It is also a fact that the cars will put out around 300 to 350 HP to the rear wheels on a chassis dyno bone stock (depending on the year). Unlike the track, dynos require no particular skill to achive the "best" numbers for a given car. This "fact" is undeniable. What does a stock real GTO put to the rear wheels? I doubt there are very many that will throw 350HP to the rollers. Try a high compression Ram Air IV engine on todays fuel without pulling any timing out. See the problem here? You have to compare apples to apples. Taking the prepped "ringer" magazine times from the sixties and comparing them to the local yahoos at the local track is not even fair.
I'm as hardcore "old school" as any of you, but I also have driven my 05 wonder from down under for almost a thousand miles, and I can tell you that the heat really kills the performance. The difference is, the computer pulls timing out so the engine lives while the RA IV holes a piston or two. Even if 14.5 is representative for the Holden (which is clearly not the case), that is on par with most late 60's GTO's that I have owned/ridden in. So at least give credit that a car with a smaller engine and the same weight can equal the performance of the "typical" 60's Pontiac GTO... while running the air, cd player and getting 25 MPG.
This new breed may not be a Pontiac GTO to many of us, but it is an impressive package from a purely "technical requirements" point of view.
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