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jeremyc74 · 01-07-2010, 08:27 AM

I mentioned this in the other thread, and it's good to see you're actually giving it some consideration. A lot of the time I get blasted for even mentioning a Pontiac on a BMW forum

I had one, and I miss it.

I had an aftermarket CAI, cat back exhaust and a good dyno tune on mine, and it put down 348WHP in 95 degree FL weather. That same night it ran 12.83@109MPH, and that was on the factory 18" tires, which aren't known for being easy to launch (that run was done with a 1.9 60' time). The guys running long tube headers were dipping into the low 12s on Nittos.

The GTO is, hand down, one of the best GT cars on the roads in America today for this kind of money. It's comfortable, quiet (assuming you don't get carried away with an aftermarket exhaust, and even then it sounds so good you don't mind it), and it will cruise effortlessly at triple digit speeds. I'd much rather be in the GTO on a long trip than my 135i (which I also love). I'm not sure if it's the seating position, or the fact that the engine is just loping along at 2k RPM when you're doing 80MPH, or the ride, or a combination of them all but it's just more relaxing over long distances. Driven at the same speeds, the GTO would match the fuel economy I see in the 135i on long trips, but it's a couple of MPG worse around town. Driven sanely you can expect 17/26 city/highway from them.

Now, having said all that, it's not flawless.

One of the biggest issues I had with the car was the lack of utility. At the time this was my only vehicle, and if you need to haul something larger than a laundry basket, you're screwed. They had to move the fuel tank up into the trunk to meet some crash regulations, and because of that the trunk is tiny, and the seats don't fold down.

The second thing I'll mention is the shifter. This would be above the trunk issue if it weren't for the fact that you can correct this, and you can't correct the trunk. The factory shifter SUCKS. It doesn't sort of suck, or suck just a little, it sucks majorly. It's like a knife in a cup...no, make that a bowl (because the throws are that long) of oatmeal. The good thing is the Australian aftermarket has good (but not cheap) solutions for this, and they completely correct the problem.

The third downside is the lack of tech goodies, like bluetooth and Nav. The car comes with a factory 6 disc CD changer that doesn't sound bad, and is nicely integrated, but there's no Aux in, so you're stuck with an FM modulator or burning CDs. Again, this issue is easily corrected in the aftermarket, and there's a guy selling a really nice installation kit that allows a double DIN deck to drop in and look right at home. The car does have a pretty nice trip computer built in, that's actually got more features than a 1 or 3 Series BMW. It allows you to have two seperate trip counters, so you can measure total trip and tank mileage, has a "Time to destination" feature so if you know how many miles your trip is, you can enter it and it will give you an ETA, and it's got a cool rest reminder that pops up and shows a graphic of a picinic table under a shade tree that I always liked. (It's the little things sometimes)

The cars are pretty damn reliable overall, and the interior is solid. You don't want an '04 model if you can help it. They had the LS1, with 350Hp, and smaller brakes. In '05 GM dropped the LS2 into it, and put the larger brakes on that were being used on one of the higher performance Holdens at the time. They weren't world class by any means, but they're not bad at all.

There were basically no options for these cars other than color, transmission, and a choice of 17 or 18 inch wheels. They've all got the same stereo, and the same power equipment, so if you find one you like, you don't have to worry about it not having an option you wanted....there aren't any!

The '05 and '06 cars were basically the same, except they added an unlock pushbutton in the console, and made the seats move forward faster. The back seat in these cars is perfectly fine for an adult, but getting them back there is a PITA. The seat moves forward electrically, and the '04 and '05 cars were slow as hell.

That's my take on it. Hope that helps.

01-07-2010, 08:27 AM	#2
jeremyc74 Banned 76 Rep 5,970 Posts Drives: '08 135i Montego/Terra Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Evansville, IN iTrader: (0)	I mentioned this in the other thread, and it's good to see you're actually giving it some consideration. A lot of the time I get blasted for even mentioning a Pontiac on a BMW forum I had one, and I miss it. I had an aftermarket CAI, cat back exhaust and a good dyno tune on mine, and it put down 348WHP in 95 degree FL weather. That same night it ran 12.83@109MPH, and that was on the factory 18" tires, which aren't known for being easy to launch (that run was done with a 1.9 60' time). The guys running long tube headers were dipping into the low 12s on Nittos. The GTO is, hand down, one of the best GT cars on the roads in America today for this kind of money. It's comfortable, quiet (assuming you don't get carried away with an aftermarket exhaust, and even then it sounds so good you don't mind it), and it will cruise effortlessly at triple digit speeds. I'd much rather be in the GTO on a long trip than my 135i (which I also love). I'm not sure if it's the seating position, or the fact that the engine is just loping along at 2k RPM when you're doing 80MPH, or the ride, or a combination of them all but it's just more relaxing over long distances. Driven at the same speeds, the GTO would match the fuel economy I see in the 135i on long trips, but it's a couple of MPG worse around town. Driven sanely you can expect 17/26 city/highway from them. Now, having said all that, it's not flawless. One of the biggest issues I had with the car was the lack of utility. At the time this was my only vehicle, and if you need to haul something larger than a laundry basket, you're screwed. They had to move the fuel tank up into the trunk to meet some crash regulations, and because of that the trunk is tiny, and the seats don't fold down. The second thing I'll mention is the shifter. This would be above the trunk issue if it weren't for the fact that you can correct this, and you can't correct the trunk. The factory shifter SUCKS. It doesn't sort of suck, or suck just a little, it sucks majorly. It's like a knife in a cup...no, make that a bowl (because the throws are that long) of oatmeal. The good thing is the Australian aftermarket has good (but not cheap) solutions for this, and they completely correct the problem. The third downside is the lack of tech goodies, like bluetooth and Nav. The car comes with a factory 6 disc CD changer that doesn't sound bad, and is nicely integrated, but there's no Aux in, so you're stuck with an FM modulator or burning CDs. Again, this issue is easily corrected in the aftermarket, and there's a guy selling a really nice installation kit that allows a double DIN deck to drop in and look right at home. The car does have a pretty nice trip computer built in, that's actually got more features than a 1 or 3 Series BMW. It allows you to have two seperate trip counters, so you can measure total trip and tank mileage, has a "Time to destination" feature so if you know how many miles your trip is, you can enter it and it will give you an ETA, and it's got a cool rest reminder that pops up and shows a graphic of a picinic table under a shade tree that I always liked. (It's the little things sometimes) The cars are pretty damn reliable overall, and the interior is solid. You don't want an '04 model if you can help it. They had the LS1, with 350Hp, and smaller brakes. In '05 GM dropped the LS2 into it, and put the larger brakes on that were being used on one of the higher performance Holdens at the time. They weren't world class by any means, but they're not bad at all. There were basically no options for these cars other than color, transmission, and a choice of 17 or 18 inch wheels. They've all got the same stereo, and the same power equipment, so if you find one you like, you don't have to worry about it not having an option you wanted....there aren't any! The '05 and '06 cars were basically the same, except they added an unlock pushbutton in the console, and made the seats move forward faster. The back seat in these cars is perfectly fine for an adult, but getting them back there is a PITA. The seat moves forward electrically, and the '04 and '05 cars were slow as hell. That's my take on it. Hope that helps.
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