[GTJimbO]

and I can't wait!

Long time owner of a certain foreign brand (still am...) that joined the GM family about 10 years ago. Looking forward to the Pontiac. I'm used to turbocharging and FWD performance (no NOT Honda's!), but grew up with a father who drag raced in the '50's/'60's and later road rally'd in the '70's driving Chevy's.

Kinda re-learning the performance V8's after about 25 years of Saabs.

Jim.

 

[Robertr2000]

Welcome Jim :cheers



You have test drove the 06 Goat right? :cool Dumb question.... :lol:


arty:

 

[PEARL JAM]

CONGRATS!! Your gonna love it!!arty:
I spent years building Chrysler 2.2 turbos. Is this the foreign brand your talking about? (meaning foreign to GM's):cool

 

[WS6Vert]

May I ask what kinda deal you got?

 

[GTJimbO]

Hey, guys, thanks much for the welcome!

Chrysler? No. Saab.

Saab was bought out about a decade ago by GM. Been into the older 900 Turbos for years, and am still keeping two of them around. My daily driver, now 9 years old, has to go. What we call a "New Gen" 900. Saab under GM management hasn't made any two doors now for about 3 years, and looking around it was either BMW (too expensive for the performancee...) or, (yikes!) a Honda or something similar.

Had been eyeing the GTO since they came out, but never had a need to move until now.

Fellow Aussie Saaber has been ribbing me for getting a "Monaro", but says they're great cars. Kind of common there, of course, so he likes to give me a hard time. Here, they are virtually non-existant. I've seen maybe 4 on the road.

As to the deal? With $1500 in incentives, plus coming off of list, it's coming to around $30k even. And that's with 6 speed, and 18" wheels.

Yes, I did test drive! And though I know of a few 400 hp 2.0 liter Saab turbo's, it's nice getting that performance "out of the box". Still love those little Swedish Meatballs, but a little "Steak and potatoes" is a nice change!

I hope to learn what to look for, and what tricks are available on them. Brand new world for me. I'll probably leave it stock, save for perhaps the "skip shift" thing I'm now reading about (what the heck is that about???) for a little while as I get used to RWD.

Thanks again, and look forward to chatting with you all.

Jim Miller

1993 Commemorative Edition 900 Turbo (#116 of 325) modified
1991 Special Edition 900 Turbo convertible
1997 900 Talladega Special Edition modified(selling it...)
2002 9-5 Aero modified

and now, 2006 GTO 6M

 

[Robertr2000]

Here is of Mods list I have going

It's enough to make you crazy :willy: (and broke) :lol:

Already have or on order:
Volant CAI
front strut Brace
Sway bars/Bushing Set
Rip shifter
skip shift
Plugs/Wires
Billet oil cap
custom fit sun visor
The CLUB
Radar - Passport 8500 X50

Will have Soon or Some day: (not in any particular order) :cool
headers/exhaust system
Koni's all around
Drive shaft
Aluminium billet fly wheel
14" disks
electric water pump/160 thermo
Custom/Made to fit / Sheep Skins (charcoal)
Tune
Rear Diff cover
Tires/wheels 19"
Front skid plate
Cam/Lifter Set
Lowering Springs (minimal)


OVER THE TOP:
Supercharger
Turbo
NoX

 

[GTOtbird]

400/400 was plenty for me.

 

[GTJimbO]

It's enough to make you crazy :willy: (and broke) :lol:

Heh! Well, I'm kind of used to all that ($$$) with the Saabs. Turbos and bigger turbo's are what I'm used to. That and water injection, bigger intercoolers, etc.

For now 400/400 is good indeed. Hell, what am I saying? It's great!

BTW, what is this "rip-shifter" I'm reading about?

Jim M.

 

[Clueless]

Grats on the new Goat, Jimbo!

The skip-shift eliminator (CAGS eliminator) is to get rid of the frustrating 1->4 shift "encourager". If you do a search for my posts, I have one titled something like "M6 shifting problem", where I discovered the somewhat unpredictable "joys' of the skip-shift.

Basically, under certain conditions that I cannot accurately predict, when shifting out of 1st, the car will block you from putting the shifter in 2nd, 3rd, or even back into 1st. You have to move it to 4th. Not only is this annoying and throw off your rhythm, but until you get used to it, I feel it is dangerous, as suddenly you are hunting around for gears while in neutral--and you could have been making a left turn across traffic.

The GMM Ripshifter is one of the more popular stick shifts to replace the standard shifter with. This seems to be the one that is most often mentioned as "best". The factory shifter is a little stiff and has a longer throw than some other newer cars (like the 2000 MR2 I shared with a roommate). However, it does, I feel, contribute to the hints of old school that this car has.

As to FWD turbos vs RWD V8... yeah, very different concept. I'd recommend to take it easy and drive it normally until you get the feel of it down well. Traction control will help you out though. Probably don't want to take that off until you got the feel of the car down.

I've pretty much always driven RWD V8, so when I've driven FWD turbo 4s (never owned one, but test drive or friends cars etc) it feels very different. I don't like "lag" in general when driving, so the turbo lag on the cars I drove was extremely annoying. I have heard that newer cars aren't so bad on turbo lag though, and I haven't tried anything newer than about a '95. With a V8, lag isn't really an issue--when you press it, the car will accellerate.

 

[baron_iv]

Welcome to the community Jim!

You'll find a lot of great people and information here. The guys above really weren't kidding when they said you will find your wallet emptier and emptier the more time you spend here. However, if you're gonna spend $$, you may as well have fun doing it!!

There are as many opinions about what mod to do first as there are people on this site. It's really up to you and what you can afford. There's a mod for every budget and virtually every taste.

Generally, the GMM ripshifter is considered the best upgraded-shifter. I have a 6-speed and the stock shifter felt like I was shifting through peanut butter. The GMM will give you a much more crisp, solid feel. If you're used to driving a manual transmission, I suspect that will be one of your first mods.

Anyway, welcome and please keep us updated as you drive your goat more and get to know it. I always love hearing the impressions of new GTO owners.

 

[GTJimbO]

I saw the SLP shifter defeat thing on their website. I'm guessing that's different than the Rip-shifter? Can anyone clarify and/or describe the differences if any?

Jim M.

 

[noz34me]

I saw the SLP shifter defeat thing on their website. I'm guessing that's different than the Rip-shifter? Can anyone clarify and/or describe the differences if any?

Jim M.

I think the shifter defeat stops the stock shifter from wanting to skip 2nd & 3rd gears under conservative acceleration. It's a little way GM was able to avert the gas guzzer tax on the manual shift cars.

Funny, on mine, it rarely kicks in, and I'm not rawhiding it all the time either.

 

[Robertr2000]

I saw the SLP shifter defeat thing on their website. I'm guessing that's different than the Rip-shifter? Can anyone clarify and/or describe the differences if any?

Jim M.

Rip Shifter: (option 4)
http://www.jhp.com.au/monaro-gto/gto-short-shift.php

Skip Shift: (eliminates the 1st to 4th force shift)
http://www.lmperformance.com/3915/43.html

 

[baron_iv]

See, look at Robert's mod list already...He's had it 1 month and 5 days, and already he's either added to his car or has added to an order WELL over $1000 worth of upgrade parts. hehe

It's quite addicting too. It's like smoking x10. After you empty your wallet, you'll find yourself surfing sites looking for the next thing to spend your $$ on. Oh, the horror. :cheers

 

[Robertr2000]

See, look at Robert's mod list already...He's had it 1 month and 5 days, and already he's either added to his car or has added to an order WELL over $1000 worth of upgrade parts. hehe

It's quite addicting too. It's like smoking x10. After you empty your wallet, you'll find yourself surfing sites looking for the next thing to spend your $$ on. Oh, the horror. :cheers

Volant CAI = $300
front strut Brace = $200
Sway bars/Bushing Set = $500+
Rip shifter = $325
skip shift = $20
Plugs/Wires = $120
Billet oil cap = $50
custom fit sun visor = $40
The CLUB =$50
Radar - Passport 8500 X50 = $330



I'm at $2000 already


Thanks for bringing it up Baron

 

[baron_iv]

lol, sorry. I was trying to get across the point that it could get really expensive quite quickly...but you did that for me. hehe

:cheers