Some of you may know that I have been pretty harsh about the GTO. The facts are that the car is a marketing failure. Looks like a grand prix, called a GTO, and does not sell for ****.

BUT, I drove one yesterday, and the car is truly wonderful. Comparing a SN-97 car to a GTO, I would have to say, that I think I preferred to drive the GTO. The car is packed with power, sounded amazing (even stock), and drove old-school power. This car has trq off the charts compared to a Mustang. Too bad is looks like a Grand Prix.

Now for the best part, the friend who owned it paid $21k last winter and the car had 3500 miles on it. At $21k vs nearly $30k for a similarly equipped GT, this car is a steal.

$'s talk.

 

GM crap...copy of another car...which is typical GM crap, and all they can muster...I crushed a 5.7L GTO on friday morning from about a 60mph roll.

 

what year GTO is it? If it's the 04 GTO it's stock for stock about the same a 03-04 mach 1 even though it has 40-50hp more...weight is the factor. However if it's an 05+ GTO I'd say no question it's a better and way faster car than the SN-97. Plus the LS motors make great gains with simple mods.

The downside is the car doesn't look that great.

 

It was a 2006. Now has 17k on the odometer.

 

thats the one downside to pontiac's, they all look like grand am's. But now they are all going to look like G6's...wtf gives. Why would a company want 3 to 4 different sizes of the same car. I dont get and proly never will....

 

It is called "brand imaging" or "brand extensions". It will work if everyone lkes the basis.

 

and thats what did in the GTO. it didn't have a persona of its own. It looked like a two door grand am...period. Im not saying the should've made it look retro, but it should've been different from everything else.

 

Another problem w/ the GTO is the drivetrain. It ain't as strong as a good ol' live axle like our cars have. Not only that, the car was just a Holden, delivered to the US, badged as a Pontiac GTO, and got a LS1/LS2 thrown in.
By the way, our cars are the SN95, not SN97. Your confusing it w/ the 05+ S197.

 

It doesn't look that bad. The ram air hood looks kinda out of place, but its not that bad. If you wanna be apart of the Mustang Memorial, then go ahead and do it.

 

I looked at them right before I bought my truck.

I like the interior better than the Mustang's and if done right they can look damn sweet.Some guy's around here have alot of mod's on thier's and are pushing some major HP.A local Dealer has a brand new Black 06 GTO sitting on the lot,could get it for alot less than sticker and at 0% right now.

 

Nope, I was not confused at all. I meant to say SN-97....meaning that if you compare a 2006 GTO to a 2006 Mustang GT. We drove my car (SN-95) right after driving his, and there really is no comparison. My 2000 GT is a lot less smooth and sophisticated then that GTO...6 model years makes for an unfair comparison.

 

I have a bad taste with domestics, I would get an import as a next sports car. The GTO can be considered an import since its from down under, Australia. Only problem I see is that once the Camaro comes out the GTO might be discontinued and will leave you will a car with parts that are hard to come by.

 

The GTO was already discontinued.

 

I just don't like how they handle, how they look or that they still use pushrods. Nonetheless, I think it would have to be compared to something like a 99-04 cobra to be fair. That puts them about on par for price and feature set (including a lousy IRS, and excess weight) and performance. At that point the quality of the interior (cough crap plastic choke) and unusable rear seat in the mustang really starts to detract from the overall package. If Ford put 300 bucks more into the interior it would probably end up a brand loyalty call.

 

There you go hehehe.

 

I love the GTO just like i love the corvette. GTO and corvette have the same engine (not the Zo6) I like fast cars I dont care who makes it as long as its not Asian. Who care about the brand Fast is fast who cares

 

the GTo is a nice car.to bad it looks like the rest of pontiac cars. and another thing i dont like about the GTo besides the styling is the weight of it. but it has gobs of power even in stock form. i just wish its aftermarket parts were as cheap as a mustangs.

 

looks like a Cavalier on Steroids. if they would have done a retro-modern design off of the old GTO design, I think they would have had better luck with sales. I've driven one and they pack some power to their punch, but the exterior look prevents me from making that purchase regardless of price. The interior is horrible too, same old Grand Prix, Grand Am interior...Pontiac has become complacent when it comes to interiors.

 

saw a GTO this morning...mistakenly thought it was a grand-am/grand-prix from the front...and a honda from the rear. it looks like crap from the side mirrors back. the price/power is alright i suppose, i haven't seen any msrp's on them yet but judging on the used prices they're alright. i think the mustang looks a whole lot better. sure gobs of power is great, but i'd like to turn some heads too. also, comparing the engines of the gto and mustang....good lord man, that thing is damn near twice what the gt's are (liter wise). so might as well compare it to the cobra R so the sizing is about the same... anywho, i think the mustang is the best bang for the buck one could get in a sports car.

 

The 05+ Mustang's platform is the S197, not the SN97. I don't want to be a dick about it but it's one of those things that get on my nerves knowing that it's wrong.

 

Amen. And the look alone kills it for me.

 

the 04 GTO looks like a regular Pontiac. Single exhaust is it's only fault as far as looking like a performance car. the 05 and 06 look dam sweet IMHO. They all look like a regular pontiac except for the "subtle" stuff like, the hood. twin scoops baby just like the 68 and on. The lowered stance, the wheels actually fit under the fender wells. no need to lower it. Plus they are performance ready from the factory. Even they 04 GTO (slow) is impressive from a stock standpoint. The only problem I see was the MSRP on those babies. Waay to much if you were comparing Stangs vs GTO's. I would drive one and be happy bout it..

 

Well, I'm a bit late to this discussion, but thought I'd join in since I own both a Mustang and a GTO.

My opinion is, the GTO is a great car and for the price and performance couldn't be beat. Does it really matter what its called? The new Charger by no means hold the right to be called a Charger based off looks, but Dodge did it anyway. I don't think they should have called the GTO a GTO either, but they did. I guess its better than calling it a Camaro like they were planning back in '99 when the Carmaro's were originally going to be discontinued.

I test drove an '05 Mustang GT and the '05 GTO. Not even knowing GTO's had a 6.0L 400hp engine in them at the time. But after driving both cars, i guess it obvious which one I decided to buy, since i own that GTO now. As for looks, ya, i'd have to agree its lacking in the appearance catagory and nothing bothers me more than hearing someone say "but it looks like a Pontiac".. thats just a stupid thing to say, it is a Pontiac, was it supposed to look like a Honda or something? I bought it because it was in my price range and has the performance and handling i wanted. Do both cars have great potential, yes.

As for the Con's... Despite this rumor of weak drivetrain, it isnt any weaker than a Mustang, in Vegas we have several 500+rwhp GTO's rolling around on stock drivetrain, even had a 750rwhp one with all stock components (except the clutch), there are a couple twin turbo'ed GTO rolling around too. To me the biggest down fall to the GTO is the small rear wheel wells, a 275 tire barely fits and usually requires fender rolling and other things. Because of this, you will always have a traction problem, which means unless youre running drag slicks and other suspension mods, you wont really have to worry about killing the differential. Another downside is that the Diff used in the GTO is only used in the GTO, so a set of gears run about $1200 before install. Another thing is wheel lug patterns, the GTO uses a BMW pattern and not a GM pattern, so aftermarket wheel selection is small but getting better.

Please dont take this post the wrong way, I only wanted to point out the major down falls to the GTO (in my opinion, what i consider a problem might not be a problem to others). It is not my intention to smack talk or flame Mustangs.

For me, i am planing to install a Maggie blower, get about 500rwhp and change the wheels. Thats about it for the GTO, and it will stay my daily driver.
My Cobra on the other hand is under going major reconstruction this winter. Getting all new suspension, brakes, exhaust, engine internals and a blower or turbo, a T-56, custom interior and custom paint. Looking for a street/strip/show car with about 700-900hp.

Buying a GTO now a days is a good deal to me, because you can pick them up for about $20k or less and you got a reliable 400hp car ('05-'06).

 

They are a HUGE bang for the buck! That is because no one wants them. While I would never have bought one when they first hit the streets, they have become more appealing to me as the prices have dropped a bunch. Are they nice cars....absolutely.

As far as your point about the Dodge Charger, I think the difference is that with the GTO, Pontiac made a big deal out of the name. They hit all the GTO clubs, had free rides for members at events, etc..... This is a classis example of brand recognition, not gone bad, just not as well as they had hoped.

There are TONS of examples of car companies doing this over the years. Some are hits and others are not.

The GTO should look like a Pontiac....as you pointed out, it is. But, it looks too vanilla, too much like a Grand Am. Pontiac has always taken design cues across their line....they do it more then most, but every car company does this. ****, half the time I can't tell what is behind me. Is it an F-150 or a Ford Edge?

For the moment, those that don't like the GTO, don't have to drive one. But for those who do, I would argue that this is probably the single best "bang for the buck" on the road and it certainly is not a stupid Neon or Evo.