First hand impression of Monaro
07-08-2002, 08:08 AM
#1
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First hand impression of Monaro
I've been in Austraila for the past week & have quite a bit to pass on, but in this thread I'll stick with Monaro impressions.
I want to thank Steve & Ben over at Sutton City for my marathon questioning & hope they enjoy comming to this web site, and another friend of mine for letting me take his CV6 out for a short drive. I also want to pass on thanks to those who passed on info on GTO & Holden's other intentions which I'll post on another thread when I get back home.
First of all, I know Monaro looks like a Cavalier in profile shots, but in real life, it looks way more impressive. It actually is pretty muscular looking. But the thing that stands out most about the car is it's interior. Forget Pontiac, or any other GM car. This interior is easily BMW quality. It's as if beancounters were banned from touching Monaro's interior. It's that good!
Everywhere you touch is solid. All switchgear doesn't feel like it's going to break without use of a hammer, and the quality of materials makes me dread getting back into any other GM products... Cadillac included.
The CV8 & CV6 has dual exhaust with twin resonatators, but in front of the differential, it crosses over to form a single exhaust, muffler, & tailpipe, while the intake system has the sharp elbow going to the airbox my LT1 Camaro has. These are the big reasons why the car has only 302 hp.
The fuel tank is nylon, mounted behind the axle & offset ala pre-1985 Mustangs & holds 75 litres (something like 20 gallons). Steering is about as tight as my Z28, and the car feels even more balenced than the Commodore SS I got to use during my visit to Melborne 2 years ago. But while I had use of the Commodore for a few days, I only had the Monaro for about 45 minutes, so it's not a perfect comparison.
The car is vault solid. Windows are framed & there is quite a bit of solid insulation. The twin bucket rear seats not only look cool, but are confortable & have enough room even with the seats all the way back.
On the down side, it's a little over equipted. When you get near the car, the FOB automatically moves the seats to your setting, and if your wife comes near it with her set, it does it according to her settings. I have yet to become a fan of the trip computer, & I don't understand why folding the seat forward has to be done using electric motors instead of just a simple **** & latch.
This car would make a terrible Camaro. Not from a performance or handling standpoint (I actually think that it has the potential of outdoing the F-body performancewise in all areas), but because it is in a different league. This car is certainly built superior to GrandPrix, and has the GP coupe's leg & hip room, yet is only hardly bigger than a GrandAm. This car is by no means a Monte Carlo either. This car is GM's version of a BMW coupe!
Though I'll be talking more about the GTO version a little later, I will say that though I compared it to the early GTOs, it's more like the option laden late 60's version. If GM takes some of the excess gadgets off, & keeps the quality, the car will without a doubt be lighter, much cheaper, and will make a very big impact here in the US.
I want to thank Steve & Ben over at Sutton City for my marathon questioning & hope they enjoy comming to this web site, and another friend of mine for letting me take his CV6 out for a short drive. I also want to pass on thanks to those who passed on info on GTO & Holden's other intentions which I'll post on another thread when I get back home.
First of all, I know Monaro looks like a Cavalier in profile shots, but in real life, it looks way more impressive. It actually is pretty muscular looking. But the thing that stands out most about the car is it's interior. Forget Pontiac, or any other GM car. This interior is easily BMW quality. It's as if beancounters were banned from touching Monaro's interior. It's that good!
Everywhere you touch is solid. All switchgear doesn't feel like it's going to break without use of a hammer, and the quality of materials makes me dread getting back into any other GM products... Cadillac included.
The CV8 & CV6 has dual exhaust with twin resonatators, but in front of the differential, it crosses over to form a single exhaust, muffler, & tailpipe, while the intake system has the sharp elbow going to the airbox my LT1 Camaro has. These are the big reasons why the car has only 302 hp.
The fuel tank is nylon, mounted behind the axle & offset ala pre-1985 Mustangs & holds 75 litres (something like 20 gallons). Steering is about as tight as my Z28, and the car feels even more balenced than the Commodore SS I got to use during my visit to Melborne 2 years ago. But while I had use of the Commodore for a few days, I only had the Monaro for about 45 minutes, so it's not a perfect comparison.
The car is vault solid. Windows are framed & there is quite a bit of solid insulation. The twin bucket rear seats not only look cool, but are confortable & have enough room even with the seats all the way back.
On the down side, it's a little over equipted. When you get near the car, the FOB automatically moves the seats to your setting, and if your wife comes near it with her set, it does it according to her settings. I have yet to become a fan of the trip computer, & I don't understand why folding the seat forward has to be done using electric motors instead of just a simple **** & latch.
This car would make a terrible Camaro. Not from a performance or handling standpoint (I actually think that it has the potential of outdoing the F-body performancewise in all areas), but because it is in a different league. This car is certainly built superior to GrandPrix, and has the GP coupe's leg & hip room, yet is only hardly bigger than a GrandAm. This car is by no means a Monte Carlo either. This car is GM's version of a BMW coupe!
Though I'll be talking more about the GTO version a little later, I will say that though I compared it to the early GTOs, it's more like the option laden late 60's version. If GM takes some of the excess gadgets off, & keeps the quality, the car will without a doubt be lighter, much cheaper, and will make a very big impact here in the US.
07-08-2002, 08:22 AM
#3
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Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Sydney, Australia
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Oh, and the electric tilt on the seats is interesting - the primary reason it is there is not to move the seats, but to test the new in seat sensor. The sesor at the moment simply deactivates the tilting mechanism if it detects a person in the seat, however, it will eventually become integrated with the airbag system to allow two new functions: Firstly, to simply deactive airbags for seats that are not occupied, and secondly to measure the mass of the occupant, and adjust the bags inflation speed and time accordingly.
07-08-2002, 09:12 AM
#4
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Excellent Post! This is what I want to know. How the Monaro looks in real life ....
The FOB with the seat memory is great. My 300M had one and it was great (my wife is short).
Thanks for taking the time to post the info. I'm getting the urge to buy one of these ....
Ted 99 TA WS6 Conv
The FOB with the seat memory is great. My 300M had one and it was great (my wife is short).
Thanks for taking the time to post the info. I'm getting the urge to buy one of these ....
Ted 99 TA WS6 Conv
07-08-2002, 03:44 PM
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: The Garden State
Posts: 148
Great job on the review guionM!
I'm glad to hear the Monaro's interior is actually as good as it looks. It's funny how your "First Impressions" provided much more of the 'real world' info that US car magazines seem to miss/ignore.
We all know it's performance potential, now it looks like the Monaro is comfortable too.
I'm glad to hear the Monaro's interior is actually as good as it looks. It's funny how your "First Impressions" provided much more of the 'real world' info that US car magazines seem to miss/ignore.
We all know it's performance potential, now it looks like the Monaro is comfortable too.
07-08-2002, 05:28 PM
#7
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Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,282
Fantastic job!
BTW, as another post is discussing, unless GM can find a way to make these cars affordable, we may be SOL for something to get excited about.....something in a Camaro price range, or as Red calls it, 'Chevy priced'.
These Holdens really sound like good cars that will raise the bar for GM, just hope we can afford them.
BTW, as another post is discussing, unless GM can find a way to make these cars affordable, we may be SOL for something to get excited about.....something in a Camaro price range, or as Red calls it, 'Chevy priced'.
These Holdens really sound like good cars that will raise the bar for GM, just hope we can afford them.
07-08-2002, 11:35 PM
#10
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The GTO will have 350 HP when it gets to the States, too, according to Holden's engineering chief:
Holden engineering admits it will be hard work boosting the LS1 V8 engine to 350 horsepower
By BRUCE NEWTON 1 July 2002
THE new generation Pontiac GTO being developed by Holden for sale in the US will be shipped north equipped with a full-house 260kW version of the LS1 V8 engine.
The specification was confirmed by Holden engineering boss Tony Hyde at the recent announcement of the green light for the Holden coupe to be restyled as a new generation Pontiac muscle car and sold in the US from late 2003.
Mr Hyde said boosting power from the 225kW standard in the Australian car to the level demanded by General Motors product czar Bob Lutz and Pontiac executives was the biggest challenge faced by his engineering team in converting the Monaro to US spec.
He said the repositioning of the fuel tank from outside the rear axle line to behind the rear seat and improving interior padding to comply with US crash standards were straight-forward by comparison.
"It's a bit of a challenge I can tell you," Mr Hyde said.
"It's quite easy to get to 240-245kW but to go a little bit higher to 260-odd, it's going to be a little bit of a battle for us. But I think we'll get there, we'll get close.
"They desperately want it. It's what a GTO should be - they have numbers in their head where they want it to be for 0-60 and stuff like that."
If 260kW sounds like a strange figure for Americans to lust after, convert it to horsepower and it makes more sense - 350hp.
That's the figure the LS1 5.7-litre engine actually emerges from the factory with when fitted to a Chevrolet Corvette.
But the task of boosting power is not as simple as taking the Corvette spec engine and dropping it into the Monaro.
"The Corvette has three-inch pipes underneath it and we just can't get that in the architecture we've got," Mr Hyde said.
"The US has a more liberal bypass noise which means you can have a less restrictive back pressure in the exhaust as well.
"So you have big pipes, less restrictive back pressure and the engine responds to that. If you want horsepower out of an LS1, the exhaust is the first place you go.
"Then you ask the question, well HSV has 255. But HSV puts headers on and we still run a cast-iron manifold, so it's some little things like that."
Mr Hyde dismissed any prospect of cylinder head work to achieve the necessary level of horsepower: "We'll concentrate on exhaust and air intake." Despite the power boost there is no plan to change the suspension set-up or uprate brakes from Monaro to GTO.
The entire GTO engineering program is believed to cost about $30 million, a figure Mr Hyde refused to confirm or deny.
This is more expensive than engineering the Monaro itself, believed to be due to the extensive amount of physical crash testing that has to be performed to comply with US regulations.
Holden engineering admits it will be hard work boosting the LS1 V8 engine to 350 horsepower
By BRUCE NEWTON 1 July 2002
THE new generation Pontiac GTO being developed by Holden for sale in the US will be shipped north equipped with a full-house 260kW version of the LS1 V8 engine.
The specification was confirmed by Holden engineering boss Tony Hyde at the recent announcement of the green light for the Holden coupe to be restyled as a new generation Pontiac muscle car and sold in the US from late 2003.
Mr Hyde said boosting power from the 225kW standard in the Australian car to the level demanded by General Motors product czar Bob Lutz and Pontiac executives was the biggest challenge faced by his engineering team in converting the Monaro to US spec.
He said the repositioning of the fuel tank from outside the rear axle line to behind the rear seat and improving interior padding to comply with US crash standards were straight-forward by comparison.
"It's a bit of a challenge I can tell you," Mr Hyde said.
"It's quite easy to get to 240-245kW but to go a little bit higher to 260-odd, it's going to be a little bit of a battle for us. But I think we'll get there, we'll get close.
"They desperately want it. It's what a GTO should be - they have numbers in their head where they want it to be for 0-60 and stuff like that."
If 260kW sounds like a strange figure for Americans to lust after, convert it to horsepower and it makes more sense - 350hp.
That's the figure the LS1 5.7-litre engine actually emerges from the factory with when fitted to a Chevrolet Corvette.
But the task of boosting power is not as simple as taking the Corvette spec engine and dropping it into the Monaro.
"The Corvette has three-inch pipes underneath it and we just can't get that in the architecture we've got," Mr Hyde said.
"The US has a more liberal bypass noise which means you can have a less restrictive back pressure in the exhaust as well.
"So you have big pipes, less restrictive back pressure and the engine responds to that. If you want horsepower out of an LS1, the exhaust is the first place you go.
"Then you ask the question, well HSV has 255. But HSV puts headers on and we still run a cast-iron manifold, so it's some little things like that."
Mr Hyde dismissed any prospect of cylinder head work to achieve the necessary level of horsepower: "We'll concentrate on exhaust and air intake." Despite the power boost there is no plan to change the suspension set-up or uprate brakes from Monaro to GTO.
The entire GTO engineering program is believed to cost about $30 million, a figure Mr Hyde refused to confirm or deny.
This is more expensive than engineering the Monaro itself, believed to be due to the extensive amount of physical crash testing that has to be performed to comply with US regulations.
07-09-2002, 01:11 AM
#13
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Sounds great 
But I'd still rather have a Club Sport R8
Rick
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But I'd still rather have a Club Sport R8
Rick
Aztek Yellow Trans Am (new)
98 Trans Am WS7
70 Ram Air IV Trans Am
Modified Goped Sport
1/10th scale HPI R/C car
1/5th scale GB R/C car
Video Archive (Burnouts, Donuts, Flamethrower, etc.)
R/C Video Archive (Burnouts, Ricer Flyby's, etc.)
Moderator at LS1.com
After 7 months in the NYPD Vehicle Impound, I Finally have my Baby Back!!
Things are looking more promising for you tho
07-09-2002, 03:57 AM
#15
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Decromin:
Shame you didn't mention your visit earlier - woulda been nice to put a face to the name</font>
Shame you didn't mention your visit earlier - woulda been nice to put a face to the name
</font>
Will be leaving tomorrow for Honolulu, so after we finish eating dinner at Burbon & Beefsteak, we'll be heading back to Bondi where I'll be interested in nothing but sleep tonight. I'm still recovering from the allnighter from Sunday morning. It should be a crime to still find clubs open 6:30 Sunday morning!