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Pontiac GTO

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Comments

  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    Latest development on Inner tire Wear:

    Took my car to dealer in brooklyn,ny...after buying new Potenza Tires .
    Showed him all the "BLOGS" on GTO Inner Tire Wear problems...also told him I wanted a proper wheel alignment ....he had a blank stare.......He said he will speak to Pontiac on the matter........Made an appointment for the following week.

    Following week brought the car in.....spoke to service manager...he said "pontiac has no comment" leave the car for inspection...Lateron, called me ...told me car needed new controlarms/bushings/bearings.........also wheel alignment......had to wait for new parts........2 days later picked up car.................NO CHARGE...............covered by warranty
    Here is the Rub:
    No where on my invoice did it say ....INNER TIRE RUB....JUST "noise in front end....car pullsto left"
    How about that???
    Car drives great.....but for how Long??? ;)
  • ssguy69ssguy69 Member Posts: 13
    I'm in mourning.

    I had located in Massachusetts a silver six-speed 2006 GTO with 10,600 miles. The dealer was willing to let it go for 24,750. I had never driven a GTO prior to visiting the dealer and boy what a surprise. The car is a power house! I felt like I went on an amusement ride after I test drove it. Right there my mind said: 'this car is so impractical - what!? with all that power- at a time when gas is so expensive' and I told the dealer no. Then next day called back said I'd take it, called another day again and said no and then called and said yes and lastly called and said no. In the end I went to look at another car (Acura TL) that I thought I'd like but I kept thinking about the GTO. Unfortunately the dealer had sold the car when I called. I'm now here in mourning. I'm gonna get a GTO because I'm smitten and it's a rare ride. Somebody pass me a tissue please. ;-(
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    Wait 2 years ...I will be selling mine---2005 charcoal grey...automatic ........low mileage ..... :shades:
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    Any thing I should get done besides Oil Change??

    Air Filter/Plugs? Gas Filter???
    :confuse:
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    i don't think there is anything necessary at 25k but do not have the manual handy.... even an air filter might not be necessary unless you've been dirt-trackin . i think the plug service interval might be 100k. 50k on mine so far... fuel filter, naaaah.
    (i change the oil every 10k to 15k, usually mobil-1-extended-service.
    i've got valvoline syntec in there now and will change it after 10k.)
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    Thanks ....always value your advice. :)
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    you are most welcome, mp! in other 05 goat news, I think my strut-tower/bushing-things have collapsed or something like that - symptoms matching exactly what has been mentioned by our ace GTO dude who *really* knows all about these cars. or maybe my car needs tie-rods after 50k of punishment on boston-area roads. i can feel the right front wheel wiggly/wandering/wobbling on bumpy roads, quite a contrast from the ford fusion i'm renting currently in Cali...
    I suppose I'll consider pedder-izing the goat suspension if I can manage the logistics for that, and if the cost is similar to factory repairs/replacements. but probably I'll have the dealer replace whatever with the factory parts, because that's just how I roll.
    ps - vive la france!
  • stormblasterstormblaster Member Posts: 1
    I have an 04 GTO and my low beams do not work. The thing is, they are not factory lights, they are HID lights, aftermarket lights. Im new to the world of aftermarket accessories and I have a mess under my hood. So if anyone knows anything about it, Im open for advice.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    no respect, i tell ya.
    on csi miami they had the psycho road rage guy driving a 6-spd 05 or 06 GTO,
    and the clueless doofus driving a BMW 3.
    and it looks like the wrecked the GTO for real - no last-minute splice-in of a repainted 1982 4-cylinder camaro getting wrecked instead. torrid red is such a painfully bad color, so the ratio of good to crappy colored GTOs should be slightly larger now.
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    what is all this about G8XP--what is the differnce with our GTOs...Pontiac should have invested in the GTO....a real great car except for tire rub? should have updated a great base ...instead came out with 4-door car...no coupe...heavier ...same suspension....detuned LS3 engine..performance is slower...Wait till somebody runs it up against our 2005/2006 GTOs....bad management move...it is not a real performer.....all they try to sell it is the price???well our GTOs went from $28,000.00 to $33,000.00.Really don't understand this car. A Hot New Chevy Camaro will steal all Pontiacs thunder.. and with $5.00 gas there is going to be a real real small market for Big V8s.....and Car Toy guys like us want the TOPS to spend our money on.......................it is not going to be a "mediocre Pontiac".....it would certainly be a BOSS MUSTANG-----HEMI CHALLENGER--BIG BLOCK CHEVYS ---------------a limited market...a limited car.....Pontiac Car guys are wrong.. :(
  • cracoviancracovian Member Posts: 337
    Yes, the GTO was such a hot seller, the updated platform of the foreign-made 2-door coupe with small profit margins would have brought GM back to profitability :)

    Also, the LS-series engine is exactly what we need right now and the G8 is here just in time to satisfy consumers' insatiable demand for another sedan with no legacy and combined mileage in the teens.

    I'm so dissapointed with everything GM and Ford have been doing, killing the GTO being the smallest issue of them all. I would just let them die quickly and save them long agonizing death (though I think it may actually be quick after all) with the possibility of a bailout paid with my money. Thank you but no thanks.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    GTO folks, what is your dashboard 'overspeed' set to this week? mine's at 90 mph.
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    Well, the GT performs like the 04 and coming soon to a dealer near you is the GXP which should perform like the 05s and 06s. I think it might be the new GTO that was supposed to come out in 08 only it has 4 doors and an automatic this time. The GXP might get a manual. I heard it handles better than the GTO which is a good thing but other than that, I don't think I'll be trading in my 04 for one. A real disappointment from Pontiac. I think the new Camaro will have the downtuned LS3 also. It looks like they are capping it at 400hp for everything but the Corvette.
  • roadrunner70roadrunner70 Member Posts: 241
    80
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    tnx, rr70 dude. i've lowered my overspeed since that last post but i barely drive or even get to loafing highway speeds lately - i've been 99 44/100% telecommuting for a most of the last few months...
    i've got new NIXON tires on it. they flatspot pretty bad but are excellent once smoothed out.

    how could the G8 possibly handle better than GTO? it's so similar, & bigger & cushier ? !
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    How could the G8 out handle the GTO, especially when the G8 is so overweight? I don't know. But that's what guys who have driven it say. I haven't driven one so I don't know. But it is a new platform and just maybe the handling is improved. The rest of it seems pretty much run of the mill Holden.
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    :sick: :sick:
    There will be "NO NEW FIREBIRD OR GTO".......highperformancepontiac july2008
    There soon will "NO GENERAL MOTORS"........daily newspapers /no "NEW"oildrilling allowed thanks to our DEMS.
    Be seeing the GTOs on "BARRETT JACKSON" auctions....10-15 years
    I will be in my GTO-motorized wheel- chair powered by a "wind-sail"
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    to get me out of my GTO. I'd been going to my dealer to get the paperwork going to buy my 04 at lease end but they kept giving me the keys to a G8 to drive. I knew they wanted to sell me a new car and I figure I should at least drive the car. After one of the test drives I found out they had an flawless 06 GTO with 2100 miles on the lot. I had to check it out. The only problem is the car pulls a little to the right. I figure this can be corrected with an alignment. I bought the car last week but then they botched the alignment. I'm taking it back in this week when I return my 04. I hate to give it up but I just couldn't pass up a clean, low milage car still under warranty. And for two weeks I've owned two GTOs, something that I've always wanted.

    By the way, the G8 is a nice car but it comes in second to the GTO in every category as far as I am concerned.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    good to hear about your GTO experience, hippe non-chick . My GTO seems to actually get better with age. I've run it on 87 octane for the last few weeks just for yucks and it runs fine/same-mpg/still-absurdly-fast on 87 octane, and barely a ping unless I jump on it in wrong gear.
    The alignment is apparently nontrivial according to local dealer who charged $250 for my 05, and had to redo it after delivering it out of spec after the first try - the $250 later reimbursed in full by Pontiac without me asking. I bet the factory would cover your 06 alignment, even if it had way more than 12k miles - and with less than 12k miles, no doubt!
    Apparently alignments requires special parts via outrigger canoe from Australia. "Consumable bolts" or something like that. These cars do eat tires. Thankfully I've discovered the good value of Korean tires lately. I get 25k per set and they are quite bad after 25k.:) enjoy your 06 goat as well as your 'beater' goat ! :)
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    Thanks. Well, since then I took the car back in and got it aligned again. I insisted on the computer readout and they did align it. But same thing. I shouldn't say it pulls to the right, it's more like it just starts drifting. They said to bring it back if I still wasn't satisfied but I'm getting leery of that.

    One other thing, I decided to keep my 04. It's in perfect shape and I don't like the idea of them charging me for minor little cosmetic things. I don't know if anyone here has had the problem but a couple of inches of stitching had come apart on the drivers seat up on the left shoulder. They said it wouldn't cost much but they won't tell me how much. Anyway, what the hell. I'll just hang on to it for now.
  • cappgoatcappgoat Member Posts: 8
    Well, if you haven't driven one then you have no idea what you are talking about, period. I will add to that......Why must a car that has a name associated with a 60's or 70's muscle car be retro? The things that come out now (i.e. Dodge Challenger) with the retro style are like a musical group trying to live on the records of 40 years ago! To keep a car viable for the long run it has to change with the times and that includes the styling. I would rather see a manufacturer go for a current version, as in new styling, than try to hang onto and live on a past laurel.
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    I think this discussion was dead and buried long ago. Lot's of people don't like the GTO and haven't even ridden in one. That's par for the course though. So what's new? What goat do you have?
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    hippe non-chick - maybe you mentioned earlier, but how many miles on your tires, how old, what type? 17s or 18s?
    with my 05 (17s) a couple times i thought there were front-end or alignment issues, but really it was just tires. at around 20k and again around 45k/50k.
    New tires made all the difference - no more 'wandering' feeling from the right front, especially on very crowned roads. (rotating the old tires hadn't helped - one time I rotated left to right in order to avoid the inner-tire-wear - requires remounting tires - didn't help with the tire-related handling issues).
    Pulling/drifting to the right sounds to me like expected behavior on a crowned road, especially with semi-worn or very-worn tires . there are a variety of good value/performance tires available for the 17" size, btw!
    way earlier on the thread i posted alignment specs/#s for my 05.
    it could be cool if you would post your recent alignment #s, before & after & spec.
    (Pontiac had revised the specs over the original/factory/negative-camber specs.)
    ps - my squirrel-grey GTO still gets enthusiastic raves from pedestrians and other drivers about 99 44/100% of the times I drive it, so there are plenty of folks out there who appreciate these goat-naros along with the h8rs out there too!)
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK.......elias
    What do you think about the coming CAMERO?
    Big new LS3 engine.....gas prices falling.....economic depression....so we can drive our big V-8s...to the food lines......if GM survives. :confuse:
    Yes, I agree my 2005 grey still gets stares and everybody wants to race me when they come upsides.....still good fun :shades:
    What is GTO Robert upto? what is his latest "pearls"?
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    mparis1, I am wild about the new camaro - I've had about 14 browser/PDF windows open on all the new ordering-guide stuff today and have hired bald trapezoid-head security guys to keep me chained to the radiator so i don't go to my nearest chevy dealership to order the 2010 camaro. seriously, i like. :) aside from the maxxed motor, I'm probably one of two people who would like to see the new GM light-duty diesel in the camaro too.
    Robert's ls2/ls1 site is doing fine from what i've seen !
    TTFN !
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    OK, what happened is I bought the 06. Couldn't pass it up. 2000 miles and in mint condition. Even has some great mods. It has the original 17inch BF Goodrich's on stock rims. Before turning in the 04 my wife decided we should keep it and was willing to help pay for it. So now we have his and hers. Now, back to your question, with the 04 I replaced the back tires at 16K. I put on about 8000 miles a year so this was at two years. The fronts were worn on the inside edge but the rest of the tires had lots of tread left. I had them rotated left to right and got an alignment. At 24K (a year later) the inner edge was worn and I replaced the two fronts. The new tires are the original size and rating and the brand is Rykon and had a great price. It was around $500 for the tires and alignment. As long as they aren't from China I don't care. I go for the rating, not the brand. They are probably Korean. I have 32,000 miles on the car now which means the rears tires have 16,000 on them and the fronts have 8000 and they hardly show any wear. So far there is no abnormal wear in the front and I guess I slowed down a little as the rears still look new. And they handle just as well as the Goodrich's. Needless to say I am very pleased. I hope I didn't get too long winded here. I'll get back with the actual specs next time.

    Hippe non-chick, that's cool. I kinda like it. But let me introduce myself. Long ago and far away, before Edmunds hosed up my account, I was sputterguy. It's good to see you guys are still around as this place is like a ghost town. I waited a long time for the Challenger to come out but when it came out in barge trim I was so disappointed. I am so happy to have gotten my hands on a low milage 06. Now it's the best of both worlds (no not Miley Cyrus).
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    cool, glad you like the hippe nonchick concept, maybe better than that previous account name which got hosed.
    when it rains it pours GTOs on you! niiiice...
    good to know the tires are working out nicely like mine and also that you find disney-radio (sirius?) unavoidable like me. i'm looking into sirius satellite tv next.
    no pressure on typing in all those alignment specs, but hey, if you get around to it. ps - selena gomez #1!
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    Selena is Hot! Check out Lola, aka Eiza Gonsalez (I think that's how it's spelled) in Si Me Besas. Oh yeah!
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    front left right
    actual/before actual/before
    camber -.3 / -.2 -.3 / {-.8}
    caster 8.1 / 8.1 8.7 / 8.7
    toe .09 / {-.07} .08 / .04
    SAI 13.1/ 13.0 12.8/ 13.2

    cross camber .0 / .05
    cross caster -.6 / -.6
    cross SAI .3 / -.2
    total toe .17 / {-.03}

    rear left right
    camber -1.5 / -1.5 -1.0 / -1.1
    toe .18 / .19 .23 / {-.03}

    cross camber -.4 / -.4
    total toe .41 / .16
    thrust angle -.02 / .11

    I hope this makes sense to you. The numbers in brackets are the ones that were out of spec. I tried to make them bold or in red but couldn't do it here. It looks like they tried to hit the middle of the range for most of the values. It works good on my car......
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    thanks hippe... at some point i'm going to find my post with the align #s
    and compare side-by-side with yours. cheers!
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    I just noticed this. I had everything in neat columns, left and right, before and after. When I submitted it I guess it just slammed everything to the left. All the info is there, it's just needs some spacing. thanks Edmunds!
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    Hippe, I blame microsoft for anything like that.
    in other news, my GTO seems even more awesomely aligned now that it's running on $2.50 gasoline instead of $4 gas.
    If I sell a car to pay my property-tax, maybe I'll sell TDI instead of GTO. :)
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    For heaven's sake, don't sell the GTO. Yeah, I think I paid $2.29 or something like that yesterday. Makes you wonder why we paid over $4.00 not to long ago.

    About two weeks ago my 06 started popping out of first gear. Really freaked me out. I think I mentioned that the dealer I got it from went out of business. I know they would have fixed it no problem. I was afraid the local dealer would void the warranty because of the after market shifter. Some dealers are like that. I'd start out in second gear so at least I could drive it around. Kind of a bummer though. That took the fun out of it. Anyway, I was able to locate the service manager who had taken care of my 04 all these years and who did a good job of it I must say. He is now the service manager at a Chevy dealer which is about 70 miles away. I took it in this week and it turned out that it was the shifter and not the tranny. He fixed it for no charge. So, this story has a happy ending but it could have been a disaster.
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    cool about your fixed shifter... lemme guess, the service manager drives a vette or z28 or something GM with mucho mods. ? :)
    $1.99 for 87 octane... i feed my GTO 87 octane all winter and it is pleeeeeenty cold now.
  • hippehippe Member Posts: 14
    Ah, that was a nice vacation. I thought I would be working over Thanksgiving but it is getting a little slow (which is scary) so I was able to take the week off.

    Actually, the service manager races motorcycles and has never really known much about the GTO. But he will check around and makes sure things are done right. Well, they did mess up with my alignment but it is minor and I didn't want to keep going in for that. I'm glad I didn't start trouble over it. Fixing my shifter is worth way more.

    I used to run the highest octane but after learning here that it is only an anti-knock measurement I tried 89 and it worked fine. I then tired 87 but the 04 seemed to knock so I stayed with 89. I've run all three grades in the 06 and it runs fine but I do detect some clatter with the 87 octanne but that probably has more to do with what gear I'm in. If the rpms are up it runs fine. But who cares, gas is virtually free now. just kidding
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    The King is Dead...So live the new King....GXP...rave review ...quarter mile 13 seconds 4.5 0-60. wow. What are you guys hearing? Also hear you can order headers/air induction...etc. etc. :shades: :shades:
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. :)
  • pkocherpkocher Member Posts: 1
    what is a good coil spring combo for 1967 GTO conv.?
  • jimtnazjimtnaz Member Posts: 1
    I would like to know if all automatic 64 GTO's had the two speed automatic transmission. Any production numbers, it does have the tri-power 389 of course.
    I would also like to know the break down of production numbers and if they can be seperated from the Lemans. The car is all original rust free, esitmated value range would be great also.
  • mparis1mparis1 Member Posts: 107
    Weird Problem-----left side directional signal lights stayed on after leaving 2005 car. Played around with remote key door locked/unlocked until they went off. WHATS GOING ON? :confuse:
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    hi mparis. just back from FL & seeing 3 shuttle non-launches. missed it by that* much, but got a solid 25 mpg on 87 octane for much of the east-coast bostonFL commute. "I'll be back"..

    I've never seen the symptom you describe on 05/gto but just now I tried to trigger it, without success.

    could it be a software feature being triggered somehow?
    it seems to act just like euro-vehicle feature to satisfy particular state and/or courtesy requirements for leaving street-side turn-signal illuminated all night when parked on the very thin streets. this reminds me that illuminating parking lights 100% may use less power than flashing the flashers. counterintuitive? call mythbusters? :)

    A way to turn on that feature on some German cars for example: hold the turn signal indicator left or right before you shut off ignition/engine. Maybe while holding brake pedal down. For Holden vehicles possibly it is also required to simultaneously recite the Monty Python "Australia we love you" skit.

    Could it be that there is a particular wizard sequence to trigger the feature on GTO and you have found it, Harry Potter Paris ! ?

    On a long-distance cruise the car is simply incredible, it amazes me every time. (Only downside is that stop & go with the 6-spd is not very fun unless the traffic is fast enough to leave it in 2nd gear.)

    cheers...
  • cracoviancracovian Member Posts: 337
    I quickly fell in love with my new pulse red 2004 GTO which I bought on Christmas Eve and drove the next day with my wife and a baby from Atlanta to Chicago through the ice and snowstorms in Kentucky. It cruised beautifully and it felt solid as long as you kept low RPMs. I miss that car but it would have probably killed me (that is I'd kill myself) one day...
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    I hear you , cracovian.
    With GTO and a wrongly-timed flick of the right foot, one can get into big-trouble/dangerous-situation with the traction-control off - even on dry roads.
  • xtranautxtranaut Member Posts: 27
    I had an 07 corvette but became unemployed. I enjoyed 19-22 mpg all day long around town, no matter how I drove the vette. I got the 04 GTO because it was frankly the only car I could afford that gave me the same thrill the vette gave me to drive. I did a lot of research on the car before I bought it but misses a few things that turned out to be critical.

    The first is gas mileage. EPA says 16 city, so ike EPA says 17 for vette, I expected that to be on the low end of possibilities depending on how a car is driven. Of course the vette is far superior in fuel management technology and the fact that it offers a tranny capable of cruising at under 1100 rpm in high mids accounts for substantial gas savings too but my GTO gets far worse than estimated and I have to drive it with paranoid cautiousness to get that! If I drive like a little old woman, I can squeeze 16 out of it. Highway 16.7 to 19!!

    If I bust off the line and drive it GTO style, 13.5 to 15 are the numbers I can expect.
    Even a Dodge Hemi washing machine gets 19 and 20 driving in attack mode.

    I run only 93 octane gas - albeit Kroger to save the 10 cents. I ran that gas in my vette. IT sipped on it like an iced bar-brand martini.

    So what is this I see on all the boards from consumers that are pleasantly surprised about GTO gas mileage being better than they thought..posting 17,18,19 mpg in city driving. How does that happen? Based on the fuel avg digital gauge in the car? I have only figured it manually once against the gauge and the gauge didn't lie..

    So I am wondering..could it be that the 16k low miles that came with the car have worked against me? Did the former driver not drive this car the way it should be driven to perform at optimum level..did it accumulate sludge prematurely?

    IT doesn't act sluggish or idle rough. It doesn't blow smoke of any color. It doesn't run hot but it sure does eat my money.

    Any suggestions? COLD AIR, a good engine cleaning additive, what?

    AND WHAT MORON LET A HI-PO CAR LIKE THE GTO GO TO PRODUCTION WITHOUT AND OIL GAUGE!!
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    hello xtranaut. Your mpg expectations may not be possible to be met due to GTO being 500 lbs heavier than vette, worse drag-coefficient, more frontal area to multiply with drag-coefficient.
    As far as I knew, it was identical fuel-management between GTO & vette.

    With my 05 M6 I get 21 mpg all-around. Mostly highway, mostly with 87 octane.
    For pure highway driving I get 23 mpg with E10 and 25 mpg or more with pure gasoline. Pure city driving, 17 mpg would be about right.

    Sludge at 16k miles? I haven't heard of that being an issue even at 75k or 100k miles with these cars. If you are worried about it, probably good to swap the oil and get some fresh mobil-1 in there!

    Btw your comment about lugging the vette at 1100rpm to get best mpg is right on - that's the way to get best mpg with GTO too. lug the motor in the top gear you can manage. (that's not the way i drive it!)
  • xtranautxtranaut Member Posts: 27
    Elias...so if for all these reasons I shouldn't expect to get 19 or 20 mpg, how do YOU do it? My car is completely stock and from all appearances, has been pampered. This is the kind of gas usage I would expect to get if I modded the car out.

    Are you figuring your gas mileage out using the gauge or the old fashioned way. I am assuming that the gauge is pretty accurate. I used it against my own calculations when I first bought the car and it seemed to line up.

    Any suggestions?
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    I calculate mpg the old fashioned way "distance/gallons", but remain surprised that the GTO mpg-gauge is "spot on" tank for tank, just like yours! I trust it now.
    I think I almost always get >20mpg for each tank because I use the car mostly for highway driving and long-distance-highway roadtrips.
    The car spends more than 90% of its miles on interstates & state-highways.
    Of the other 10%, much is actually "suburban" driving rather than "city". Suburban driving can actually yield mpg better than highway mpg for some cars!
    (I have a VW TDI which I drive when my drive is sure to be city-ish or stop-and-go, or snowy/icy/etc, or all three.)
    Ideas:
    -Don't be afraid to "lug" the GTO engine and let it torque the car along at 1100 rpm just like you did with your vette.
    - Oh, another factor. I have the 17" wheels/tires. Maybe you have 18s and they have more rolling-resistance? I inflate tires to 34 psi cold. Maybe your tires are low? Our president says "air up those tires" and I agree with him on that!
    - and here's one. The gas cap - maybe it's that simple!
    These cars eat gas caps since they don't
    seal/lock like typical USA caps - I guess it's a Holden thing. If your gas cap is not sealing, this will cost you massive MPG due to the fuel evaporating! You can tell if the gas cap is bad if it just keeps spinning without any ratcheting sound. The ECM on these cars will NOT necessarily throw a code due to no gas cap seal - although I understand that "OBD-something" mandated they should.
    - also try 87 octane and see if that saves you 10% cost without costing any mpg, like it does for me. my car runs fantastic on 87 at all temperatures but I do use premium during warm weather.
  • cracoviancracovian Member Posts: 337
    16.7 - 19 HWY MPG? I doubt it... not on the stick unless you have auto and in that case your mileage is normal.

    My 2004 M6 GTO had a lifetime 14 MPG but I drove it like a bat out of hell (part of the reason why I had to give it up now that I'm a Daddy) but I could get mid 20s on the highway easily at 75+ mile speeds. I was putting in regular too.
  • xtranautxtranaut Member Posts: 27
    ELIAS...CRACOVIAN... Thanks for the input..although, as you see, there is still a slight difference of opinion as to what the GTO will do without effort in terms of gas mileage. With mine, unfortunately, there is little effort in getting bad gas mileage and not the other way around, as with my vette.

    I absolutely love this car as much as I did the vette and the interior is even better.
    I put a Pioneer Nav with about every bell and whistle you can get. It fit right in the Blauplunkt radio slot and looks like factory.

    My car is an A4 and runs strong. I have been a bit worried since I read about the tire shredding issue with the way they put wider tires on the car that rub the struts. I have the original tires and wheels on the car..17s..although I don't much like them. I don't know what I will replace them with yet but for sure, something quieter than these BFGs. They sound like truck tires.

    It doesn't help that my car didn't come undercoated to deaden some of the road noise. I am also in Houston where everything is concrete so you note every little variance in the grading as you drive.

    I found a chip made by VOLO that seems to be the only possible legit performance-fuel economy chip that rally does anything, aside of a programmer.

    http://yhst-19807630266082.stores.yahoo.net/vp12-performance-ch12.html

    The VOLO says it retails for 149.95 but sells for 89.95 at the intro discount. I am thinking about getting one after I see what a few guys that bought them think.

    I also noticed that before I bought the car, the dealer changed the oil and 1000 miles later, it looks to be a full quarter low. Is this normal and what kind of oil do you guys run that you find best for this car? The car doesn't smoke at all and there isn't a drop on my garage floor so ???

    I am seeing more people saying that a Group 3 like Castrol GTX is the best for this car instead of synthetic. Many are also suggesting to ad a product called AUTO-RX to the oil at change and run for 3,000 miles then change and ad a small amt again. The product is ester based so isn't corrosive but cleans all the engine parts and rings.

    Since my car wasn't driven that much over the almost five years the original owner had it and it was a woman, I think it could be possible that the car built up sludge from just sitting or not being run like an LS1 should be.

    Your thoughts about any and all of this?
  • xtranautxtranaut Member Posts: 27
    ELIAS...That sounds like my car alright. If I drive it like a GTO (but not radically) that is what I will get. I can't even imagine what these guys who mod everything are getting and my guess is they don't really car. If you have an extra 10 grand to make a 350, 500 horse, then you don't watch gas mileage.

    I have an K&N in my airbox but don't have cold air....and by itself, cold air doesn't help anything. Then I would need to change the exhaust and can't get away with anything less than about $800... so there is an easy 1200. dollars to get maybe a few MPG more.

    Now that the economy is tanked, I give a lot of thought on everything i do and what kind of a return it's going to give me on my mone. I figure I could make that CAI-EXHAUST money back in 18 months but its always easier to pay for the gas as you go than plunk out 1200 and not even be able to get excited! ha.
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