Pontiac Brings The 4 Door Sedan Into The Hotrod World With The G8 GXP
Pontiac decided to bring us another hot V8 car in the mist of the GTO, which was discontinued in 2006. The 2009 G8 GXP is a straight up hot rod wrapped in a 4 door sedan you can take your kids to school in. The GXP is going to be offering a well known power plant, the 6.2-liter LS3 previously found in the 2007 Corvette which will be putting down 402 hp and 402 lb-ft of torque. The LS3 powerhouse trumps its GTO predecessor with high-flow L92-style cylinder heads, unique camshaft and timing, a tweaked valve train with offset rocker arms, high-flow intake and fuel injectors. All this combines for a 0-60 time of about 4.7 seconds which is .3 seconds faster then its competitor the Charger R/T.
When it comes to the drive train of this family hot rod it’s decked out with a 14 inch Brembo brakes setup that put up an impressive 112 foot stopping distance from 60mph. This car will come with a host of suspension goodies like MacPherson strut front multilink coil-over rear with a direct-acting front anti-roll bar. Caster, camber, and toe are adjustable in front, and camber and toe are adjustable in rear. You will have the option of one of two transmissions. The 6 speed automatic currently offered in the G8 GT, or a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual. P245/40R19 summer tires are standard and limit the cars top speed to a respectable 150mph.
On the inside you will find a very nice set up. From the embroidered GXP logos on the race inspired seats to the new display for battery voltage, oil temperature, and pressure out of the five-inch screen atop the center stack. GXP graphic on the gauge cluster, perforated leather-covered steering wheel and shift knob, and sport metallic pedals also come in the package. Audio is a standard 230-watt Blaupunkt with XM.
The downside so far when it comes to this car is its obviously going to not be a fuel economy car so in this day of rising fuel prices I believe that will hurt the sales. The GXP will also only come with 3 custom options which are Manual or stick, summer or all season tires, and sunroof. Also with a curb weight of 4023-4050 pounds it’s not exactly a light weight.
All in all I look forward to seeing this beast out on the road. Just think, you can take the kids to school and stop to pick up groceries all while showing up as many wanna-be racers you can find for a starting price estimate of about 35k. That’s not bad.