The "Test Drive" series lives again!
 

alrighty, I decided to do some more test drives. I never got some of the cars on my original list, and new ones have come out that require some attention 8) So i'm gonna go take a spin in these cars:

1. '05 Pontiac GTO
2. '05 Chevy Cobalt SS
3. '04-'05 Subaru WRX STi
4. '04-'05 Dodge SRT-4

Wish me luck! I'm kinda doubting i'll get to drive the Goat or the STi, but you never know :wink:

dont forget the new charger!

The older and more successful you look, the easier it will be to get a test drive.

Throw a Bonneville in there too. Wont be around much longer.

I forgot about the charger....

Anyway, time restrictions kept me from driving anything other than the '05 GTO.

And I must say, GODDAMN! this is one hell of a car! my test car was a black-on-black '05 6-spd. Beautiful car. the seats are outstanding, some of the best i've ever sat in. The interior is laid out nicely, everything is within easy reach for the driver. The steering wheel is nice, very high-tech looking and fits in with the rest of the interior. The shifter is amazing....very natural feel to it, very easy to change gears.

now the part that everyone was waiting for....the POWER! 400 horses of it. The LS2 is a beast. I didn't want to beat the piss out of the car, with the salesman riding along and all, but I did have the chance to wind up through the gears a few times. Maybe 3/4 throttle, and the thing takes off. I can't imagine what WOT is like. I was rocked back in the seat every time I touched the gas. The engine roars, music to my ears.

One thing I noticed about the car....the ride. it's very smooth, unlike driving an F-body. There's little to no harshness going over bumps. My teeth actually stayed in my skull. I didn't have a chance to test the car's handling, but the suspension feels tight enough that the car would eat up the twisties.

Bottom line: The GTO is amazing. easily one of GM's best cars. the only downside is the 4 month waiting period to have one delivered :cry:

I can try for a bonneville....the v8 model :wink:

Glad to see the goat lives :twisted:

"lives" is an understatement. this thing breathes fire.

yah 1ce i can afford 1 i will own 1 hopefully with a few firebirds/trans-ams lol

i checked the price on an '04 at another dealer before i went to test drive the '05. an '04, 6-spd, costs $25K. :shock: i can wait till next year, when the '06's come out, and pick up an '05 for cheap. my first new car.... :D

6nt the 6's supose to be at 500hp?

i have no idea. I don't think they are....

No way are they getting 500 unless....well, no its not gunna happen.

Lutz did promise that every year they would do something new and change it up. 05 they brought scoops and body kit with bigger brakes and more power. Lets hope that for 06, the VZ chassis gives us improved handling, interior, and my personal input...some much needed fender flares.

dare i say it.......?

The Judge?

and how do you improve the interior? this one's pretty hard to beat :D

stop whispering. they ain't making it. not yet, anyway.

Hahaha...they faught SLP for that name, and we never saw one. They should have called there "appearance package" the "Judge" package.
Add Judge to where it says GTO on the rear splitter, add some nice chrome J-U-D-G-E lettering.
The Judge name doesnt mean much as it had a tie in with an old TV show, but Judge could be something to rival the "R/T" package for the Charger. Would make for a great commercial, and a great comparo for car rags!!

i'm still extremely happy with my 04. But as far as the shifter being good, you obviously haven't driven a wide variety of stick cars i'm guessing. The gto's shifter is one of the worst i've ever dealt with. It's all rubber parts, so there's a really sloppy feel to it. And it hasn't really gotten any better with the 7000 miles i've put on my car since august. The 94 t56 with stock crap shifter in my iroc feels better.

It's funny that you said you took it easy on the car when you test drove it. I did the exact opposite. I test drove a yellow 6 speed car that just happened to not be parked in, and i was 100 ft out of the dealership with the salesman in the car when i romped on it. Then they let me take out the blue one i wound up buying an hour later without a salesman for about 45 minutes, so i had some fun with it too.

If you're seriously considering buying a car, you need to play with it. I drove the evo rs and the magnum rt the same way. Although there's a fine line between driving it and beating on it. I'd never dump the clutch or do a burnout or anything, so don't get me wrong.

i jus rem an article about an 06 in a ag back in august area and it had a nice body kit the sccops and it said it had an engine wit 500 i wasnt sure if the writer was rong and it was a concept or what?

That was a GTO done up by several young GM engineers for the Woodward Dream Cruse in Detroit. It had a 6.3 V8 making 500hp, and that mofo sounds MEAN!! It was orange and had a wide body kit if you want to call it that. It looked good, and I hope thoes engineers get to control future car development.

the engine in the Woodward Cruise GTO was made up of bits and pieces of the LS1, LS2, and LS7.

I took it easy on the car because:

A. It only had 200 miles on it, not broken in yet. I don't feel like trashing a car that I'm not going to own.

B. I have no intention of buying a car right away. I'm thinking about it in a year or so, maybe.

I did a burnout in an ION redline that I test drove...it was by accident though :roll:

yah that must have been it it was sexy :drool: