Car of the Day

The Car of the Day is driven by my obsession of cars.  My obsession of cars is fueled by every time I get in my car.  While on the road I have time to focus on the other cars around me and cars I’d like to be driving.

Since I’ve been driving the GTO it has hurt my daily obsession with cars.  I still spend time thinking about cars, but I now spend time thinking about the GTO and how great it is.

The GTO is a blast to drive.  I love the LS2 engine and its 400hp.  I think about how nice the interior is from the leather wrapped steering wheel and gear shifter to the alcantara inserts on the door panels.  It has a very cool A/C that works even in the heat of a Texas summer.

The greatness of the GTO has me thinking about car reviews and the automotive press in general.  When the GTO came out it didn’t receive a lot of great press.  There are a lot of cars that do things better than the GTO.  The GTO isn’t as fast as a Corvette, it doesn’t handle like a M3 and doesn’t look like the new Challenger.  Car reviews are all about comparisons and it is difficult to find any review that doesn’t make at least one comparison, directly or in passing to competing vehicle. 

All this comparing dilutes the actual virtues of the actual vehicle.  The GTO never won a comparison test it was in.  I think it came in last in every comparison.  It was compared to a Dodge Charger SRT-8, a Cadillac CTS-V, Ford Mustang GT and even the Mercedes SL500.  The GTO did very well in all the performance comparisons but was never able to take the top spot.  The only place the GTO won was with the individuals who purchased the GTO. 

The point of this little rant is to simply say, don’t take someone else’s opinion of a car.  Check out the car for yourself.  Don’t dismiss a car because it loses a comparison, just take it for someone else’s thoughts.  That writer may well have different views on what a perfect car is or may be sponsored by a certain manufacturer.  Or the author may be jaded from years of reviewing high end cars. 

So take a test drive, go to an auto show or a simple car get together and check out the car in real life.