Feedback on the 05/06 GTO's

**Tonys99RamAir** · 01-16-2006, 06:53 PM

Been a long time F-body guy, well I am only 20 but have had 5 (still have two of them) f-bodies in my span. I am about to get rid of my 99 Ram Air and jump up to a LS2 goat, was wondering what those of you that have them think of them? Typical things such as comfort, ride quality, dependability, and of course power and handling and those sorts of things. Kinda hard to tell from a test drive, plus I have driven a LS1 and not a LS2 yet. Figured i'd ask some of you guys who have had them a while and see what ya'll think of them so far. Thanks for the help.--Tony

GOAT6SPD · 01-16-2006, 09:41 PM

I know exactly how you feel Tony. I too was an F-body owner for 8 yrs. I've had a 89 IROC, 96 Z28, 99 Z28 and a 02 WS6. In 04 I bought a 00 vette.

A week ago my Vette was stolen. I waited for the cops to find it and nothing

I had a choice to make. I wanted a new car and looked into getting a new Vette. After extensive reasearch I realized vettes were still quite expensive.

I began looking in to GTOs, I had been on a few local cruses and seen a few of them. I asked around and GTOs are really only heard of around our neck of the woods. Meaning not alot of people know too much about them.

Well, needless to say I got a 2005 GTO. I like it very much. I am however still learning about them. I learn someting new everyday.

The Power is there. 400 hp is alot of power. You feel the the torque grip and you launch into first though sixth gear.

There are alot of diffrent mods you can make on these LS2s and more are comming everyday.

In conclusion, again I know how you feel and I honeslty feel that you will be very happy with a New Goat.

Yes it will take some getting used to. As you drive it you will begin to love it.

For strong depenable power, you cant go wrong.

Good Luck in your search. Let me know if I can do anything else ok.

**Tonys99RamAir** · 01-17-2006, 02:36 PM

Thanks man, appreciate it. Anybody else wanna throw in their $.02?--Tony

**Sarge** · 01-17-2006, 05:03 PM

No squeaks/rattles/cheap ass plastic on these cars man.....like driving a Mercedes with a LSX in it

And that is good.....folks shit themselves when I launch on em....cuz you know...it looks like a Cavalier and all

**TexAgDevildog** · 01-22-2006, 04:01 PM

IMO the car is well built. I don't really see any resemblence to the old GTOs, but whatever. One of the greatest things about it is there aren't too many on the road. Definitely not like mustangs. Few people recognize it's a GTO and fewer recognize what's under the hood, and most people won't until you do launch on them or down shift a couple of gears and disappear.

**Apostle** · 01-22-2006, 10:21 PM

I traded in a 2000 model Firehawk for my GTO. I wish I could have had both, but I don't have the kind of money Sarge has.

I really enjoyed the in your face attitude of the Firehawk. I couldn't hear any squeeks or other such problems that people say, probablly due to an obnoxious sounding exhaust. I have really enjoyed the GTO. It is a more refined car and hadles better too. I don't regret the purchase.

**FreeBird** · 01-24-2006, 07:12 PM

The '05 GTO has plenty of go fast power and off of the line performance that you'd expect in this type of car. I think that it compares very well with my '99 Formula in terms of performance, not so much better as just as good.

All of the go fast mods. that work for the fbody well generally work for the GTO. So there are many paths to go down depending upon where you want to go. BTW, you can actually get to all of the spark plugs without skinning your knuckles.

Comfort and ride quality? It is very nice in that respect, there are none of the squeaks, creaks or rattles that the bird had. The car is well behaved on the road, even when the roads are rutted and in poor condition. It is a car that I can see myself taking on long road trips and then dreading getting to the destination.

I can't speak for dependibility yet. There have been a few guys reporting leaks in the steering rack and problems with the pedal position sensor. Of course, people don't usually post that they aren't having any problems so you have to take the reports with a sense of perspective. The only problem that I have had so far has been a loose clamp on the PS cooling line causing ATF to leak.

While I loved the bird, I am equally as in love with the goat. The GTO is one of the few cars that I don't see coming around the corner every day.

Regards..

**snaggeltooth** · 01-25-2006, 11:25 AM

I get so tired of people saying." Well, its not a old GTO ". Welll duh. In the august issue Musclecar Review put a 05 against a 66. And of course the 05 cleaned its clock. 13.3 at 106. The tri-power 66 ran a 14.9 at 99. If you want to have a car that you sit around and look at get a 66. If you want one to drive get a 05.

**Sarge** · 01-25-2006, 04:27 PM

Well put man...^^^

**camaronx** · 01-26-2006, 03:24 PM

I love it---i had a nitrous powered lt-1 94 police pkg camaro and then an ls1 pwered 99 t/a and i am almost at 992 miles on the odometer on my 2005 gto red/red 6 spd and already have magnaflow catback on---like sarge said---no plastic just aromatic leathers and brushed nickel surfaces---regular leather and suede ingulf you---It is almost as if gm had taken some of the finer points that german carmakers were doing and then dumped high hp gm muscle in. Take the key that goes in the ignition---the first time i had saw one like that was on my nieces new style v.w. and my sisters 06 beemer---the blaupunkt stereo also is european---but when you fire it up it roars AMERICAN!!

**snaggeltooth** · 01-27-2006, 11:27 AM

Has anyone got a GTO with more than 20k miles on it. What about the windows and how it seals to the door.

**Capster78** · 01-29-2006, 01:57 PM

Id be curious to know what these cars run stock. Anyone have any track #'s on them? I saw the 13.3 the magazine ran but we all know about magazine #'s.

**GTOFan350** · 01-29-2006, 02:02 PM

My goat just cracked 20k miles on it. Its an 04 but man i love it. I decided to get the 04 cuz i didnt like the all the scoops on it. IMO the 04 looks more like a sleeper and with a few mods the 04 could keep up with a 05. As far as any sqeeks or problems with the window seals. Dont worry about the problems cuz there aint none. My friend has a 01 Mach 1 and what a big POS. My 04bone stock will wipe the floor with his A4 Mach 1 even with no cats and a full exhaust system. The GTO is a great car if you want BMW comfort with a big a$$ american V8 at your foot.

**snaggeltooth** · 01-29-2006, 05:33 PM

I was talking with a woman that just sold her 05 GTO, she sold it because she drove 90 miles one way to work. She really liked the car the only problem she had with it was the gas pedel sensor or something like that, and it was a factory recall. She also said she had no problem with the reverse as I hear so many GTOs are haveing. She had bought the 05 because her 04 had so many problems GM bought the car back. I was glad to hear a female that was a true motorhead. Her and her husband also had a 02 C5 nd said the performance was much alike , but the C5 drove better. I did like to hear that she was very happy with the goat , just to many miles drinking to much gas.

**GTOFan350** · 01-29-2006, 06:52 PM

Of course every car manufacturer is going to have a few cars hear and there with every model that are bad. Thats why the lemon law was put into effect. I looked last night on edmunds.com to see if there were any recalls on 04 goats and there were none listed. I personally have not had any problems with mine. But I agree its good hearing about a woman thats a true motorhead. Rock on!

LITTLE GTO · 01-29-2006, 06:53 PM

Absolutely love mine!

**snaggeltooth** · 01-29-2006, 06:59 PM

I agree . I have not heard that many complaints on the 04. Sometimes you just get that car that dont work well, but should not be considered that all do.

**Derk** · 01-29-2006, 08:28 PM

[QUOTE=GTOFan350]My friend has a 01 Mach 1 and what a big POS. My 04bone stock will wipe the floor with his A4 Mach 1 even with no cats and a full exhaust system.QUOTE]

Not flamming you or anything but there were no Mach's made in 01, just back in the day and 03/04.

And you say it's an A4? their redline is a little more than a 1000RPM lower than a manual Mach and are known to be close to half a second slower in the 1/4.

But not saying you still wouldn't have won had it been a manual. Just little trivial stuff I guess

**ctbeiser** · 01-30-2006, 03:07 AM

My 04 just rolled over 20k and I have not had any trouble. There are two things that I would like to change about my 04.

1. I would the like the 05 rear fasica

2. The damn shifter sucks. Reverse is a mother to get sometimes.

The weather was nice here in MI this weekend and I got my car out of the garage. I had several people compliment me about it in two days. Everybody says, "Man it is a nice car but not like the old ones." I reply, "Yeah I know, this one will kick an old one's ass!!!!" Then sometimes I feel like asking, "What year minivan is that, that thing must haul....like five or six kids."

You can't get upset for some people's ignorance and jealously.

**snaggeltooth** · 01-31-2006, 11:03 AM

Well I just went by Pontiac.com and speced out a GTO ot cam in at $34k plus . A charger was within like $2k. I think by the time I am ready to get my GTO there will be a lot of good 05 in the low $20k range, maybe even high teens. Hmm there is already 98-99 Vettes there. GTO 0r C5??