LA Times reporter wants your opinion

[akaeric]

I love the old goat never had chance to own one The old mopars was my passion but in todays auto I'm affraid that ford has me right now I have 2003 Cobra poor mans collecter but I get certificat and I have a low number built color and its paid and with 390 ponys right off the lot I don't think I'll be getting a GTO but thanks for the info I didn't really know that much about the new gto thats interesting who knows I might get one one day I had two chances at a trans-am and I walk away from it MY first car was Pontiac Bonneville Loved it.So I have a love for pontiac though they haven't come out with much in a while other than a little bit of supercharging. Sorry I just woke up and typing with one I shut did't mean to get wordy.

[Jarsyl]

The new gto is a joke, a "muscle" car with 400 hp that only pulls off low 5s in 0-60 and 13+ in the quater mile? The lancer evo is only a turbo charged 4 cyl putting out around 280 hp and it can do the same times.

[akaeric]

I just left the doctor office and was looking at the Motor Trend mag. and the HP was only in the mid 300's which is low and it looks like Chevolet Coursica I know I didn't spell it right you know that mid size chevy I think it was front wheel drive.No I don't think its going to be a good replacement of Pontiac's Trans AM with the good old LS-1 motor which was a sweet motor.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by Jarsyl

The new gto is a joke, a "muscle" car with 400 hp that only pulls off low 5s in 0-60 and 13+ in the quater mile? The lancer evo is only a turbo charged 4 cyl putting out around 280 hp and it can do the same times.

It's 350 horsepower, not 400 and the Lancer Evo is a much lighter car - especially since it uses a turbocharged, intercooled 4 cylinder instead of a big V8.

Originally Posted by akaeric

I just left the doctor office and was looking at the Motor Trend mag. and the HP was only in the mid 300's which is low and it looks like Chevolet Coursica I know I didn't spell it right you know that mid size chevy I think it was front wheel drive.No I don't think its going to be a good replacement of Pontiac's Trans AM with the good old LS-1 motor which was a sweet motor.

The new GTO does use the same LS-1 as was in the Trans AM. I'm pretty sure it's the same transmission, too.

[akaeric]

If thats true then theres alot that can be done with aftermarket parts the LS-1 is capable of running good numbers or the track they where doing better time in some cases than the twin turboed cars I was heavy into the 300zx twin turbo seen for a while and they are capable of some big HP numbers mine was with some simple upgrades.

[Jarsyl]

I realize the difference, my point is you can do the same thing to a 8 cyl engine. You cant get hyped about the preformance of a car, when it is outpreformed by a smaller, cheaper car. I mean how you can you call that a muscle car when they are going to start putting out 900+ hp cars stock? Cadilac already has one I beleave.

[akaeric]

I don't know who you are your directing your reply to. I agree I dirve a 2003 Cobra SC pumping out over 400HP of course now I son't know if a stock WRX would put better time than my Cobra which is modified I would probly lay out a better 1/4 mile than a the WRX as I said my car stock was reted 390HP but now I'm well above that mark.Getting back to stocked cars in this months Hot Rod mag. ran a better 1/4 mile time than the Cobra the WRX is geared better than the Cobra. Now you can't go by magazine stats becauce they don't bring in reaction time per driver of each car which is a inportant part of a strip run and they don't count the wheel spin which will slow the time down and knowing a Cobra I bet you anything that the cobra smoked the tire at launch I can smoke mine with just a small stiff clutch release and the car will spin enough to what I call fish talling and thats not even trying. Sorry don't mean to make a long reply but anyway If you like the car buy it there will allways be someone with a faster car you could go broke trying to have the fastest car or buy what the Mags. times and what HP. stats. Alot of there HP is from the manufacter's stats which are fudged one way or the other like the Cobra ford says 390 but on a dyno the stock cobra has been showing over 400hp stock they do that to help keep the insurance rates down just like they have a pressure release valve which alot of us Cobra owners are bypassing or disconnecting it but they have it on there to lower the gas guzzler cost insted of it being 1000.00 dollar it would be around 1500.00 if they didn't have that relase valve on the supercharger. Man all I am trying to say is go with what you like not what it has I wouldn't drive a ugly car just because its got the most ponys in it. I love my Cobra I lovre the way it looks theres cars out there that are faster but I'm not going to sell it just because I had a little rice burner out run me. Cadilac had a show car with that kind of power but they aren't going to put it into production well thay do have one looks like and cost like those $ 200,000 Italian cars. I would love to have a ford Saleen 351sc but its sticker price is $100,000 way out of my reach. the word muscle car came from the early days of the Dodge Hemi's all the old big blocks thats what a muscle car is to start with and they stopped making them. But a muscle car is an American car I don't call or see a WRX a muscle car yes its fast but if dosen't have the tork well thats how I feel is that a muscle car has to be a Amercan V-8 but that might be my age showing.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by Jarsyl

I realize the difference, my point is you can do the same thing to a 8 cyl engine. You cant get hyped about the preformance of a car, when it is outpreformed by a smaller, cheaper car. I mean how you can you call that a muscle car when they are going to start putting out 900+ hp cars stock? Cadilac already has one I beleave.

I think you can make a good argument that the Lancer Evo is a better car. If I remember correctly, it is All Wheel Drive. It is amazingly fast, has great breaking (something crazy like 60mph to 0 in 110 feet) and supposedly it has superb handling too. It gets rave reviews. The two cars have similar amounts of interior space.

The GTO only has a few slight advantages. It has a decent interior, while the Evo is pretty much bare bottom interior. The GTO with the manual transmission gets slightly better gas mileage than the manual Evo. And maybe - I don't know, I'm just making a guess - it's easier to modify a 5.7 liter naturally aspirated pushrod V8 than an already heavily turbocharged and intercooled 2.0 liter inline DOHC 4.

On the other hand, as far as I know the only company that is actually putting a 900 horsepower vehicle into production is Volkswagen. They are resurrecting the old Bugatti brand with the Bugatti Veyron coming out next year. Costs 1.2 million, has something like 920 horsepower. Goes from 0-185 mph in less than 15 seconds. Cadillac had a 1000 horsepower concept car, but it isn't going into production. If you want to be cynical, it also as far as I know was never put on a dynometer in public so there probably isn't even proof that the concept car was really that powerful.

[akaeric]

See theres a differant if I was looking at the EVO I would go ahead and get the WRX with 300hp. It has good reports and as I said in stock condition it made better time in the 1/4 mile than a 390hp ford cobra.I even looked at one but I just love the big tork and sound of a V-8 but thats my taste dosen't make it right or wrong. I just got out as I think I said before a 300zx twin turbo and turboed cars are not that hard to mod. Just a simple ECU upgrade will give you the most bang for your buck and there are allready a lot of after market parts for those cars. example the stock boost on my Z was around 9psi and with a simple ECU upgrade and a welding tip in the waste gate vac. line my bost went up to 15 and on cold days I could see 16 psi.

[tri-powercoupe]

In response to Dan Neil's questions about opinions of the new vs old GTO -
You have to remember the original GTO was built during the cultural and sexual revolution of the 60's. Ask anyone who has ever owned a GTO from that period (and I have) and they will tell you that people just can't take their eyes off it. To drive one or leave one in a parking lot is like leaving a naked supermodel in the parking lot. People will stare at it, walk around it and look at it from every angle. When they finally walk away their heads are still turned toward it while they trip over curbs and shopping carts.
Seriously, can you picture anyone doing that over the new GTO/Holden Monaro? The new one has all the sex appeal of an overturned bathtub in a parking lot full of overturned bathtubs. It's not that people can't take their eyes off it, it's that they don't even see it. That's the first major difference between the two, and it is huge.
The other difference is related to the cultural revolution of the 60's. Music was extremely important then. With the GTO, the real music was what was coming from that 389 tri-power when you pushed the accelerator to the sweet spot where all three Rochesters kicked in. This was followed by you being shoved back into the seat while the speedometer needle climbed past 120 and started back around to zero. Anyone who's had this experience knows what I am talking about. Even the four barrel version Pontiac big block had this signature howl.
The LS1 small block Chevy is a fine engine, but the original song by Pontiac GTO, it just can't play.

[daveshapellSVT]

I am glad to see a fast car produced by GM, but it is very plain... I hate the old school LS1, everyone thinks its more powerfull than its rated, but its not.. When i heard there was a new GTO coming out i would had never thought it would look the way it does, and when i first saw the pics i thought it was a grand prix.. Plus the fact that GM is using a foreign plateform kinda pisses me off.. Can't they come up with something decent themselves? They basically took a Australian car made in another country, and are trying to sell the same car here as a GTO.. Thats almost as bad as front wheel drive monte carlos and impalas...