I'm looking for some opinions. I've got an 01 LS w/160K miles and a slipping tranny. If my tranny will hold out till next year I will be upgrading in some way. My options that I'm weighing as of today are going with a C5 vette or a 05-06 GTO (I'd be looking at 15K~18K depending on miles)....or turbo the monte. I'm looking to fulfill my need for speed, or rather, power.

With the turbo setup, I'd want to have ZZP install their crate engine and HD tranny along with the Z7 turbo kit. I'd also refresh the suspension, upgrade brakes, and some other little things. I could invest about 10K~12K.

If it were you, what would you do? I've did a lot of thinking, researching, and mulling it over and I'm just looking for some fresh ideas maybe. I really like the MC but it's 2slow

GTO 400 HP
C5 350 HP
Turbo MC ~300WHP

Someone on this board once said "if it were easy to go fast then it wouldn't be any fun". That little line is making my decision hard.

 

I would rock a C5 corvette definately. IMO they are the best looking corvettes and you can make some serious power for cheap. You will lose out on seating and your insurance will be alot higher but the fun factor will be alot higher.

 

...`, ^^`ditto on what `Matt posted above.. C5
There are some great deals on Vette's `if you are good with your insurance company....If `U need more seats then U can't beat the GTO : ) There are still some super clean ones out there, and the prices are droping with the rise in fuel cost.

Let us know what U decide `ok...Good Luck in your choices
Oh, the C5 & GTO should fill your need 4 Speed, even without mod's : ), but if U get addicted 2 Speed, then there's plenty of mod's out there 4 both : ) WoW....

 

go for a vette! ive always wanted a 98 in pewter w/black in! but have another car to keep the miles down on the vette. a vette w/high miles is just another used car far as value.

 

I'm going to be the one to say forget the Corvette. But maybe that's because I always wanted one of the 04-06 GTO's.

I'm not crazy about owning a Corvette. It has a reputation of being a "mid-life-crisis" car. Plus everything for a Corvette is 5 times as expensive.

Of course parts for the GTO's are going to be extremely hard to get now that they're out of production, and they were made in Australia (they were a modified Holden Monaro). So on that point, the GTO is going to be expensive too.

Between the two, I guess it depends on your personal taste. Which ever car you like the look of more, go with that. The 'Vette looks like a 'Vette. The GTO looks like a Grand Am on steroids. Personally, I like the look of the GTO better.

I'll prepare to be told how stupid I am for not taking the Corvette.

 

Vette 3 - GTO 1 (sorry bout that Taz, guess we were typin at the same time)

I favor the vette, too. But the 6.0 GTO will hang in there with a C6 in a straight line. I much perfer the look of the vette over the bland GTpOser lol. And back seats are nice, but I couldn't fit a car seat in the back of the GTO anyway. I'll be keeping the MC either way. I'd rather not dwell on insurance premiums, depressing.

Thanks for the input, keep 'em comin!

Edit: I forgot to mention...how I can't believe that no one is goin' for the turbo!?!

 

Uh... make that Vette 3 - GTO 1

Thanks!

 

You have to look at the big picture. If you were to swap and turbo your monte, you would have a fast vehicle alright, but you would still have an automatic, fwd car. IMO losts of power in a FWD car is only fun at the track. I would want something I could have fun with on the streets. Dont get me wrong, montes are fun to drive, but sleding your car off the side of a curve isnt. Thats what alot of FWD cars do if you break the drive wheels loose in a turn. If you break the drive wheels loose in a RWD car all you get is a powerslide. And powerslides are fun. I thought it would be fun to turbo my car but the more I thought about it, the more I realize our montes arent exactly road warriors. Think about this too. If you turbo your monte, in the end all the money you put into it goes down the drain because if you ever wanted to sell it, the car still is only really worth the bluebook value. There is always someone willing to buy a fast corvette.

Me I would prefer heart pounding, tire melting, ear thumping, knuckle whitening, V8 american muscle power any day.

 

"Me I would prefer heart pounding, tire melting, ear thumping, knuckle whitening, V8 american muscle power any day."

Well put, and very good points too! Return on investment ratio would be horrible.

 

I might take the GTO.

But then again, what do i know. My head still hurts from falling off a turnip truck.