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  Missed it, ...By That Much!

  Dec 15, 2023

  It’s been a while since the episode with Holley fuel injection tech support was resolved.  Since then. we’ve driven the GTO at every opportunity right up until a few snow flurries scared PennDOT into spreading road salt a few weeks back.  So, we’re now officially done for 2023, which is especially annoying due to having lost almost an entire driving season.  The majority of driving we were able to do had been little more than glorified “test and tune” sessions, attempting to work out hot and cold starting issues (which is where we were at when the whole mess with Holley began back in May).

  The one bright spot during this hectic bit of year-end driving was the quick trip we took from Scranton down Rt. 380 to the outlets at Tannersville PA and back - an 85-mile round trip.  I wanted to test the cruise control, heat and other electrical systems to see how the car otherwise behaved during a longer trip; something we hadn’t been able to do up to that point.  The outcome of the trip was vital as the cars' future hung in the balance. 

  Why?  Well, we’ve owned the GTO since July of 2019 and, quite frankly, the return of fun on the investment of physical, emotional, and financial resources was so disappointing, I found myself at a decision point.  In the Tom Cruze movie “Days of Thunder,”  the old crew chief, played by actor Robert Duvall has a midnight talk with the race car, asking it to work with the driver to get along better and start producing results.  Similarly, I had the proverbial 11pm “Come to Jesus” talk with the GTO.  I explained all the ways it had disappointed me thus far in spite of all that had been done for it and then showed it pictures of its potential replacements.  Those ran from ’06 to ’09 Chevy Corvettes, Mercedes SL 55 and SLK 55 AMG coupes.  Finally, tapping my watch, I said “tick-tock, son – the clock’s running.”  I shut off the lights and went inside.

  A few days later, the results of the trip to Tannersville and back were more than encouraging.  At this point, given that the fuel injection tuning is far from complete, I would have considered high single-digit fuel economy a win.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we got 13.7 mpg!  This with a two-ton car running 70 -72 mph for the entire trip.  Also, the re-upholstered seats were extremely comfortable and the cruise control, heater, overdrive transmission and other systems I’d been wrestling with worked perfectly.  We did, however, confirm an annoying clunking sound from the rear axle when the transmission shifted gears, indicating the rear axle service was not performed properly by the shop that did the transmission installation.  While not ideal, learning things was what the trip was for.  More importantly, I couldn’t blame the car for that one.

  Say what you will, but I credit at least some of the turnaround to the late night “chat” I had with the car.  Looks like it’s earned a little more consideration - for now.  Regarding the possibility of it being replaced?  Well, in the words of Maxwell Smart from the old "Get Smart " TV show, the GTO “missed it, …by that much!” 

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