Hey, don't mean to start an international incident. Maybe my ugly remark was too harsh. More specifically I have a problem of passing off a Holden as a GTO, not a Holden in and of itself. Since I have never driven or riden in one I can't remark on performance, I do have a problem with pawning this car off as a classic remake of a muscle car. More like lazy rip off. The Holden is a great Holden, but a rotten GTO.
all of the recent 'musclecar' offerings are crap, anyway. all i can say to the f body twins is don't let the door hit your ass on the way out. 30 grand for a smallblock V8 on a cheap body with a cheap interior? they looked alright, but there's no way i'd fork over that kind of cash. same for the mustang. call me a traitor but i'd rather take a ~20k import with a 200hp+ v6 or I4 and much better quality.
o No: All I can say is you must have not driven or owned one of these. My TA looks awsome, handles like a Vette without IRS and has 325 NET HP with a smoothe torque curve. My car has the optional 3.36:1 posi rear end. The all aluminum LS1 is the most awsome engine GM has ever built. On top of this it has all creature comforts and 12 disk, 500 watt stereo. As far as the price goes, noone pays sticker price anyway. Please do not comment on something unless you speak from experience. Below is a link to a roadtest of a 2002 TA. Good Info. A 13.13 ET in an automatic. Great pictures also. Road Test Article Thx a lot JA
I had a 97 WS6 formula six speed. I had the car three years, loved it to death. It looked great, ran hard, cornered great and gave me no grief. call it cheap if you want but the list of musclecars I blew off with that thing was amazing..oh yeah, 30 mpg .and that was just the LT1...the LS1 is much better than that. People used to flag me down to look at it....guess nobody knew it what it was because it didn't have all the TA plastic cladding, just a clean smooth body. If you couldn't get laid with that car, you were dead!!!LOL I have pics of the 97 on my website. I don't mind the new GTO, problem is, everyong thinks it is supposed to look like the first one they made. Pricy, and not available in Canada anyway. Hopefully GM will come out with something interesting before I lose total interest in their products. If I bought a new car TODAY, it would be the Infiniti G35 Sport coupe, sexy, rear wheel drive, six speed manual and decent power. Make mine silver. Later tim
I don't live in america, so call me a rookie when it comes to U.S. muscle cars, but from my observations, they have put a grand-am / grand prix type of front on the car. Now I wasnt around at the time, but didnt the original GTO's look exactly like the grand prix of the time ? why should it look like a pony car which the original GTO never was. Wasn't the original GTO based on a family car (tempest), and then delorian decided to put a big powerful motor in it, a set of scoops and duals... which brings me to the issue of scoops and dual exhaust, lutz wanted to put scoops and duals, but they didnt have time, by the time the production one gets released it might well have these items. and lastly the HP figures they have quoted, and what they state they have done to the car, are just simply unbelievable , and must be grossly underrated !!! they say it will have 340HP, these are the specs as stated on pontiacs website - Long tube headers , Z06 vette spec (close ratio) 6 speed, and GTO specific 'high lift' cam, and true dual exhaust which exits to one side. now im sure that most f-body owners will tell ya , that the ls1 in their cars without all these extra go-fast bits, and a single exhaust dynos close to 340RWHP. I think this car is going to be closer to the 03 cobra in performance than people want to believe, and maybe GM doesnt want to upset all the vette boys by rating it equal or above the vette, of-course the vette has the weight advantage so regardless of them having equal power the vette should still be faster.
You are right about GM not wanting to "one up" their flagship, the Corvette. It has always been that way just as they underated the 1st gen firebirds so they wouldn't piss of the GTO owners. Personally I like the new "goat". I hear that next year the will add the toys they wanted on it but didn't have time to get done this time around. I can tell you from having owned a 2000 Ram Air T/A that the LS1 is one heck of an engine. I have read in the Pontiac mags that they weren't going for retro on the GTO anyway. At least it is RWD! I always figured if it was brought back it would be a trim option on the Grand Prix. It also owned a 1999 GTP and I loved it. But I bought it as it was.. a supercharged FWD car. I didn't have any illusions of it being anything else. Brian
Wasn't there a supercharged Tempest straight 6 screamer at one point? Now THOSE are cool. These new ones remind me of a chevy malibu. Truth be told, if GM came back with midsize coupes that hold at least 5 real people(e.g. Cutlass, GN, Skylark, etc.) And have huge power(I'm thinking LS-1 power) with decent handling and good looks(like the Darth Vader scheme in the 80's, or the classic lines of the 68-72 BOP's) that they would sell like hotcakes and pull GM out of the tank. I would definitely save all my money and buy one should they make them. isn't the new GTO a 4 door?
The new GTO is thankfully a coupe! I agree with you on bringing back the mid size cars. They broke all sales records with the 73-87 cutlass's and others. But GM's new focus is on rice type cars. I read that they think it is the "future". Have you noticed the marketing blitz for the sunfires, cavaliers, and the new Ecotec 4 banger? Sure there is a market for those cars but what about the rest of us? They seem to think that if we don't buy those, we must want a truck or SUV! Brian :sleep:
I could see owning a ricer if it was something like a Nissan Skyline GT-R or a Subaru WRX. What else do you want? a fun, decent-looking car with 4WD and enough power to move. I have the feeling that my first new car is gonna be a Subaru, sad to say.
Such a great car they are discontinued I believe the basis of the discussion was the fact dealerships were demanding an excessive premium over the $30K sticker. So your're right, noone is paying sticker for a GTO. And as far as your attitude about others right to comment :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :af:
I don't blame you. If you are going to go rice, then buy something respectable like the WRX. The GM rice wannabes just don't cut it!. Can you imagine if this occured 25 years ago? GM would be marketing the Chevette as a "sport compact". Of course they did try that somewhat with the Cosworth Vega and the Citation X. There are others but i don't recall right now. I am old enough to remember and drive those when they were new. But that is a whole different story! Brian
If I were to buy a new car right now, it would be an acura 3.5 CL type s. My friends mom has one and ive driven it a few times. Handles awesome, decent power, 6 speed, looks good, leather and a standard cd player. The new GTO is nice, but I'd wait till theyve settled down a bit in price and let all the little boogers in it come to the surface. As for it not looking like an old GTO, Did the 4th gen f bodies look anyhting like the first gen? I dont see any indications of it. I think its a fine looking automobile. Although, I like the red Holden in the pictures more than I like th GTO. Its got cooler wheels, and body lines as well. ________ VAPORIZER
David Hartman 1971 GS S1 Project 1973 Apollo David: The statement above and your car stable says it all, this needs no further comment.:laugh: Again...if you dont know what you are talking about, then listen and learn. Thx for the amusement JA
Well my Stage 1 is no minvan, you are right about that. You have indeed gotten my goat. I will yield the floor. Sorry if I came across as threatening. I just feel it is important that everyone has an equal voice on this board. It doesn't matter if someone drives a musclecar, camaro or even a minvan. I will take your advice and listen learn. Peace.
