Smoke me once, shame on my miss-shift, smoke me twice…well, you might be faster than me.

Revitalized after laying dormant for 30 years, Pontiac’s new GTO continues to be full of surprises. For the second time in two weeks I’ve encountered a black ‘05-’06 GTO on the 280 freeway between 101 and 17. The first athletic encounter brought a shock as I downshifted to 5th gear and passed 4500RPM and raised the needle north of 125mph all while watching the GTO’s lead increase. Being all too familiar with the GTO’s .3 liter, 50hp advantage (making it an even 400hp), and 500lbs disadvantage I chalked up his impressive stamina to him having had a head start on the gas peddle. You know, inertia and all that. Today however I was sure not to let the same thing happen again. Sadly the gas peddle descended no more and the GTO passed me with a rather embarrassing haste. Maybe Sir Isaac forgot to carry the 1. Or maybe it was the Generation IV LS2. Either way it was a dark day for me, having been thoroughly whooped by a car who’s drab styling resembles something your father would drive. Yet another example of a company committing suicide by conservative budget, as sales of the new GTO have been disappointing. Instead of splurging for the brand new look the legend deserved, they seemed to have stapled on a blood relative’s skin, the Australian made Holden.

While my nemesis looked stock, I still wonder (read “hope”) it was the same car both times and he had some level of modification. It seems to me that 500lbs would out way the power advantage and make the two cars very close if not equal (although the stock GTO is rated .1-.2 seconds faster 0-60mph). If nothing else, the exhaust must have been aftermarket because even though it looked stock, it was far too loud for any factory GM product - it sounded great. The General could stand to take a few audio design lessons from Mr. Ford.

It’s clear Pontiac has awakened an authentic athlete, here’s hoping the 2008 model stops at a better plastic surgeon before it arrives.

I tried consoling her, but it’s becoming increasing clear that something has to be done. You can donate to the cause by clicking here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 26th, 2006 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.