Campisano's observations are as follows: "I was really impressed with how linear the steering was. You knew exactly where it was going to go when you were at the wheel. The car was amazingly flat in the corners. Its throttle action makes it feel like a new car. It has great pedal modulation. The clutch is very light, and the shifter engages perfectly. You really know this car is a GTO. You know it by the way it drives, the way it feels, and the way it looks."
What would he like to see improved? "The brakes," he said. The JWSE GTO prototype was equipped with manual Wilwood four-wheel disc brakes. "I really had to hold my foot hard on the pedal at times to make sure the GTO could make the tightest turn on the course. Under hard braking, the pedal travel increased and brake application was not as positive as it should be. Possibly the brakes need to be bled again. Since this GTO is a prototype and ours is the first test of it, some bugs to work out are to be expected. I'd also like to see the GTO get a Pontiac steering wheel-a Formula wheel is the only perfect touch lacking in the interior. Additionally, I'd like to see it leather-wrapped."
How do the GTO's lap times compare to modern-day muscle cars? "Better!" is the surprising answer. At the same track on the same day and with the same driver, a '10 Camaro SS lapped a best time of 1:09:76; an '05 Corvette with a different driver lapped a best of 1:09:08.
Skidpad
Our dry skidpad testing utilized a 300-foot-diameter circle at Gainesville Raceway's road course. The goal was to maintain the highest speed while traveling the circumference of the circle at the edge of tire adhesion, and then measure the lateral g's. DiOssi was the test driver and did three sets of passes in each direction. The GTO's left-right average lateral g-force was 0.955.
"I was really surprised at how smooth and manageable the JWSE GTO was around the skidpad," DiOssi commented. "My '05 GTO held 0.965 g on Nitto NT01 R-compound tires; this modified '69 held 0.955 g on street tires. No matter how you put it, that's impressive!"
No "corporate" engine in this...
No "corporate" engine in this Pontiac! You're looking at a Butler Performance-built 505ci IA II Pontiac block with Edelbrock heads and FAST fuel-injection.
For our braking tests, HPP used the straightaway at Gainesville Raceway's road course. The strategy was simple-accelerate the GTO to 70 mph, allow it coast to 60 mph, and then apply the brakes at full-force without launching the GTO into a skid.
Again, DiOssi was the test driver. He made three consecutive passes. The results are shown below.
DiOssi's observations on the braking tests follow: "There was an issue I continued to run into with the brakes. With massive Wilwood six-piston calipers up front and four-piston rears, there was a lot of force clamping down onto the rotors. Without ABS, this meant the brakes loved to lock up. Some tuning of the proportioning valve would help the situation. An ABS system would be a worthwhile addition to the overall driveability and safety of the car."
Dragstrip
The Jim Wangers Signature Edition GTO No. 1 is equipped with a Butler Performance 505ci IA II iron block (also available in aluminum), with CNC-ported aluminum heads and fuel-injection, and is rated at 680 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. With that much power, the question isn't is it strong enough, but instead, how are we going to get the power effectively to the ground at launch?
We knew that the numbers would be somewhat limited by the use of the Michelin high-performance, summer-only street tires. The car's full potential at the dragstrip can't be judged (pun intended) until it's mated to a set of racing slicks or drag radials.
Performing our dragstrip testing were Evan Smith, editor of our sister publication Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, and DiOssi. Evan has years of experience with drag tests at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, and even better, he grew up with Pontiacs in his family. (His dad special-ordered a '67 Tempest, which introduced Evan to the hobby.) "I've driven vintage Pontiacs and even owned a '71 GTO," Evan told HPP. "It will be exciting to see how the Jim Wangers Signature Edition GTO compares to them."