New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Just Bought an 04 GTO....

This is copied from the new user thread but I figured it applies in this forum as well...since I really just don't know where to start on my car....so here ya go....
Well I am a NewB here obviously with a 2004 Goat Impulse Blue, black leather and an M6. I have had her for about 2 weeks and the mod bug has already bitten. This is my first real venture into the GM performance waters. I had an 88 IROC with a 305 and an 89 Formula 350 but not much is to be said about those.
I am a Ford boy at heart I have had a total of 8 stangs including my last which was a 97 Cobra which dynoed in at 456 to the wheels and an 88 GT which came in at 426 to the wheels (just to name a couple)
I just decided that I wanted something semi-comfortable but fast so I decided with the deal that I got and the reliability of the LS1 that the goat would be my best bet. Now I sit here and wonder how fast I can get this "sleeper" which I still think has the front end of a Grand Prix and the a$$ end of a sunfire on steroids!
I heard about this site on www.GMvsFord.com where I am a moderator and a lot of the guys there swear this is THE BEST LS1 tech forum so here I am checkin in!

Welcome to the site! Very nice car and I love the color! Good luck with it and let us know if we can help in any way.

How far are you wanting to go with the car? What is your goal with it? What Hp level do you wanna acheive?



Give us a little info about your goals, and we can probably help steer you in the right direction. O yea, and your people were right, we are the best LS1 site on the web!

You can get a blower and other things to make that goat fly. Great choice in color and yes this is the best LS1 site on the net. Have fun with it and be careful in snow with it.

Thanks fellas....definitely appreciate the words. For the time being I want to be realistic and aim for low 12's with her. Eventually when she is closer to being payed off....well the sky is the limit. :D
I want to keep her streetable and pretty much a sleeper....seems simple enoughh but I'm still real iffy on the IRS.

Well....Let's get the basics down....

Cold air intake
Headers
Catback
Drag Radials....
That should put you well into the 12's assuming your driving is good enough(which i would imagine it is)

From there you can always throw on a wet kit and spray your way to low 12's easily and still retain perfect street manners....

Damn with just that 12's are possible with this car huh? Hmmm maybe I should aim a lil higher! :devil:

Cold Air-
http://www.ls1speed.com/catagory.cfm?catagory=induction#Induction%20System s
Headers-
http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249225&highlight=GTO+headers
Catback-
http://www.moreperformanceinc.com/index_catalog.php?auto=1007&cat=Exhaust&sub_cat_1=Cat%20Back%20Systems
Tires-
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/findTireProductCategoryDetailBrnd.do?tpc=NITHV4&tp=Competition

12s are easy with this engine. Just be careful with that factory rearend, its the main weak point on those cars. Give BMR a call, they have a complete line of rearend upgrade parts and suspension. http://www.bmrfabrication.com/GTO.htm

When you get those items reinforced, slap on some slicks and a 150 shot and you will probably hit 11s without any other mods :D

I want one!

Guys, I'm in a bind. It probably won't happen, but at one of our big Pontiac dealers, they have two GTO's right now: a silver A4 and a yellow M6. The yellow M6 can be had from them, brand new, for $330/month!! And the sad part is: I pay $315/month on my T/A. I went and gawked at it, and it just stuck with me all night last night that for $15 more/month, I could have a brand new GTO: a brand new car, with an LS1, with factory warranties, and zero miles, etc etc. Should I keep the T/A? I can't stop thinking about that GTO for only $330/month...

You can't get caught up in the XXX/month thing man. Do the math. Which one has more value? How long are you setup to pay 315/month on the TA? What about if you bought the GTO?

Is there gonna be a difference int he insurance cost on the GTO to the TA? How much trade in will they give you on the TA? That will also affect your monthly payments...


If all those go the right way, I'd drive a Yellow GTO over a 98 TA anyday....as i'm sure you would too!!! no offense, but those things are nice on the inside!

Good luck with your future decision!

Tim

glad to see you came into the LS1 world my friend! :) A new GTO for 330 a month!?!?! Thats awesome. I more than that now! :(

Yeah the year end deals on these cars were wild.....I'm actually at 300 months for 60 months.

Post some pictures!

I posted them somewhere else around here but I'll post them again.....kinda crappy pix cause I took them the day I got the car home with my camera phone.

Yellow is faster :)

That may be true but mine was built on a Wednesday, which we all know is the fastest day! :jest:

No, it's just the day with the least fuck-ups.

Lord knows I need all the help I can get in that category, now that I am driving a GM...:D

So the GTO has the same S-10 10 bolt? I'm not to happy with GM using such a week rear end in their LS-1 cars.

It's got a weak ass IRS. But like Nine Ball said, BMR can fix that.

*depressed* I'm still contemplating that yellow '04 GTO M6 for $330/month... It's gonna drive me nuts until someone finally buys it so I won't have a chance with it. I swear a few years from now my DD will be a GTO. I think I'm one of the few who are in love with these cars. And good God are they affordable.

Yellow is faster :)


Yellow is ALWAYS faster. :D

Yellow is ALWAYS faster. :D

He's right you know. Just ask Mr. Policeman. :eyes:

Congrats on the new Goat man!! I went to look at one (same color as yours actually) Test drove it, loved it, wanted to buy it w/ 4K down plus end of year deals and my trade in bla bla bla.... Over 60 months that clown told me the payments would be $565!! :eek: :lol:


:drive: <---- Me. Away from there as fast as my Z28 could cary me!

He's right you know. Just ask Mr. Policeman. :eyes:

Congrats on the new Goat man!! I went to look at one (same color as yours actually) Test drove it, loved it, wanted to buy it w/ 4K down plus end of year deals and my trade in bla bla bla.... Over 60 months that clown told me the payments would be $565!! :eek: :lol:


:drive: <---- Me. Away from there as fast as my Z28 could cary me!
First dealer I went to told me the same thing....dude must have been smokin crack....so I called the dealership that I got my car from and haggled for a few days and finally got the car down to the 300 a month for 60 months that I was willing to pay.

He's right you know. Just ask Mr. Policeman. :eyes:

Congrats on the new Goat man!! I went to look at one (same color as yours actually) Test drove it, loved it, wanted to buy it w/ 4K down plus end of year deals and my trade in bla bla bla.... Over 60 months that clown told me the payments would be $565!! :eek: :lol:


:drive: <---- Me. Away from there as fast as my Z28 could cary me!

You should have stayed around and tried to bargain the price. I ended up getting mine for $326/month....at first they wanted $468. All it takes is patience.

How much are you guys putting down to get those $3XX payments/month? What is the drive out price once you haggle?

zero down, $3k upside down on the trade. i did the smart buy, 48 months 60K miles. price on the car was 23,3xx.

What do you mean by smart buy?

It's like a lease, but my name is on the title. There's more info about it at the pontiac website.

You should have stayed around and tried to bargain the price. I ended up getting mine for $326/month....at first they wanted $468. All it takes is patience.

:lol: I actually did stick around and talk with him for awhile. The problem was that they weren't willing to come off $33,000 as a starting price. After tax/title/tags/fee's price was closer to $38k. Then he wanted to give me 7G's for my Z. :bang: . Every time I tried to talk him down he'd go back to that stupid 4 square. He was a new salesman, and I think he was willing to make a sale but the boss was being a dick. :eyes: Oh well.