The steering wheel's fake brushed chrome pieces wiggle and come loose. Also, the backside of the steering wheel has a terrible cheap plastic feel to it as well.

3) The airbag cover on the wheel is rubbery and unfinished on the edges, and flexes if you touch the underside.

4) The center stack and the drivers side vent covers are made of the absolute worst plastic I have ever seen. It's cheep looking and cheap feeling. It creaks when you push on it, and it sounds thin and hollow if you tap on it.

5) The console where the shifter is a terrible layering of 3 pieces of plastic. If you push your knee against it, you can watch the base portion, the thin plastic top cover, and the shifter all flex in different directions. It all creaks like cheap plastic as it flexes.

6) The dash pad material is just a terrible rubbery material.

7) Our glove box door open really harshly... you really have to yank it to get it open...


I could probably think of some more things, but you get the general idea....

 

You should at least check out the new one. The interior is much nicer. They seemed to use real cows for the leather this time instead of fake ones. Also, with the new lower sticker prices...you can get a loaded one with Nav for probaly less than you GTP costs. It really has a much different personality.


One another note....the car sounds damn sexy....nothing like a V8 allowed to sound like it should.

 

You are probably right... I should at least sit in one before totally dismissing it... but, in my head at least..... I just think that I might as well just get an Impala SS instead, if I went that route....

Side note: Having the GTO has really put a new emphasis on interiors for me... they have moved up my "importance list" so much... never thought that would be the case.

 

The DoD doesn't kick in during highway cruise? What a waste of technology.

 

Almost all the things you mentioned were addressed. They did much more than slap some chrome rings on it and call it a day....there are several new part numbers in there all the way down to the console and buttons on the steering wheel. I would at least give it a look before you buy something else. Plus any issues you still have will be forgotten when you stomp it

 

I am not sure if it is. Seems like it is getting crappy gas milage on crusie so I was assuming it was not. I heard the DoD gets more intelligent after a few thousand miles, so who knows.

 

Well, you have raised my hopes a bit... I'll give it a look!

 

It does.

It just depends on the load, amongst other factors.

 

One last thing to cosider is that people are running 13.8's with these...isn't that 04 GTO territory?

 

I guess I understand DoD turning off when going uphill on the highway but on a mostly level surface, slight incline, or with a headwind I'd hope the engineers implemented gearing not so tall that it requires a downshift or cylinder activation...