Car of the Day

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The GTO is THE Car of the Day

June 13th, 2008 · 11 Comments

The GTO is the car of the day and will continue to be the COTD for some time since I now have one my garage. 

After years of following the Pontiac GTO and its rebirth with the 350hp LS1 to the next year with 400hp LS2 and the subsequent addition of the dual exhausts and hood scoops.  I was at GM’s Auto-Show-In-Motion and drove the 2004 GTO.  4 years ago I remember being impressed with the GTO’s interior treatments.  Everything I touched a feeling of quality that belied it’s Pontiac badge.  There was a Blaupunkt stereo staring at me from the cockpit.  Blaupunkt was the same company that was supplying stereos to BMW in years past.  It was a big surprise to see the German stereo in an American car. 

A couple of years ago Jeremy Clarkson did a special where he came to America looking for a good car.  He only found two cars worth praising one was the Ford GT, the other was the Chevrolet Corvette.  The Corvette has a long history of being the American automotive benchmark of performance and power.  Sometimes the Corvette engine finds its way into other GM vehicles.    The GTO was blessed with the same LS2 engine that powers the Corvette. 

There is definitely something to be said about 400hp, it makes for an extremely quick vehicle.  Are there cars faster than the GTO?  Sure.  Is the car next to you faster than the GTO?  Probably not.  The list of cars that can actually outrun GTO is a short and exclusive list of the most powerful cars on the planet.  Cars in the same price bracket that can outrun the GTO are nearly non-existent.

The short drives I did tonight gave me a taste of how ridiculous 400hp is on the street.  The GTO already comes with too much power to easily put down on the pavement, which may be one of the first places I look.  Some drag bags and stickier tires may just be the ticket.  That plus a couple of simple mods seem like a nice place to start. 

A big thanks to the previous owner taking car of the GTO, for putting the car up for sale and being cool to deal with.  He even gave me recommendation on the best sticky tire for the GTO.  You should see the car he is looking at replacing his GTO with….but that’s another article.

You can read a little bit of Laura’s point of view on the GTO on Laura’s Blog.

Tags: GTO · Pontiac

11 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Gee Tee Oh | From the Inside Out // Jun 14, 2008 at 12:06 am

    […] with some well placed blue stitching and brushed nickel on the cockpit. For more details, check out Gary’s blog and be sure to congratulate him on his new […]

  • 2 Gary Sr. // Jun 14, 2008 at 7:55 am

    Congrats on the “new ride”. Sounds like a lot of fun, with more to come. Keep us posted on the “mods”.

  • 3 Ruth H. // Jun 14, 2008 at 8:44 am

    Congrats on the new car. Can’t wait to see it! Oh yeah, watch out for those radar guns.

  • 4 David W. // Jun 14, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    Is it really American? I’ve always considered it more Australlian since it’s basically a holden…

    Awesome car though :)

  • 5 garythepowers // Jun 14, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    GM owns Holden and it is sold as a domestic, but you’re right, it really is an imported Australian car.

  • 6 Bradley // Jun 14, 2008 at 7:26 pm

    Congrats on the GTO! Now go have lunch with Halovanic and buy him a nice fountain drink to christen the vehicle.

  • 7 Jessica // Jun 17, 2008 at 12:51 am

    WOW. Congratulations on the new toy.

  • 8 Erik // Jun 18, 2008 at 4:22 am

    Article in the blog is informative. Interesting to read it.

  • 9 Ron B. // Jun 21, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    Gary, I’m very excited that you are looking forward to what is to come with Blue Lightning, as my kids called it.

  • 10 SuperTall // Oct 27, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    Way to go bro!

  • 11 John // Nov 6, 2008 at 12:11 am

    Hi,
    Good information about GTO. Blue color is really nice.