I stopped here at a local lot today to see what kind of good deals they were giving on the 04's.
Turns out they had an 05 to my surprise and the salesman said lets go for a test drive. I had never even driven an 04 GTO much less an 05 so I quickly agreed. Overall the car felt nice but after driving the Z06 you tend to notice the bodyroll, but the car turns into corners nicely still. A very nice car and the appearance is definately better than the 04.
The power is good but I think it makes about the same power as my car but is about 500 lbs heavier so there's deffinately a difference.
Do any 05 owners have any track times yet? I wouldn't be surprised if they ran high 12's easily.

 

I'm also a big fan of the 05 exhaust as well.. it sounds AND looks good too. The seats and interior are awesome. Anyone wanna trade theirs for some Z06 seats?

 

I believe one person has already reported a 12.9 out of his 05. Someone else put down something like 347whp/351wtq recently.

I enjoy the hell out of my 05 GTO so far. Its no Z06 but it gets the job done in comfort and with enough style to stand out but not stick out too much. The good part is the fact it is an LS2 meaning the aftermarket is already all over it.

I can see your point about body roll compared to the Z06 but strangely it handles almost as good as my former Honda which had an expensive 'race' coilover setup and more braces than you can shake a stick at. Plus the GTO is nowhere as rough as the Honda was either. It does feel heavier but i'm already used to that... Driving the Honda isnt even fun anymore.

 

damnit, i havent even seen one yet!

 

This car is a Grand Tourer not a race track bred corner carver.

Once you realize that, you can separate the two vehicles. Just because they share fire breathing LS series engines doesn't mean that they're all road course monsters.

 

Never said it was a road course car but thanks anyway.

The GTO is a great car, don't be so defensive.

 

Wasn't being "defensive"

You compared it to a Corvette and noted it's greater amount of body roll! I explained why!

 

I drive a Formula! I don't need you to explain to me about bodyroll!
Actually, on a serious note, the roll I was referring to the most was upon acceleration. The car makes enough power to pitch the front end high and the one I drove was getting excellent traction and doing so alot. I really didn't even try any hard corners other than once just allitle, the salesman was practically egging me on. Just noting that excessive roll on acceleration means you will more than likely have it in corners. Of course, not as bad as my Formula I hope.

 

There was a guy who got 12.9 at 108mph with a stock 05 GTO. So you can compare it with a LS1 F-body in terms of ET and MPH in stock form.