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ken

For those of you gettting crappy mileage in your GXP......give it time to break in. You've got tight motors!

And if you're still not happy with it, I know a guy that gets 29mpg on the highway with his 93SSEi that will trade you straight across.

Is there a common break in period? I recieved a coupon from the dealer for a free oil change, problem is I seem to remember it bieng synthetic oil. I will ask them when it goes into the shop. I sure hope your right. (about the tight engine, not the trade ) I will go check the caddy forums and see what'* happening with them.

I made my first road trip on the autobahn this weekend. I drove a total of 520 miles round trip from Berlin to Bavaria. Going down there I opened it up a little and got to 138mph at one point but only for about 1-2 min. I would probably say I averaged about 88-90 mph going down there. I got about 18 mpg on the way down. Coming back I decided to stay within the posted speed limits when there were some which was usually 130kph (approx 82 mph). Now there were times when the speed limit was 100 kph (62 mph) and I would go at that speed. When the speed limit was unlimited I would go about 140 kph (88 mph). I got 20 mpg on the return. I did have it up to 120 mph for a very quick spurt or two but that was it. The weather was clear and the temp about 81. I did notice on the DIC that it said 23 mpg at times when I was on cruise control at about 75 mph. I've had V8'* before and they never revved like this. I'm sure it'* because of the DOHC motor which derives more power as it gets to a higher rev band. With that said, it'* going to suck in alot more fuel when you hit it. German cars are built with the top end in mind. They could give a rats *** about off the line performance in general. They still want good acceleration but their main goal is top end. At 90 mph, I was getting passed by VW Passat diesels going 120-130 mph easily! One Mercedes diesel S320 had to have been going 150 mph easily. At a drag strip, he would have been lucky to do the 1/4 mile in 17 seconds. I guess the point I am trying to make is that American cars are geared to get their best mileage in the 65-75 mph range. Of course they'll go faster but then you have some drawbacks in the MPG arena. The GXP wasn't made to get you awesome gas mileage. Will it do OK for a performance V8? Sure it will. But I will tell you this. Buy a German V8 car and I will bet you pink slips that their gas mileage will be alot worse. Why, because their V8 cars are geared toward high salaried professionals making $150,000 or more. They are built like our old Cadillacs and Lincolns in the 60'* and 70'*. Lots of metal, heavy as hell, and alot more HP. One German told me their top of the line Mercedes right now weighs more than any regular Cadillac ever built! Think about that a minute. Those mid 60'* and early 70'* Caddys were tanks and these German cars weigh even more. But they are smooth as silk and their drivers could care less if they get 12-13 MPG. When I tell the Germans my car has 275 HP they look at me confused because their V8'* have substantially more. It'* a different market. Not very many people, if any, making $50-60 grand drive V8 cars here. With the GXP you get a V8 machine with commendable performance, alot less cost, and reasonable mileage. Let them break in. Find some open roads not so often travelled to get a good mileage test. Set the cruise and see what happens. I bet you might be surprised at what you get. My rpoblem is that I can't stay off the throttle that long! hahaha

Sweet.. that must be a fun drive. We haven't seen 18 MPG yet. My wife drives the car mostly so I can easily say you drove it harder getting 18 than she does to get less. She drives alot of highway miles too. How many miles are on your ride? I have been told it needs to be broken in. How is your economy compared to when it was new? Believe me, I know what I bought and I don't expect 30 or 40 mpg, but 20 shouldn't be asking much. Thank you very much for your input here.

This is one of the alltime great topics. Let'* keep this one alive as you guys get more info. Obis, I love your narrative.

All of you guys would benefit in mileage from most common mods. An intake would be a great starting point. Copying 2000SilverBullet may be an option for you, and you should gain around 1 to 1.5 mpg.

I'm not too familiar with the restrictions of the Northstar exhaust, so we need to glean some information from our cousins on that score. Most intake and exhaust mods will wake the car up, and will also increase fuel efficiency if you can keep your foot out of the new-found power.

I'm holding my breath for what Intense comes up with in the next few months.

Better fuel efficiency from the factory usually means less HP

I reset my fuel economy average meter today and ran some errands in town. When I came back it registered as 21mpg. Reset your meters guys and see what happens!! The meter may be biased from the first few hundred miles that get super-crummy mileage. Anyway, it might raise a few brows...it did mine.

It may be a little anal but I keep a book on every car I own. I never trust the computer to tell me what I get for economy. I do the math on every tank I run and log it. I will say that of the vehicles I have had with the running mileage computer the GXP is the closest to correct.

Hi,
I contacted Pontiac.....here'* there answer, though it'* not completely correct...


Dear Mr. McNeilly,

Thank you for contacting Pontiac and for your interest in the Pontiac Bonneville GXP! We have completed our research on you request. We were able to find the reason the fuel economy in Canada Bonneville vehicles is higher is that the United States gallon is smaller than the imperial gallon. The imperial gallon is 5 quarts rather than our 4 quarts.


We hope that this information is helpful to you. If you have any additional questions or would like to receive product information on any of our other vehicles, you may write back or contact Pontiac at 1-800-762-2737, between 8:00am - 11:00pm Eastern time, seven days per week. Thank you for contacting Pontiac!

Sincerely,

Amy Yamasaki
Customer Relationship Manager
Pontiac