Thinking of selling the Trans Am and my beater daily driver and picking up a used low mileage 05 GTO M6. I had a few questions on a few areas of the car...

SPOILER: If you remove the spoiler I'm guessing you're looking at body work and paint to fill in the holes correct?

SPRINGS: Do most people leave the stock springs in the car? Seems like you really dont need to go much lower than stock and the car has a decent stance already.

WHEELS: Does anyone have pictures of Fikse, CCW, Boyd Coddington, or other "custom" wheels on their GTO? I'm trying to see how wide of a rear tire I can run and how much of a lip I can get in the rear. I like the widest tire and biggest lip I can get in a set of wheels and tires.

MISC: Anything else I need to know about these cars before buying and while looking?

 

spolier should have been drilled in trunk requiring it to be filled and painted
i dont see too many people running aftermarket springs as they do already have a nice stance
on the 05-06 models there tends to strut rubbing ( or something of that nature) alot of gtos are reporting front stabilizers breaking this happened to at roughly 2500 miles so if you hear a popping sound every once in a while its a sign to bring it in b4 it gets bad. only other negative things are wheel hop it tends to be worse with a m6 and the pain on these cares isnt all that superb.

 

happened to me** sorry (stabilizer problem)

 

for the spoiler, you either have to fill the holes or Top Shelf Performance makes a color match hole capping kit.

for the springs, not many out there, but King springs keep stock height and adds stiffness, Pedders has no drop springs and two levels of drop and they all help the ride out. technically, stock ride height is about an inch taller then you get your car at. the springs lose that inch from the boat ride over here.

for the wheels, there are alot out there, but you need to think outside of the box on this one. our bolt pattern is 5x120 and that leaves out alot of conventional muscle car-esk wheels. you need to look to BMW (we share the same bolt patern) and other european rims to fit the goat.... hell, mine are Motegi's and those are Japanese drifting rims....

 

Spoiler: I have mine removed and nylon plugs I picked up at Lowe's in the holes. My car is black so you can barely notice them.

Springs: Most people do not drop them because they are already low enough. That being said the Pedders spring are supposed to be great for handling and retain stock ride hight.

Wheels: It is very difficult to find a off the shelf wheel with a decent lip to fit these cars. I have a set of ASA AR1s that are 9" in the rear with a decent lip. If you go baller and get CCWs they can make a 10" with custom offest that will fit.

Here are my 9" wheels:


Here are the 10" CCWs:

 

5x120mm is almost the same as an f-body/Corvette pattern. 5x4.75" = 5x120.65mm

There are thousands of f-bodies running around with BMW/GTO 5x120mm wheels on them. I had HP Racing 19s with that pattern on my '02 SS. We are talking about 0.65 mm difference, split between a bolt circle of 4.75 inches, which means that the lugs are 0.32mm off center from a lug hole at each lug. With conical seats, this is almost negligible. 1/3 of 1mm isn't much, machining tolerances on wheels and hubs are probably worse, lol.

So, GTOs should be able to fit any 5x4.75" bolt-pattern wheel.

 

F-body wheels fit fine as far as bolt pattern is concerned. It is the offset that is a bitch.

 

CCW wheels looks awesome on GTO's

I personally don't like the shaved spoiler look, it's just me but yes you'd have to have bodywork/paint done to fill in the holes.

The GTO is a very solid car. A little heavier than a F-body and you may or may not like the IRS. But you've got to like the interior, it is 200X better than a F-body

 

Wonder why my good friend Josh here is looking for a GTO?? LOL. Get one dude. I know I am enjoying the hell out of mine!!!

I am interested in this thread also... as I picked up my GTO last night.

 

They generally have a decent stance from the get-go, but most often front sits ~ 0.5" higher than rear. Most of the aftermarket "stock height" springs will raise the rear. I don't like the stock springs because they are too soft - especially the rears and its magnified if you're trying to jam bigger rear wheels/tires under there. A real solid bet is Pedders 2643 1/2" drop rear springs and either 2151 3/8" drop or 2275 1" drop front springs plus Koni shocks/struts.

If its an M6 then definitely a shifter should be in your future. The stocker sucks even worse (IMO) than the OEM F-body shifters. GMM Ripshift if you can find one is the way to go. Installation is a PITA compared to F-body though.

Also, have the alignment checked. Not unusual to have screwy alignment right from the beginning.

If you're looking at an 05/06 then that's about all of the mandatory ****. 04 will have a longer list, but overall they're great cars. If you're looking for a nice cruiser/daily driver these are HARD to beat for the $$.

 

Those CCWs are it for me. Period. I'm not getting the car to make fast like I've been doing with my Trans Am. I want it to have something nice to daily drive, something that is fun to drive, and something that I can mod here and there for a little go-fast fix. Anybody know the details on the particular wheels in that photo? 18" or 19"?

 

Another question, regarding badging...

Seems like if you want to remove the arrowhead on the rear of the car you have to have a body shop do some work as holes are left behind. Does anyone know if this is true of the side GTO emblems as well? I'd like to remove the side GTO emblems as well as everything on the rear of the car if I got one. I really like the clean, sleek look of a completely debadged and spoilerless GTO.

Secondly, at night what color is the backlighting on everything (like my Trans Am is backlit in red)? Just curious.

 

OOOHHH yeah there are holes!!! the badges on the sides cover holes intended for side markers on the monaro, so there is a big hole and two small ones on either side.

There is two small holes behind the back arrowhead, but not the lettering. The front cannot be removed w/out a TON of body work.

The backlight is white for the analog gauges and needles and green for the LCD screens and all the buttons. But there is a guy (Chris White) who can make them what ever color you want www.gtoshiftlight.com

 

Josh,

come down to cleveland you are more than welcome to drive mine. I think you would really be wanting to sell the ta. Also, check out www.ls2gto.com

 

I doubt he needs to do that anymore!!!

 

SPOILER: If you remove the spoiler I'm guessing you're looking at body work and paint to fill in the holes correct?

Body work or you can plug the holes with plugs painted color of car. Available through Top Shelf Performance

SPRINGS: Do most people leave the stock springs in the car? Seems like you really dont need to go much lower than stock and the car has a decent stance already.

A number of people replace suspension, not just springs, to get a better handling car. Stock GTO suspension is pretty soft, fine for cruising but not for spirited driving.

WHEELS: Does anyone have pictures of Fikse, CCW, Boyd Coddington, or other "custom" wheels on their GTO? I'm trying to see how wide of a rear tire I can run and how much of a lip I can get in the rWear. I like the widest tire and biggest lip I can get in a set of wheels and tires.

There is a thread called "show me your wheels" on ls1gto forum where you can see tons of different wheels. The GTO does not enjoy the ability to run wide lip, wide rear wheels like Vettes and F1 cars. Roughly 18x9 and 19x10 are the limits for the rear. The CCW's above are popular and a number of GTO guys run them. I run 18x8 and 18x9 iForged custom 3 piece.

 

Josh, great choice in potential cars. I'm actually just getting ready to leave and go home to show my Z28 to a guy who wants to buy it. If he does, I'll most likely be picking up a GTO. I'd love an 05 Quicksilver M6, but I think for what I want to keep as my monthly payments, I may only be able to afford an 04. Either way, it's fine to me. I'd obviously love the LS2, the hood, and the rear dual exit more, but at this point in my life, it's not a massive deal to me anymore.

Good luck with your search and let us know how it ends up for you!

 

Scotty: Man I just traded my 2000 SS for a 2004 Quicksilver GTO. I love it. I would have loved the '05 and LS2, but it wasn't that big of a deal to me. I don't care for the hoods much, and the rears are negligable, so based on what I could afford I went with the LS1 '04. Do I regret it? Hell no. I am still in an AWESOME GTO.

 

Does it feel too refined or too "BMWish" to you? These are the things people are warning me about, but that's what I'm looking for! I want some style, class, and sophistication in a car that looks decent, has great quality/fit/finish, and still has *****.

 

BUY a GTO................Thank me later