I kinda love the G8. Pontiacs had about the worst interiors of all in the 90's, but the G8 kep the Holden interior and it was far superior. Pretty nice even. I want a grey one that I would de-badge, even the Pontiac badge on the nose, and have a great Q-ship.
I'd swap on some classy wheels for a domestic M5 vibe.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:My neighbor has one. It's quick (he cammed it and ported the heads).
I just can't get over the styling. It's a personal thing, but damn they're just about as exciting to look at as a piece of blank paper.
That is why I love them. And the SS. And the Caprice PPV. Vanilla. Plain. Don't stand out to cops. Being in a plain car has saved me more tickets than going the speed limit
Our dealership took in G8 GTs on two separate occasions while I've worked here. One was a ~40k mile car with a tune, intake and exhaust and was pretty punchy. The other was an all-stock ~80k mile car that was well taken care of and drove very nice. It did a pretty healthy burnout, I recall. I talked to sales about that one but they wanted $23k. Not awful, but I wouldn't have wanted to drive it in NY winters, and if I'm going to drop $23k on a fun summer car, it's not going to be a 4-door sedan, considering I have no kids or significant other.
I've also driven one 2014 Chevrolet Just SS, as I call the dumbly-named sedans, and that was a hell of a car. Nice interior, good handling, lots of power, tastefully styled. Too bad Chevrolet gave them a dumb name, non-existent marketing, and then waited to offer a manual transmission and MagneRide. Our dealership gave ours away for $36k because no one knew what it even was (I heard the salesmen telling customers it was a Malibu SS or an Impala SS) I expect those to be a future collectible. And I've driven a ton of Caprice PPVs. They're a lot like a G8 GT but slower from all the added police gear and usually pretty thrashed.
Don't overlook the Caprice PPV.
In reply to Appleseed :
How much different is the PPV vs the SS?
In reply to NickD :
Based on their prices, they are already collectible. a 2014 is out on Autotrader for $43,000. That's about what they listed for back then isn't it? https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/all-cars?zip=32303&makeCodeList=CHEV&modelCodeList=CHEVSS
GPz11 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Appleseed :
How much different is the PPV vs the SS?
The Caprice PPV is basically the base G8 or G8 GT, whereas the SS is the equivalent of the G8 GXP. It has either the 3.6L V6 or a 376hp 6.0L L77 (no 430hp LS3). But its heavier, due to bulletproof panels in the doors, and it has a minimalist interior. They also tend to be pretty thrashed and have a boatload of miles on them.
GPz11 (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Appleseed :
How much different is the PPV vs the SS?
The Caprice PPV is more or less a stretched G8 with no frills. It was the "VE" generation of GM's Zeta platform.
The SS is a rebadged "VF" Holden Commodore on the evolved Zeta 2 platform. It has fewer interchangable parts and a nicer interior than the older platform cars.
From the GRM archives: Pontiac GTO buyer guide.
David S. Wallens said:From the GRM archives: Pontiac GTO buyer guide.
Thank you Sir!
Drove and looked at a few GTOs over the years, never really lit my fire.
We did own a G8 GT for a short time back in '09-10. I really liked the car, except for the lack of a manual trans, which could only be had on the GXP. The GXP was a significant premium, and I didn't really care for the two tone interior. The interior was nice, but the materials were pretty pedestrian... hard plastic, etc. The car handled well for what it was (big), and was pretty quick. I did an OTS tune, which honestly helped the transmission more than the engine. I picked up a set of 2010 Camaro wheels and put the rears (20x9) on the front and had the fronts widened from 8 to 10" and put them on the back. Looked and fit like factory. Never did get around to doing anything with the suspension.
As I said, I liked the car a lot. It replaced a 2005 Legacy GT as my wife's DD, and the lack of snow capability was kind of an issue. Also my wife was kind of tired of silver sedans, so it went down the road sooner than I would have liked. Because of the rarity, values were still pretty strong and we actually traded it for more than we paid a couple years earlier. Parts were already becoming hard to get at that point as well. I read lots of stuff on forums about guys waiting for months for replacement body panels from Australia.
Interestingly, the G8 was just about as fast as our Legacy (13.1 in the quarter), but your grandmother could have run it down the strip. The Legacy had to be driven like you hated it to run those times. The Legacy, which had a turbo back exhaust, tune, manual trans and suspension work, was more fun to drive down the local mountain roads.
Oh, did someone say "Q Ship"? 
I looked pretty hard at the Chevy SS a few years ago... everything the G8 was, but even better... much better interior. I couldn't talk my wife into it... 
If you could make the stretch to an SS, that's what I would recommend.
One thing I remember about the GTO: small trunk. Not sure it matters, but it is small. I believe the fuel tank location is to blame.
I recently had someone offer me one for a bunch of concrete work. He valued it very highly and was quite impressed and bragging about his verified high 15 sec quarter mile.
I actually thought the GTO was faster than that.
I seriously looked at G8s before I bought my SHO. They seemed pretty robust except there was an issue with the variable valve timing system. A lot of folks were deleting them with a new cam and associated parts.
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:I actually thought the GTO was faster than that.
A 2003 test from Motortrend says 13.6
In reply to buzzboy :
and the LS2 cars are faster
buzzboy said:Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:I actually thought the GTO was faster than that.
A 2003 test from Motortrend says 13.6
The 05-06 cars are significantly faster. I have personally run a 13.0 in 100% stock 05 GTO MT6 in 08.
Something I guess I just realized regarding the GTO: There was never a "good" engine option that you had to seek out. You can argue LS1 vs LS2, but it's not like there was ever a V6 option.
I can't see any of these cars loosing value in the next three years. Buy the one you like, maintain and drive it, and then sell it for what you paid.
Opti said:A few years later a different friend bought an 05. It was just a bolt on car, but I remember just an OTS canned tune making a massive difference when it was stock. The LS2 GTOs have a notoriously bad stock tune.
As I recall, the LS2 intake is less than stellar as well. An OEM LS1 or LS6 intake is worth significant power over the LS2 and is a cheap, easy upgrade.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
Replying to myself: It wasn't variable valve timing, it was the cylinder deactivation system that had trouble in the G8s.
Carry on.
manual SS prices are up about 50% now versus 1 year ago. my buddy Jay has a 2016 SS 6MT that he'd let you have for $60k. I think it just hit 5k miles last week.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:manual SS prices are up about 50% now versus 1 year ago. my buddy Jay has a 2016 SS 6MT that he'd let you have for $60k. I think it just hit 5k miles last week.
Yup, the SS are out of my price range but would be nice. Well, they are out of SWMBO's price range. :>)
Purchased a 2006 GT6 6 speed back in 2007 when these were still sitting at the dealerships unsold. I got mine for a steal. Car was black with the red leather interior. Fantastic car and even in the last model year, still a sleeper in so many ways. Car was so much fun, sold it to Ligenfelter, who was going to put a supercharger on it and put it in his "museum" as it was a low mileage and perfect condition.
One I would like to have back......
Just did a quick search and see that they bottomed out depreciation wise a while back...... back up to what I paid for my new one back in 2007, do they really go for 25K for a nice one?
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