Monday, August 9, 2004

2003 Pontiac Grand Prix

Pros
Good Speed Sensitive Radio
Decent Speakers
Good Power

Cons
FWD
No Limited Slip (or a poorly designed one)
Horrible Interior
Non Intuitive setup
Poor Transmission
Bad Blind Spots
Poor Headlights
No steering wheel controls for radio

I had a chance to drive a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix base model the other day which had about 17000 miles on the odometer. The car left a poor taste in my mouth reminding me why I don't like American cars. The car had good power, but without any good way to put it down. As soon as you touch the accelerator pedal, the front wheels spin and god forbid you are going around a corner. A quick jump into traffic around a 90 degree corner will leave you with billows of tire smoke coming over the hood and into the cabin.

Ride was firm but handling was lacking. The car tracked dead straight and you felt everything in the road, but any attempt to change direction left you with an uneasy feeling in your stomach. Cruising on the highway was comfortable and effortless with that much power. The transmission often would get confused tho and gear hunt on specific occasions.

The cabin was lacking in my opinion. The dash, while pretty was a bit overwhelming. I'm partly thinking that the speed I once thought the car had was just an illusion of by how big the speedmeter is (it's huge). The radio controls were functional, but to this time for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to turn on the interior lights without opening the door.

Hope that helps somebody.

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