tiggerlee

Damn! Youtube's down!!

YaXMaN

Well that sucks!
This guy races T2 at Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid Ohio, Topeka, Hallett... all over. What I like is that he takes in-car video of all the races and posts them on youtube. Apparently, he's winning his fair share of them. I'm glad he's doing it - helps to mitigate the GTO's good ol' boy mullet stereotype. Ah what heck, my name is Yax, and I own a damn Pontiac

YaXMaN

hehehe adding that to the list of Grand Am, bloated Cavalier, Sunfire...
I don't think it's a drop dead gorgeous car, but it's not that bad. Here's a side shot of mine. I think this looks pretty good. I removed the spoiler - it mucked up the lines IMO.

wantan8

The GTO is an australian car....isn't it based off the OLD chassis of the first model cadillac catera? Cool that you want the bigger engine, but at the expense of that car, that would've been hard for me to swallow. Plus is GM really gonna be much better service wise?

I guess if you like straightline acceleration as your main priority then that is the car for you

GotBass

I looked at a goat when I bought my 8, actualy I was following the GTO since the introduction. When I looked it was right as they came out, actually went up to Ann Arbor MI cuz they get American cars first. But they were not giving deals at all, so the 8 was a lot cheaper. If i waited another 4 months, I would have had the GTO because the prices fell a lot for the 04s.

YaXMaN

Hey there wantan8... Yes, it is based on a modified Opel Omega chassis. Because of GM's revenue problems, I got mine on the employee price promo, and paid $1000 more than my RX8. GM service sucks, but I had my more than my fair share of problems with Mazda, as I had a very low VIN number '04.

Straightline as a priority? No. If you haven't had a real opportunity to drive a GTO hard, this is the best I have to show you, so here's another video to chew on. Those little cars in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDWk5RZmCZM
Those are modified Miatas. This isnt autocross, it's road racing, and the GTO is in its element. I think this is more like real world streets. It's interesting they're evenly match in the corners, and, as you'd expect, these Miatas get decimated in straights.

The 8 drivers all have one thing in common - they appreciate the handling characteristics of their cars. Having driven both my 8 and the GTO at 10/10ths, I know that the RX8 is the better handling car - the feel is better, the balance is better, and I felt far more comfortable clicking off the traction control on the 8 and throwing it into a long, controlled drift. It was easy to drive the 8 that way. But will the 8 be faster around a road course, or more gratifying while blasting around your favorite on-ramp? I don't think so. The power and torque of the GTO makes you use a completely different driving style by steering with your right foot, so to speak. It is fun, and can be very fast, but it is much different.

globi

Here's also a video of the same GTO racing with a STi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3o0...elated&search=

Surprising is it not?

Digital_Damage

that STI driver sucks ***!

BlueEyes

So did the M3 driver. I could pass a ferrari in a Yugo if the Ferrari driver sucked bad enough. The videos are meaningless as far as performance is concerned, especially given the fact that you say the GTO driver races all over. Taking from candy from a baby is not impressive.

globi

Well, that would basically mean that pretty much all the drivers participating in these videos suck.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Grats on the GTO Tigger!!! That car has gotta be tons of fun to drive (even bone stock) but knowing you , I'm sure you'll add a few aftermarket goodies to it.

Hmm, now you get to Zaino a GTO instead of an 8! Can't wait to see pics...

JRichter

I agree the car is definately handsome in that color and the Streetfire clip of that blue one sounds sic.

If I had one I would look into converting the front clip back to a Monaro. It would definately be unique in this country and I've always admired the Monaro.

YaXMaN

ROFL Ok, the driver of the Subaru WRX STi is last year's National Champion, Chuck Hemmingson. Why don't you go tell him that?

The voice of reason...

dmp

awesome car - funny though, it was the test drive which convinced me NOT to buy a GTO

tjbourgoyne

I saw an 06 GTO in this affluent trailer park today, pretty classy machine.

nzarnow

That's funny because if you go on the GTO forums, every person that wasn't sure if they were going to buy it or not, the test drive was what sold them on it.

Razz1

Great comparison!

Any good car would put that trailer to shame.

yiksing

Where the heck are the pics? I'm still deciding whether to congratulate or rain on one's parade.

tiggerlee

^there's a link in this thread somewhere to the pics. But I'll post 'em full size for ya.....be gentle.

tiggerlee

Today I'm working on the rear bumper "GTO" inlay. I'll post some pics when I'm done.

rotor_head

Thats the nicest lumina i've seen , i didn't know pontiac still makes lumina.

nzarnow

Hey, Tigger, I forgot to mention that I put the graphic inlays on mine yesterday along with the liscense plate. Red on black is great. What color inlay did you get?

I'll make a thread later tonight with both GTO's pictured.

tiggerlee

^ I got the medium reflective yellow. I was worried because on their site it looked almost orange. But they assured me it was a perfect match. When I got it I took it out to the car and yep perfect match indeed. Haven't put it on yet though. Any tips or tricks I should now about?

Rhawb

Cruise is on the left stalk!? That's really strange to me - does it interfere with signaling at all?

tiggerlee

Nope not at all. My only complaint is that they didn't illuminate
the steering wheel radio controls like in the 8. It's now available on the '06 but not on the '04-'05 models. From what I've read it's far more work than what it's worth to put the illuminated '06 buttons on the earlier models. I've already got the locations memorized so it's really no big deal now.