CST-V's are dropping in price...and E39 M5's are plummeting in price (if not cost to own) as well....
CST-V's are dropping in price...and E39 M5's are plummeting in price (if not cost to own) as well....
jv8 wrote: To those who used to have a GTO and moved on... what did you buy to replace it and why? I'm interested in a GTO in theory... I would buy a new one but right now I don't have time to deal with a search for a 6-8 year old used car.
Nothing. I had 2 cars so when the lease was up on the GTO I turned it in. I really wanted to buy it but lost my job a few months before the lease end. This was back in 2006 but I'm sure I'd still be driving the GTO if I could have bought it.
In reply to njansenv:
That's good news for anyone looking for an alternative to the GTO or G8's. It's a great car. I'm hoping the CTS-V wagon will do the same in the future.
dculberson wrote:93EXCivic wrote:Do you have a wife and kids?Javelin wrote: Yes, a Caterham is lighter than a GTo and will be cheaper on most parts and consumables, but he's not going to drive that scaffolding to dinner with his wife tonight or drop the kids off at school on Friday, etc, etc.I would but then again my brain hurts.
For the hope of society, I hope not 
aside from rear seat room(since that and IRS will be any gto owners pro), I would have recommended a mustang....
So, in a similar vein...
The local dealer trade paper here has an '06 CTS-V automatic and an '08 GXP for hardly any difference in price. Thoughts?
Umm... there is no CTS-V automatic. They were 6-speed manual only IIRC.
racerfink wrote: So, in a similar vein... The local dealer trade paper here has an '06 CTS-V automatic and an '08 GXP for hardly any difference in price. Thoughts?
2004 - 2007 models only had 6-speed manuals. Automatics didn't appear until MY2009.
So far, I think the biggest bang for the buck is still the GTO. A E39 M5 would be really nice but I can't seem to find any around my area for the same price as a GTO, not to mention the M5's all have much, MUCH higher mileage than the GTO's that I've been finding.
As for the CTS-V, if someone can show me one that I like, I'll consider it. 
njansenv wrote: CST-V's are dropping in price...and E39 M5's are plummeting in price (if not cost to own) as well....
There's good reasons why the e39 M5 prices are dropping. I just sold mine. Man they are expensive to own. 
vincephan wrote: My search for a C5 Z06 hasn't been going too well... All the ones that I've been finding for sale are dealer cars and I'd rather buy from a private party for multiple reasons. I've put off my car search momentarily to do some research on GTOs. My biggest concern is the car's handling. On the GTO forums, some have said that the car handles very well, and with some mods, could be an E46 M3 alternative. Others have said that it handles like a steamboat. Since I've come to no conclusive answer, I guess I'd ask here since many of you have driven / driven against GTO's. What's your take on their handling capabilities?
And to get back to the OP's original question, I know nothing more than what I've read about GTOs. That said, given that you're considering Corvettes, but think a 2+2 arrangement could be useful, I would bet a GTO would be great fun for you. Despite the noise in this thread, it sounds like a few bolt on's make them very capable partners. For me, as a BMW fanboi, I'd vote for the e46 M3 (non-SMG) though. 
I would love an E46 M3 but I live in California. The prices of these cars seem to be inflated compared to the prices of them everywhere else. Insurance for the M3 is actually more than insurance for the GTO as well.
I'm going to go test drive a GTO in a the near future. I've been swamped with school and work so I haven't had to time to do it... I have a feeling I'll like it very much though.
vincephan wrote: I would love an E46 M3 but I live in California. The prices of these cars seem to be inflated compared to the prices of them everywhere else. Insurance for the M3 is actually more than insurance for the GTO as well. I'm going to go test drive a GTO in a the near future. I've been swamped with school and work so I haven't had to time to do it... I have a feeling I'll like it very much though.
I just finished up shopping for e46 M3s and agree with you. Even outside CA, the prices are pretty darn high. Those cars (especially the '05-'06 model years) are still relatively expensive, even compared to other BMW models. I ended up buying a 2004 BMW 330i sedan instead, as they are about $10k less than a similar aged, mileaged M3.
A cool thing about a GTO is the hop up quotient. Having owned a few LS motored cars, it's ridiculously cheap to add serious HP to those motors (the opposite of BMWs).
Is adding horsepower to the GTO even necessary? Haha. I would imagine that the stock power ratings would keep you satisfied for quite a while. Or is the GTO the type of car that "feels slow" even though its fast?
And another question, should I buy an 04' and use the money I save to mod, or should I just aim for the 05/06 model?
Or is the GTO the type of car that "feels slow" even though its fast?
I havent driven a GTO but ive driven lt1 and ls1 camaros and vettes, and recently a new camaro ss 6spd.
I dont know whether the gto 'feels' slower than it is, but it's a valid question to ask because the new 400hp SS i drove sure did.. It just comes down to all the ambiance stuff.. noise, vibration, how long or short the gears are, etc.
similar point: i recently drove a hemi/auto charger and a 1.8t/6spd jetta gls. The hemi charger is faster, but unless you're paying attention and actively trying to be objective, you might think the jetta was faster just from the feel and sound and shifting of it, etc. I thought the charger (and that new camaro SS) was boring, and the jetta was entertaining.
I think if you're not ALREADY jaded you'd probably think a stock GTO was alright for a while.
In reply to Vigo:
Was the carpet bunched under the accelerator? I rented a Camaro SS for a weekend and it certainly 'felt' fast to me - it was even an auto. Granted, my daily drivers are pedestrian, but 420hp can even move 2 tons pretty good. But, I've never driven a GTO (hope to change that this weekend though), so I can't comment on that.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: You would remove the stereo in a dual purpose car? Far braver man than myself, sir.
My DD was radio-less for 5 years and I drove coast-to-coast (Cocoa Beach, FL to Bellingham, WA) solo with no radio, so it's safe to say that I really don't care about car audio at all. But no, in this case, I was saying that many owners are swapping out the very heavy factory stereo and subwoofer for lighter, better, aftermarket stereo components. As a bonus, you can practically double the trunk size.
In reply to Javelin:
Miata stereos are even heavier. A stock Miata will easily outrun a stock GTO around the 'ring if you just take out the stereo. For real.
Guys, can we really stop with the Miata vs. GTO thing? They're too different to be compared in any way, shape, or form.
If anything, I'd absolutely love to have both - the GTO as the daily, and the Miata as the track car.
In reply to Otto Maddox:
Is this a joke? The radio thing was part of a larger post about where to lighten GTO's for the track without affecting the DD quality, which was answering a question. I'm not sure I follow what's being made fun of here...
Javelin wrote:92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: You would remove the stereo in a dual purpose car? Far braver man than myself, sir.My DD was radio-less for 5 years and I drove coast-to-coast (Cocoa Beach, FL to Bellingham, WA) solo with no radio, so it's safe to say that I really don't care about car audio at all. But no, in this case, I was saying that many owners are swapping out the very heavy factory stereo and subwoofer for lighter, better, aftermarket stereo components. As a bonus, you can practically double the trunk size.
it's a shame you still can't get those kits that allow you to remove the radio for "Security", it would also work well for temporary lightening for tracktime
Was the carpet bunched under the accelerator? I rented a Camaro SS for a weekend and it certainly 'felt' fast to me - it was even an auto. Granted, my daily drivers are pedestrian, but 420hp can even move 2 tons pretty good.
My daily driver has ~55hp. 
And it's not a motorcycle..
No, i was getting 'all of it'. Of course, it wasn't my car and i didnt have an excuse to drive it very far but i did some stop and go and blasted up to 100 mph 2 or 3 times on the highway. Don't get me wrong.. it's a fast car. It's faster than it is dramatic, and that's where the boring thing comes in.. I have a car that could probably hang with that camaro up to 70 or so.. and then get left behind. The person in the camaro would be completely calm, and the person driving my car would get out with an elevated heart rate. I feel like the drama is more fun than the speed itself, so a car that goes fast with not very much noise or shifting or too flat of a powerband just seems kind of anticlimactic.
In reply to Vigo:
Understood -
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