"Git yer goat..."

Resurgence of the GTO, an overview: Once a venerable muscle car based on the Pontiac Tempest, and later, in its final year of production, the Pontiac Ventura, the Pontiac GTO was reborn in the 2004 model year from a rather different gene pool. Based on the Australian-produced Holden Monaro, which is itself a coupe variant of the Holden Commodore, the Pontiac GTO’s revival was prompted by Mr. Bob Lutz himself. (Mr. Lutz had been chairman of General Motors and experienced the car during a business trip to Australia.)

The GTO, which is produced in South Australia, has not sold in the original quantities expected by General Motors. GM had signed an agreement with the Australian plant to produce a maximum of 18,000 vehicles per year, commencing in late 2003 (for the 2004 model year) through the end of the 2006 model year. Only 13,569 GTO’s of the 15,728 cars produced for the 2004 model year were sold in that year, which dropped to 11,069 in 2005.

Reported in February 2006, Pontiac has announced that they will not be continuing production of the car past the 2006 model year, however citing expensive new regulations and an upcoming change in vehicle architecture as reasons for the discontinuance, not the flagging sales. Indeed, many factors probably influenced GM’s decision to shelve the GTO after three years, ranging from sales underperformance to estimates to new airbag deployment regulations to the phasing out of the platform the GTO is based on. GM has stated that the GTO program was intended to be a three model year program for the US market, and that it’s departure at the conclusion of 2006 had been planned since the implementation of the program.

GTO model year differences: At launch, the GTO was equipped with the Corvette-derived LS1 powerplant, producing 350 horsepower and 365 lb/ft of torque. The car was available with either the T56 six-speed manual transmission or the 4L60E four-speed automatic and posted 0-60 times of 5.3 with the manual and 5.4 with the automatic. In the 2005 model year, Pontiac replaced the LS1 powerplant with the newer LS2 engine, producing 400hp at 5,200rpm and 395 ft/lb at 4,000 rpm. Thanks to the bump in horsepower, the 0-60 performance time dropped to 4.6 and 4.8 seconds with the six speed manual and four speed auto respectively. The 2005 GTO also saw the introduction of the beefier 4L65E transmission with a 3.46:1 final drive. The 2005 car was also available with the larger, eighteen inch wheels as an option along with a revised hood containing a pair of hood scoops to aid cooling and larger brakes to match the increase in performance. In 2006, the car received minor trim and facia updates with a couple of new exterior colors, darkened tail lamps and orange-colored instrument panel along with steering wheel mounted illuminated radio controls.

First Impressions: The car in question is a beautiful red 2004 GTO supplied by a faithful supporter of FestivalofSpeed.net, Jeff S. The car is in a completely stock form, although Jeff intends to enhance the baseline performance somewhat with a less restrictive exhaust, a better intake and an ECU reprogramming. Due to the plethora of performance “bolt-ons” available for the GTO, enhancement past the stock configuration is both easy as well as relatively inexpensive.

Upon approach, you’re struck by the fact that the car is not, well, striking. While possessing a clean, smooth and sporty shape, the car is definitely understated, considering there’s a 350hp V-8 lurking under the hood. In fact, the car would not look out of place on a rental lot due to the innocuousness of it’s presence. This is not the intimidating, fire-breathing beast I expected to be presented with. Despite the lack of aggression and intimidation, the car is a very good looking vehicle with flowing, smooth lines and nicely rounded features, with a slight upward rake from front to back. At the rear, the trunk mounted spoiler does a nice job of completing the tail-end of the car. Brand or model badges on the car are noticeably minimal, further enhancing the feel of “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Panel lines are straight, gaps are consistent and overall, the car gives the feel of a high degree of quality.

On the inside, the feeling of quality continues. In fact, the GTO has perhaps the best looking interior I’ve ever seen on a mass-produced domestic automobile. The plastics used have a nice textured feel to them, completely lacking in the “plasticky” feel so common in US automobiles. The use of aluminum inserts, aluminum colored plastic trim pieces and solidly constructed dials and switches even rival <gasp> some European cars. The seats are very well sculpted, providing good lateral support as well as being finished to a very high standard. All of the leather, from the stitched shifter knob and handbrake to the material used for the seats has a high quality feel. Overall, the GTO interior is a very pleasant place to be.

Driving impressions: Ok, ok, I hear you out there, “Enough with how it looks, how does it drive?” Inserting the trademark GM-style key into the ignition, the driver is greeted with a clear digital information readout and the usual complement of pre-start warning lights in the instrument cluster. Twisting the key further, the engine churns over once before catching and settling into a very pleasing, smooth V8 idle. A quick jab at the accelerator rolls the tach needle around and twists the car slightly on it’s suspension. Even with the stock exhaust, it’s clear the engine is eager to deliver all of its ponies with little provocation. Apparently, this is a proper muscle car then…

We took the GTO out on a tour of the back roads through San Diego County, heading through Ramona and Julian to the Sunrise Scenic Byway. This trip gave us a good opportunity to experience the GTO in all sorts of driving conditions, from stop and go traffic to spirited driving through the byway and onto traditional highway cruising on Interstate 8 toward El Cajon. Because we combined the trip with some other roadtests, we were able to have several reviewers/drivers experience the GTO in all types of driving. Feedback about the car was overwhelmingly positive, as I will describe below. However, I’d like to share my opinions with you first:

In general, the car is quite happy to trundle along at whatever the posted speed limit dictates. Because of the GTO’s wide, flat torque profile, in-gear acceleration and passing maneuvers are very easy to execute, and often don’t even require the car to “kick down” to accomplish such tasks. That being said, the combination of the buttery-smooth exhaust note along with the surge of torque as you lean on the accelerator, it’s very difficult to keep your boot out of the goat for very long. Standing starts are dispatched in short order with full-throttled acceleration runs rapidly propelling you well in excess of the posted limits. Indeed the acceleration of the GTO is powerful enough to have you powering past eighty miles per hour when merging with freeway traffic even from a short onramp.

From a handling perspective, as long as you bear in mind that this is a muscle car, and as such is not ideally suited to being a “corner carver”, the GTO is surprisingly responsive. Initial turn in is very positive as long as you’re not overcooking it, and as is to be expected, power oversteer can be provoked with very little effort. If you can hold a constant throttle through the apex, gradually rolling on the throttle as you approach the corner exit, the GTO will hold a remarkably tidy line. Given that some body roll is present, and the car will understeeringly plow into the corner if you’re pressing on too hard, this behavior must be expected in a car that weighs nearly two tons. The suspension is rather firm, though we didn’t feel it was unnecessarily harsh. While our review focuses on drivability in “normal” conditions (i.e. not on a racetrack), and we did not come close to pushing the limits of grip present in the GTO’s 245/45 tires,  we would expect that the GTO would make a predictable drift machine, if given the chance. The brakes are surprisingly responsive and very resistant to fade on the mountain pass we drove the GTO on. In our opinion, the GTO represents excellent value for money and impresses nearly as much around corners as it does in a straight line. With that in mind, read on to see what our panel thought of the car:

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