The wife and I drove a 2004 Grand Prix GTP Comp G yesterday. Man that car is fast! But that'* almost where I have to end the compliments. The exterior of the car is fantasic, but the interior is almost right out of a Toyota Camry. G-mom has one of those and I can tell you, after looking at her car, that a lot of the switchgear and plastics are Toyo. The cruise control has been moved after almost 30 years of being located on the turn signal arm to an arm of it'* own on the lower right side of the column. This part is from the Camry...not recreated, but bought from Toyo to use in this car. The back seat seems to have lost about 4 inches of legroom and the headroom is similarly diminished. The door panels have a very sporty look, but have a very import feel to them. The moon roof had no air dam, so it was very loud to have open at speed.

Speed was no problem for this car. The TAPshift was easy to use; I hope this gets into the GXP - or I'll have to figure out how to do it myself! The 260HP Series III SC engine wound up nicely and got me going just as I expected. The handling is what didn't impress me about this car. It was tight and stiff. It was not performance car handling. It was a bad compromise between an Impala and a Vette. It held it'* own in the corners, but the car rides too high. You sit too high. Not as bad as the 2003, but still in the top 10 high-riding cars. I know the car makers are going that way due to the SUV craze, but performance cars traditionally don't sit or ride high. The seats held me firmly, a surprising difference for this car. They had a lot of controls...the normal 4 way, lumbar and power recline. They were heated and only the bottom moved when raising, tilting or lowering.

The HUD is much improved with better controls. The driver computer is OK, but it'* where the odometer is located. The speedo is huge and goes up to 140...there is no speed limiter in this car now, so that top end is possible. The back doors open 90 degrees, thanks to the addition of an extra notch on the hinge. The trunk liftover is much lower, but the trunk is smaller. Both seats do fold down, adding to the cargo capacity.

Overall the car is much improved. But I drove a 2003 Bonneville right after that and the new GP feels like it was built by a different company altogether. It is still the mid-level, mid-sized family hauler - albeit with a new heart. There is no comparison between the 2 cars....the Bonneville is the clear winner in ALL CATEGORIES. I can't wait for the GXP.

Well... that'* good. How has the HUD improved? Have they actually added a Tach to it? The tranny and engine is THE only thing that interest me about that car.. and would like to get my hands on it to put into my bonnie. Thanx for the feedback about the GP

that seems to be the trend in car mfg. these days, taking cheap crappy plastic to do the interior. I dont like it, since what you see most of the time is the interior anyways...

This morning i went out to my local Pontiac Dealership..but since i'm 17 i obviously can't just test drive cars ..haha, i have to wait a bit. I did have some fun checkin' 'em out though. I stared at the SSE'* and GTP'* for a solid 15 minutes, and i didnt even bother to look at any of the GA'*. Maybe i'll ask my mom to test drive a GTP and SSEi for me and let me drive for a bit. The SSEi'* did look alot more at home though..those interiors were superb..i love that fluffy leather look, damn!

I was less then impressed with the new GP, I have seen some production pics and I was talkin to my uncle who works for GM, he is also disapointed with the look of it. The 97-03 version is far nicer styled.

He developed some of the parts for the GXP lineup.

Oh..BTW, you mentioned stuff about Toyota influences....ya, ah, GM, just sent home 2000 or so engineers that came from Japan to work on some new mechanical and ergonimcal designs.... so formulate your own opinions.

BTW, GXP'* are being built here in Oshawa Ontario, no worries folks, they'll be great!

Hey Jim.. since you're uncle works for them.. you think they can give us a tour of the GXP plan for out bonneville meet ?? hee hee

I can always ask....we'll see!

I wanna "tag" a GXP from GM Canada once they model is a year old and they go into 2005.

Yeah definitely check on the new Bonneville GXP.............that is one beautiful car

Yeah the 97-03 GP'* are pretty sweet looking..but there is always time for change. Personally i think they didn't look all that great at first but they are slowly growing on me..i think it'l just take time and they will look sweet as they always have. It'* kinda like the 00-+ Bonne'* . At first i hated them badly..but after a year i started to love 'em again..it'* weird. Now they are like family or whatever u call it..and not that new designed bonne. Just give it some time..they are sexy

yea, I just seen a 04 today, I seen it from tha back I didn't bother to look at the front I turned off and they kept goin' doesn't look like anything spectacular to me (from tha back anyway....)