Memo to Dodge: Install a bored-and-stroked version of the 4.7 SOHC V-8 and try again.
Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
A Muscular Coupe For The Luxury Lover
Hell-fire performance vehicles are great toys. But even the most nitrous-addled MT editor will admit that they're sometimes tough to live with day to day. Fact is, most of the star-spangled, heavy-breathing hardware in this story snorts mega-cubic dollars of atomized petrol, provides occasional auditory and vibratory overload, grabs unwanted speed-enforcement interest and is ride-biased toward the hairy edge of comfort in order to more neatly carve the corners. That probably sounds fantastic to those of you on motoring's lunatic fringe.
But what if you could have most of the grins without the gripes? A sleek Grand Prix GTP coupe with real-people-size room and comfy seats could be the answer. It's aimed at a similarly sporting, but perhaps more mature, audience. The impressive specs tell that story, with its 6.8-second 0-60 mph the most notable. But it executes its entertainment mission without a fuel-sucking V-8, a "hey-look-at-me" exterior design, cramped-interior ergos, or viscera-whipping ride rates. This is a fast daily driver with a roomy rear seat for your best buds and a trunk for your gear.
With its muscular lines, extra-low roofline, standard foglamps, and aggressive split grille, it's actually the most dramatically styled of the divisional trio (Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Intrigue, and Pontiac Grand Prix) built on this front-drive, midsize W-platform. But its execution is tasteful. At one time, the "Excitement Division" couldn't produce a car with this kind of performance without a 10-inch-tall deck spoiler, gaping hood scoop, screaming-chicken hood decal, butt-buster ride, and thick plastic lower-body cladding. Times change.
Today, the Grand Prix GTP rides pretty well with just a hint of harshness and is one of the quickest, shortest-stopping, and best-handling American coupes at any price, despite its front-drive layout. Yes, it sometimes misbehaves with a bit of fuzzy torque steer, thanks to its Eaton-supercharged 3.8-liter OHV V-6 engine's 240 horsepower and 280 pounds-feet of torque. But like quick-correcting a bump-steer reaction in a corner-carving, live-axle Mustang, it's just part of the car's quirky go-quickly charm. And when the roads get slippery and most of the other vehicles in this round-up are forced to head for the barn, the front-driving GTP will slog through deep water and pesky snow. At its base price of $24,160 and as-tested tally of $26,665, this decently fast and wholly liveable sport coupe looks to some to be that close to being a true musclecar.
Ford F-150 SVT Lightning
Hey, Y'all, Smoke These!
With 360 supercharged horsepower, the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning is the embodiment of my favorite saying: "Hey, y'all, watch this!" The Lightning just begs you to do a big ol' smoky burnout and a power-sliding, opposite-lock lap of the parking lot. From the time I was handed its keys to when there were a pair of 295-millimeter-wide 17-yard-long black streaks on the floor of the Petersen building parking garage took no longer than its 0-60-mph time. It was only by superior will power that I resisted filling the underground garage with tire smoke.
No current production vehicle does a stationary burnout easier than the Lightning. With this simple recipe, anyone can convert $600 of Goodyear Eagle F1 GSs into smoke and rubber dust: Start with one Lightning, hold moderate pressure on the brake pedal with left foot, stomp the gas with right. Modulate each to ensure the rears spin at the appropriate level and the truck remains motionless. A power slide requires more skill, but mastering it will make you feel like sprint-car star Mark Kinser. Anybody who has the self-control to get more than a few thousand miles out of a pair of rear Lightning tires should be sentenced to drive a '76 Pinto.
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