I love all the people that bag on this thing...its fucking 21 years old! There were barely any cars back then with over 200hp period. Not to mention it isnt exactly light. Yea sure they could have gotten another 40hp out of it but you can say that about any car. As far as what else was offered back then this car wasn't too bad at all. The Taurus SHO is only thing really in the same generally class, and you can say whatever you want but those Yamaha motors while fast are junk.
Actually Chevy asked Pontiac to de-tune the turbo to only 9.5 lbs of boost so that the same vintage Corvette would not look bad. These engines easily handle 12 pounds of boost (bone stock)...
This is what Pontiac should have continued to do...make itself an upgrade over Chevrolet, and Buick should have been canceled...at least here in the States.
205 hp out of a 3.1L v6 turbo? The 96 pontiac sunfire 2.4L pumped out 150hp, could hit 190hp with a supercharger and some versions of that same engine pumped out around 180 hp without induction. This car should be delivering around 240Hp!
This was in 90-91....And it was tuneable. Versions of the quad W41 where 190hp. The engine was dropped for the 3.4 DOHC which put out near same numbers, but imo didnt have near the performance
the real problem is these cars is the brakes the master cylinder are bull shit...i have one and i only get one break...crazy cuz i cant figure it out...ill proly just switch it out to vacue but i want to keep it orgal
LOL, you can watch the chassis flex through the turns while they're tracking it! I must say, while the materials were low-rent, the interior design was good. I was surprised to see the well stuffed twin seats in the rear. GMs been on the HUD kick for a while now. My moms 92 Bonneville had it, and it was great...while it worked. It sucks BMW is trying to steal their shine.
This was certainly not the most sturdy structure GM ever built. The FE3 suspension definetely puts demand on the chassis of the car. That aside, this car, including the 91-93 GTP is in my opinion the most interesting car (inside and out) to ever be built by GM. I owned a 93 GTP for two years.
Very high-tech car for its time. I didn't even know they made a turbo version of the old 3.1L V6. 0-60mpg in 7.9sec is great. However, when you consider the Nissan Maxima of the same vintage, which is virtually the same size/weight, with it's normally aspirated and smaller 3.0L V6, is able to sprint to 60mph in the same 7.9sec time, the seemingly more sporty and agressive Grand Prix Turbo seems like a flop of engineering. I'm sad to say, but American brands have so much trouble competing.
That 0-60 time is quite conservative, just as the 1/4 mile times ranged from 15.3 - 16.3 in the various magazines, yet I know of at least 3 McLaren GPs (2 of which were the heavier 4-door STE models) that pulled off a 14.9 - 15.0 bone stock......nearly 20 years later! Magazines also say the '97 & up supercharged 3800 GPs ran low 15's when most do mid to high 14's. In other words, I'd take magazine test times with a grain of salt.
my buddy's grand prix ,(keep in mind he is a 320lb man) S/C 99' has run 14.5- 14.7's since he owned it new,bone stock.these wimps at these magazines wouldn't know how to get the correct times out of a car if it came around and bit them in the ass.
@palebeachbum I just looked this up as I am a Gen1 taurus SHO fan. Its 3.0 NA could do 0-60 in 6.6! Makes you wonder what GM if even tried. Yeah it is a flop. I'll have to agree. I'll bet the engine still had pushrods in it!
Yeah those seatbelts would be annoying. In my old corsica it had those but, like everybody else, i unbuckled them. The rest of the car is awesome! My friend has the STE sedan it doesnt have the turbo though it has the 3.4L 24 valve though. Its a sharp car.
Man the engine in that car was sweet. I bought a totaled Grand Prix Turbo for $800 and swapped the motor out and put it in my 92 Sunbird Coupe. It nearly dropped right it. The car literally flies now.
GM had a lot goin' for them, but didn't really follow thru on a lot of the technology. The stuff they had in the late 80's is just now becoming "popular"
Thank you SO much for uploading this! I used to watch this show all the time. Never knew they did a segment on the TGP. I have one of these cars, as well as the 4-door STE version. Would you happen to know what episode/date this was from?
Is your STE sedan a stick? Cause I have a 1991 Taurus SHO 5-spd, and in a Jan.'91 issue of Popular Mechanics they compare our cars. But, I'd like to know what you think of the overall performance of your car
The McLaren Turbo package equipped GPs were not available in stick. They're nothing to right home about stock, but that's due in large part to McLaren's VERY conservative chip programming. One person making chips for these cars has managed 13's on the extremely tiny, stock Garrett T25 turbo. Another owner is shooting for high 11's/low 12's with a turbo and injectors upgrade, among some other mods. So the potential is definitely there.
tgpforums[dot]com is a great site if you own one of these cars. Look for TGPilot/Kenny. He owns the site, and sells rebuilt crossover pipes (very commonly busted on these cars due to the piss-poor material used for the flex joints), as well as several levels of chips, including the one that pushes the car into very low 14's/high 13's. Plenty of knowledgeable people to answer any other questions you might have on there, too.
Thanks for the info Intramorph!man its hard to type that out, ill look in to it i have a water cooled iner cooler in mine!3 inch pipe all the way no catt my dayly driver!=)
i miss my 92 grand prix.
SuperRobbie1976 5 months ago
I love all the people that bag on this thing...its fucking 21 years old! There were barely any cars back then with over 200hp period. Not to mention it isnt exactly light. Yea sure they could have gotten another 40hp out of it but you can say that about any car. As far as what else was offered back then this car wasn't too bad at all. The Taurus SHO is only thing really in the same generally class, and you can say whatever you want but those Yamaha motors while fast are junk.
illinidorry 1 year ago
since the rear wiggles during braking what gm shoulda done is put a rear spoiler on their turbo models to add rear downforce
timforsyth89 1 year ago
Ford made a supercharged 3.8 V6 Thunderbird, far faster than this ugly piece of shit.
Quatermain98526 1 year ago
wow. 95 bonneville se FAMILY car 7.1 15.4 no turbo.
MIketucky350 2 years ago
Actually Chevy asked Pontiac to de-tune the turbo to only 9.5 lbs of boost so that the same vintage Corvette would not look bad. These engines easily handle 12 pounds of boost (bone stock)...
kpheider 2 years ago
This is what Pontiac should have continued to do...make itself an upgrade over Chevrolet, and Buick should have been canceled...at least here in the States.
EdwardJellico 2 years ago
@EdwardJellico: Agreed. Sorry Buick fans, but the division was DONE after the GNX disappeared in '87.........as in, it no longer had a real purpose.
MiracleMileV8 1 year ago
205 hp out of a 3.1L v6 turbo? The 96 pontiac sunfire 2.4L pumped out 150hp, could hit 190hp with a supercharger and some versions of that same engine pumped out around 180 hp without induction. This car should be delivering around 240Hp!
bronxboyXXX 2 years ago
Maybe the manual trans. version makes a lil' more power...?? I dunno'.
revolutionday1 2 years ago
This was in 90-91....And it was tuneable. Versions of the quad W41 where 190hp. The engine was dropped for the 3.4 DOHC which put out near same numbers, but imo didnt have near the performance
grometsc 2 years ago
the real problem is these cars is the brakes the master cylinder are bull shit...i have one and i only get one break...crazy cuz i cant figure it out...ill proly just switch it out to vacue but i want to keep it orgal
thegrandprik90 2 years ago
serious braking power fuck
i've always liked these cars, nice body lines good power great ride . Mclaren built turbo6 i never knew that gm didnt build it
steering wheel just like the T/A gta
2 points for engine build
Mking0072121 2 years ago
This thing has some amazing brakes! Haha if you look closely you can see the back tire lift off the ground when the brakes are applied...
The 60-0mph 112ft beats MANY cars of today!
jgizzy 3 years ago 5
look at it this way,you could add alot more power and still have great brakes to back it up.
KJBPj 3 years ago
LOL, you can watch the chassis flex through the turns while they're tracking it! I must say, while the materials were low-rent, the interior design was good. I was surprised to see the well stuffed twin seats in the rear. GMs been on the HUD kick for a while now. My moms 92 Bonneville had it, and it was great...while it worked. It sucks BMW is trying to steal their shine.
Mieden 3 years ago
This was certainly not the most sturdy structure GM ever built. The FE3 suspension definetely puts demand on the chassis of the car. That aside, this car, including the 91-93 GTP is in my opinion the most interesting car (inside and out) to ever be built by GM. I owned a 93 GTP for two years.
redmetrix 2 years ago
Very high-tech car for its time. I didn't even know they made a turbo version of the old 3.1L V6. 0-60mpg in 7.9sec is great. However, when you consider the Nissan Maxima of the same vintage, which is virtually the same size/weight, with it's normally aspirated and smaller 3.0L V6, is able to sprint to 60mph in the same 7.9sec time, the seemingly more sporty and agressive Grand Prix Turbo seems like a flop of engineering. I'm sad to say, but American brands have so much trouble competing.
palebeachbum 3 years ago
That 0-60 time is quite conservative, just as the 1/4 mile times ranged from 15.3 - 16.3 in the various magazines, yet I know of at least 3 McLaren GPs (2 of which were the heavier 4-door STE models) that pulled off a 14.9 - 15.0 bone stock......nearly 20 years later! Magazines also say the '97 & up supercharged 3800 GPs ran low 15's when most do mid to high 14's. In other words, I'd take magazine test times with a grain of salt.
Intramorph 3 years ago
my buddy's grand prix ,(keep in mind he is a 320lb man) S/C 99' has run 14.5- 14.7's since he owned it new,bone stock.these wimps at these magazines wouldn't know how to get the correct times out of a car if it came around and bit them in the ass.
KJBPj 3 years ago
@palebeachbum I just looked this up as I am a Gen1 taurus SHO fan. Its 3.0 NA could do 0-60 in 6.6! Makes you wonder what GM if even tried. Yeah it is a flop. I'll have to agree. I'll bet the engine still had pushrods in it!
Gazdatronik 1 year ago
Yeah those seatbelts would be annoying. In my old corsica it had those but, like everybody else, i unbuckled them. The rest of the car is awesome! My friend has the STE sedan it doesnt have the turbo though it has the 3.4L 24 valve though. Its a sharp car.
98gagt 3 years ago
and i thought that my grandma was original. she gave me her 1997 gp gt. I didn't know that grandmas and gp sedans/coupes were common.
ejouie 3 years ago
Man the engine in that car was sweet. I bought a totaled Grand Prix Turbo for $800 and swapped the motor out and put it in my 92 Sunbird Coupe. It nearly dropped right it. The car literally flies now.
HellaStellaVella 3 years ago
i almost had a grand prix turbo for 1200.very nice but i went with a beretta z26 istead
93grandamgt 3 years ago
GM had a lot goin' for them, but didn't really follow thru on a lot of the technology. The stuff they had in the late 80's is just now becoming "popular"
supreme21 4 years ago
Those seats are AMAZING!! I luv this car.
RicanSHO 4 years ago
What???? Thats amazing that it had an "HUD" even though it is not that powerful for today, man I wouldn't mind that Car........
torres3800 4 years ago
To me thats one of the coolest things...I need to put a HUD in mine..I will put one in mine.
xslayerlive 3 years ago
Thank you for sharing.. I was glad to see this. I feel as the other poster. I would like to see more 80's and 90's GM cars tested..
OLDS98 4 years ago 2
Thats awesome. I figured that year and model GP had a bit more power then what was explained. huh. Nice find on the video, and thanks for shareing!
mikeandtiff 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Damn, happy the 90's are over!
Mieden 4 years ago
Thank you SO much for uploading this! I used to watch this show all the time. Never knew they did a segment on the TGP. I have one of these cars, as well as the 4-door STE version. Would you happen to know what episode/date this was from?
Intramorph 4 years ago 2
Show 919. No date.
local701 4 years ago
Is your STE sedan a stick? Cause I have a 1991 Taurus SHO 5-spd, and in a Jan.'91 issue of Popular Mechanics they compare our cars. But, I'd like to know what you think of the overall performance of your car
91Taurus 4 years ago
The McLaren Turbo package equipped GPs were not available in stick. They're nothing to right home about stock, but that's due in large part to McLaren's VERY conservative chip programming. One person making chips for these cars has managed 13's on the extremely tiny, stock Garrett T25 turbo. Another owner is shooting for high 11's/low 12's with a turbo and injectors upgrade, among some other mods. So the potential is definitely there.
Intramorph 4 years ago
where may i find a chip for mine? If you have eany info i would appreciate it!
89gtu 3 years ago
tgpforums[dot]com is a great site if you own one of these cars. Look for TGPilot/Kenny. He owns the site, and sells rebuilt crossover pipes (very commonly busted on these cars due to the piss-poor material used for the flex joints), as well as several levels of chips, including the one that pushes the car into very low 14's/high 13's. Plenty of knowledgeable people to answer any other questions you might have on there, too.
Intramorph 3 years ago
Thanks for the info Intramorph!man its hard to type that out, ill look in to it i have a water cooled iner cooler in mine!3 inch pipe all the way no catt my dayly driver!=)
89gtu 3 years ago
I will have to check. Vhs tapes and rabbit ears don't make the best quality video either.
local701 4 years ago
Awesome! Do you have anymore MotorWeek videos, or car reviews from the '80s & '90s?
91Taurus 4 years ago