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I want to buy a Grand Prix- TURBO

M

Maxb12

New member
New to the forum here, just recently came across the Grand Prix and I have been doing some research.

Im currently looking to replace my current car for something different. The sale of that car would more than cover the cost of the Grand Prix and mods(turbo). Upon doing some research I saw that getting a gtp Grand Prix and adding the car tuning turbo kit with inter cooler(currently on sale I believe making the inter cooler "free") will add quite an increase in horsepower.

Now for the questions.
1. Has anyone on here done this recently and or currently running the set up?
2. It seems that with this setup there are absolute musts regarding supporting mods- tranny seems to be most important, what else?
3. What gen? I've heard both good and bad things about the 97-03 then the next body style. Would one be better for the car tuning kit?
4. Platform? Should I look for cars under a certain mileage? Any other constraints?
5. Streetable? Reliability?


Im sure there are things I'm forgetting and hopefully can be guided in the right direction by all the incredible enthusiasts on this forum.

Thanks in advance
 


Thanks for the quick reply. I have already spent most of my browsing in the turbo section, I was hoping to get a more detailed suggestion pertaining to my situation. It seems a lot of people already have cars, most of the time with some modifications, and decide to go turbo. My plan is to buy a car specifically with a turbo kit in mind and install asap. Ideally this thread will help me as to what the best route is and what's the best car to pick so I can avoid any other unnecessary hassles.

Perhaps this thread should be moved to the turbo section? As I stated, however, this is also about acquiring the whole car as well so I thought it was best placed here.

Thanks again
 
Buy car, buy turbo kit made for car, install, put built trans in,bigger injectors, get tuned, run wild. Nothing fancy about it.

As for car, dont buy rust bucket with 350k miles.
 
because the car is an automatic it will be streetable. only way a grand prix would not be streetable was if you set it up to run an 8 second 1/4 mile.
 


Listen to the other guys about the trans. set aside 2-3k to build or buy one to handle a built turbo car.
maybe less if you are good at trans work.
 
Maxb12 said:
New to the forum here, just recently came across the Grand Prix and I have been doing some research.

Im currently looking to replace my current car for something different. The sale of that car would more than cover the cost of the Grand Prix and mods(turbo). Upon doing some research I saw that getting a gtp Grand Prix and adding the car tuning turbo kit with inter cooler(currently on sale I believe making the inter cooler "free") will add quite an increase in horsepower.

Now for the questions.
1. Has anyone on here done this recently and or currently running the set up?
Had a CT kit on my previous 97 GTP

2. It seems that with this setup there are absolute musts regarding supporting mods- tranny seems to be most important, what else?
mainly just the trans, you won't have to worry too much about the engine. Consider a L67 or L32 since the engine was already factory built for forced induction

3. What gen? I've heard both good and bad things about the 97-03 then the next body style. Would one be better for the car tuning kit?
both generations will work. Pretty much boils down to your preference in styling of the 2

4. Platform? Should I look for cars under a certain mileage? Any other constraints?
you are going to want to find the lowest mileage you can. However, if the car was taken care of you will be fine. Keep in mind even with low mileage you still have to deal with parts that go bad over time, ie- rubber/plastic hoses etc

5. Streetable? Reliability?
mine was very streetable and made driving more fun. Reliability boils down to how often you plan on mashing the gas and how long the trans will hold the power. You have to be willing to accept your trans build is going to cost the value of the car or come damn close to it.

Im sure there are things I'm forgetting and hopefully can be guided in the right direction by all the incredible enthusiasts on this forum.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Hope that helps...
 


txslow6 said:
Hope that helps...
Click to expand...

Wow... Exactly what I was looking for.

Went to look at an '04 GTP this weekend from a dealer.....
Seller claims "absolutely no modifications"......on our test drive we took it to our local mechanic who confirmed that it had an aftermarket pully, headers/exhaust, a huge gauge pod sticking out of the A pillar, some other misc. stuff, and very possibly some tranny work. (ALSO SAID IT WAS 100% PAINTED AT SOME POINT AND THE CAR APPARENTLY SPENT SOME TIME IN PUERTO RICO) 85k miles he is asking $6999
Mechanic did not get significant time with the car, just looked at it in the parking lot. He said if we get any closer(as I planned to keep options open and look at a few more cars) to bring it back and he will put it on the lift.

Seemed to drive nice, pulled with some force and screamed when making boost. Never driven a fwd car that had the possibility to produce torque steer so not sure if this would be it, but when I made a right on red and hit the gas I noticed a bad vibration through the wheel almost resembling what I would imagine wheel hop to feel like. Not sure.

How does this sound as a platform? Should I jump at the idea that the dealer apparently "has no clue" it's so intensely modified? Or do I claim its way "too" modified and try to really cut the price significantly.



Now coming out of left field, I found an 08 GXP V8 for sale not to far from me with similar mileage for 9999$

Any experience with turbocharging the v8? Or would the v6 already built for forced induction be the better bet?

Do I consider it a plus that the v6 is already modded? Or should I not risk it with no receipts and get the work done myself.

Thanks again everyone!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Never buy a modded 3800 unless you knew the person who did it. Thats just my opinion. Dealer wants too much anyway and if it was already repainted at one point thats a giant NOPE to me.



Turbocharging the 5.3 will be more money in the end but will make way more power. Same thing applys though, built trans is needed and turbo kit and all that jazz. Then you'll have to do a DoD delete kit to rid the motor of active fuel managment and buy new camshaft/lifters/pushrods/trays/etc etc etc.
 


tod1d said:
so keep the supercharger active and make it a twin charged setup? very hard to tune for starters
Click to expand...
He said seriously since the comment above theirs has no value. To install a block off takes very little time and shouldn't be the determining factor on which gen to get. I ran a block off plate for a bit before I moved to a L36 intake.
 
selliott said:
L32 has stronger rods and lower compression, then use a l26 upper and lower intake.
Click to expand...

Not to argue but find me a situation where someone really showed that the L32 made it better.

Both the L67 and L32 will handle the power, they will both blow up in the same fashion. Melted piston, chipped piston, exploded piston. Havent heard of anyone breaking a rod in half from pure power or bending one. It's kinda like the LS blocks, the 5.3 and 6.0 are more sought after for piston design and displacement but the 4.8/5.3/6.0 will all bend rods at roughly the same power point of 600+.
 
Fivefingerdeathpunch said:
Not to argue but find me a situation where someone really showed that the L32 made it better.

Both the L67 and L32 will handle the power, they will both blow up in the same fashion. Melted piston, chipped piston, exploded piston. Havent heard of anyone breaking a rod in half from pure power or bending one. It's kinda like the LS blocks, the 5.3 and 6.0 are more sought after for piston design and displacement but the 4.8/5.3/6.0 will all bend rods at roughly the same power point of 600+.
Click to expand...
A valid point, I was just using it to make a point. Either the the l67 or l32 Will work I was just saying most turbo guys are using the gtp block as the starting point for the turbo build. I'm using the l67 block with l32 rods.....does it matter.....probably not. The real problem is the supporting trans.
 
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