Life is Great with a 6.0-liter V8
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  • Inside my Brain

    Posted on January 15th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    I have owned a silver 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 4-Door for the past 4 years.  I purchased it from my Father with 60k miles and it has been a great car.  It was previously his company car… and being that it was my Fathers… it was in immaculate condition.

    2002 Pontiac Grand Prix

    I have driven this vehicle for work and fun (photography, so basically more work) all over California.  There are now just under 112k miles on the car and other than some leaking coolant and some squeaky brakes, this car has been very reliable (a treat after my previous car).

    My previous car was a teal 1992 Mercury Sable (that replaced the tan ’92 Sable that I totaled) and while it lasted me through college… it needed major engine work after a head gasket failed.  Even after the extremely expensive work the car still continued to overheat and wasn’t really good for anything other than driving around town.  Oh yeah, this car also had to have it’s transmission replaced (probably my fault), but these are stories for another time I’m thinking (as they are not directly G8 related).

    After driving the Grand Prix for 50k miles, it is getting on in age.   I mentioned the coolant system leak and the brakes, which I had repaired, but other parts of the car are getting old.  The tires could definitely stand to be replaced… fortunately in California I don’t have to worry about driving in the snow!  In addition to the wear there is also a vibration that appears between 60 and 70mph, which is quite annoying.  Also, the transmission of this car is starting to slip between gears… hinting at a future catastrophic failure.

    Given that every time I drive my car I am wishing that I had something new, or better put… non-faulty, I started seriously looking into new vehicles.  I have always been into cars and have done research into several different cars over the years….

    I’ve always liked the Subaru WRX.  The ability to get a wagon version was always a draw, as I need room in my cars to haul around my photography gear.  The STI version was nice, but I didn’t want to deal with the hassles of the manual transmission (more to come about this in future posts I’m sure) with the California traffic.

    wrx_sti

    The switch to the newer hatch-back design was nice, but other than looking things up online I never really considered one a real option.

    For several years I’ve been seriously contemplating getting a Dodge Magnum RT.  I looked into the SRT-8, but the added expense just couldn’t be justified.  At one point I decided against the SRT-8 (and actually the Subaru Legacy) because they required the use of 91 Octane fuel.  The real draw to the Magnum was the large rear cargo area that I could potentially use to sleep in while on photo shoots.  The 5.7L HEMI engine was also a nice perk.

    magnum

    I do not like the nose on the Magnum, but I really liked the idea that the Dodge 300c shared the same front as the Magnum and that a facelift was possible.  When I heard that the 2009 Magnum was discontinued I was disappointed.  While I have little experience with Chrysler/Dodge, I preferred getting into a vehicle that was going to be produced in the future.  At about this time I also made the decision that the ability to sleep in a car shouldn’t factor into what I buy, as I do it so infrequently.

    The more I think about new cars I’m drawn-in by the new features that are available.  One of the really nice features I learned about first hand was the tire pressure monitoring/alert system.  After hitting something on a snowy freeway in Pennsylvania the warning light came on and I was able to get-off the freeway and find a quiet (snowless) location to change the tire.  Even after driving around a little I was surprised to find that the tire had not even fully deflated yet.  Without the pressure monitoring system I would have found myself stuck on the side of a snowy freeway trying to change a tire (at least it was on the passenger’s side).   To be honest, I don’t think I’d buy a new car without something like this.

    So along comes Pontiac.  I have really enjoyed the Grand Prix and I know that my family has had very good success with Pontiacs over the years.  I spent the past year traveling quite a bit and it afforded me the opportunity to drive a rental Pontiac G6.

    g6_gxp

    The G6 was a reasonable car, and the 2-Door configuration was nice and ‘sporty’ compared to the ‘old-man’ look of a 4-Door sedan.  I like the availability of the 3.6L V6 in the GXP version… without the requirement of needing a manual transmission.  However, by the time you throw in all the options that I’d be looking for, a 2009 G6 GXP Coup was running close to $30k!  While I like the sporty little 2-Door coupe idea and don’t do much people moving, I know that I use the 4-Doors of my Grand Prix far too often when hauling stuff around.  So, given that I’d probably be going with a 4-Door car again… that opened up the possibility for a G8.

    What really draws me to the G8 (other than all the talk above)?  I would have to say a sort of sophisticated troublemaker type of thing.  I was a really big fan of the re-born GTO that Pontiac released a few years back.  I just loved the big engine and 2-Door configuration.  Unfortunately for me I was too young to be able to realize that vehicle… but fortunately for me the GTO ‘grew-up’ and turned into the G8.

    The G8 has the practical and responsible body of an adult with the heart of a wild teenager!  I really like the idea of a car that doesn’t scream ‘I am fast’, but can put the power down when needed.

    In the end, I think I have found what I want… a G8!