04 GTO Tire/exhaust suggestions (GTO newbie)
12-20-2005, 06:00 PM
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04 GTO Tire/exhaust suggestions (GTO newbie) I recently traded a 03 Mustang Cobra for a low mileage 04 GTO (long story). I was lucky enough to get the 6-speed as I would never purchase a sports car with an automatic again. I must say Im very pleased with the car and love driving it. Its not as intense as the Cobra but it is more comfortable and where the Cobra had an I hate you attitude, the GTO is more friendly.
On to my question. My one complaint with the GTO is how easily rear wheel traction is lost when hard shifting. It seems that every time I do a hard shift I lose the rear end. Its nothing serious and I have no problem controlling the car but compared to the Cobra it feels sloppy. The Cobra was sitting on Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s and I must say that they were amazing tires, they are also very soft and are over $200/tire so I really dont want to go to those. I was wondering what some owners have gone to over the stock BFGs. Any recommendations/results? I want something with better grip that will keep the rear end down when Im hard shifting. Any help would be great.
My other very minor complaint is the lack of exhaust note. Again my Cobra was very aggressive (not ridiculously loud though) and I miss that sound. The 5.7 is a great sounding engine and I want to show it off a bit more than the stock exhaust does. Again, nothing super loud but more aggressive than stock. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance guys, I hope to make a home here!
On to my question. My one complaint with the GTO is how easily rear wheel traction is lost when hard shifting. It seems that every time I do a hard shift I lose the rear end. Its nothing serious and I have no problem controlling the car but compared to the Cobra it feels sloppy. The Cobra was sitting on Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s and I must say that they were amazing tires, they are also very soft and are over $200/tire so I really dont want to go to those. I was wondering what some owners have gone to over the stock BFGs. Any recommendations/results? I want something with better grip that will keep the rear end down when Im hard shifting. Any help would be great.
My other very minor complaint is the lack of exhaust note. Again my Cobra was very aggressive (not ridiculously loud though) and I miss that sound. The 5.7 is a great sounding engine and I want to show it off a bit more than the stock exhaust does. Again, nothing super loud but more aggressive than stock. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance guys, I hope to make a home here!
Last edited by smokehouse; 12-20-2005 at 07:05 PM.
12-20-2005, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by smokehouse
My other very minor complaint is the lack of exhaust note. Again my Cobra was very aggressive (not ridiculously loud though) and I miss that sound. The 5.7 is a great sounding engine and I want to show it off a bit more than the stock exhaust does. Again, nothing super loud but more aggressive than stock. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance guys, I hope to make a home here!
If you want aggressive but not stupid loud, the SLP loudmouth catback with stock manifolds/cats sounds VERY nice on the LS1.
If you plan to do longtubes, it might be a little too crazy for you. I had a Loudmouth/longtubs/no cats setup on my Z28 (except the loudmouth resonator itself was replaced with a dynomax bullet to cut the rasp) and it was RIDICULOUSLY loud when I opened it up (I mean loud to the point where even for a muscle car, it was downright unnatural for it not to have a chute and wheelie bars on it.) that said though, it was pretty quiet at idle and the sound itself was really nice.
Enjoy the new goat and welcome aboard.
12-21-2005, 12:30 AM
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On tires, I am currently using Falken 451. They aren't GS-D3 material, but they grip much better than the stock tires. They are very reasonably priced as well. As for wear, I've got 8k miles on these tires and they still have 8/32 tread depth.
On exhaust, another popular one is the Stainless Works catback with Turbo Muffler(the chambered muffler is approaching stupid loud). It has a nice mid-range growl and takes the tone down a note or two. The drawback is that SW exhausts often require a good bit of work to fit right.
On exhaust, another popular one is the Stainless Works catback with Turbo Muffler(the chambered muffler is approaching stupid loud). It has a nice mid-range growl and takes the tone down a note or two. The drawback is that SW exhausts often require a good bit of work to fit right.
12-21-2005, 09:42 AM
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I run Nitto DRs all the time and don't have any problems.
Exhaust...you'll just have to listen to the various setups and decide what you like the best. Its hard to get a feel for them on the internet, best in person. Hook up with the local GTO crowd and see what sounds the best.
Exhaust...you'll just have to listen to the various setups and decide what you like the best. Its hard to get a feel for them on the internet, best in person. Hook up with the local GTO crowd and see what sounds the best.
12-21-2005, 11:50 AM
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As far as wheels go, Car and Driver did a nice wet/dry comparison of 10 different tires in the issue with the new z06 v viper on the cover. I believe the tire comparo is on the internet. It was actually very informative, for once... That should give you a good idea of tire vs performance vs cost.
As far as sound for your gto goes, you could get a cat back, but it won't do **** for your performance and will cost a lot of money. I would get long tube headers. They will give you the throaty V8 you want, but not obnoxious. And for your money you will get nice performance gains. If you still want louder, you can put an aftermarket catback on, but I will tell you my friend has a borla catback w/ long tube headers and it shakes the earth at 6k rpms
As far as sound for your gto goes, you could get a cat back, but it won't do **** for your performance and will cost a lot of money. I would get long tube headers. They will give you the throaty V8 you want, but not obnoxious. And for your money you will get nice performance gains. If you still want louder, you can put an aftermarket catback on, but I will tell you my friend has a borla catback w/ long tube headers and it shakes the earth at 6k rpms
12-21-2005, 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Crisisman
On exhaust, another popular one is the Stainless Works catback with Turbo Muffler(the chambered muffler is approaching stupid loud). It has a nice mid-range growl and takes the tone down a note or two. The drawback is that SW exhausts often require a good bit of work to fit right.
http://home.comcast.net/~gto_scott/G...bo_Exhaust.wmv
http://home.comcast.net/~gto_scott/Dec_10_Dyno.wmv
12-21-2005, 05:51 PM
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Thanks for all the help guys. It looks like the Eagle F1 GS-D3 might be the answer after all. I guess Ill have to save my pennies for a while.
As for the exhaust Im still not sure. Im not an expert on exhaust but I can swap out a cat back assembly if it has all the right hangers. I do like the sound of the setup Scott has but once again, if it requires some serious mods I probably would have to pay for it.
As for the exhaust Im still not sure. Im not an expert on exhaust but I can swap out a cat back assembly if it has all the right hangers. I do like the sound of the setup Scott has but once again, if it requires some serious mods I probably would have to pay for it.
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12-22-2005, 10:49 PM
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I have the SS Works with S-Tube mufflers. Crisisman had it backwards in that the S-Tube is the straight through setup and is louder than the Chambered mufflers. It is a great sound and easy to install and includes all the needed hardware except new flange gaskets. The X-pipe of great and the fit and finish is top notch.
12-23-2005, 02:26 AM
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Originally Posted by GGTTOO
I have the SS Works with S-Tube mufflers. Crisisman had it backwards in that the S-Tube is the straight through setup and is louder than the Chambered mufflers. It is a great sound and easy to install and includes all the needed hardware except new flange gaskets. The X-pipe of great and the fit and finish is top notch.
The "Chambered" muffler is long and cylindrical, the "Turbo" muffler looks like your traditional muffler. Get it from the source here
12-24-2005, 01:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Rob
I run Nitto DRs all the time and don't have any problems.
Exhaust...you'll just have to listen to the various setups and decide what you like the best. Its hard to get a feel for them on the internet, best in person. Hook up with the local GTO crowd and see what sounds the best.
Exhaust...you'll just have to listen to the various setups and decide what you like the best. Its hard to get a feel for them on the internet, best in person. Hook up with the local GTO crowd and see what sounds the best.
12-25-2005, 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Firehawk0220
I never had a problem with Nitto DR's on my Firehawk. Of course the car wasn't a daily driver, but even in the rain they were fine.
same here...my Z28 almost never saw rain, but when it did, it was wearing nittos and I never had any driveability problems as long as i drove with some level of maturity.
12-25-2005, 08:51 PM
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B and B makes a very mean exhaust for the 04 GTO, I currently have SLP Loudmouth which I love, but I am soon upgrading to dual exits and going with Corsa Sport, which also sounds very good.
As for tires, I'm currently running Dunlops and love them.
As for tires, I'm currently running Dunlops and love them.
12-25-2005, 10:09 PM
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the best sounding exhaust setup i've heard personally is the SW LT headers with their chambered catback. sounds ballsy but it's just so damn loud. or the stock exhaust manifolds, cats, and resonators (catback-less). i have the LM1 catback but hate the drone at 2K rpm. i might just ditch the resonators and get some 2.5" pipes in place.
i got nitto NT555 tires because dollar to performance ratio is good enough for my broke *** and don't have any traction issues in the florida rain. but there are better tires for more money.
i got nitto NT555 tires because dollar to performance ratio is good enough for my broke *** and don't have any traction issues in the florida rain. but there are better tires for more money.
12-25-2005, 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by jonlee
i have the LM1 catback but hate the drone at 2K rpm. i might just ditch the resonators and get some 2.5" pipes in place.
Try dynomax bullets....improved that problem a lot in my old Z28.
12-26-2005, 03:16 PM
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I've got Kook's Longtubes and the stock catBack. It sounds perfect for me. Not loud as hell, but people know you got something when you're idling next to them, and it screams when you go WOT.
I put a cam in as well and Mike at Rapid tuned it for me. He thinks it sounds like an old 5.0 Mustang , a nice rolling hollowish tone. Oh yeah. I'm at 363 rwhp with those two mods.
...edit... As far as tires, I'm running AVS ES/100 275 in the rear and 245 up front. I'm very happy with them and I hit alot of back roads pretty hard around here
I put a cam in as well and Mike at Rapid tuned it for me. He thinks it sounds like an old 5.0 Mustang , a nice rolling hollowish tone. Oh yeah. I'm at 363 rwhp with those two mods.
...edit... As far as tires, I'm running AVS ES/100 275 in the rear and 245 up front. I'm very happy with them and I hit alot of back roads pretty hard around here
Last edited by 2edybrd; 12-26-2005 at 03:38 PM.