1970 Pontiac GTO

The Tempest line received another facelift for the 1970 model year. 

Hidden headlights were deleted in favor of 4 exposed spherical headlamps outboard of narrower grille openings. The nose preserved the projected vertical bow theme, though it absolutely was less outstanding. whereas the quality Tempest and autoimmune disorder Mans had chrome grilles, the GTO preserved the Endura ester cowl round the headlamps and grille.

The suspension was upgraded with the addition of a rear anti-roll bar, primarily identical bar as used on the Oldsmobile 442 and Buick grandmother Sport. The front anti-roll bar was slightly stiffer. The result was a helpful reduction in body lean in turns and a modest reduction of understeer.

Another handling-related improvement was optional  variable-ratio steering mechanism. 

Instead of a hard and fast magnitude relation of seventeen.5:1, requiring four turns lock-to-lock, the new system varied its magnitude relation from fourteen.6:1 to 18.9:1, needing 3.5 turns lock-to-lock. Turning diameter was reduced from forty.9 feet (12.5 m) to 37.4 feet (11.4 m).

The base engine was unchanged for 1970, however the low-compression economy engine was deleted and therefore the Ram Air III and Ram Air IV remained offered, though the latter was currently a special-order possibility.

A new possibility was Pontiac's 455 atomic number 67 engine (different from the round-port offerings of the 1971–72 cars), offered currently that gram had rescinded its earlier ban on intermediates with engines larger than four hundred. The 455, a long-stroke engine conjointly offered within the life-sized Pontiac line yet because the auto race, was dubiously rated by Pontiac as solely moderately stronger than the bottom 350 horsepower four hundred Criminal Investigation Command and fewer powerful than the 366 horsepower (273 kW) Ram Air III. The Pontiac folder indicated identical 455 put in within the auto race model was rated at 370 power unit (280 kW). The camshafts utilized in the Ram Air III and therefore the GTO 455 atomic number 67 were identical. for instance, the manual transmission 455 HO's used identical 288/302 period cam because the Ram Air III. The four55 was rated at 360 horsepower (270 kW) at 4,300 rpm. Its advantage was torque: five hundred lb·ft (678 N·m) at two,700 rpm. A purposeful Ram Air scoop was offered. automobile and Driver tested a heavily optioned 455, with a four-speed transmission and three.31 shaft and recorded 1 / 4 mile time of fifteen.0 seconds with a lure speed of ninety six.5 mph (155.3 km/h) . automobile Life take a look at automobile had the Turbo-Hydramatic 455 with a three.55 rear differential, clocked 14.76 seconds at ninety five.94 mph (154.40 km/h), with identical six.6 second 0–60 mph acceleration. each were concerning three mph (4.8 km/h) slower than a Ram Air III four hundred four-speed, though significantly less temperamental: the Ram Air engine idled roughly and was tough to drive at low speeds. The smaller displacement engine recorded but nine mpg-US (26 L/100 km; eleven mpg-imp) of gasolene, compared to ten mpg-US (24 L/100 km; twelve mpg-imp)-11 mpg-US (21 L/100 km; thirteen mpg-imp) for the 455.

A new and temporary possibility for 1970 was the vacuum operated exhaust (VOE), that was vacuum motivated via associate underdash lever marked "exhaust". The VOE was designed to cut back exhaust backpressure and to extend power and performance, however it conjointly well exaggerated exhaust noise. The VOE possibility was offered from Gregorian calendar month 1969 to Jan 1970. Pontiac management was ordered to cancel the VOE possibility by GM's higher management following a TV business for the GTO that ventilated throughout Super Bowl IV on CBS Jan eleven, 1970. therein business, entitled the "Humbler", that was broadcast solely that just the once, a young man force up in an exceedingly new GTO to a installation building with dramatic music and exhaust noise within the background, pull the "exhaust" knob to activate the VOE and so left the installation when failing to search out a street athletics opponent. that individual business was conjointly off by order of gram management. about 233 1970 GTOs were plant engineered with this rare possibility together with twenty one2 car coupes and 21 convertbiles, all were "YS" 400ci 350 horsepower with either four-speed manual or Turbo Hydra-matic transmissions. This specific GTO within the business was "Palladium" silver with a black bucket interior. it absolutely was uncommon in many respects because it conjointly had the under-dash "Ram Air" knob simply to the proper of the VOE knob, and it sported "'69 Judge" stripes, as a number of very-early '70 GTOs may well be ordered with. It conjointly had a Turbo Hydra-matic transmission, remote mirror, Rally II wheels, A/C, hood tach, and a new-for-1970 Formula handwheel.

The choose remained offered as associate possibility on GTOs. 

The choose came normal with the Ram Air III, whereas the Ram Air IV was optional . although the 455 Criminal Investigation Command was offered as associate possibility on the quality GTO throughout the complete model year, the 455 wasn't offered on the choose till late within the year. "Orbit" orange became the new normal color for the 1970 choose, however any GTO color was offered. marking was settled to the higher wheelwell brows.


An Orbit orange 1970 GTO with the 455 engine and Turbo Hydra-Matic transmission was one among the featured cars within the moving picture multilane Blacktop, that delineated  associate unlikely cross-country race between a replacement GTO and a example hotrodded, gray primer-painted, 1955 Chevrolet drag automobile with a twin quad tunnel ram "454" engine and a four-speed manual. The GTO, in hand by the studio, wasn't delineated  as a Judge; but, in point of fact it absolutely was a RAIV supercharged choose. They mentioned the "455" engine because it projected a additional powerful giving to the general public.

The new styling did very little to assist declining sales, that were currently being hit by droopy client interest altogether muscle cars, fueled  by the penitentiary surcharges levied by car insurance firms, that typically resulted in insurance payments above automobile payments for a few drivers. Sales were right down to forty,149, of which 3,797 were the choose. Of those 3,797 Judges engineered, solely 168 were ordered within the convertible form: RA III, RA IV and 455HO. the overall accord is that six of the 168 engineered were ordered with the 1970-only D-Port 455HO 360 horsepower (270 kW) engine, a no-cost possibility, that explains the conflicting production figures over the years on what percentage were built; 162 vs. 168. The '69/'70 "round-port" RA IV engine, a by-product of the '68½ "round-port" RA II engine, was the foremost exotic superior engine ever offered by PMD and factory-installed in an exceedingly GTO or Firebird. The 1969 version had a small advantage because the compression magnitude relation was still at ten:75:1 as against 10.5:1 in 1970. it's wide speculated that PMD was losing $1,000 on each RA IV GTO and Firebird engineered, and therefore the RA IV engine was extremely under-rated at 370 horsepower (280 kW). Overall, solely thirty seven RA IV GTO convertibles were in-built 1970: twenty four four-speeds and thirteen automatics. Of the thirteen 1970 GTO RA IV/auto convertibles engineered solely six received the choose possibility. The GTO remained the third popular intermediate muscle automobile, out-sold solely by the Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396/454 and town Road Runner.

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