Yup another GTO thread!

[Juice33]

Well i am looking at GTO with a lot of mods, cams, intake, headers, yada yada yada. The car also has an upraded suspension for road course and auto-x. It supposedly has "more than 500 HP" Obviously not at the wheels and they put in a new Z06 clutch yesterday. Also all of the engine work has been performed by Mongillo Motorsports in East Haven, CT.

Does anyone know how well these cars hold up when modded like this? I loved the car, it sounds mean as all hell and rode very very well. My old Cobra felt faster with 466 rwhp/474rwtq, but this car definately scooted. The salesman yelled at me twice to slow down, yes he really yelled at me twice while I was driving it. I told him to chill out but it was funny none the less.

So how are the fairly well modded GTOs holding up? I asked on LS1GTO also, but I figured I would ask you smart guys too, since they may not like me as a noob or something. I am sure there are many knowledgable GTO owners on this site, as I see threads about moving to the fat cavaliers very often here on SVTP.

Here is a link to the car:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...05&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=15

Thanks for the help guys.

L.J.

 

[Common]

Well i am looking at GTO with a lot of mods, cams, intake, headers, yada yada yada. The car also has an upraded suspension for road course and auto-x. It supposedly has "more than 500 HP" Obviously not at the wheels and they put in a new Z06 clutch yesterday. Also all of the engine work has been performed by Mongillo Motorsports in East Haven, CT.

Does anyone know how well these cars hold up when modded like this? I loved the car, it sounds mean as all hell and rode very very well. My old Cobra felt faster with 466 rwhp/474rwtq, but this car definately scooted. The salesman yelled at me twice to slow down, yes he really yelled at me twice while I was driving it. I told him to chill out but it was funny none the less.

So how are the fairly well modded GTOs holding up? I asked on LS1GTO also, but I figured I would ask you smart guys too, since they may not like me as a noob or something. I am sure there are many knowledgable GTO owners on this site, as I see threads about moving to the fat cavaliers very often here on SVTP.

Here is a link to the car:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...05&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=15

Thanks for the help guys.

L.J.

Well for starters, that's an LS2 not LS1....why ask on LS1GTO?, I know .....I know, just busting your balls.
Good cars overall, great interior, ride better than cobras BUT get beat by most cobras also . Good luck with the deal.

 

[Hmbre97]

They suffer the same setbacks as the 03-04 Cobra... weight and IRS issues. Another bad thing about a high HP GTO is you have little room for rubber out back so once you start making big power, hooking up may be an issue.

As far as the motor holding up, LS2 FTW. Do they have receipts for the car to verify what parts were installed?

 

[Cobrasvt43]

personally I would take it to your local shop prior to purchase and 1. have it generally checked out and 2. pay a few bucks and have it dynoed.. if that matters to you. These cars seem to be good so far, but keep in mind that being they were only a 2 year run (with the ls2) and not very sought after, parts for them are going to become more and more scarce.. I was debating buying an 06 a few mths back because dealers were offering great incentives but decided against it.. mainly because of the aftermarket parts issue I fear would arise.

 

[dtheo]

something different, buy it.

 

[Juice33]

I have made an appointment for the car to be checked out by XX Tuning in East Hartford by Chris Tomorrow morning. Unfortunately the dealership would not allow me to dyno the car, also they are driving it to XX Tuning, so I will not be there for the look-over unfortunately.

As for receipts, they showed a bunch to me when I was at the dealership today and they told me they would give me the info to get in touch with the original owner.

Thanks for the info so far and keep it coming fellas (and ladies, if there are any on here).

 

[Doc GTO]

That shop the car was upfraded at does top notch work and with those mods could make 450rwhp easy, if not more depending on the cam usd. I would trade out the JBA shorties for a set of long tube headers though. Great buy. I would add a 100 wet shot with window switch and hold on to your balls!

 

[Juice33]

That shop the car was upfraded at does top notch work and with those mods could make 450rwhp easy, if not more depending on the cam usd. I would trade out the JBA shorties for a set of long tube headers though. Great buy. I would add a 100 wet shot with window switch and hold on to your balls!

LOL thanks for the info Doc. I really liked the car and had a blast test driving it as I was getting yelled at by the salesman to slow down. I have never had nitrous in a car so I will probably stay away from it, but you never know, I may be swayed somehow. :beer:

What kind of long tube headers? What kind of gains will I see?

 

[Doc GTO]

LOL thanks for the info Doc. I really liked the car and had a blast test driving it as I was getting yelled at by the salesman to slow down. I have never had nitrous in a car so I will probably stay away from it, but you never know, I may be swayed somehow. :beer:

What kind of long tube headers? What kind of gains will I see?

Going from a catted shorty to a non-cat long tube you would gain about 15rwhp with an adjusted tune. This car has a lot of pontential seeing it already has ported heads. Add those long tubes and a FAST 90 intake with a retune and you could be clse to 475-480 rwhp then a 100 wet shot and it will move out. The LSX motors love the spray and with a proper tune, very safe.

 

[Juice33]

Well I just heard from Chris at XX Tuning and the news was not good. There is a lot of knock and the timing is all wacky too. With the timing going all the way to 32 degrees at the higher RPMs. It looks like I will have to pass on this car and keep looking.

Chris helped me out big time and I would like to give him a huge thanks! Who knows what would have happened if I had bought the car and it chit the bed on me. Chris, you are the man!

 

[red9450]

glad you caught it before the paperwork was signed.

 

[Juice33]

glad you caught it before the paperwork was signed.

I would have been deep up in shit's creek without a paddle!

I still like the cars and might keep on looking for one, it is too bad because I really liked that one too.

 

[SVT_4_me]

GTO's look like poop...

 

[Doc GTO]

Well I just heard from Chris at XX Tuning and the news was not good. There is a lot of knock and the timing is all wacky too. With the timing going all the way to 32 degrees at the higher RPMs. It looks like I will have to pass on this car and keep looking.

Chris helped me out big time and I would like to give him a huge thanks! Who knows what would have happened if I had bought the car and it chit the bed on me. Chris, you are the man!

That is all tuning. The car with run KR if you are actually under load and protect the motor. Did he put on LS1Edit/HPTuners/EFI Live and read it that way?

That car without cats can run up to 23-24 degrees timing WOT but 32 is way to high.

 

[Doc GTO]

GTO's look like poop...

Mine moves like stink on shit! Does that count . . .

 

[SVT_4_me]

Mine moves like stink on shit! Does that count . . .

it certainly does... they are very nice cars, i just hate how they look.

 

[Juice33]

That is all tuning. The car with run KR if you are actually under load and protect the motor. Did he put on LS1Edit/HPTuners/EFI Live and read it that way?

That car without cats can run up to 23-24 degrees timing WOT but 32 is way to high.

He read it using the HPTuners. Even when I test drove the car I was hearing some weird things, but I have never driven a cammed car before (well a cammed evo once but that was too loud to even hear myself think), so I was not really sure what I was hearing. The car also needs a final tune for "cold starting" according to the shop thgat originally performed the work on the car.

The car does have cats, it is not catless. Chris aslo told me that is was running at 12 degrees of timing throughout a large part of the RPMs and then jumped to 32 at the very high RPMs. I am no expert on timing so I am just parroting what I was told.

 

[Cobrasvt43]

sorry to hear it man, but saved you in the end. My buddy was looking at getting an srt-4 and i made him take it to my local shop, it too was going to be quite prone to problems.. its good taht some things can be diagnose prior to purchase!

 

[Juice33]

WOW! I just found out last night the true history of this car ant it is mind blowing! The car is a pure piece of crap. If you guys know any one looking for a GTO, make sure they stay way clear of this one. The knocking and timing is only the very tip of the iceberg, there is a whole lot more BS involved and I am kind of shocked by the whole thing.

 

[Doc GTO]

WOW! I just found out last night the true history of this car ant it is mind blowing! The car is a pure piece of crap. If you guys know any one looking for a GTO, make sure they stay way clear of this one. The knocking and timing is only the very tip of the iceberg, there is a whole lot more BS involved and I am kind of shocked by the whole thing.

Maybe the last owner partially hurt the motor and did a quick trade before it let go. You never know . . .