Formula brought up a hella good point in another thread. The Bonneville GXP will no doubt be in the $35,000 plus range. Sure it has a quad cam V8 and 280hp (which might be underrated a little), great looks and such......

But...... won't the Cadillac CTSv run about the same price, have a much more capable chassis built for the serious stuff, a 6 speed manual transmission, and 100 more horsepower?!

I really like the transformation of the Bonneville (and the rest of the GXP line's cars), But the more I think about it, compared to the Cadillac CTSv, Bonneville GXP is begining to not to seem to be that good of an idea.

Never thought I'd ever say this, but a Cadillac seems to be a better value, more enthusiast oriented car (let alone a whole heck of a lot faster & better handling....and maybe even [B]cheaper) than a Pontiac.

 

That's why I find it hard to believe that the CTSv will cost 35 thousand...

 

Me too. I really dont see how theyre gonna sell a car that should be near the M3 performance wise at the same price as a fully loaded TL Type S.

 

well its not like it has a super high tech drivetrain...the LS1 was paid for the first year the new V8's were used in the truck line. The 6 speed I think is a standard T56...everything else is standard CTS except for some tuning and suspension and brake revisions. I see it as similar to the SRT4 Neon in using off the shelf parts...nothing really exotic

 

i hope it's 35g's it might be my next car.

 

Easy solution to the problem... drop Bonneville's base price by $4-5000!!!!!!!

I don't know if that is even possible, but Bonneville is just overpriced. It's a great car, I've driven the SSEi, but the resale value drops like a ROCK .

A 1 year old SSEi, with 12,000 miles has a resale value of like $18,000... they sticker for $35,000 or so!!!!!

C'Mon... that is sick.

 

So will this thing be outclassed handlindwise by the imports that its supposed to compete with? Accerlation shouldnt be a problem wiht teh LS1 powerplant, but I would figure to hang with an M3, S4 or any other high power euro sedan the handling would have to be picked up a notch or two.

Or maybe thats the trade off? You get the accelration and lack the suspension for the lower price.

 

I think you missed something here Steve. The CTS as is has near BMW handling (remember, part of it's engineering was done in Germany, using the same track BMW & other German cars use for development). Tweaking the suspension a bit will no doubt make CTSv extremely competitive with M4, and should destroy the S4.

The base CTS costs about $30,000, and the addition of the LS1 & 6 speed which already exist, and suspension recalibrating are all low or no extra cost items.I'm pretty sure there's more going into the the costs of durability tests than there is creating this package, and that's where I have my big question: Why is Bonneville GXP likely to cost so much, when it delivers far less than a cheaper or at least similarly priced Cadillac?

Darth brought up a good point about the Bonneville being overpriced to begin with. A car's first year depriciation is the perfect guide to determine if a car's overpriced. If a Bonneville drops by over 1/3 of it's purchase price the 1st year, it's safe to say it's priced too high.

Yet, if it comes down in price, it will be even more into Grand Prix's territory.........a perfect case for a new Pontiac version of the CTS as a replacement to the Bonneville.

 

OK, I see now. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

you all have to remember, the CTSv and the Pontiac are NOT going after the same buyer. Plus, the CTSv will come in at over 40k.

You have to remember, the people on these sites are HARDCORE enthusiasts. You only represent a small fraction of the buying public. Your goals and views on how you choose vehicles are skewed twards performance only.

 

I was going on the assumption that CTSv was going for $35,000 as was mentioned in a news story earlier in the week. It mentioned that the CTSv was going for about that price in Europe when it came out. I doubt that they would ship them over there to sell them cheaper than here.

None the less, it'll be at the auto shows this winter. Guess we'll know for sure then.