04-06 gto grassroots friendly?

I'm surprised I don't hear more talk about gto's on this board. We didn't get them in Canada, so I don't know much about them, but on paper they sound like they would make a great dd. Lots of power, 4 seats, and reasonable mileage. Is there something I'm missing? I was thinking it might be a good alternative to getting an e46 or an e36m3. I have a 100 mile round trip commute, but it's only twice a week. I don't need a competitive autocross car as I have a few miatas. I would like to do some track days and possibly a driving school or too. Would a newer goat do the trick?

I think they're neat cars but the prices still seem high, at least in the Minneapolis area. I just checked my local Craigslist, and most of them appear to still be in the $14,000 - $16,000 range. Only one was under $10k, a 2004 with an automatic for $9600; oddly enough that one is at a dealer so it must be a pretty tired example.

For what you have described it should be about perfect IMHO. Awesome potential for upgrading also.

There's a 2004 in the GTA for $10.5k with the right trans... it had me thinking. :)

I checked out quite a few but the city mileage put me off. Fast as hell tho.

They don't get reasonable mileage. Highway MPG is under 20. That's why I passed on buying one. I got almost that MPG in a massive Dodge Ram 4x4.

Sky_Render wrote: They don't get reasonable mileage. Highway MPG is under 20. That's why I passed on buying one. I got almost that MPG in a massive Dodge Ram 4x4.

And in reality the mileage is much better than that. 80MPH is idling the motor in 6th. They get steller highway mileage.

The GTO is probably the best GM car ever sold in the US, yes even including the Corvette. It has the best interior, great build quality, and goes like crazy. Around here you often see 04's pop up for $10K with reasonable mileage.

Overall average on fuelly is 18.55mpg That's pretty E36 M3ty.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/pontiac/gto

I drove one back in 04/05 when we had one to test engine mounts on. It had a good powertrain... and that's about all I liked. It is very large and has a soft suspension. The latter can be fixed. IMO not an M3 alternative.

Are they importable into Canada? I shudder to think what parts and service would become around year 7 of its life.

They make great dd's. I had a 2004 for 2 years and it was powerful, comfortable, and reliable. I'd still have it if my employer at the time had stayed in business.

Not sure why people are complaining about the mileage. I averaged 20-21mpg on mine with about 30% highway driving. I didn't drive it with a light foot either.

I'm thinking that the overall mileage results are skewed. I know whenever I get into a car like that, I turn into captain leadfoot. It's the same basic driveline as a c5 vette, I don't see why it wouldn't get within a few MPG's of said car, which has been known to return upper 20's

I supposed I should have clarified, that my commute is all 70mph highway driving. I try to do most of my city driving on my bicycle. What does it take to make one trackable? I still want a street car, but I don't want to have to come in off the track every 5 minutes because somethings too hot. Brakes, cooling, suspension? Where's the weak link?

mndsm wrote: I'm thinking that the overall mileage results are skewed. I know whenever I get into a car like that, I turn into captain leadfoot. It's the same basic driveline as a c5 vette, I don't see why it wouldn't get within a few MPG's of said car, which has been known to return upper 20's

The GTO has a Cd of 0.31 vs the C5's 0.28, the GTO is 7 inches taller and has 13% more frontal area than the Corvette. It also weighs about 500lbs more.

I don't think they are any more "skewed" than the Corvette's would be. The numbers you are reporting are just people giving their highway maximums. Just like my DD gets 40mpg (it doesn't).

A friend of mine has a 2006 GTO 6 speed. He reports about 27mpg being easy on it on the highway. 75ish mph here in FL. Around town is under 20mpg.

When I borrowed it for a night I think it was close to single digits. I didn't measure as I was a little more concerned about how quickly the rear tires were wearing out.

All in all the car is stupid fun. Softly sprung but still a blast to drive. Nice interior too.

CL listing, not mine etc...

Flint MI area

Pontiac GTO 2004 - $9900 (cars and Trucks)

6-speed, Excellent condition, 87000 miles, black, red and black interior, 17 inch rims. 989 742-4207 cell 989 733-0259.

^ This.

In reply to Greg Voth:

QFT!!

My former 04 6spd Goat got an EASY 27 mpg on the hwy and 16-20 in the city. Mrs. Zero got 24 on the hwy and ~13 in the city. It's all in the driver . . .

It's an awesome cruiser and pretty competent in the corners for a 3800# car on soft springs.

If I had $10K sitting in a bank . . . I would by another one.

A coworker had an '04 with a Magnacharger. He bought it in FL and drove it back to PA, averaging 29MPG on the highway. At one point it had 530 WHP, and was still perfectly civilized as a daily driver. Now he has an '06 with a built 6.0L that is naturally aspirated.

I haven't driven the new one, but when he was selling the '04 (without the Magnacharger) he borrowed my truck for a few days, and driving the GTO really made me consider heading to the bank.

ProDarwin wrote: Overall average on fuelly is 18.55mpg That's pretty E36 M3ty. http://www.fuelly.com/car/pontiac/gto

Okay, and I've put over 10,000 miles on an 05 LS2 GTO and never got less than 22MPG unless I was at the drag strip.

ProDarwin wrote: Overall average on fuelly is 18.55mpg That's pretty E36 M3ty.

My 1993 turbo legacy gets that mpg in the city. Not bad for the GTO considering it has 3 times the power.

As others have stated, the GTO will get 25+usmpg on the highway no problem. If all you do is highway, it could be good. To expect it to get good in-city mileage is hilarious.

mw wrote: I supposed I should have clarified, that my commute is all 70mph highway driving. I try to do most of my city driving on my bicycle. What does it take to make one trackable? I still want a street car, but I don't want to have to come in off the track every 5 minutes because somethings too hot. Brakes, cooling, suspension? Where's the weak link?

Having actually driven and raced an 05 GTO...

The 04's have smaller brakes than the 05-06's, but they bolt on. The brakes are very good. The stock suspension is a little soft, but there are dozens of companies with quality parts to fix that (Harrop, BMR, etc, etc). Cooling is rock solid, it's probably the best factory-equipped LSx chassis. The engine is easy to access and has a lot of room around it, plus a large radiator with good grill openings. The GTO I drove has been HPDE'd at PIR (which is a pretty large, high-speed track) and saw 135-140 on the straights. No issues in the 20-minute sessions completely stock with just upgraded pads and brake fluid. I'd recommend drilling out the clutch reservoir and installing a SS clutch hose (common issue with racers). Front suspension is where you'll want to do the most work as a 255 is about the biggest tire you can get in there. Better struts, new bushings, camber kit, and a bigger swaybar. For all highway driving I averaged 28MPG and had 3 or so tanks of 30. 80MPH in 6th really is literally just above idle.

Javelin wrote: Okay, and I've put over 10,000 miles on an 05 LS2 GTO and never got less than 22MPG unless I was at the drag strip.

Fuelly is ~135K worth of data, 11 vehicles. Just a data point... usually more significant than 3 people on this forum saying "I got 52mpg highway towing a boat uphill through the Rockies"

ProDarwin wrote:

Javelin wrote: Okay, and I've put over 10,000 miles on an 05 LS2 GTO and never got less than 22MPG unless I was at the drag strip.

Fuelly is ~135K worth of data, 11 vehicles. Just a data point... usually more significant than 3 people on this forum saying "I got 52mpg highway towing a boat uphill through the Rockies"

Funny, I count 5 people in here who are saying mileage in the high-20's with normal driving. No outlandish claims, no fanboyism, just facts about the cars they have owned and driven. Believe what you want, were busy driving the 400HP car of our dreams and laughing at you.

mw wrote: I supposed I should have clarified, that my commute is all 70mph highway driving. I try to do most of my city driving on my bicycle. What does it take to make one trackable? I still want a street car, but I don't want to have to come in off the track every 5 minutes because somethings too hot. Brakes, cooling, suspension? Where's the weak link?

Like Javelin said, the weak link for these is brakes. The '04s were weak. Better for '05-'06. But other than that, they're awesome. They'd fit what you described perfectly.

My '04 had extensive engine/suspension mods. On the highway, I could still get well into the upper 20's mpg, I even saw 30 a few times if I had the cruise on at 70mph the whole time. But that's just highway cruising. Get on it, and the numbers drop about as fast as the gas gauge needle...

Well, I can believe the people claiming upper 20s for highway gas mileage. I get 28 highway mpg in my '11 Mustang, which also has over 400 horsepower. It can definitely be done, especially in a large-displacement motor with a lot of low-end torque, because the gears can be made higher so that the engine turns a much lower RPM on the highway

With a car of that weight and power, it's all about the city/hwy driving ratio. My C4 was a bit of a pig in town...but had little trouble nearly matching my Protege on the highway.