[Clueless]

Hello. I've been lurking here intermittently; considering purchasing a replacement for my current car, and the GTO is one I'm thinking about. This forum seems like a friendly place, so even though I'm not very knowledgable about some technical aspects of vehicles, hopefully I can get some advice

I have not yet test drove a GTO, and I would definately do so when the time comes, but right now it is a bit too early.

One thing I'm concerned about is that some of the reviews of this car complain about "too much body roll", the suspension not being stiff enough, and the steering feeling a bit numb and having a deadcenter. A test drive should clear a lot of this up for me, but I would like to get others' opinions on this. Are these items really an issue, or have they been exaggerated by reviewers that are spoiled by much more expensive vehicles (or are biased)? I currently have a 2001 Camaro Z28 w/ automatic.

Another thing I'm curious about is how "friendly" this car is to shorter drivers? I've researched and found contradicting results. I'm only 5' tall, but I can drive the Z28 fine, and most other modern vehicles allow for enough seat adjustment to accomodate me. I'm interested in the M6 GTO, if that matters any.

I also have an oil change question, if someone could humor me on this--in the past I've used natural oil, but I hear the GTO comes preloaded with synthetic. One thing I've not been able to find out is how many months between oil changes is normal with synthetic? Like natural oil, usually you hear "3 months or 3000 miles". I see 5000-7500 miles listed but never the number of months on synthetics. (I warned you I'm not good at this stuff )

*waves*

 

[Ironmancan]

OK here's my opinion. Take the car out for a test drive even if your not ready to buy just yet. The magazine articles and reviews suck. If your pushing this car hard you'll notice the suspension weaknesses. I would rate the suspension better than most out there very stable and comfortable. Not a track star but its not meant to be. Quite a few people have been upgrading the suspension for more serious duties and it seems to work well. I'm 5'1 and have no problems with seat adjustments. More height adjustments than I need.
With syn oils you can go longer between changes. Without getting to technical its a much better oil (handles heat better, less friction etc) so it last longer. My .02 cents good luck.:cheers

 

[Ironmancan]

Forgot, if you don't put alot of miles on your car it's still recommended to change your oil every year regardless of mileage. No matter what your using.

 

[Clueless]

Thanks for the response, Ironmancan. Glad to hear from another person not on the tall side--that is one of the hardest things to find information about in reviews.

I've been holding off on a test drive as I would hate to get out there and actually have the salesperson make me a decent offer after a testdrive, and then not be in a position to take it :| It is very doubtful that would happen, but it would be Murphy's Law that, if I wasn't yet in a position to buy and I test drove, I would get a good offer (it actually happened to me once before).

I don't plan on racing, so from the sounds of it, I wouldn't be pushing the suspension. I actually get slight headaches from cornering too fast, so tend to be a granny on corners

 

[Ironmancan]

The suspension is a quality piece. If you were closer I'd let you take mine out and judge for yourself. Best of luck and let us know what happens. Welcome to the site.:cheers

 

[gto_lady04]

Hey,
I can go one better than that, I'm 4'11" and reach is great. I don't even have to put the seat all the forward for a change. There must be a lot of short Ausie's too.

Monica

 

[purplehaze]

don't test drive it if your not ready to buy it, cause once you get in your dun........... when i went to get mine i refused to test drive it, i wanted my car and only mine to drive off the lot, it's like cheating on your significant other, to me anyway.

my mother drives mine quite a bit and she is 5'3" she loves it, i am getting a little jealous, cause everytime i talk to her she has my car hey but what can you do right, it's your one and only mother.........

 

[malum in se]

don't test drive it if your not ready to buy it, cause once you get in your dun

:agree TOTALLY! It's like some sort of sickness . . . you test drive one and the next thing you know, the dealer has to pry you out of the (comfy) seats with the biggest crowbar they can find. I took delivery on mine today - I started looking around about two weeks ago.

 

[noz34me]

Hey,
I can go one better than that, I'm 4'11" and reach is great. I don't even have to put the seat all the forward for a change. There must be a lot of short Ausie's too.

:agree And they have little feet! :rofl:

 

[GOATGIRL]

I'm 5' 2" and love driving my GTO...I don't have any problems either!

As far as the other things you were saying, I think the media is definitely exaggerating. Drive it for yourself, if you don't like it, don't buy it...

As far as oil changes, I prefer using syn any way but I hard on my cars anyway...

Good luck and let us know what you think!

We would love to have you as part of the herd!arty:

 

[dealernut]

:agree TOTALLY! It's like some sort of sickness . . . you test drive one and the next thing you know, the dealer has to pry you out of the (comfy) seats with the biggest crowbar they can find. I took delivery on mine today - I started looking around about two weeks ago.

Thats why I love selling this car.


My wife is 5'1" and she loves driving the 6 speed. I do not think you will have any problems. If you can drive the long nosed Camaro then you can handle the GTO just fine.

Since you are coming from a rather boaty suspension I think you will be extremely impressed by the quality of the ride. Coming from a Trans Am myself, I find the GTO extremely responsive and excellent on the highway. If I was going to seriously race the vehicle then I would indeed make some modifications, but all in all I think you will find the car a very good ahndling vehicle and one that can take bumps and potholes extremely well for being as responsive as it is.

 

[PONTIACSTYL]

Welcome to the site. The sterring wheel is telescopic so you can adjust so your not driving with your chest on the wheel. The dealer told me to change the synthetic every 5,000 so that is what i plan to do. i only have 6500 miles so far and have not had the first bit of problems. I like they way it handles and rides. The seats are very comfortable.

 

[fullarmor2]

If you get this car you will wish you would have done it sooner. This car is a blast. I love to take curves in my 06
Black/Black m6 , it handles the curves very well, and you
will love the way these sport seats feel when doing it! The
stick is good fun. Also every time I drive another car , since
I've got the goat, I am even more impressed with it, the
interior is signifigently better, and better looking. The instrument panel looks cool and when you change the digital speedometer to kilometers, the speedometer adjusts
as well, I like that because then you get to use that 0-200
speedometer a bit more! (just know what km are compared to m!) I could go on and on, this car rocks!arty:

 

[BigNick]

Every 40 km = 25 mi.

I have hit 200+ in my old '04 while in Metric mode. No passenger at the time. Estimated it at 141 MPH.

On an abandoned runway.

 

[Clueless]

Wow, thanks for all the responses, everyone. Nice to see a friendly forum!

Good to hear that there are other drivers around my height not having a problem. I remember some of my earlier cars, having to stuff pillows behind my back to drive them. Not fun! Plus, I think my aging self couldn't handle the lack of support any more.

That is something else I was thinking of--don't want to testdrive the Goat if I can't get one for some reason, because then it may well have gotten under my skin. The crowbar threat sounds familiar.

I'm seriously considering this car, as I just do not like driving non-V8 vehicles. The low end torque is comforting in a way--you know that you can always step on it a bit harder and still have acceleration. Whenever I drive a 4 cyl, I feel like I spend over 50% of my driving time with the pedal all the way to the floorpan/firewall

One of the things I'll have to do now is find out the best way to be able to get one in the color combo I'm looking for. I swear I was able to search by color once on gmbuypower.com, but ever since I've been back to that site it just keeps insisting on showing me the 4 closest dealerships

Thanks again everyone!

 

[fullarmor2]

If you get this car you will wish you would have done it sooner. This car is a blast. I love to take curves in my 06
Black/Black m6 , it handles the curves very well, and you
will love the way these sport seats feel when doing it! The
stick is good fun. Also every time I drive another car , since
I've got the goat, I am even more impressed with it, the
interior is signifigently better, and better looking. The instrument panel looks cool and when you change the digital speedometer to kilometers, the speedometer adjusts
as well, I like that because then you get to use that 0-200
speedometer a bit more! (just know what km are compared to m!) I could go on and on, this car rocks!arty:

Did I have "new car syndrome" or what! LOL! This is embarrising.