well...i decided to see what's hot about the new GTO. I hopped on over to Autoway Pontiac on US19 in clearwater to test one out. It was a beautiful red one with 6 spd, and black leather seats. Now, personally, I looove the way the car looks in person. No magazine picture i have ever seen will ever compare to the car in real life. It's simply hot. Maybe it was just the car i got, maybe it's defective, i don't know, but that car was the biggest piece once you got behind the wheel.

Basic specs....

1100 miles on the odo (so yes, this car was supposedly broken in, or at least beyond the point of too fucked to care anymore)
The $7900 19 inch rim package...Yes that's right, $8k for some 2 piece chrome rims that look like SHIT IMO.
All other standard options
6 spd
vette engine, blah blah

Cons:
Sales guy drove it off the lot. Goes through 1st, doesn't even slam into 2nd and i hear BAM from the back of the car, and get a nice jolt through the seat. The guy turns and says, yah, that was a backfire, happens occasionally.

Salesman floors it through second, all of the sudden the A/C gets hot as hell and doesn't come back on till we stop the car at a light. He turns to me and says, 'i guess that's just an added plus, you don't want the a/c on when youre flooring it, so it automatically turns it off'.

I get in the car and drive it....i push the storage panel under the radio to open it up. Motherfucking clip breaks off and the storage door wont close.

$40,000 with no options other than gaudy looking rims

Pros:

it's quick, and it sounds mean.
Cool body style

Other than that, in my opinion this car is a $40,000 piece of trash.

In a 20 mile test drive i managed to break the door to the stoarge thing under the radio, get 110 degree air blown in my face, and get to hear possibly the worst drivetrain noise a new car could make.

 

You just summed it up right there. There is only 2 things I like about the GTO.... the seats and true dual exhaust. Other than that you summed it up with that statement!

And to think..... it replaced the T/A that was 1/2 the price, looked better (the WS6 version) and was faster....

 

Pretty much the same opinion I have about the car...........

 

Most new cars do this, no?

 

oh, i didn't realize...maybe that's why most 4 cylinders are so slow. It's the a/c robbing power! GM engineers...Genius!! lol

 

If they would sell it for the price of a new Mustang Mach 1 instead of the typical $4K mark-up on top of the $33K MSRP, then it would be worth the dough, otherwise I'd rather get a new Cobra. The new GTO is better than the 4th gen F-body in every way but price.

 

How so? The engine puts out less power, its slower, its plain, it has IRS (which has proven to be problems, look at the Stang guys... they swap it out alot.... alos means more $$$$ to beef up parts), looks like the Grand Prix....

 

Engine may put out a little less power but it's way easier to work on vs. the Fbody engine bay (then again I have an LT1).

I've read they trap 105/106 with good drivers. I say it has high 12's in it like a stock LS1 Fbod.

I like the "plain" looks in person. They say the '05 will answer the critics complaints though. And have you seen the new side exit dual exhaust kits for them? Sweet IMO. Even the stock exhaust sounds nice vs. an Fbod. And the interior is light years ahead of the 4th gen. Was never a fan of all the scoops on the '98-up WS6, it's more tacky than the huge Screaming Chicken of the late '70s; the Firehawk was a little cleaner and the Camaro SS or WS6 Formula were perfect. Now the base Z28, that is plain.

As for the IRS, if the Vette can launch hard with IRS eventually they will sort out the GTO rearend as well, and that'll be cheaper than spending $2K for a 12bolt swap like an Fbod.

It's all a matter of opinion though. If I had a SS as sick as yours CB, a new GTO wouldn't mean shit to me either.