Intro and questions about the GP GXP
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Intro and questions about the GP GXP Hey everyone. I'm David. I am looking at getting an 06 GP GXP and I have some questions. Can anyone tell me if getting 320 to 330 whp is feasible without a whole lot of work? I'm a truck driver and I want a car that is reliable yet fun to drive when I get some home time. Another question is what tires and shocks are good on these cars? I'm looking at michelins or BF Goodrich tires. As for shocks, I want a shock that will keep the ride firm but not harsh. I wanna keep the car as stock looking as possible as it won't be driven a whole lot. Thanks for the input.
Launching!
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 218
Likes: 1
From: CANADA
Buying an 06 car you likely should plan for about $2000 EXTRA FIRST... just to replace stock things that are now worn out or soon to be worn out after 14 years.... until you determine what you are dealing with at this moment, there is no sense throwing money at the engine or anything else. Parts are slowly being discontinued for this car so get the car running well... now... so it lasts from here on out no matter what else you do to it later.
At any rate... assuming it's in great shape front to back... It's a fun car unmodified the GXP anyway forget 320 HP or 330 the extra 25 HP is not going to translate into anything.
Assuming the factory Bilsteins are still good, if I were you, I'd simply invest in front and rear Shock tower braces first. Doing so WILL improve cornering drastically at a super cheap price compared to any other mod you could do at triple the price even.
If anything further for suspension... just buy some CMS lowering springs for the factory Bilsteins because the factory shocks are good and the car will look even better with a slight drop. The factory springs are probably tired now anyway... combine that with like I said the front/rear Strut tower braces and that's the end of your suspension and handling mods... super cheap.
Leave the Engine alone... just wanted to remind you again because I know you're still thinking about that 25 HP. If you really want to do something under the hood then simply change out the soft stock dogbone bushing with a POLY bushing. This you will notice benefits right away! And it's super duper cheap to do.
Put on 275 wide tires of your choice on the front right away... then... when it's time to replace the rear tires... go with a bitter wider than stock maybe a 235.
Don't touch the exhaust with cat back anything it's just a waste of money the car sounds fine stock... if and when the mufflers rust out figure that out then.
Put the rest of your money into the paint... take it to a real shop and do some paint correction and real pro buffing... make the car look good so when people see you they give you good looks instead of showing up with a scratched up car that you have get people to listen to all the mods you did for them to look past the shitty 14 year old neglected paint. Don't drive a scrub.
That's what you should put your money into beyond what I said.... Paint.... again the list is...
1) 275 Front tires
2) CMS lowering Springs
3) Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces
4) Poly Engine Mount
5) Paint Correction and Clear Finish
Make sense?
At any rate... assuming it's in great shape front to back... It's a fun car unmodified the GXP anyway forget 320 HP or 330 the extra 25 HP is not going to translate into anything.
Assuming the factory Bilsteins are still good, if I were you, I'd simply invest in front and rear Shock tower braces first. Doing so WILL improve cornering drastically at a super cheap price compared to any other mod you could do at triple the price even.
If anything further for suspension... just buy some CMS lowering springs for the factory Bilsteins because the factory shocks are good and the car will look even better with a slight drop. The factory springs are probably tired now anyway... combine that with like I said the front/rear Strut tower braces and that's the end of your suspension and handling mods... super cheap.
Leave the Engine alone... just wanted to remind you again because I know you're still thinking about that 25 HP. If you really want to do something under the hood then simply change out the soft stock dogbone bushing with a POLY bushing. This you will notice benefits right away! And it's super duper cheap to do.
Put on 275 wide tires of your choice on the front right away... then... when it's time to replace the rear tires... go with a bitter wider than stock maybe a 235.
Don't touch the exhaust with cat back anything it's just a waste of money the car sounds fine stock... if and when the mufflers rust out figure that out then.
Put the rest of your money into the paint... take it to a real shop and do some paint correction and real pro buffing... make the car look good so when people see you they give you good looks instead of showing up with a scratched up car that you have get people to listen to all the mods you did for them to look past the shitty 14 year old neglected paint. Don't drive a scrub.
That's what you should put your money into beyond what I said.... Paint.... again the list is...
1) 275 Front tires
2) CMS lowering Springs
3) Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces
4) Poly Engine Mount
5) Paint Correction and Clear Finish
Make sense?
Last edited by Red_Zone; Oct 8, 2019 at 07:57 PM.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Buying an 06 car you likely should plan for about $2000 EXTRA FIRST... just to replace stock things that are now worn out or soon to be worn out after 14 years.... until you determine what you are dealing with at this moment, there is no sense throwing money at the engine or anything else. Parts are slowly being discontinued for this car so get the car running well... now... so it lasts from here on out no matter what else you do to it later.
At any rate... assuming it's in great shape front to back... It's a fun car unmodified the GXP anyway forget 320 HP or 330 the extra 25 HP is not going to translate into anything.
Assuming the factory Bilsteins are still good, if I were you, I'd simply invest in front and rear Shock tower braces first. Doing so WILL improve cornering drastically at a super cheap price compared to any other mod you could do at triple the price even.
If anything further for suspension... just buy some CSS lowering springs for the factory Bilsteins because the factory shocks are good and the car will look even better with a slight drop. The factory springs are probably tired now anyway... combine that with like I said the front/rear Strut tower braces and that's the end of your suspension and handling mods... super cheap.
Leave the Engine alone... just wanted to remind you again because I know you're still thinking about that 25 HP. If you really want to do something under the hood then simply change out the soft stock dogbone bushing with a POLY bushing. This you will notice benefits right away! And it's super duper cheap to do.
Put on 275 wide tires of your choice on the front right away... then... when it's time to replace the rear tires... go with a bitter wider than stock maybe a 235.
Don't touch the exhaust with cat back anything it's just a waste of money the car sounds fine stock... if and when the mufflers rust out figure that out then.
Put the rest of your money into the paint... take it to a real shop and do some paint correction and real pro buffing... make the car look good so when people see you they give you good looks instead of showing up with a scratched up car that you have get people to listen to all the mods you did for them to look past the shitty 14 year old neglected paint. Don't drive a scrub.
That's what you should put your money into beyond what I said.... Paint.... again the list is...
1) 275 Front tires
2) CSS lowering Springs
3) Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces
4) Poly Engine Mount
5) Paint Correction and Clear Finish
Make sense?
At any rate... assuming it's in great shape front to back... It's a fun car unmodified the GXP anyway forget 320 HP or 330 the extra 25 HP is not going to translate into anything.
Assuming the factory Bilsteins are still good, if I were you, I'd simply invest in front and rear Shock tower braces first. Doing so WILL improve cornering drastically at a super cheap price compared to any other mod you could do at triple the price even.
If anything further for suspension... just buy some CSS lowering springs for the factory Bilsteins because the factory shocks are good and the car will look even better with a slight drop. The factory springs are probably tired now anyway... combine that with like I said the front/rear Strut tower braces and that's the end of your suspension and handling mods... super cheap.
Leave the Engine alone... just wanted to remind you again because I know you're still thinking about that 25 HP. If you really want to do something under the hood then simply change out the soft stock dogbone bushing with a POLY bushing. This you will notice benefits right away! And it's super duper cheap to do.
Put on 275 wide tires of your choice on the front right away... then... when it's time to replace the rear tires... go with a bitter wider than stock maybe a 235.
Don't touch the exhaust with cat back anything it's just a waste of money the car sounds fine stock... if and when the mufflers rust out figure that out then.
Put the rest of your money into the paint... take it to a real shop and do some paint correction and real pro buffing... make the car look good so when people see you they give you good looks instead of showing up with a scratched up car that you have get people to listen to all the mods you did for them to look past the shitty 14 year old neglected paint. Don't drive a scrub.
That's what you should put your money into beyond what I said.... Paint.... again the list is...
1) 275 Front tires
2) CSS lowering Springs
3) Front/Rear Strut Tower Braces
4) Poly Engine Mount
5) Paint Correction and Clear Finish
Make sense?
Launching!
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 218
Likes: 1
From: CANADA
Honestly, if the car has went this long in it's life with DOD active, I'd just leave it in. Besides, if you drive the **** out of it all the time for fun like I did when I had my car stock... it will never be in DOD mode so in my opinion it's a non issue in a broad sense.
There are no cheap HP adders to this platform, so consider instead taking comfort in the idea that wider front tires will afford you the ability (on a stock motor) to accelerate more aggressively than normal anyway. Back in 2006 the GXP was quick but a lot of cars (stock) you wouldn't think of are now are quicker than the GXP... so adding power to your GXP in my opinion should either be 1) not at all... or what I did which was... 2) All the ******* way. No third option in my opinion.
Ideally you can learn 10x more 10x quicker if when you go see the 06 car and HOIST IT at a local shop. It would be worth paying a local shop $50 to hoist it for 10 minutes the stuff you will find will give you the dirt you need to beat the guy up on his price and get multiples back of your $50 hoist investment.. but... If when you see the car the Bilsteins exhibit signs of leaking or bouncy ride... then you could opt for a full 4 piece replace using BC race coils which for those that have added them to Grand Prixs talk extremely highly of them. That is an option too that would negate the need for lowering springs which likely cost maybe about 13% of the BC coils anyway.
There are no cheap HP adders to this platform, so consider instead taking comfort in the idea that wider front tires will afford you the ability (on a stock motor) to accelerate more aggressively than normal anyway. Back in 2006 the GXP was quick but a lot of cars (stock) you wouldn't think of are now are quicker than the GXP... so adding power to your GXP in my opinion should either be 1) not at all... or what I did which was... 2) All the ******* way. No third option in my opinion.
Ideally you can learn 10x more 10x quicker if when you go see the 06 car and HOIST IT at a local shop. It would be worth paying a local shop $50 to hoist it for 10 minutes the stuff you will find will give you the dirt you need to beat the guy up on his price and get multiples back of your $50 hoist investment.. but... If when you see the car the Bilsteins exhibit signs of leaking or bouncy ride... then you could opt for a full 4 piece replace using BC race coils which for those that have added them to Grand Prixs talk extremely highly of them. That is an option too that would negate the need for lowering springs which likely cost maybe about 13% of the BC coils anyway.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Honestly, if the car has went this long in it's life with DOD active, I'd just leave it in. Besides, if you drive the **** out of it all the time for fun like I did when I had my car stock... it will never be in DOD mode so in my opinion it's a non issue in a broad sense.
There are no cheap HP adders to this platform, so consider instead taking comfort in the idea that wider front tires will afford you the ability (on a stock motor) to accelerate more aggressively than normal anyway. Back in 2006 the GXP was quick but a lot of cars (stock) you wouldn't think of are now are quicker than the GXP... so adding power to your GXP in my opinion should either be 1) not at all... or what I did which was... 2) All the ******* way. No third option in my opinion.
Ideally you can learn 10x more 10x quicker if when you go see the 06 car and HOIST IT at a local shop. It would be worth paying a local shop $50 to hoist it for 10 minutes the stuff you will find will give you the dirt you need to beat the guy up on his price and get multiples back of your $50 hoist investment.. but... If when you see the car the Bilsteins exhibit signs of leaking or bouncy ride... then you could opt for a full 4 piece replace using BC race coils which for those that have added them to Grand Prixs talk extremely highly of them. That is an option too that would negate the need for lowering springs which likely cost maybe about 13% of the BC coils anyway.
There are no cheap HP adders to this platform, so consider instead taking comfort in the idea that wider front tires will afford you the ability (on a stock motor) to accelerate more aggressively than normal anyway. Back in 2006 the GXP was quick but a lot of cars (stock) you wouldn't think of are now are quicker than the GXP... so adding power to your GXP in my opinion should either be 1) not at all... or what I did which was... 2) All the ******* way. No third option in my opinion.
Ideally you can learn 10x more 10x quicker if when you go see the 06 car and HOIST IT at a local shop. It would be worth paying a local shop $50 to hoist it for 10 minutes the stuff you will find will give you the dirt you need to beat the guy up on his price and get multiples back of your $50 hoist investment.. but... If when you see the car the Bilsteins exhibit signs of leaking or bouncy ride... then you could opt for a full 4 piece replace using BC race coils which for those that have added them to Grand Prixs talk extremely highly of them. That is an option too that would negate the need for lowering springs which likely cost maybe about 13% of the BC coils anyway.
Hey everyone. I'm David. I am looking at getting an 06 GP GXP and I have some questions. Can anyone tell me if getting 320 to 330 whp is feasible without a whole lot of work? I'm a truck driver and I want a car that is reliable yet fun to drive when I get some home time. Another question is what tires and shocks are good on these cars? I'm looking at michelins or BF Goodrich tires. As for shocks, I want a shock that will keep the ride firm but not harsh. I wanna keep the car as stock looking as possible as it won't be driven a whole lot. Thanks for the input.
My advice would be to start reading up, there's about 15 years of information here and if you are asking about shocks for the GXP you need to do some reading.. Start your search with the transmission, if that doesn't scare you away continue on. Good luck with whatever you decide.
