My new Silver GT

[mtarone]

Hi All,

Well I have finally got around to taking photos of my car after owning it for three weeks now.

I am really happy with the car; but am already considering ways to increase power :D

The Macintosh stereo kicks serious butt!

Last week I got my first car park scrape on the rear bumper some from idiot who didnt have the decency to leave a note...man that makes me furious! :evil:

Anyhow, I'd love to know the difference between our (Australia) GT Premium and the USDM GT Limited.

Apologies for the dark photos, its nearly 6pm here in South Australia.

Cheers,
Matt

[mtarone]

More photos!

[axis008]

Your car is lookin' good! It's too bad we don't get the McIntosh stereo system. Sorry about your scratch too :(. I know your bumper is different than USDM, but I'd just like to comment and say that it looks shorter than the USDM version.

[agctr]

Matrone, congrats on yr purchase, the car looks sensational and exactly what I should be getting. Hope that you got a good deal. Do u leave it in auto most of the time or do u use the buttons?

I wish the gears in the auto were around the other way, like the rally editions but you cant have everything I suppose. I wonder if they are able to change that?

[racerdave]

Looks great!

I *love* the black center stack too... beats our USDM silver one. Maybe a possible retrofit??

[Th3Franz]

McIntosh... mmm
The front pics make me want to clear the head lights once I get mine. Ahh

[SUBE555]

That's one dead sexy looking car! That second pic is my favorite.

[7stars]

I didn't know you guys got the McIntosh too! Australian cars use 12v system like ours, right?

[gt_ltd]

Is that legal? If not, what's the worst that they can do to the driver?

The front pics make me want to clear the head lights once I get mine.

[mtarone]

Matrone, congrats on yr purchase, the car looks sensational and exactly what I should be getting. Hope that you got a good deal. Do u leave it in auto most of the time or do u use the buttons?

I wish the gears in the auto were around the other way, like the rally editions but you cant have everything I suppose. I wonder if they are able to change that?

AGCTR -

When I was running in the car I used the auto - but now I am using the buttons and the gearknob alot more. I have just started to stretch her legs and am enjoying every bit of it through the Adelaide Hills :-)

I agree about the gears being the other way, it has caught me a few times already.

Cheers,
Matt

[mtarone]

I didn't know you guys got the McIntosh too! Australian cars use 12v system like ours, right?

Yup - we use 12V systems too. I guess there isnt any reason why you couldnt change units over.

Cheers,
Matt

[Th3Franz]

I didn't know you guys got the McIntosh too! Australian cars use 12v system like ours, right?

Yup - we use 12V systems too. I guess there isnt any reason why you couldnt change units over.

Cheers,
Matt
Radio station compatability may be an issue.. Something worth looking into. Are the specs on that McIntosh head unit listed anywhere?

[Drift Monkey]

Very nice! Your bumpers are awesome (sans the scratch)! :P

The radio and stuff looks nice, but why auto?

[mtarone]

I didn't know you guys got the McIntosh too! Australian cars use 12v system like ours, right?

Yup - we use 12V systems too. I guess there isnt any reason why you couldnt change units over.

Cheers,
Matt
Radio station compatability may be an issue.. Something worth looking into. Are the specs on that McIntosh head unit listed anywhere?

I dont think the station compatibility is an issue. I bought a car stereo for my previous car from Circuit City whilst in the US on holiday and it worked perfectly back here.

Not sure where the specs for the Macintosh stereo are......can anyone else help out here?

[mtarone]

Very nice! Your bumpers are awesome (sans the scratch)! :P

The radio and stuff looks nice, but why auto?

Thanks dude - I got the auto because we dont have the 5MT available here yet; my car had already been sold and I needed a new car. I have always had manuals and drive a great deal in the city - so needless to say I was getting a bit tired of changing gears all the time. :x

With respect to the performance, I feel that it still accelerates extremely well and is alot of fun to drive.

Having said this, I am taking it to a local tuning garage next month to have a few performance modifications fitted.

It has been suggested that a cat back exhaust, bigger TMIC, small intake mods and ECUTEK remap is the way to go; and I should be able to get ~200fwkw.

The Aussie version comes out with 180fwkw so a 20kw increase and a remap should be very noticeable. :twisted:

I will let you all know how it progresses.

Cheers,
Matt

[SoldonSubie]

The AC controls are diffeent than USDM. Matrone's car has a digital NON dual zone unit.

Very NICE PICS!!

[Drift Monkey]

Yes please keep us updated on your performance endeavors, I'm intrested in seeing results!

[mtarone]

Yesterday I visited a performance garage that is interested in getting their hands on my car as they havent fiddled with many Liberty GT's yet.

They have offered a *huge* discount on a ECUTEK tune and dyno.

Whilst this sounds like a great idea - I am definitely not keen on the idea of being the "test mule" for them.

God knows what kind of pain they'll put my little car through!

So, at the moment I'm inclined not to do anything until:

a) I have more than 5000kms on the odometer.

and

b) Aftermarket tuners have a decent amount of experience with the Libery GT's.


If anyone can explain to me the process of ECU tuning and dynoing, that would be appreciated; as my impressions are that they will thrash the engine a great deal before they are finished. :(

Cheers,

Matt