Well, I may have reached the end of my ride with the Focus. I should have a new used car on Monday if all goes well and right now there is nothing to indicate it will go otherwise.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I saw two Ford Explorer Sport Traks and a yellow Monte Carlo at a used car lot. I liked the Monte Carlo for its color, but it really didnt set me on fire and I wanted to look at the Sport Traks because they are along the lines of the Colorado's Ive looked at.
When I got home I told Jennifer we should go by and look at them and see what they want for them. I figure if the price is right then maybe we would crunch some numbers and see how things come out.
We get in the car and head out and Jennifer looks at me and says lets go by the dealership where you bought your Focus. A little odd becuase I handnt even thought or considered going there, not for any bad reasons, I have nothing but good things to say about them, they treated me well and worked a really good deal for me, but I just hadnt considered going by there. I have drove by many times looking around and never saw anything there that I would want.
Well we go by and Im looking and trying to drive and I dont see anything, no biggie. Then Jennifer says ooooo, did you see they had a Grand Prix? I ask her what kind it was and she doesnt know. So I turn around to drive by again out of curiosity. I had a Grand Prix a few years ago and absolutely loved it. We drive by and then I see it. The badge that made my heart race, Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Supercharged. My heart kind of skipped a beat as all kinds of things ran through my head at that instant.
We pull in to the lot, but they are closed. So I pull up to the Grand Prix and we get out to look around. Jennifer tugs on the door handle and the door opened, they had left it unlocked but no keys .
Well get to sit in it, look in it, check it out pretty thoroughly inside and out and under the hood. The thing is in immaculant condition appearance wise. The only thing I could notice was that the drivers side seat leather was a little worn where you would get in and out of it, not a biggie to me since my next door neighbor is an upholsterer (sp?). Its a 2001 model with 63,000 miles. So I think to myself its nearly 5 years old and has been driven for a tad more than 10,000 miles a year and I conclude its probably a one owner car that wasnt driven a whole lot.
We decide to come back the next day. We head down to check out the other vehicles. The Monte Carlo was a 2002 and not the SS model. No biggie but we couldnt get a good look at it and it had only slightly less mileage than the Grand Prix. We look at the sport tracks, one is a 2003 with around 50,000 miles and the other is a 2002 I believe with around 65,000 miles both priced in the 17k - 19k range. Not my idea of a good deal.
Today we go to the car lot and pull up and talk to the guy about the GTP. I tell him I bought my Focus here and am interested in the GTP. He reaches around a wall and grabs a set of keys, hands them to me and says take it out and tell me what you think about it. I want to give him a hug.
We walk out to the car and open it up and get in. Jennifer says you gotta turn on the A/C. My heart plumets, I mean its officially 105 here and you'd think it was hot or something. I know the A/C is going to drag the motor down and I wont get to enjoy the ride, so I reside myself to just test driving to see if anyting out of the norm shows up. The guy told me that when the car came in it had a CV joint going out but they sent it out and had that repaired but other than that the car should be in near perfect shape. He's earned points by being honest with me. He could have left that out and I probably would have never known, but they were that way with me when I bought the Focus too.
I stick the key in the ignition and turn it to the start position and the instrument cluster lights up and the information center lights up and I thought I must be in Darth Vaders command room it looked so pretty and such and I havent even started the motor yet. I sit a moment and take it in, afterall its pure art to me.
I start the motor and instantly my heart races a bit. It turns over instantly and then I hear the music. No, not the radio, THE music. I hear the finely orchestrated symphany of notes pouring out the rear twin exhaust pipes speaking to me as if some divine voice of approaval. Jennifer stares at me as I try to explain the concert Im hearing.
I put it in gear and get on the road and head down to a road with a fairly long piece of straightway road. I consider the fact the A/C is on and brush aside any notion that performance will impress me at this point. I look down at the speedometer and Im doing 35mph. Instinctively as if it were some built in genetic response, the muscles in my right leg lock and I find the gas pedal on the floor and my head in the back seat. I gather myself and consider the shortest path to the hospital as my heart rate just went through the roof and Im sure my heart is going to overload. In the few seconds that all took I look back down at the speedometer and Im just a few ticks under 100mph. I notice Jennifer has a death grip on the door handle and I realize I'll have to buy the car now because thats going to leave an impression on the door handle. I know from experience after our ride through the twisties in Arkansas. I convince my leg to relax and we begin to slow down. Jennifer looks at me and says did you see that gauge that says boost, it maxed out. I said, Yes, yes honey, it surely did.
So now, the car has my attention, even with the A/C on, it seems to want to jump off the road and fly. I drive normally, for the most part, the rest of the test drive. It has a Heads-Up-Display but its too bright to see anything. It has power windows, seats, locks, mirrors & sunroof. It has radio controls on the steering wheel, cruise control, traction control, a sport shift button (I can only imagine), heated seats, lumbar, tilt steering and more than I could possibly list. It has a CD player, Bose audio and much more.
We drive around a bit more. The transmission is a dream. It shift quickly and firmly. The suspension is wonderful and handles extremely well for having the wheel base it does, hardly any body roll at all and Im sure a urethane bushing kit would improve things even further. However, there is one last crucial test that if the car fails, then I must move on and consider another ride.
We drive the car home for the test. We open the garage door and I back the car in. YES!!! it fits, the car passes. I pull the car out of the garage then get out and leave it running to walk around and check it out. I pop the hood again, and its smooth idle calms me. I look at the pulley connected to the supercharger and I want to kiss it but alas, I must refrain as that could get complicated with the motor running. The engine bay is clean though doesnt look like it was just recently spiffed up for appearances, it looks like it has been well taken care of. I listen for any abnormal sounds, anything that would signal something is amiss and I hear none.
The tires appear to be near new as they have nearly full tread the rims are in pristine shape. I walk to the back and I listen again to the signature notes streaming from the twin pipes that Pontiac is famous for. I hear a legion of angels in its sound begging to be unleashed on the road and far be it from me to hinder such a desire.
We drive back to the dealership and the guy asks me "So, can I put you in that car?" I respond as if he asked the only stupid question that existed in history, I mean come on just what kind of guy does he think I am?
We crunch the numbers, they will pay off my Focus and I'll have payments not much more than what Im already paying on the Focus. I tell him I will be removing my by-pass filtration system and my external transmission filter and possibly my optima battery, other than that, he can have the car as it is. He looks over the credit and informs me he sees no problem in getting me in the car. He said he would try for a confirmation today but it would probably be monday before I could sign the paperwork. I guess I can survive until then.
I had no idea what the stats were on this car, so I come back home and look it up. A whopping 240hp with 280 lb/ft torque, I can live with that. Ive already found a smaller S/C pulley and I see no reason why I couldnt push that number up to around 275hp and maybe 290 or so on the torque.
So as it seems now, I may be bidding farwell to the Focus. A fun ride it has been, but I have been inkering to get back to Pontiac. Their styling just speaks to me in languages I feel only I could interpret. I would like to have time to put the by-pass filters on and external tranny filter on before I go to Florida and change everything over to Amsoil, but I dont think I will have the time, but we'll see.
Once I get confirmation I'll let everyone know. I am most certainly going to have to take her out to the track and see what kind of times she can turn stock and then let the modifications begin. Though I have to say that I would probably only focus on just a smaller pulley and some exhaust modifications. I really would hate to ruin the perfect tone that comes out of her now. From what I have read the pulley on the S/C is a 3.5" pulley and I'll probably drop to a 3.4" for now and see what happens. I have to get the car first, but a pulley wouldnt be all that much. I would definately consider a underdrive pulley system on the other drive components, though it seemed plenty responsive to me. Amsoil doesnt make a air filter for it, so I will probably be modifying another TS191 for some added air flow, but all that will come second to getting the filtration systems on and all the fluids over to Amsoil.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
damn you should have taken out your shift controller and sold it to me. I like how your already shopping for parts...a very me thing to do lol. congrats
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Yeah, I punched a baby once, in anger. But in my defense the baby was being kind of a dick.
No, unfortunately I wouldnt have remolded the garage, I would have probably rented a storage building . I dont know what I would have done had it not fit, I guess I would have seriously considered letting it go, no since and getting a car and force it out in the weather when you got a garage, otherwise it would have been a mute issue.
Ive owned a Grand Prix before and really liked it. From a born and bred Firebird person, the Grand Prix offers the best of both worlds, plenty of performance with plenty of room for people and functionality. The freakin' trunks on those things are monsterous. The last one I had there was still an ongoing search and rescue for some lost individuals, and this one is no smaller. Even the N/A models are pretty peppy which is what I had last time. I did some modifications to it and got it pretty responsive. I could spin the wheels pretty good. I eventually had to put a transmission in it, and when I did they didnt have one for my model and had to put in a tranny from a GTP. Completely killed my bottom end, but I could cruise around 80 mph and the motor was barely working a trade off I didnt mind when I was getting some 32 - 33 mph in it on the highway.
Max, I can build you a shift controller, I have the instructions and parts. But I wont be able to do so until I get back from Florida about the middle of August. The GTP tranny doesnt seem to need any help at all, and I want to say its good up to about 400 lb/ft torque if I remember my stats correctly. I do need to make a correction. The current pulley size on the S/C is a 3.8" pulley and the first step down is a 3.4". They make a 3.25" and a 3.0" pulley for them, but below the 3.4" I would need an addition control and timing module that runs about $300 to keep the knock retard and timing in check. The Eaton S/C on the GTP is good up to around 12,000 RPM and can do momentary bursts of up to 14,000 RPM. With a 3.4" pulley at WOT I would be turning the S/C around 11,500 RPM, the 3.8" stock pulley turns it about 11,050 RPM.
I want to put it around or at 300hp and about 325 - 350 lb/ft torque and to get there all Im going to need is the pulley and timing management module and that will run me all totaled about $500 - 600, not a bad deal if you ask me and Id certainly would be able to play tag with some of the bigger imports like the Altima. That would be fun to me.
I checked on insurance today and its going to cost me a whopping $10 more for the same coverage, I can live with that. That was also the single, unmarried quote, so when I get married it will get cheaper and with a multi-car discount at that point I will be around $60/mo on insurance, which for all that forced induction fun, isnt a bad deal. I forgot to mention the thing has OnStar too, though Im kind of reluctant to use it, Im kinda skittles about having someone being able to access my car. They have the ODB II diagnostics tied into OnStar and they can diagnose your car, what kind of crap is that! It has its pro's and cons to me. I figure if they can unlock my car for me or tell me whats wrong with it over a satellite they got to have to be able to do even more and Im not keen on that idea.
At any rate, I should sign the papers on it tomorrow, once I get it washed and the oil changed in it I'll take some pics and post them up. I might even get brave and try one with the boost going, but I'll have to find some back roads for that.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
SyntheticShield wrote: Max, I can build you a shift controller, I have the instructions and parts. But I wont be able to do so until I get back from Florida about the middle of August.
I'm going to remind you that you said that when you get back
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Yeah, I punched a baby once, in anger. But in my defense the baby was being kind of a dick.
I have the Grand Prix home and the Focus is officially traded in. I was going to get some pics but didnt have time before it got dark. I'll try and get some up tomorrow if I can. I figured out the Heads-Up Display and that is pretty neat. It puts up on the windshield your speed continuously, but also displays radio information, turn signals just to name a couple I saw tonight.
I gased it up too, and its got a huge tank at 18 gallons and uses premium fuel because of the S/C. I was already using premium in the Focus because of the chip so thats not a big deal. If the Driver Information Center average economy is to be believed I was up to around 25mpg in just city driving. I started playing a little after that and was getting into the boost and dropped it to 22mpg, we'll have to see how that plays out over time and how accurate it is. I was surprised though at just how responsive it is and its acceleration without even get into the boost.
My number one thing now is getting it onto a diet of Amsoil as soon as I can and getting my by-pass fitler installed. Ive gotten so used to having that on and comfortable with how clean it keeps the oil I kind a feel like the motor is naked without it.
I only got a couple days left before I hit the road for the trip to Florida and I want to get it detailed pretty good, but I will do my best to get some pics up tomorrow.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
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