I owned a 2005 GTO for two years and about 30,000 miles. It's a great car and as someone else said, totally underrated. The chassis is actually an Opel design from the mid 90's. It first came to the US as the Cadillac Catera. Then GM's Holden division in Australia got hold of it for their Senator sedan and the Monaro coupe. It's heavy at 3,800 lbs but that makes it a great cruiser. It's very different from the S2000 but very enjoyable. The LS2 engine can't be faulted. 400HP and 400 ft lbs in a very flat torque curve is a joy to drive. I got ~18 mpg in spirited driving and could achieve ~25-26 mpg on long highway drives. The back seat is a bit awkward to access but once you're seated it has really good room. I'm 6' and 220 lbs and I found it very comfy. The front seats are as good as the S2000. The brakes aren't bad but you are dealing with close to two tons of mass. The one absolutely annoying thing about the car was/is the damned Tremec T56 transmission that GM stuck in it. Horrible sloppy feel. Balky third gear. And the flipping CAGS system! If ever there were a piece of automotive technology that didn't need to be invented it was CAGS. The damned thing can get you killed if you're not paying attention when accelerating into traffic. For that reason only I'd seriously look at the 4L65E automatic. It's a 4 speed but very well mated to the LS2 engine and a lot more pleasant than the stone age Tremec 6 speed. The interior is not really upscale but very decent quality and very functional like the S2000. Good luck if you buy one. I thoroughly enjoyed mine when I expected to be underwhelmed by a GM product.

 

^^ you can buy a CAGS eliminator system that only takes about 5 minutes to install.

 

[QUOTE=herminator,Mar 4 2010, 07:40 PM] ^^ you can buy a CAGS eliminator system that only takes about 5 minutes to install.

 

I drove a GTO prior to buying the S2000 (the 6.0 version) and loved it, except for the gearbox, which definitely was a deal breaker for me. The power is quite nice, but the transmission was terrible, especially compared to an S2000. I thought the interior was very nice, and the backseats were certainly roomy. It's a great car overall.

 

I recently sold my S2000 for a 2006 example of the GTO as I needed more space and still wanted something fun to drive. I had heard the horror stories of the stock shifter in the GTO and thought they were blown out of proportion. I was wrong. It WAS terrible, a baseball bat in jello is the best description.

Thankfully the aftermarket has a few solutions for this. I decided which one I liked before I bought the car and installed it quickly after getting the car home. Significantly shorter throws with more feel and better engagement, still definitely not an S2000 shifter. But the trans in the S2000 doesn't have to deal with 400 foot pounds.

 

I personally would go for something like a mustang over a GTO- less power overall, but better handling, gearbox, and less weight.

 

you do understand that GM did this knowing fully that everyone would either cut the lockout power OR install a skip-shift eliminator: Its done so they can get around the whole emissions deal, where they get more MPGs.

 

In GM's defense, the EPA mileage rating rules are very specific about when you can shift a manual car. The rules were clearly setup around the idea of a smaller displacement motor. Also, they don't allow you to skip shift. GM was simply getting around an overly rigid rule system. I would blame the inflexibility of a one size fits all test for manual transmission cars as I would blame GM.

At least in the C6 Corvette it isn't too obnoxious. Well in part because I found shifting from 1st to 3rd rather than 1st to 4th worked nicely for normal driving.

 

Yeah, an aftermarket shifter cleans it up quite a bit.

Intake, headers, exhaust and a tune (which can also remove the CAGS), and you're sitting at a nice 430-440HP. H/C set and you're over 500 (close to, or over depending on cam, etc.)

If it was a DD and a 2nd car, I'd be inclined to go auto (if I had my manual weekend car), but as a single DD plus fun, even a sloppy M6 is better than a slushbox

 

The only reason I could see getting the 350 mile car is if you plan to keep it as a collector car, not driving it.

As others have said, get the 10k mile example and use the saved money to invest half and mod with the other half.