what is it with GTO drivers and this inherent desire to get into an HHR? haha, there are tons of people making that trade. well, goatcheez, i suppose that fact alone may have some kind of value of it's own. you're not the only one to consider giving up a goat for an HHR, and many of them went through with it, so it must not be that bad of a trade-off

 

I know, I know. That's what makes this decision so difficult. With the economy in the pooper and gas prices, it's tough to keep paying on a "garage princess" (my wifes term) that I don't get to drive as much as my schedule allows. I'm still thinking it over and thanks for your input...

goatcheez

 

Oh it's a MAJOR trade off. 0-60 in 4.6 seconds!! I'm just thinking practicality vs. sheer performance. I do like the fact that there are so many cool cosmetic mods for the HHR at about a 10th of the price of the GTO. What I will miss is blowing a new "rustang" off the road and him thinking the whole time that he just got spanked by a Grand AM!!

goatcheez

 

I didn't trade off from a GTO, but a Cadillac Catera, a cousin of the GTO. Not as fast, but a lot of fun to drive, especially on the freeway. And it handled like a dream. The Catera is about to die (I believe the oil pump is shot), and we've wanted the HHR for some time anyway. So, we went from high performance, RWD sport sedan to the HHR. I'm going to miss hitting the gas at 60mph and going to 90 in a few seconds. But the trade off of the versatility (read: practical), better economy, and still having a well appointed head turning car seems to be worth it. Since we just got it yesterday, I can't comment on anything long term though.

 

well, they may not be as fast as a GTO, but you'll still dust Mustangs (if you get an SS at least) as they won't acknowledge you as a threat until you're too far in front of em to be caught lol. and we should have plenty of mods to be done for even more power once the various companies working on our ECUs finally crack that stupid "nanny" feature. as for practicality, i drove from central coast of Cali (near santa barbara) to Fresno and averaged 30mpg, with 4 people in the car (incl. me), and all our stuff for the weekend. and the fun thing was, passing a semi, going 50 mph (his speed) when i moved out to pass him, and hitting about 85, maybe even 90, by the time i past his nose, without ever downshifting.

Doc Brown...it's my dream to get a Catera and do a complete Commodore cloning with it. if i wasn't so young (and broke lol) i'd say i'll buy your dying Catera off you and put an LS1 in it lol

 

Ahh! An admirable project. And one I'd take on if I had more time available. There are a few out there with the LS1 swap. At the very least, I've toyed with looking for a 3.2 from an '02 or '03 CTS. It'll drop right in with no change to the electronics or PCM.