"Git yer goat..." - Page 2/2

Reviewer’s impressions: Our panel of reviewers come from diverse backgrounds, from business executives and small business owners to photographers, artists, and even a radio personality. All of them, however, share a common passion for driving and enthusiast-biased vehicles. Our panel was hand selected for their diverse knowledge and unique tastes in what performance vehicles they enjoy, so the opinions below represent a wide variety of preconceptions of what people want in an “enthusiast” car.

Chris C. is one of our gifted contributing photographers and had a chance to drive this GTO during our day out with the car. While he is a car enthusiast and very passionate about his driving, Chris’s vehicle choices are dictated by the environment he must function in. Thus, his daily driver is a modified recent model Honda Civic DX. This successfully combines his need for practicality (four seats, airbags and good fuel economy) with a reasonably spirited and responsive driving experience. Chris is also a large individual, over 6’3” tall with a very muscular build. Hopefully, this will help put in perspective his feelings and comments about the GTO:

Chris admits somewhat of an anti-American car bias in his choice of automobiles to drive. That being said, he was surprised at the obvious level of high quality and attention to detail possessed by the GTO and the confidence-inspiring handling, leading to an overall “delightful” driving experience. Chris noted, despite his large stature, he had plenty of head and legroom when seated in both the driver’s and passenger’s seats of the GTO. Chris also felt that despite his preference for front-wheel-drive cars, the GTO never felt anything other than well-planted despite the wet and slippery conditions we encountered on our test day. Despite the weight of the GTO, Chris felt that the throttle response and acceleration were very good, giving the car a feel of “spryness”. Overall, he said, “Definitely something I’d consider purchasing.”

Chris H. is a local radio personality with a propensity for function over form, allowing practicality to direct his choice in automobiles. Chris is particularly partial to cars with excellent fuel economy with very few options and frills to cloud the experience of getting from point A to point B. That being said, he does spend an inordinate amount of time behind the wheel, only recently moving (after two years) to reduce an eighty mile each way commute to work. In most cases, Chris would rather talk to you about fuel economy, maintenance costs and insurance premiums than performance figures. While he admits to enjoying the feeling of speed in a car, he’d much prefer it to be someone else’s car, costs and fuel. One might think, then, that he didn’t like the GTO:

“How many miles per gallon does this thing get, again?” Chris asked.

“About 20-21 combined, city and highway.” I replied.

“Do you know my Honda gets almost 35 miles to the gallon?” Chris asked, punching the accelerator. “Boy, this thing really gets up and goes, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah”, I replied, “pretty fun, isn’t it? Quicker than your Civic too.”

“Not bad”, Chris retorted, “but I’ll pass you the first time you stop for gas.

Overall, Chris was pretty positive about most of the features of the GTO, though he lamented about the amount of rainforests that would perish because of its abominable fuel economy, and added that he probably would lose his license inside of a week from hammering around town. I also noted that his already aggressive driving style was magnified when behind the wheel of the GTO – evidence that the GTO can bring out the hooligan in even the most fuel-conscious of drivers.

Dan L. is an auto industry executive with a diverse background in automobiles. Currently he drives an Audi RS4 on a daily basis and saves a highly-modified Porsche 993 twin turbo for weekend excitement. His pattern of auto enthusiasm more closely parallels this website’s philosophy of fun, focused cars, both for daily use as well as after-hours entertainment. Dan is in stark contrast to both Chris’ choice in cars, preferring precision German engineering to Japanese economy, though surprisingly had many of the same positive comments about the GTO.

Visually, Dan felt the exterior of the GTO was the best Pontiac for a long time, though it was still a little boring and pedestrian. That being said, he felt that the fit and finish of the panels and trim was very well turned out, calling it “great quality for a GM product.” While he felt the interior layout was well thought out and worked from a functional standpoint, he felt the seats could have improved from some alternate cushioning, as they gave a feeling of sitting “on top of the seats” rather than in them. The steering was also highlighted as being a weakness, returning a somewhat “numb” sensation through the wheel.

Overall, Dan felt the GTO was a good product, “The best GM product I’ve driven in a long time”, adding, “This would make a fabulous rental car”, highlighting the performance potential akin to the rent-a-racer days of yore. He did feel that the car really needed a six-speed manual transmission and better brakes to come alive, both of which were available in subsequent years. As commented on above, the seats were also highlighted as an area of potential improvement, perhaps with more plush filler, allowing for increased grip and lateral support.

Owner’s Thoughts: (Credit Mr. J. Steele) At the beginning of 2006 I made it my resolution to buy yet another vehicle.  I am a Dad that has not had a performance vehicle for awhile so my requirements have changed to require something that had a back seat and was safe but still had the “driving excitement” of the past performance vehicles I have owned.

I needed to pay less than $25K.  Oh and it needed to be a V8 sports/performance car and something different.  Well, as you may already be thinking, “He will never find a car with these requirements brand new.”  I, too, realized this quite early in the game and began looking at GM and Pontiac’s reintroduced GTO on the Australian Holden Monaro platform.

Well it certainly is not your father’s GTO (or is that Oldsmobile?)  Many potential buyers and GTO faithful consider that a strike against it with this recent retro design craze climate, though I consider it true to form.  John DeLorean had it right when he masterfully convinced GM to put a big engine in, of all automobiles, a Pontiac Tempest!  Mr. DeLorean’s idea of making a beast out of a generic looking auto already being produced literally commenced the Muscle Car era!

Well, my 2004 GTO is reminiscent of that original Tempest/GTO concept.  A wolf in a 199X’s sheep’s body (or shall I say Goat’s body).  Take a proven, well designed, and dare I say comfortable though possibly a bit boring looking Australian mid-size coupe – drop in the Corvette LS1 for 2004 and LS2 for 2005-2006 and you have yourself the reincarnation of the original GTO.  Fortunately now safer, an interior unlike any in the GM lineup, and faster than the original on the quarter mile drag strip.

So I got a tire smokin’ deal on my baby - a used 1,500 mile GM Factory representative car.  It is Torrid Red in color -- every little GTO is red right?  Oh, and after 1,500 miles the dealer had already rotated the rear tires to the front and included, at no additional charge thick coat of tire rubber on both of the rear fender wells! I’m sure there were some wild test drives! 

It had been a while since I drove a naturally aspirated V8 and I quickly found out how fun 365 Foot Pounds of torque can be.  I drove it off the car dealer lot straight to my first drive – the infamous Santiago Canyon in Southern California. 

It was 11:30 PM and I was maneuvering on this canyon road amazingly well, up to …some miles per hour too well.  To my surprise it was handling extremely well for a 3,850 LBS vehicle (over 4000 LBS. with me at the wheel). 

It is not a super car by any means and it feels every bit its weight when driving it.  Put in perspective though, the car originally cost $32K so, given the price, you get a lot for the money.  It is a bit mushy and does not give a lot of driver feedback but it really matches well to the 350 HP 5.7 Litre pushrod 350 under the hood.

The whole drive train is Corvette. In fact, I call it my 50% Corvette - four seats and half the price.  Driving excites me again when I hop into the GTO. It may not be at all like the original GTO but why should it?  I almost wish they had just called it the Pontiac Monaro so as not to compare it to the original GTO!

Nowadays I strap my son in his stylish car seat and listen to him giggle as I put that GTO through its paces.  I rarely listen to the radio when I drive it; the exhaust note is sweet music to my ears.  I finally found a car that is comfortable, has plenty of power and that I truly enjoy driving.

Overall ratings: (five drivers)

Overall, we feel the GTO is great value for money, returning impressive performance for not a lot of up-front investment. Given the car’s use of tried-and-tested engine, drivetrain and suspension setup, ongoing costs should be manageable as well. Bolt-on performance enhancements are plentiful and inexpensive. For the enthusiast on a budget who’s looking for a streetlight racer and sometimes corner-carver, a definite inclusion on the short list.

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