Rob

iTrader: (6)

When I first bought mine, it felt just like my old 96 WS6. It accelerated and handled about the same. Although it felt slow to me, it was because it was so smooth. It pulled a 13.25 stock, so it was faster than the WS6 stock(13.50). A little slower than my TTA stock(13.0).

On the Memphis road course at the F-Body Event a couple of years ago, it was tearing it up against F-Body's. I was extremely surprised at how well it handled against them. It did chunk up the stock piece of crap BFG's but the it handled flawlessly.

Much comfortable than any of my 3 F-Body's. Although I doubt it ever will be as fast as my TTA, it moves along quite well Already quite a bit faster than my WS6 was. The goat is happy right in the middle between the two.

Only time mine went back to the dealer was because the driver's side bolster had a wear mark. They replaced the leather seat. So far, this is the best performance car I've had for reliability.

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

^Damn dude, you can drive! Those are some of the best times I've seen out of those cars. What did TTA's run stock, generally?

lt1formula2000

iTrader: (10)

I'm going to skip talking about the interior, build quailty or ride quality. Since that has already been discussed and the way I see it there is no comparsion anyways. the goat wins hands down there.

I've had 4 f bodies I sold my MS4 cammed WS6 for the gto, no regrets. Mine is a large cam O5 M6. I love it. I have no real complaints other then how much easier and cheaper it was to get parts for the F bodies. The only problem I've had with mine is the defroster window vents have inadequate flow(easily solved in 5min). Other then that mine has been fine. I still have the stock battery and it fired the car up fine in 30 degree weather this morning. As for wide tires yeah that is a bit harder to do but not that bad. I have 285's on the back of mine. I had to cut the fender lip took about 3 hours total. Mine has went 11.7 with the stock rubber driveshaft and only mod to the rear has been drag bags to cure 90% of the wheel hop. I have a ram clutch and a gmm ripshift and the car has taken many powershifts with drag radials(on the street, didn't have the drag radials when I went to the track).

also working on the motor is 100 times easier on the gto I have LT's and I can change every single spark plug with complete ease. We did a Ms4 install in a friends goat(broke bolt for spring install tool in head ended up pulling the head) was a piece of cake. So much nicer to have a motor that isn't buried under the dash. No on a M6 the shifter install is hell compared to a fbody. Also factory true duals that fit. I have LT's,no cat mid pipes, magnafow X, 2 e cutouts, 2 40 series flowmasters. nothing hangs down none of it had to be completly custom fabbed.

SixReasons

this is a great post i'm learning a lot here keep it coming!

KWIK SS

iTrader: (1)

Just thought about THE BIGGEST thing that I miss about my Camaro.

Being able to fit wide tires on all four corners. With the GTO this is impossible without practically re-engineering the car.

ls1tork

i can and do appreciate the abilities of the f body, because i raced one last summer that handed it to me big time. before i saw this thread, i was already thinking about getting a '98 ish TA just to play around with (i like the t-tops) and still keep the gto as the main car. But if you do h/c and gears on a GTO, it will pull just as hard as an f body with the same thing, imo. just h/c and gears will put a gto in the 11's. i do know the same mods would put an f body in the high 10's. not much difference in feel except for slight advantage on extreme top end punch to me. Then again, even my GTO with it's little 310 ish rwhp once stayed glued on the rear bumper of a cartek modded ls6 c5 vette that couldn't pull away, both of us racing in 3rd screaming at 6k rpms, and he weighed 3,300 lbs i think. i just knew he had me, but i ended up scratching my head on that one- he should have pulled me but didn't. yep, sometimes not much difference at all i think.

Rob

iTrader: (6)

Thanks. I've seen them from 12.9 to 14.0 completely stock. Depends on the launch, state of tune, and making sure it shifts at 50-5100. Mine would short shift at 4500, like a lot of them, if left in drive. Launch is really the key though. Coming out at boost will shave over .2 just on the short time. Then everything else is multilplied even more because you are into the power so early.

josh99ta

iTrader: (1)

The scales dont lie. 3790 lbs with me in it and no weight reduction. They aren't as heavy as people would have you believe. No heavier than a convertible F-Body with all the options.

josh99ta

iTrader: (1)

Good post. FWIW, recently I went autocrossing in the GTO for the first time. I dont push it too hard on the street so I barely knew how the car was going to react at its limits.

My buddy also went who has a heads/cam LT1 swap in his lightweight 3rd Gen with roll cage and full suspension car made to handle like it was on rails. This compared to my GTO on nothing more than lowering springs and comfort gas shocks and struts, a few bushings, and my CCWs with 275s in the rear.

He's had his car for over 6 years and knows exactly how to handle it. I had my GTO for all of 6 months at the time and barely knew what to expect.

Around a SCCA Solo II autocross course he ended up only edging me out by three tenths of a second. My barely modded automatic GTO that I didn't even know how to drive was that close to a fully prepped high horsepower LT1 6-speed 3rd Gen built for handling all the way down to the roll cage, racing seats, and harnesses with a driver who knew the car like the back of his hand.

Because they're so smooth they are deceptively fast on the strip, the track, or the street.

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

Scales have to be calibrated. My car generally weighs 3500 without driver. There have been a couple scales where it says it weighs under 3400. That same scale said that my 1996 TA A4 Convertible weighed 3400 even. Obviously those numbers are off.

Every GTO owner I've talked to and the ones I've seen weighed are right around 3725 without driver. What options are there that make yours 125 lbs less? Does the gas weight that much and you were on fumes when you weighed?

I'm not trying to say that the weight should be a reason not to buy the GTO. I'm just trying to figure out how yours got such a low weight. And also that all scales do not read properly if not calibrated.

Rob

iTrader: (6)

Obviously that scale does. Mine weighed in at 3960 with me in it at the track. Pretty much in line with what everybody else and Pontiac said it should weigh.

So, unless you weigh about 30lbs, your scale was way off.

josh99ta

iTrader: (1)

~1/8th tank of gas, empty trunk (no spare, jack, etc), no other crap in the car, and CCWs over the stockers which are lighter and it was 3790 lbs with me in it. Scales were calibrated for a big race at the track the weekend before and everyone else was spot on to their previous weigh ins at that track or other scaled as well.

PapaSmurf2005

Stock for stock, GTO wins hands down. That is all.

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

So your car had some weight reduction and no gas in it. That'll explain why it weighs less than every other GTO that I've seen. The GTO's aren't rediculously heavy, but it's a solid 200 lbs over an f-body on average.

AlexLs1

iTrader: (1)

I've been looking at GTO's and doing my homework on them every now and then. I'd like to buy one. I love my TA but its modded out the ***. Its daily driveable by all means. I'm looking for a fun comfortable daily. I'am so sold on a GTO now.

Good thread guys. Thanks for the comments.

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

You definitely won't be disappointed if you get one. They are great cars!

flybye

iTrader: (1)

i wouldnt exactly say that...but they are just like every other car. it is hit or miss. you might get one full of problems (and the GTO's have ALOT) or you might get one that is prblem free and never gives you a headache?

good luck if you are trying or do get one

AlexLs1

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the kind words of adive.

Rob

iTrader: (6)

I know of no one around me that has had problems with their GTO. Mine went back one time for a worn seat bolster that wasn't bad but the warranty was going to expire in a month and I wanted it fixed. Didn't want the same fate for the goat as was my WS6 and TTA seats.

I guess we all got a bunch of good ones for the 3 years of production

ScreaminRedZ

iTrader: (3)

Obviously any car can have problems and you always run the risk of getting a lemon, but they are few and far between with the GTO's.