grand am vs. alero

[irondiezl3]

im sure there are previous posts but curious what others think opinion or fact welcome. i know grand ams have 175hp and aleros 170. no here is my opinion and anyone can correct me if im wrong. ive owned both cars so this isnt becuz im an alero owner but i feel like the ram air is a gimick. 5 hp is 5hp and ive learned its not easy to gain horse but, wouldnt the extra weight on a grand am as opposed to an alero eliminate the 5 hp the supposed ram air gives it? all opinions welcome!!!

[Onewing91]

I don't know any numbers, but I was screwing around with my buddy (who has a 2000 Grand Am with the 3400) and my Alero was faster than his Grand Am. But we were just messing, so, it could have been just due to me pushing the gas pedal faster or something, I mean, their both Automatics, so it wasnt anything due to shifting... idk..

[Satsuriku]

the alero and the gagt are the same car (n-body) with different body panels and interior obviously, same engine, same suspension, so i dont know where the extra 5hp even came from if there the engine is the same and there both stock.....at the track, it would all depend on the driver at that point and the condition of there car

[rowdygls]

The Grand Am Gt actually has different gearing making it a tad bit quicker and also a slightly higher top speed. The SE is essentially the same as the Alero

[irondiezl3]

alright now were getting somewhere idk i had a gt to be honest i think my alero was a little bit quicker

[Onewing91]

I've always wondered, because a lot of people seem to compare GT and Aleros, but my friend's car is an SE and it has the 3400 engine just like my Alero, looks the same under the hood pretty much. Mines cleaner :) but that's cuz I care.. lol but the speedometer (donno if this matters) goes to 120 in his car, and 140 in my Alero.. Again, I am pretty ignorant on whether that means anything, but its there...

[Vinalero]

the alero and the gagt are the same car (n-body) with different body panels and interior obviously, same engine, same suspension, so i dont know where the extra 5hp even came from if there the engine is the same and there both stock.....at the track, it would all depend on the driver at that point and the condition of there car

The Ram air on the GAGT makes cooler air enter directly in the air filter from the outside, thats where the 5hp comes from. Maybe its not 5, but it is slightly more than the Alero.

[alerored04]

/\ It's a joke though. Doesn't do anything. There is a reason the GT owners still switch to a cai. The gearing difference is the only big change.

[irondiezl3]

idk when i switched to cold air i noticed a improvement id love to see both go head to head with same start off the line automatics to see whod win.

[Vinalero]

/\ It's a joke though. Doesn't do anything. There is a reason the GT owners still switch to a cai. The gearing difference is the only big change.


I agree with you, it must not be as big as 5hp, but it has to make a difference when you talk about stock versus stock.

[cherrington17]

pontiac still in business, olds isn't. grand am wins. :p

[Redog]

The GA, Alero, and Malibu are all the same car. The Bu usually has the 3100 in it.

The gearing is different in the GAGT but the GA SE is the same as the Alero GLS. The first gear is smaller than that in the Alero. I think the Alero has a 3.08 first gear and the GA is like 3.12, but I could be wrong. Plus the GAGT's top gear is smaller than the Alero, so the Alero would take longer to get there, but the Alero would be faster than the GAGT in top speed numbers.

The 5 extra HP doesn't come from the Ram Air. Yes it's an OK intake system, but he bulk of that 5 would come from programing on the PCM, which is different than the Alero's

The GAGT's accel is better, and that's about it. I'm sure the Alero's accel is faster than the Malibu's

[Redog]

lol but the speedometer (donno if this matters) goes to 120 in his car, and 140 in my Alero.. Again, I am pretty ignorant on whether that means anything, but its there...

Well let me teach you.

The GAGT has a rumored top speed of 153 MPH and the Alero's is close to 160. I've seen sims that had the Alero as fast as 166 but nothing slower than 158.

Of course that a sim program, but a few people say it's possible, but you would need a hell of a lot of room to test that theroty. It's hard to stop a car going that fast.

Jackel's car (John) car was dynoed and it topped out his sppedo at the 140 mark.

Actually in the 1980's car manfactures were only allow to put in speedos that topped out at 85. The federal government thought this would cut down on speeding and the max speed limit was set by the federal government at 55 MPH for all states. HA HA HA try going 55 on a Michigan highway today

[bigdaddyD]

you can still find people driving 55 on MI highways, they usually are small GEO sized cars, aka roadkill for semi's.

[irondiezl3]

so a grand am gt shifts faster or slower? so technically the gt is faster off the line?

if you put a cold air and a exhaust in a alero would that be enough to even them out?

[surreal_awakening]

I never saw simulators that high, though I can't say I've looked lately. I think the highest I saw for an Alero was 134. I had mine to the 107mph speed limiter once. Wouldn't do it again in stock form. It was a little skittish. I've been close to 140 in a trick 92 Civic hatch, tin can that it is, and that felt better than 107 in a stock Alero. The speedo in my 96 Cherokee only goes to 85, and that's about 5mph more than the old girl is willing to give me unless I'm going downhill with a tailwind lol

[alerored04]

Redog i believe the GT FDR is 3.29. Surreal my 92 cherokee was a beast, it would spin the 85 mph speedo all the way back to zero. Im sure that it isnt calibrated and i was doing 95-100 at best but it was fun. My car feels great up to 125-130, but that is with a fairly heavily upgraded suspension and good tires.

[surreal_awakening]

My old 93 Cherokee 5-spd was far more apt to wind out the speedo past 85. This 96 Country with an auto is a bit of a dog. But I didn't buy it for speed. I bought it because when I rolled my 93, I was able to turn it back over on its wheels and drive it home.

[01silveralero]

HA HA HA try going 55 on a Michigan highway today

they have min. speed limit and maximum speed limits the part of michigan i went through. min was 55 max was 70 although i saw a lot of people doing about 90.

[b-spot]

Well let me teach you.

The GAGT has a rumored top speed of 153 MPH and the Alero's is close to 160. I've seen sims that had the Alero as fast as 166 but nothing slower than 158.

Of course that a sim program, but a few people say it's possible, but you would need a hell of a lot of room to test that theroty. It's hard to stop a car going that fast.

Jackel's car (John) car was dynoed and it topped out his sppedo at the 140 mark.

Actually in the 1980's car manfactures were only allow to put in speedos that topped out at 85. The federal government thought this would cut down on speeding and the max speed limit was set by the federal government at 55 MPH for all states. HA HA HA try going 55 on a Michigan highway today

Laugh. More uninformed dribble.

There is no way in hell a stock Alero can hit 160.

Hitting 140 on a dyno means nothing, it's drag that stops a cars top speed for the most part (unless the car is quite powerful).

Cobalt SS/SC's are not governed and are drag limited around 155-160mph. That's a car with stock over 200hp AT THE WHEELS. Realistically 230-240 crank HP.

Those that have been crazy enough to try in my current car have only gotten their 340hp S4's up to just over 170mph before the speedo ends and they said there wasn't much left anyways.

[Redog]

^^ They are the numbers I was dealt :rolleyes2: besides if it was possible to get an Alero up that high, how long would it take, 10, 15, 20 miles, probably more.

And Alerored, you are right about that 3.29 gear

[[ion] C2]

The car tops out mathematically at 168. Drag will reduce this, unless you modify the aerodynamics and/or are pushing enough power to overcome it.

Speed means nothing, you can't legally drive that fast on public roads. It's the acceleration that makes cars fun to drive. Driving consistently at 140 versus driving at 50 feels pretty much the same (besides more bumps in less time and far more dangerous at 180, less time to react, more situations in less time) Zero acceleration is not very fun.

[b-spot]

^^ They are the numbers I was dealt :rolleyes2: besides if it was possible to get an Alero up that high, how long would it take, 10, 15, 20 miles, probably more.

And Alerored, you are right about that 3.29 gear

Stop and think about the numbers for a second before you spread them further.

But yes, hitting a cars top speed requires a very very long stretch of straight smooth road with no police or animals ;)

[[ion] C2]

And no surface imperfections, and high speed rated tires.

Tire failure at 150+ MPH is not a good thing to happen.

[Redog]

C2;348532']The car tops out mathematically at 168. Drag will reduce this, unless you modify the aerodynamics and/or are pushing enough power to overcome it.

Speed means nothing, you can't legally drive that fast on public roads. It's the acceleration that makes cars fun to drive. Driving consistently at 140 versus driving at 50 feels pretty much the same (besides more bumps in less time and far more dangerous at 180, less time to react, more situations in less time) Zero acceleration is not very fun.

OK bSpot, I'll think after I reread this :rolleyes2:

[[ion] C2]

There is no way in hell a stock Alero can hit 160.Duh, it's limited at 108. :p

[b-spot]

C2;348540']Duh, it's limited at 108. :p


Whoops... busted... :lol:


* with speed limiter disabled.

[Redog]

C2;348540']Duh, it's limited at 108. :p

So he's right :lol:

[TheEdgeofSanity]

C2;348540']Duh, it's limited at 108. :p

lol....mine goes to 110 :yahoo: anyway, I must say that the malibu is not identical to the alero and grand am. Its door frames are a totally different shape and It came with the 2.4 i4 and 3100 v6 as its only engines (never a 3400) and it had a 2.2 ecotec when it became the Chevrolet Classic. Yes, its a w-body but besides the subframe things, its totally different and good luck interchanging things. Also, its performance specs are barely comparable and from first-hand driving experience, the malibu is a dog when trying to merge onto the freeway.

Also, my GF has a 2004 GAGT and it drives about the same as my alero but doesn't get as good of gas mileage. I'd have to say that my car has just as good acceleration as her.

I also have to say that b-spot and redog are worse than my grandma and grandpa when it comes to arguing and putting each other down so please stop crapping up people's threads. enough's enough already.

[[ion] C2]

lol....mine goes to 110.
no one said the speedometer was accurate
I'd have to say that my car has just as good acceleration as her.
The difference is like 0.05 seconds, don't expect to feel it in the butt dyno. :lol:

[irondiezl3]

whats a spoiler do for persormance keep the car pulled to the ground?

[cherrington17]

purely asthetics on non performance cars. gives it a "sporty" look.

on powerful performance cars, it supplies a downforce on the back wheels, keeping them in contact w/ the ground.

look up the top gear video for the koneisegg ccx. they requested a rear spoiler on THAT, so it wouldn't spin so bad when cornering...

[p1mptress]

Well back in the day when i first got my alero (4 yrs ago) I used to street race, but I don't anymore due to the stupidity of it all. And I raced a grand am gt, who beat me by a nose! I have legally drag raced an older grand am 96 i believe and killed it, so it all depends.

[01silveralero]

girls cant race that well :p

[BlackJack]

I've got it all figured out for you. A stock Alero's top speed is 108 under ideal conditions. Beyond that, you have to flash the computer to remove the speed limiter, after which it is no longer stock.

[irondiezl3]

when i had my gt i had it up to 130 on the highway aleros stop at 108 how shitty

[BlackJack]

girls cant race that well :p

bullshit....I know plenty of fast girls :D

[jabartram]

it doesnt take 10, 15, 20 miles to hit the 130mph mark, trust me!

[cherrington17]

i'm gonna go test it... if i'm not back... let it be known, i died doing something totally retarded....

[irondiezl3]

thanks got that spoiler looks good buffed it out thanks for being honest

[alerored04]

lol....mine goes to 110 :yahoo: anyway, I must say that the malibu is not identical to the alero and grand am. Its door frames are a totally different shape and It came with the 2.4 i4 and 3100 v6 as its only engines (never a 3400) and it had a 2.2 ecotec when it became the Chevrolet Classic. Yes, its a w-body but besides the subframe things, its totally different and good luck interchanging things. Also, its performance specs are barely comparable and from first-hand driving experience, the malibu is a dog when trying to merge onto the freeway.

Also, my GF has a 2004 GAGT and it drives about the same as my alero but doesn't get as good of gas mileage. I'd have to say that my car has just as good acceleration as her.

I also have to say that b-spot and redog are worse than my grandma and grandpa when it comes to arguing and putting each other down so please stop crapping up people's threads. enough's enough already.

Wrong. A malibu is an N body. Do you know why malibu's share n body suspension components? A 3100 is the same as a 3400 just a different bore size. Door frames have nothing to do with suspension, engine, or unibody parts.

[ares89]

Tire failure at 150+ MPH is not a good thing to happen.

That happened to one of the Top Gear guys last year, but at 200 i think... he found himself flipped over buried in the ground and yoyoing on the brink of death for a week...

that was my contribution..Continue on..

[BlackJack]

Wrong. A malibu is an N body.

yup, until what, 2004/2005 when it changed to the Epsilon, with either the 3500 or the Eco wasn't it?

[bigdaddyD]

^^ ya, i had an '04 malibu Maxx, had the 3500, nice engine for being stock.

[Redog]

ANd the Eco is the 4 bannger ava in the Bu

[Redog]

BTW in 1992, half way thru the year, the Cavailer wasn't the J body :rolleyes2: (note to heavy sarcasm)

[Cliff8928]

Wrong. A malibu is an N body. Do you know why malibu's share n body suspension components? A 3100 is the same as a 3400 just a different bore size. Door frames have nothing to do with suspension, engine, or unibody parts.

A Malibu is a N-Body, but so is a '86 Skylark.

A Malibu is not identified in it's service manual as a GMX130 like the 99-04 Alero and Grand Am which do share a service manual.

yup, until what, 2004/2005 when it changed to the Epsilon, with either the 3500 or the Eco wasn't it?

Those are "Z" body cars. '04 to '07 had either the 2.2, 3.5 or 3.9

The new ones have either the 2.4, 2.4 Hybrid, 3.5 or 3.6.

[rowdygls]

^^ Freaking walking GM encyclopedia

[cherrington17]

^^ Freaking walking GM encyclopedia

:lol: i love seeing these conversations hit a brick wall when cliffy shows up and pwns everyone. :emotlol:

[TheEdgeofSanity]

wow, yes i was wrong. got N mixed up with W.

[alerored04]

My haynes manual has mailbu in it with ga and alero.

[Cliff8928]

My haynes manual has mailbu in it with ga and alero.

but the official GM one doesn't

[alerored04]

oh i c.