Sold the GVR4, picked up a new daily

I've wanted one since they came out. I'm jealous. Nice score!

Of the 13 I've parted only 2 were 04's. I'm not sure what is out there for a brake upgrade but if the opportunity ever comes up, do it.

I wonder if CTS-V parts might fit??

It looks like that dark purple color they came in, correct? I frickin love that color.

unk577 wrote: Of the 13 I've parted only 2 were 04's. I'm not sure what is out there for a brake upgrade but if the opportunity ever comes up, do it. I wonder if CTS-V parts might fit??

Will keep that in mind, thx. Right now it has corvette pads which are slightly larger than stock but fit the stock calipers/rotors. Don't know about the cts-v parts but it's worth checking into. Did the G8s come with better hardware since they were heavier?

Matt B wrote: It looks like that dark purple color they came in, correct? I frickin love that color.

It's just dark blue, not purple :|

Either way, the color of this one looks really sharp.

NIce DD man. I miss the exhaust note of mine the most. The small trunk and not so awesome gas mileage I can live without. How are the rear seats holding up? Are the seams on the rear bursting yet?

Seams are already in need of repair. Why did you choose to move on, anything in particular?

The gauge pod above your center stack is a pricey piece and looks great, a nice extra.

Double_Wishbone wrote: Either way, the color of this one looks really sharp.

What double said.

In reply to Armitage:

It's very sad to hear that another GVR4 has met it's end. At least mine is a little more rare now. :)

Congrats on the new car. While I wouldn't call it a sleeper, it's like the GVR4 in that it is very understated. Great color too.

Looked into these recently. With kids, slow seats + 2 doors made it a definite no-go. Also, first-gen CTS-V's are at the same price point around here, which is a more desirable car to my tastes. That said, I like these cars overall, just couldn't live with one as a daily.

Pro-tip: For non-GRM boards, ls1tech > ls1gto. The ls1gto guys are tools from what I understand. I also had some experience with this at the local CnC, but experiences vary so...

BTW, pics are gone for me.

Now that I've lived with the car for a while I have a few thoughts to share that might help potential buyers. The only things I've done so far are remove stickers and replace the rear seats with a set that had been taken care of/garaged and has no splitting seams. I also scored a complete set of factory wheels locally for cheap and put on some Dunlop Winter Sport 3D tires since this is my daily and it came with Continental Extreme Contact summers.

Pros:

• The engine sounds awesome, even with just the cat-back exhaust. I love the way it growls when you fire it up and how it pops and crackles on every shift.
• The engine is surprisingly smooth for what it is and doesn't buck or kick even when coasting along at no throttle in 1st gear like the GVR4 used to. Power is available almost immediately whenever you want it, but delivery is not explosive/dramatic like the turbos I'm used to. It just goes about its business getting up to speed.
• The interior is solid. There are no rattles or anything. There are lots of little cubbies and pockets and all the storage areas are lined with a nice little rubber insert that is removable for cleaning. Nice touch.
• Traction control, even when left on, doesn't seem very intrusive. As long as the car is pointed straight you can keep on spinning the rears and it doesn't kill the fun. Spinning the rears happens just about always when you get on it, whether you mean to or not (see remarks about tire size below).
• No TPMS!
• I haven't really had any reason to work under the hood yet but the engine is completely exposed and you can see/access ALL of the plugs -- nothing buried half under the firewall, etc.
• Due to the high seating position, ingress and egress are the easiest of any car I've ever owned. The seats are super comfortable.
• I've never had a trunk release button on the remote before. I like it.
• The back seats are spacious enough to fit real people in, but access isn't good.

Cons:

• The car is, and feels, heavy. I've heard tell that they had to add 400 lbs of reinforcement for crash safety when they brought the car over here which may explain some of that.
• The suspension design is poor. Factory it comes with either 245/17 or 235/18 tires and even with those many cars had tire/shock rubbing issues. It's difficult to go larger, and what it comes with stock is woefully inadequate for the car's weight and power.
• Pedal spacing makes it difficult to heel-toe.
• For some reason it feels like the steering wheel/pedal box aren't centered with the seat. That may just be because the seat is designed for a wider audience and I'm just lost in it.
• The A pillar is so low and comes back so far that combined with the high seating position, it's easy to hit your head on it.
• For the US market, they had to relocate the fuel tank for crash safety reasons. It now resides between the trunk and the rear seats. This means the trunk isn't even deep enough for a suitcase. In a car as long as this is, that's insane.
• Looks a lot like a Grand Am from the front :/
• This is nit-picky, but compared to all the Japanese cars I've had recently, the tactile action of the knobs and especially the turn signal/wiper stocks is poor. The throw on the latter is really long making them feel imprecise and clunky.
• For the '05 model, they added a dead pedal which is nice. However, due to the placement of the existing hood release lever, you can't just slide your foot from the clutch over to the dead pedal but instead have to go down, under, and up.

I'm sure I'll think of more things later.

Edit: added dead pedal.

Thanks for the update on owning it. I've always liked these cars. How bad is the gas mileage?

Gas mileage is pretty much as-advertised. I see 13 around town (my commute is only 3.x miles but there are 10 stop lights :/ ). 25-30 is possible on the highway. It turns just over 1500 rpm in 6th gear at 65 mph.

Great review! I plan to own one some day (or another LSx car).