It doesn't look like the old goat. That's the harshest indictment we can make against this new Pontiac GTO. Yes, there are other, eminently fixable flaws with the Australian-built GTO, and we'll get to those shortly. But we're really struggling to invent reasons not to put both hands together for this supremely comfortable, rear-drive, all independently sprung, Corvette-powered, husky-sounding, highway-inhaling coupe.

Okay, the new GTO's styling is a snooze. But let's put the body lines into context. The car on which this new GTO is based, GM's Holden Monaro built near Adelaide, Australia, was a styling concept for the 1998 Sydney motor show. Holden staffers penciled it in their off-hours without any approval by the management for production, much less any inkling that it would ever be sold in America.




Wish all you want, but GM won't spend hundreds of millions right now to bring us an all-new replacement for the Firebird. We've seen GTO concepts, some based on the front-drive Pontiac Grand Am and most recently a vile orange nonrunning concept car at the 1999 Detroit show that was too ugly even for Hot Wheels to build. We respectfully yawned in GM's face. So instead, we get a decade-old platform derived from the European Opel Omega and Cadillac Catera sedans. But wait. The Monaro fits the template of what a GTO should be better than any other vehicle in GM's current global lineup. It's rear-drive, it's relatively inexpensive, and it's already designed to accept a 350-hp Chevy small-block LS1 V-8. Plus, it's a perfect blank canvas for the aftermarket, which will scramble to develop bigger wheels and tires, body tack-ons, exhaust kits, and the inevitable 405-hp LS6 conversion. GTO Judge, anyone?




Because the Monaro-to-GTO transformation was hasty—about 17 months, says GM—there wasn't much time or budget to thoroughly alter the car. The biggest change involved moving the fuel tank from below the trunk floor to inside the trunk—to help keep the GTO from becoming a fireball in rear-end collisions. The 18.5-gallon plastic-encased tank offers a range of about 350 miles while chopping the trunk almost in half, cutting cargo space down to about two golf bags' worth.

As sparse as it is of optional luxuries, the GTO's cockpit welcomes patrons with leather seating for four adults, detailed with elegant French seams and embroidered GTO logos. "The best seats in any GM product ever" were compliments regularly heard about the deeply bolstered, lumbar adjustable power front buckets. Put to the endurance test during a nonstop, 29-hour beeline to Las Vegas (see "Fear and Losing Near Las Vegas," page 60), the GTO's seats left backs feeling free of fatigue, tailbones coddled, and spinal nerves unruffled.





The individual rear seats are ergonomically sculpted and scalloped like the fronts. Heads and elbows in the rear get plenty of stretch space. The front seats sprout a manual-release handle that flips the seatback forward, but only just past vertical. Then a separate button must be held while the front seat motors forward and back with the alacrity of a garden slug. More than a few passengers preferred to wriggle into and out of the rear like escape artists rather than wait for the seats to release them.




That the GTO is a foreigner to GM's North American lineup is evident from the driver's seat. The center-console window switches, the thick rubber ***** of the manual climate control, and the European Blaupunkt CD-changing stereo will seem alien to GM regulars. So will the manual tilting and telescoping steering wheel. Every two hours the cluster's LCD flashes a "rest reminder" with a pixilated image of a tree (perhaps Australian eucalyptus?) and a picnic table. How exotic.




The elegant detailing—including the red-face GTO dials with silver bezels and chrome pointer hubs, the red stitching on the leather-wrapped wheel and shifter boot, the polished metal door handles, and the aluminum-colored ring around the center dashboard stack—is also a welcome departure from GM's typical Tupperware interiors. We only wish Holden would find some space for a dead pedal left of the clutch.

C/D TEST RESULTS




ACCELERATION_(Seconds)
Zero to 30 mph:_2.0
40 mph:_2.8
50 mph:_4.2
60 mph:_5.3
70 mph:_7.1
80 mph:_8.8
90 mph:_10.8
100 mph:_13.4
110 mph:_16.0
120 mph:_19.1
130 mph:_23.4
140 mph:_28.9
Street start, 5-60 mph:_5.8
Top-gear acceleration, 30-50 mph:_10.2
_50-70 mph:_10.4
Standing 1/4-mile:_14.0 sec @ 102 mph
Top speed (governor limited):_158 mph




BRAKING
70-0 mph @ impending lockup:_185 ft




HANDLING
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad:_0.88 g
Understeer:_minimal moderate excessive




ESTIMATED FUEL ECONOMY
EPA city driving:_16 mpg
EPA highway driving:_28 mpg
C/D-observed:_22 mpg




INTERIOR SOUND LEVEL
Idle:_54 dBA
Full-throttle acceleration:_79 dBA
70-mph cruising:_71 dBA

PONTIAC GTO

Vehicle type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
Estimated price as tested: $33,695
Options on test car: 6-speed manual transmission
Major standard accessories: power windows, seats, and locks; remote locking; A/C; cruise control; tilting and telescoping steering wheel; rear defroster
Sound system: Blaupunkt AM/FM radio/CD changer, 6 speakers




ENGINE
Type:_V-8, aluminum block and heads
Bore x stroke:_3.90 x 3.62 in, 99.0 x 92.0mm
Displacement:_346 cu in, 5665cc
Compression ratio:_10.0:1
Fuel-delivery system:_port injection
Valve gear:_pushrods, 2 valves per cylinder, hydraulic lifters
Power (SAE net):_350 bhp @ 5200 rpm
Torque (SAE net):_365 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
Redline:_6000 rpm




DRIVETRAIN
Transmission:_6-speed manual
Final-drive ratio:_3.46:1, limited slip
Gear ..._Ratio ..._Mph/1000 rpm ..._Max. test speed
I_... 2.97_... 7.2_... 43 mph (6000 rpm)
II_... 2.07_... 10.3_... 62 mph (6000 rpm)
III_... 1.43_... 15.0_... 90 mph (6000 rpm)
IV_... 1.00_... 21.4_... 128 mph (6000 rpm)
V_... 0.84_... 25.5_... 153 mph (6000 rpm)
VI_... 0.57_... 37.6_... 158 mph (4200 rpm)




DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase:_109.8 in
Track, front/rear:_61.4/62.1 in
Length/width/height:_189.8/72.5/54.9 in
Ground clearance:_7.8 in
Drag area, Cd (0.31) x frontal area (23.3 sq ft, est):_7.22 sq ft
Curb weight:_3821 lb
Weight distribution, F/R:_56.0/44.0%
Curb weight per horsepower:_10.9 lb
Fuel capacity:_18.5 gal




CHASSIS/BODY
Type:_unit construction
Body material:_welded steel stampings




INTERIOR
SAE volume, front seat:_54 cu ft
_rear seat:_41 cu ft
_luggage:_7 cu ft
Front-seat adjustments:_fore and aft, seatback angle,
front height, rear height, lumbar support
Restraint systems, front:_manual 3-point belts, driver and
passenger front airbags
_rear_manual 3-point belts




SUSPENSION
Front_ind, strut located by a control arm, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear_ind, semi-trailing arms with a toe-control link, coil springs, anti-roll bar




STEERING
Type:_rack-and-pinion with hydraulic power assist
Steering ratio:_11.8:1-17.2:1
Turns lock-to-lock:_3.1
Turning circle curb-to-curb:_36.1 ft




BRAKES
Type:_hydraulic with vacuum power assist and anti-lock control
Front:_11.7 x 1.1-in vented disc
Rear:_11.3 x 0.6-in disc




WHEELS AND TIRES
Wheel size/type:_8.0 x 17 in/cast aluminum
Tires:_BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDWS, 245/45ZR-17 95W
Test inflation pressures, F/R:_33/39 psi
Spare:_high-pressure compact on aluminum wheel

Originally posted by STI_Jaguar
This car was nice maybe 5 years ago. It looks outdated now though.