The pontiac gto - Americas monaro

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid2]It's funny how the American public have reacted to this car, I think Holden have done a respectable job in "Americanising" the car. Admittedly it's not the GTO that Vin Diesel would probably own, but hey. Here's a preview for those who don't know

[img:post_uid2]http://UltimateGTO.com/2004/04_00095_1.jpg[/img:post_uid2]
[img:post_uid2]http://UltimateGTO.com/2004/04_00095_2.jpg[/img:post_uid2]

Not bad, there's a GTO preview on the xXx DVD in America, I wonder if it will be the same here.

Happy Polling
Adam[/color:post_uid2]

[bRaDiNhO]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]Its very, errrrr..... busy? at the front!? It looks like a bad aftermarket job. Its sorta like a VT Calais front with a bigger grill. Why they couldnt just leave it alone.... its not like the Pontiac image is all that good so it wouldnt really hurt to not have the two big nostrils. The wheels dont suit the car, and the new bodykit isnt low enough. Wheels fill the arches nicely but it looks so high off the ground! Surely they could have done a better job! MOTOR did some computer sketches about 6 months ago, only playing with the nose a bit, and it looked unreal. Very aggressive. This just looks crap![/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]yeah, good points there brad. *some* a little too critical. i'd take one if it was free or for a few grand though...[/color:post_uid0]

[Rupewrecht]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]eh, i prefer the monaro - not that the Monaro is really my taste either. but s mentioned above - i'd take it if it was free :p[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]I thought u weren't allowed on at work:)[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]oh ****, i thought u were mr shadow...[/color:post_uid0]

[Rupewrecht]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]/me kicks Sandyman in the backside for confusing me with that geek MrShads :;): :p[/color:post_uid0]

[kyra]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Can't say i'm a huge fan of the front...but hey, if they are going to badge it as a pontiac...it must follow the same lines as previous pontiac crap.... like Dan, i'm a fan of the standard monaro, not the HSV f'ups. my cousin has a black gts coupe,
and yes, it's an animal, but it looks a bit much. (also in for it's 2nd engine rebuild...go holden!!)

in wheels mag last issue, it had the speed gun test, and the CSV monaro looked decent enough..mild front bar, bigger wheels, heaps of grunt.[/color:post_uid0]

[CityEnd]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]hm.. yeah i thought I saw those huge nostrils before when i went to america in 1999, but i had a hard time finding a pic of it on the net to show you all, but I finially found it.

pontiac grand am 1995 (http://redline1993.tripod.com/grandam/id2.html)

it's some guy's home page.... can see how ugly the nostrils r, i dunno what the american r thinking.

yeah i also prefer the aussie monaro over that, but like the rest of you, wouldn't get one unless it was given to me.. hehe
I just think it's just too big for a coupe... i remmeber when they first showed it at the melb car show, they said it was 10cm shorter then the sedan.... just 10cm??
if it was an astina size then tat would be cool =)[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]damn, that 95 pontiac is a ****heap[/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]The american's seem to like those bloody huge deep grills don't they. Even on the bigger truck/ute things, the grills are massive. The new GTO looks similar front on the that 95 Grand Am. Even on the site where I got those pics from they're saying that.

Adam[/color:post_uid0]

[O-LYM-PIC]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]hey boys i think ur all being a bit tough on it. personally i like it better than the monaro. i like the nostral grill thingos, i think they make it look classier. i dont like that black grill thingo underneeth tho.

however i cant stand the new monaro!!!! i think mainly because i think its a cheap rip-off of the classic old version. i dont think holden did the monaro name any real justice with this cut down version of commodore in the first place.

and brad i think the wheels look good on it. however theyr only 17inch because the americans have some law about the distance of the road from edge of the rim. and the 17;s r the biggest they could put on. sounds stupid to me.

anywayz theyr just my humble opinions.[/color:post_uid0]

[O-LYM-PIC]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]however i 4got to mention that i would never consider buyin either the monaro or gto!!!!

just some clarity[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]speaking of monaro, this was in the paper a few months ago. it was about a 7 litre for a new versoin...[/color:post_uid0]

[SehnKhan]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Nope, don't like the front end at all. Not one little bit.[/color:post_uid0]

[O-LYM-PIC]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]yeah theyr making the 7 litre in very limited production, mainly, well actually, only so they can race it in the production car races against the 911's and vipers and ****. so they can promo the monaro name. im pretty sure thats the reason anyway. not a bad engine that tho.[/color:post_uid0]

[bRaDiNhO]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]Drive a GTO and tell me that you don't want it. Never had a go in the GTS, but i can only imagine how good it would be. The Monaro is an insanely good car.... especially for a Holden. Im not a fan of Holden at all..... im about the biggest non-Holden fan there is, but Monaro is good. Looks a bit too much like a Commodore, but it does look good. I saw it at the Birmingham Motor Show and ended up doing the Vauxhall reps jobs telling people about it coz they had no idea. All they could say was that it came from Oz. :laugh: On the other hand I was a huge fan of the Pontiac Trans Am which they killed. the Monaro is filling its hole.... Trans Am looked good with the grill and "ram air" look. The 7 litre is going too far.... not the engine, never complain about cc's, but nearly $200K for a Holden?! Give me an M3 or Boxster S with a handy $60K extra to spend on it please! And as Manuel said, its for marketing mainly to get it into GTP against Ferrari and Lambo etc. Those cars are road cars. Ferrari could stick the F1 engine in it and it would kill everything, but that wouldnt be a road car would it? I dont agree with the motivation behind it.[/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]At the Sydney Motor show last year they had at the HSV stand a Monaro kitted up with **** loads of carbon fibre and a 427 cubic inch monster engine. I would imagaine that this is the car that they're going to use in the GTP cup. After all, they have to use a road car, and why not build one specially for it. This thing looked like a monster though. And the girl holding the bonnet weren't too bad neither! :)

Adam[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]sehnkahn: your new avatar...sick freakin weirdo[/color:post_uid0]

[ChargerGL]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]:(

Looks like almost every other Pontiac i see on the road. The tail lights are a very different look for Pontiac thank goodness, but the front looks too familiar.

Verdict:

Like the rear
Tired of seeing Pontiac nostrils
Lower front grill doesnt look that good


I just wish that when these cars come to the United States they would stop "Americanizing" them

same thing happened with the Lancer Evolution
took a nice car and make the front ugly[/color:post_uid0]

[Sandyman]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]thats what america is all about :p[/color:post_uid0]

[O-LYM-PIC]

[quote:post_uid0="bRaDiNhO"][color=#000000:post_uid0]Drive a GTO and tell me that you don't want it.[/color:post_uid0][/quote:post_uid0]
[color=#000000:post_uid0]brad my friend, i wouldnt spend my money on a new monaro- no way!!! i can think of soooo many better options to spend my, what an odd 50 to 60G. for starters how bout a s6 rx7, wiath cash to spare!!!!!! i mean 4 the money there's some real tough competition.[/color:post_uid0]

[bRaDiNhO]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]Manuel, I've been brought up with big CC engines.... I have nothing against forced induction and rotors, but gimme the choice and ill take the big n/a engine over the small turbo. Even better, supercharged/ turboed big CC engine ala XR6 turbo. Thats on my list of 'i want bad'. :D Anything voted significantly better than a WRX at the same price commands respect! However, you are right, I wouldnt buy it either. I'd buy a CV8, take it to Ezzy-Style, and tell Mr. Lu to supercharge it. :p Nah, in all seriousness, it is a lush car to drive and everyone stares, but Holden has the worst quality of probably any car maker in Oz. Including Daewoo. I would BUY a used car - either FTE, RX7, or Maserati biturbo from early 90's. If only I had a spare $40K-$60K.

Steve - can u find any pix of the Evo lancer? I want to see what they did. Generally i think Mitsubishi US do a pretty good job, i havent been over for a couple of years now, but at least they used to![/color:post_uid0]

[SehnKhan]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]ChargerGL: Are you located in Melbourne? If so, were you driving down St Kilda Rd Friday Evening? if so, did you nearly run over a guy in a suit with a Blue bag on his shoulder? If so, that was me, and that paintwork freaked me out, in a good way ;)[/color:post_uid0]

[SehnKhan]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Should have checked your profile. Not who I thought, though I saw a Probe with very similar description to yours today . . .[/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Was I talking to you when that happened. If so, HAHA!!

Adam[/color:post_uid0]

[SehnKhan]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]You were actually you butthead, I was talking about that claim from work.[/color:post_uid0]

[ChargerGL]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]Lancer Evo VII :)

[img:post_uid0]http://www.edmunds.com/media/2002/laautoshow/evo.f34.500.jpg[/img:post_uid0]

Americanized Lancer Evo VIII ???

[img:post_uid0]http://www.supercarsite.net/images/cars/mitsubishi/lancer_evolution_viii_04.jpg[/img:post_uid0]


:angry: nostrils do not make a car look better. Maybe someday the car companies will learn that and make some good looking cars over here.

The main reason that i can think that Mitsubishi used the nostril look on the new evo is so that it somewhat resembled the look of the economy car version that did come over to the United States a few years ago.

[img:post_uid0]http://www.mitsubishicars.com/images/2003/lan/photos/large_1_ex.jpg[/img:post_uid0]


A few other Mitsubishi cars with the same look

Galiant
[img:post_uid0]http://www.mitsubishicars.com/images/2003/gal/photos/large_10_ex.jpg[/img:post_uid0]


Diamante
[img:post_uid0]http://www.mitsubishicars.com/images/2003/dia/photos/large_1_ex.jpg[/img:post_uid0][/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]The Diamante is very similar if not the same to our version, the "Magna", sold in Australia. The US Evo doesn't look too bad though, but i'd still prefer the normal Evo as it has that more agressive look.

Let's see, what other cars can we compare........

Adam[/color:post_uid0]

[bRaDiNhO]

[color=#FF0000:post_uid0]I..... errrr..... sorta like the US Evo! *brad runs and hides in the corner :;): *

Diamante was based on a Verada, again at least a couple of years ago. Galant looks pretty much the same as the
Euro Galant.

And im offended that u reckon America has no good cars (yea, i know, u not me is from there, but i like them!) :p Wat about the Probe!? Love Corvettes of any age, the Viper, the fastback Mustangs, and your big 'pick-ups' aka ute/ trucks. mmmmm..... Dodge Ram raised about 4 feet with 20 inch wheels and 145 profile tyres. With the 7.0L V10. Thats what i can see me driving!
But then again, theres cars such as Crown Victoria, Lumina, most pontiacs and saturns that really are not very, stylish?![/color:post_uid0]

[O-LYM-PIC]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]im with brad, i dont think the american evo looks all that bad. its not as mean as the jap version, but id buy one. (just gota get the money first)

and brad, ive been brought up with the big cc engines 2 (the old monaros and valiants and all that wog ****), thats why i think i prefer the smaller turbocharged engines. i like the thought of something with half as many cilinders being able to whip the big cc's engines ass. i dunno, thats just the way i look at it. ???[/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

[color=#000000:post_uid0]I was just flicking through the local paper and found the new EVO VIII bound for Australia, and it's the same!

Scan of said article here www.geocities.com/mrpayner/misc_pics/evo_viii.jpg [205kb]

Adam[/color:post_uid0]

[mrpayner]

Just cruising around tonight and i found this fantastic "stunt" commercial that is on the Pontiac website..

The Big Jump (http://www.pontiac.com/stuntmen/). Unfortunately it's a streaming video, but it's available in Broadband and 56K video streams. It would be nice if it were savable. :( For optimal streaming [un-interupted video] set your program, most likely Media Player, to stream at least 30 seconds of data before the video starts. That way it will play all the way through without breaking up.

Oh.. sorry for bringing up this old topic again.. I can't believe how old it is!

Cheers
AP

[Cosmo Dude]

I was looking recently,
Holden Monaro CV8 AUD$59,950
Recommended retail price (RRP) includes GST but does not include on-road costs (such as registration, stamp duty and dealer delivery), or fitting and labour costs for accessories. Vehicle shown may include options.
Pontiac GTO USD$32,495
Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. Tax, title, license, dealer fees, $1,000 gas guzzler tax and optional equipment are extra. Gas guzzler tax is required only with automatic transmission.
Vauxhall Monaro GBP£28,650
RRP (Recommended Retail Price) is the on-the-road price which includes number plates and delivery to dealer, 12 months' Vehicle Excise Duty and new vehicle first registration fee. Excludes fuel and insurance.

Use a Currency Converter (http://www.xe.com) to see just how much of a bite your government takes when you buy a car :shock:

[mrpayner]

Heh.. I had a laugh at the "Gas-Guzzler" tax that they impose in the USA.. BUT i had no idea that the Monaro was even available in the UK. Thank goodness they retained the standard Holden look too without modification.

AP