We are looking at the GTO or a Mustang GT for my wife.The GTO looks better as far as interior room.Price is close GTO A little higher.Just looking for feedback from an owner.

Chad,
I hate to say it, being a GM owner for over 35 years, but I would buy the Mustang. The GTO looks like all the other cars out there. Could just as well be a Mazda, Toyota etc. Sad that they ruined the GTO name on that car :(
Just my opinion,

I guess we are in the minority on this one.We had a 2001 Grandprix and like the style of the GTO.I like the 400hp. and rear wheel drive.

Sorry to add another car but if your going to spend that kind of money, check out the 300C.

My father has the 300C with the Hemi. I think this car is more stylish and much more comfortable than the GTO. The car had plenty of power and handled nicely. Why did they make the GTO so blah?

Are they still making the Mustang? I thought we put them out of business years ago! Phil

Whats up Plum I havent talked to ya in a while.I love my 05 stang it has turned out to be a great car,but if I had to choose between the stangs and the GTO I probably would lean towards the Goat for the simple fact that the stangs are popping up everywhere at least here anyway.Also check out the dodge charger they are pretty sweet in my opion.Good luck I love helping spend somebody elses money.

Must say I loved the ride I took in an 04 GTO. The interior is just so comfortable and I love the performance and sound. Haven't been around the 'stangs much though...

I thought the new GTOs were pieces of garbage until i drove one. Thing sounds meaner than a vette! GM sponsored a local driveathon near me where you got to test drive ALL GM vehicles, so me and my buddy kept going around in the GTO (you're only supposed to make one lap, each.) After about 5 laps total, a bunch of young kids came up to us and started bitching us out right there on the track.

I don't like the exterior styling, I don't think that it does the original GTO any justice the way the mustang does, but the interior is nice, and the engine is even nicer. Haven't driven a new mustang yet but I assume it's no different than the old in terms of drivability. Check them out. Their engines are certainly far from "blah."

As for the dodge charger, I liked the prototype charger that looked really badassed looking:
http://forever.lostdomain.org/pics/almostcharger.JPG

IMHO, the production charger looks like a coupe version of the magnum. Doesn't really look bad though, just again doesn't do justice to the original charger.

Too bad the real one has that truck nose just like the 300. And it has 1985 IROC wheels. :clonk:

http://www.saintlouisautoshow.com/SM%206%20Dodge%20Charger.jpg

Ron I like the Mustang but the GTO has more interior room and we have 2 kids.

Buy the GTO. 400hp RWD, I guess it's personal preference and it's seems like that's what you like. I like them.:)

This is an old thread, but I thought I'd ressurect it since I'm looking to sell my Denali and get a 05-06 GTO. I'd rather have a 4th gen SS or WS6 honestly. But for what people are asking for em, I'd rather get a GTO. The looks have grown on me over the years, but I have yet to drive one. I've seen some modded GTO's in the low 20's-high teens, like a S/C 05 for $22k. If anyone can post up some recent feedback I'd appreciate it! :thumbsup:

Well my wife bought an 04 GTO last year. I've driven many of the new Mustangs and really like them. But I really enjoy the LS1 6 spd GTO when I get to drive it. Now that the kids are grown its the car we go on vacation in up North and park it through the 7 months of bad weather we get here. I don't think you can go wrong with either car, they both create a lot of excitement and I am stopped regularly in the GTO as well as the Mustangs rented by car guys wanting to talk cars.

I like the fact that the 04 didn't have scoops in the hood, it's more subtle and less tacky to me. I don't mind that it has nothing in common with the earlier GTOs. The first GTOs were by no means muscle cars with 16 second 1/4 mile passes in my mind, but still are held dear by those who owned them. The Ventura (Nova counterpart) didn't exactly have anything in common with the wildly popular 68-72 GTO bodies, nor did the back to the boat sized 75 Lemans GTO. Just as the new Camaro has nothing in common with any of the earlier Camaros, nor represents them well, the GTO wasn't supposed to be a retro 60s/70s GTO look either.

The Mustang has much more trunk space. I got 5 small suit cases into one in AZ. The GTO has most of it's trunk dedicated to the fuel tank and cage built around it. Three things the GTO will need are new tires, the original tires are terrible, real lug nuts (GM's idea of $8 plastic covers that are good for one use reminds us how far GM has to go yet in quality), and a shift eliminator removal kit. It's really annoying that GM decided to force the driver to shift from 1st to 4th at 15 mph if the barometric pressure was a predetermined value and the rpms were very low. Five minutes and $20 and you can remove this annoying GM device. I hope GM does a better job with the new Camaro and Vette, because this is a really stupid feature of the LS cars.

The GTO has a nicer interior and more leg room, I'm 6-1 and much more comfortable in the GTO. It also doesn't require the windows to roll down 1/2" so the doors will open like the Mustangs do, not one of Ford's good ideas.

Well my wife bought an 04 GTO last year. I've driven many of the new Mustangs and really like them. But I really enjoy the LS1 6 spd GTO when I get to drive it. Now that the kids are grown its the car we go on vacation in up North and park it through the 7 months of bad weather we get here. I don't think you can go wrong with either car, they both create a lot of excitement and I am stopped regularly in the GTO as well as the Mustangs rented by car guys wanting to talk cars.

I like the fact that the 04 didn't have scoops in the hood, it's more subtle and less tacky to me. I don't mind that it has nothing in common with the earlier GTOs. The first GTOs were by no means muscle cars with 16 second 1/4 mile passes in my mind, but still are held dear by those who owned them. The Ventura (Nova counterpart) didn't exactly have anything in common with the wildly popular 68-72 GTO bodies, nor did the back to the boat sized 75 Lemans GTO. Just as the new Camaro has nothing in common with any of the earlier Camaros, nor represents them well, the GTO wasn't supposed to be a retro 60s/70s GTO look either.

The Mustang has much more trunk space. I got 5 small suit cases into one in AZ. The GTO has most of it's trunk dedicated to the fuel tank and cage built around it. Three things the GTO will need are new tires, the original tires are terrible, real lug nuts (GM's idea of $8 plastic covers that are good for one use reminds us how far GM has to go yet in quality), and a shift eliminator removal kit. It's really annoying that GM decided to force the driver to shift from 1st to 4th at 15 mph if the barometric pressure was a predetermined value and the rpms were very low. Five minutes and $20 and you can remove this annoying GM device. I hope GM does a better job with the new Camaro and Vette, because this is a really stupid feature of the LS cars.

The GTO has a nicer interior and more leg room, I'm 6-1 and much more comfortable in the GTO. It also doesn't require the windows to roll down 1/2" so the doors will open like the Mustangs do, not one of Ford's good ideas.

Thanks for the info Dave! :thumbsup:

I've been looking online all day, at 05-06's. I like the scopped hood, and gotta have the 6.0L with a 6 speed. I know what you mean about the skip shift, one of the 1st things I changed on my Z06. Instead of buying the skip shift eliminator, my tuner turned it off when I had it dyno tuned. I've got a lead on a black 05 with 36k miles I can get for $20k from a dealer. But I still have to test drive one of these guys before I lock myself on one.

I guess they didn't produce many of these cars?

We have a 2005 GTO that we bought new and absolutely love it. We got it w/the 6 speed. It absolutely screams with the LS2 and Tremec 6 speed.

The GTOs aren't perfect and have been picked apart from everything from the styling to the trunk space but it is one of my favorite cars to drive. In terms of a new GM car, this one stands out. It is like a very low key Vette w/a back seat.

The nice thing is there are a lot of great cars to choose from today.

If you're serious, a site worth checking out is LS1GTO.com. They have a for sale section and list a lot of get togethers for new GTOs. You may want to check one of them out.

I also own a couple of old GTOs and there are a number of people that own old GTOs that are not too keen on the new ones but I like any nice car.

The GTO folks are ALMOST as cool as the Camaro crowd.

Which one does your wife like better? I think the new mustangs look much better than the GTOs (which I agree aren't much diff than a hyundai or toyota in appearance dept.) However, you also see a new Mustang about every 4.6 seconds and a only about 1/wk. I suppose I'd get whatever will make your wife the happiest. The GTO definitely wins the perf. category beyond a shadow of a doubt but if your wife is driving she may be fine with the more tame Mustang engine. Just make sure it's the right color for her whichever one you pick.

Jason you can't go wrong with the extra 50 horses the LS2 will get you over the 04. If you like the scoops than the 05 and later also point towards what you're looking at. I get a kick out of jumping into the 04 which looks pretty tame like everyone pointed out here, and when you start it up the looks we sometimes get when people hear the LS1. Many people who aren't looking that close aren't expecting it.

Good luck on your search. We picked up the 04 with 24,000 miles on it exactly one year ago for $21,000 which I thought was a great deal, especially since the car was stored in the winters and I continue to do the same with it.

One other thing worth mentioning is there is a known problem with the GTO dash that they aren't telling a lot of people about. GM seems to have had problems for 20 years now with digital instrument clusters. The GTO instruments will sometimes take off and a single gage, any gage, will go full scale reading and stay there usually until you turn off the car and restart it. Sometimes it's the temp gage going full hot 10 seconds after you first start it and then the check engine warnings go off. Sometimes it's the speedometer going to 200 mph when you are driving down the road and it stays there until you shut off the car. Sometimes the horn will honk when you drive down the road on it's own. I've also had the radio turn itself on driving down the highway. GM said they've heard of these issues and I needed to change out the instrument panel. It was covered under warranty. No issues since. Just make sure whatever you buy has enough warranty remaining from both a mileage and in service date stand point that you can put some time on the car to make sure yours isn't affected by this defective instrument panel issue.