CNN.Com Reviews the GTO (Monaro)

[GH1967]

Funny thing is they call it expensive and we pay a lot more for it here where it is made!

http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/carreviews/07/18/muscle_roundup/index.html


Pontiac GTO
Strong point: Power, power, more power

Weak point: Price, day-to-day drivability

Price: About $33,000

My introduction to the GTO was as a passenger with Consumer Reports test driver John Ibbotson on the magazine's test track in Connecticut.

Think those guys are all about how many grocery bags you can fit in the trunk? Let me tell you, those eggs would have been scrambled long before they got to the fridge.

The GTO can get loose and swing when you want it to, but it can also hold the line just fine when you don't. Step on the throttle and the car shoots forward in a fluid, controlled way. It's fast but not jumpy or skittish.

You can spin the tires, sure, but you have to want it. If what you really want is a no-drama express ticket to highway speeds. . . . Vroom! Off you go.

The GTO is built in Australia as a modified version of the Holden Monaro. Its interior look and feel is better than any other GM car at the price. Thanks to an engine it shares with the Chevrolet Corvette, the GTO has huge, gut-punch power and an engine sound to match.

The car really has just two major problems. One is a sticker price over $30,000 for the GTO's single trim level. No cheaper versions are available. That's steep for a car aimed at the young -- or as a midlife-crisis rescue car.

The other problem is that, particularly when equipped with a manual transmission, this car does not like to be driven slowly. Not even a little bit. The problem is a close-ratio six-speed transmission with a sloppy, widely moving shifter. It's a lot easier to get to the next gear in time if the engine is revving like mad before you try to shift.

Ignoring the normal first, second, third sequence of gears helps. A feature called "Skip shift" actually forces you to go from first gear straight to fourth in order to smooth things out under light acceleration, but it's all a pain.

As long as you keep driving like a nut, though, it's just fine.

[LSX-438]

it is relatively expensive for their market, you can get a BMW 330 Coupe for that kind of money over there. Imagine them trying to sell the munro here for $100k..... then again there aren't too many V8 Coupe's available south of $150k are there?

[Maccas]

To scared of the pure aussie rawness of our toys, having a sook :( about the gear box if he was a good driver like us aussies here wouldnt be a problem :D , let alone if they didnt uglify :bash: our beautiful monaro it would have been a bigger winner for them over there

[jneil]

I am glad we don't have that "skip shift" thing. Although I always skip shifts! But I decide when and where to do it and with what gears, sometimes 1-2-5, sometimes 1-4, sometimes 1-3-5.

I don't want there to be a time when the car says "bugger you, it is only down the road, you can walk!!" and refuses to go anywhere.

And yeah US$30k isn't that much for one of our top end cars!

[COUPE]

The other problem is that, particularly when equipped with a manual transmission, this car does not like to be driven slowly. Not even a little bit.

I'd have to agree with that ... the car does not like being driven slow at all ... not that it takes much to push it way beyond the speed limit :D

It does feel more at home being booted :burnout:

[myles]

Not a bad review at all for Pontiac considering the overwhelming love for the Mustang over there.

Overall, the review acknowledges the GTO's power advantage over the others and its better build quality. And considering most people only read a story's opening sentence, most readers would come away from the story with a positive review of the GTO.

[Nobby]

DELETE!

DOUBLE POST!

[Nobby]

Its interior look and feel is better than any other GM car at the price.

The Monaro interior is alright, but Woweee, I can only imagine how crap the yank interiors must be. How are GM/Ford USA still in business?

[TRAMS_AM]

it is relatively expensive for their market, you can get a BMW 330 Coupe for that kind of money over there. Imagine them trying to sell the munro here for $100k..... then again there aren't too many V8 Coupe's available south of $150k are there?

330ci's start at $37K here, which is $4k more than the GTO. Option the BMW with leather and CD changer and all that and it could easily top off over $40K. On the other side, dealers can be talked down to low 30's on the GTO, so you end up with 175 far more usable horsepower over the Bimmer. For me, it's a no-brainer to say that the GTO is a bargain. More power for less money than a BMW, but with ride characteristics that are closer to a 3 series than a Mustang or F-body. A legitimate 400hp beast with amazing seats and a composed chassis for $33K? It should be illegal! WS6 Trans Am's went for $33K, and although they had the drivetrain down, the rest of the car could have used some polish.

The only way to end up in the same area as the GTO is to get a E46 M3, which would cost almost twice as much off the lot. Considering how the Monaro is praised by the international press and by the performance numbers, it's 90% of the car the M3 is (or 110% at the drag strip), but for half the cost.

This car should be selling like crazy, but I guess us Yanks prefer form to function, which is why cars like the 300c, Magnum, Charger, and Mustang outsell the GTO. It's really too bad that we can't see the Monaro as a modern muscle car, because it fits the bill exactly. Instead we go out and purchase superficial vehicles in droves (I recall hearing that 60,000 2005 Mustangs were made in one month alone) because image is more important than content.

Point is, some of us realize that the GTO is the best car that GM has on it's lots in the states, and we know what a deal we're getting. Thanks for sharing this wonderful machine with us, and don't listen to the pansies in the U.S. media, as none of them are car guys (excluding Chris White :) ).

[TRAMS_AM]

The Monaro interior is alright, but Woweee, I can only imagine how crap the yank interiors must be. How are GM/Ford USA still in business?

They're barely in business right now, hence the 'employee pricing' craze that the Big Three are all doing now.

It's true that the vast majority of GM, Ford, and Chrysler (think Sebring, not E Class) interiors are junk, but so are most of the import interiors in the same range. Obviously a BMW or Benz should have a better interior, you're paying twice as much for it. The cars that are in the same range, though, (Camry, Accord, etc) have just as much crappy plastic as their domestic counterparts.

Imports are often elevated in terms of quality and reliability in the U.S. (in my view, of course) due to memories of the late 70's and 80's, when pretty much any car you could buy was a crapbox. Since there weren't many imports around then, the impression with most Americans is that domestics are junk and imports are superior.