Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
04-12-2006, 03:34 PM
#52
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 270
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
ORIGINAL: 02slashstang
there will be an '08 goat
Not so.. the GTO has been discontinued....
I actually think the GTO is nice looking car...[8D]
Cheers!
there will be an '08 goat
Not so.. the GTO has been discontinued....
I actually think the GTO is nice looking car...[8D]
Cheers!
autoweek.com
3-2-2006
The Pontiac GTO lives! It will be replaced in late 2008 by an all-new model underpinned by General Motors’ latest rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform, with a strong likelihood of it being built on the same production line as the Chevrolet Camaro in North America.
That’s the message from General Motors vice president for global product development, Bob Lutz, at this week’s Geneva motor show.
The replacement for today’s slowish-selling GTO was canceled last year when General Motors announced it was reorganizing its North American operations and was set to focus its efforts on creating a new line of sport/utility vehicles, pickups and crossovers.
But Lutz has told AutoWeek that reports of the rear-wheel-drive coupe’s death were premature and the next-generation GTO’s development program was only really placed on hold, and—after some internal reorganization to ensure profitability targets can be met—it is now back on.
“The reason we said it was canceled is because that way our people would put their pencils down,” Lutz said. “In GM if you say something is deferred, then people keep working on it. We really needed to get that message through to everybody.” GM’s 74-year-old product guru said the program into which the GTO is incorporated was ‘getting out of control’ and running up costs that would have made it unworkable.
“It was my fault that it got out of control in the first place,” he added. “It was going to be the world’s greatest car and apparently cost nothing to make. So we’ve started over now. The program is back on and it’s going full tilt.”
Lutz confirmed that the GTO was “only ever off for two months, but that break has enabled us to get a more feasible program up.” The program he points to is General Motors’ Zeta rear-wheel-drive platform, which is being developed by Holden in Australia and set to underpin the new-generation Commodore due to be launched in August.
Besides Camaro and GTO, other models set to be based on the Zeta platform are upcoming replacements for the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, and a new car called the Buick Statesman, according to Lutz.
Contrary to rumors, however, Lutz said General Motors is not planning to revive the Pontiac Firebird. “No, that’s not something we are planning. We are not going to do that car,” he said.
When pushed on whether GM was thinking about bringing back the El Camino off the Zeta platform, Lutz beamed with enthusiasm. “The kids in the company, myself included, would love to do another El Camino, but the grown-ups amongst us don’t share that way of thinking,” he said. “It would be fairly simple. We’d only have to put a Chevrolet face on the Holden Ute [a car-like pickup sold in Australia]. The building blocks are there.”
Less sophisticated than the existing rear-wheel-drive Sigma platform found beneath the Cadillac STS and other high-end GM models, the Zeta architecture is said to be considerably cheaper to produce, owing to a simplified rear-suspension arrangement and other features.
Lutz suggests the individual character of GM models would not be compromised by basing them around one platform. “We have developed different dash-to-front-axle lengths for various models,” he said. “It [the Zeta platform] is a really flexible platform.”
Along with Australia and North America, Zeta-based rear-wheel-drive models are also being developed for sale in the Middle East and China. Details remain scarce, though GM’s business case for the new GTO is rumored to be based around sales of between 15,000 and 20,000 per year in North America. After a promising start, today’s model has failed to live up to initial estimates recording 13,569 sales in 2004 and just 11,590 in 2005.
Lutz confirmed that GM’s Australian subsidiary, Holden, would play a leading role in the engineering of the GTO [where it is sold as the Monaro] and its sister car, the Camaro. “Holden is responsible for the large rear-drive architecture that these cars are based on. If it happens, Holden will do the development on the Camaro as well as the GTO,” he told AutoWeek.
Despite being developed in Australia, however, there are strong indications the next GTO will be built in North America. “Whether the GTO will be built in Australia [as the current Pontiac GTO is] will largely depend on the [U.S. vs. Australian dollar] exchange rate at the time,” said Lutz. He added, “With the current strength of the Australian dollar and the recent Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the U.S., it would be more feasible to build the GTO in North America. This raises the possibility of both the new-generation GTO and Camaro being imported to Australia in right-hand-drive guise.
Production of today’s Pontiac GTO is planned to end in September, leaving GM with two years before the new Zeta-based model arrives in North American showrooms. As with the recently unveiled Chevrolet Camaro, it is expected to carry a more retro-inspired design [not what Michael Simcoe has said] with cues from earlier GTO models. Today’s model started life as the Holden Monaro and was never envisaged to carry the GTO badge, leading to complaints from North American buyers that it lacks any visual connection with the original.
04-12-2006, 04:02 PM
#53
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 270
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
heres a link for the actuall article http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...=7324015571202
04-12-2006, 09:08 PM
#54
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location:
Posts: 681
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
Well, they both have their pros and cons, but i do have to say that the stang is one charismatic car, and if your planning in making it your own by customizing/modding it, it can look jaw droppingly amazing and is very mod friendly. Get what you can see yourself driving and enjoying! Tell us what you decide though.
04-12-2006, 10:49 PM
#55
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 2
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
Well I do own a GTO, a Torrid red 05 with a magna supercharger. But I like the sleeper look, I had an 01 stang with vortech and kept all the outside looking stock and illegal dark tinted windows, so no one could see my gauges, but I do like both. I didn't get a new mustang, I am not really into the retro look, but I will say they are sweet rides. Just have to drive both and make a decision.
Cops don't really know what a modern GTO looks like, but the mustang does grab alot of attention.
Cops don't really know what a modern GTO looks like, but the mustang does grab alot of attention.
04-13-2006, 02:29 AM
#56
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 9
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
Just my 2 cents here--I had to be convinced to get the stang too. I had an order on a Pontiac Solstice (obviously was going to make a power sacrifice!). Since my Sol didn't come in and I decided the handling issues and Premeium gas were too much, I decided on the stang (even though I thought there were way too many on the road).
In the end, it came down to:
1) The stang takes reg. gas!
2) There are a TON of mod options for the Mustang to make it your own
3) Since a ton of people have this car and it's been around, it seems to be a reliable vehicle
4) Handling is SUBERB!!
5) Great resale value
6) Name recognition--you're buying into a legacy, man!
In the end, it came down to:
1) The stang takes reg. gas!
2) There are a TON of mod options for the Mustang to make it your own
3) Since a ton of people have this car and it's been around, it seems to be a reliable vehicle
4) Handling is SUBERB!!
5) Great resale value
6) Name recognition--you're buying into a legacy, man!
04-15-2006, 04:41 AM
#57
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 270
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
ORIGINAL: Eyre
Just my 2 cents here--I had to be convinced to get the stang too. I had an order on a Pontiac Solstice (obviously was going to make a power sacrifice!). Since my Sol didn't come in and I decided the handling issues and Premeium gas were too much, I decided on the stang (even though I thought there were way too many on the road).
In the end, it came down to:
1) The stang takes reg. gas!
2) There are a TON of mod options for the Mustang to make it your own
3) Since a ton of people have this car and it's been around, it seems to be a reliable vehicle
4) Handling is SUBERB!!
5) Great resale value
6) Name recognition--you're buying into a legacy, man!
Just my 2 cents here--I had to be convinced to get the stang too. I had an order on a Pontiac Solstice (obviously was going to make a power sacrifice!). Since my Sol didn't come in and I decided the handling issues and Premeium gas were too much, I decided on the stang (even though I thought there were way too many on the road).
In the end, it came down to:
1) The stang takes reg. gas!
2) There are a TON of mod options for the Mustang to make it your own
3) Since a ton of people have this car and it's been around, it seems to be a reliable vehicle
4) Handling is SUBERB!!
5) Great resale value
6) Name recognition--you're buying into a legacy, man!
04-19-2006, 12:12 AM
#58
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location:
Posts: 19
RE: Why Should I get a 06 Mustang Gt?
I Think I have to agree with just about everyone that says the stang is the ride to own. We where dead set against ever buying another ford..sorry ford fans, but when we received our new 06 GT Prem. Vert.....We knew we made the right choice. Depending on where u live,I kno here in NY you dont see too many fully loaded gts. Most Ive seen are not gts. If you can afford it...you wont be sorry. Its our first stang, and when im driving it, i feel like the only one on the road. And the looks, stares and compliments come freely and often. Im proud to own it. Oh, and I look good in it!!!!
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