Upgraded Monaro to Rome and back
Discussion
A fast drive to just North of Rome to get married, meant a need to upgrade my 04 model CV8. Just prior to departure, WRC at Silverstone, transformed the CV8's already great motor into a rip roaring engine that was a great combnation of race track ready but absolutely driveable in any road conditions. A Borla stainless sports exhaust, a WRC tuned header, a cold air intake and a re-map by WRC's maestro, Chris (using WRCs rolling road), delivered a truly fantastic transformation. BHP is up 23% on standard (it could have been more but I asked them to cap it - WRC have all the technical information). A set of hose upgrades to the brakes plus AP brake oil increased the breaking power.
The fast 1200 mile drive to Italy and the same back again would be the true test. The car and upgraded engine performed faultlessly for every mile, even in average outside temperatures of 38-39 degrees. In itself I think that alone is a testament to the quality of the tuning. Highlights? (1) for two fantastic weeks, putting the foot on the accelerator, moving up through a roaring sound to the race car like higher pitched whine and feeling the full unharnessed power delivery effortlessly feed through,(2) autoroutes that were a pure play ground for the Monaro which drew enormous attention wherever it went (unbelievably so sometimes, including during a visit to the Ferrari museum in Maranello),(2) out accelerating a Porsche from a "high speed" on an autoroute just up from Milan, on a Sunday morning when all the Italians and their supercars were out to play, (3) playing with two Ferraris until the just wed wife got a little too concerned (4) realising the upgraded brakes were a brilliant move when under severe braking to avoid the gendarme that leapt out from behind his radar gun in the French Alps to stop me for the obligatory speeding fine, (5) driving the Monaro like a WRX subby through the Italian Alps on switch back after switch back. Finally, these Monaros are built like tanks. We got caught in a Tornado (I kid you not) by Lake Como. Not by the design, in zero visibility I ended up driving through a foot and half of water. I'd have been worried in a 4X4. The Monaro chugged through, spluttered slightly and then ripped away. Phew. The golf ball sized hail stones dented most car roofs around but not mine.
No more to say then , a brilliant car. Thanks WRC, a perfect and 100% reliable tuning job. Chris and Allan at WRC were great at both the advising and actual tuning stages. Vauxhall, brilliant idea to bring them in. I hope that whoever made the decison gets the right promotion.
The fast 1200 mile drive to Italy and the same back again would be the true test. The car and upgraded engine performed faultlessly for every mile, even in average outside temperatures of 38-39 degrees. In itself I think that alone is a testament to the quality of the tuning. Highlights? (1) for two fantastic weeks, putting the foot on the accelerator, moving up through a roaring sound to the race car like higher pitched whine and feeling the full unharnessed power delivery effortlessly feed through,(2) autoroutes that were a pure play ground for the Monaro which drew enormous attention wherever it went (unbelievably so sometimes, including during a visit to the Ferrari museum in Maranello),(2) out accelerating a Porsche from a "high speed" on an autoroute just up from Milan, on a Sunday morning when all the Italians and their supercars were out to play, (3) playing with two Ferraris until the just wed wife got a little too concerned (4) realising the upgraded brakes were a brilliant move when under severe braking to avoid the gendarme that leapt out from behind his radar gun in the French Alps to stop me for the obligatory speeding fine, (5) driving the Monaro like a WRX subby through the Italian Alps on switch back after switch back. Finally, these Monaros are built like tanks. We got caught in a Tornado (I kid you not) by Lake Como. Not by the design, in zero visibility I ended up driving through a foot and half of water. I'd have been worried in a 4X4. The Monaro chugged through, spluttered slightly and then ripped away. Phew. The golf ball sized hail stones dented most car roofs around but not mine.
No more to say then , a brilliant car. Thanks WRC, a perfect and 100% reliable tuning job. Chris and Allan at WRC were great at both the advising and actual tuning stages. Vauxhall, brilliant idea to bring them in. I hope that whoever made the decison gets the right promotion.
Sounds like you had a great time! Any pics?
I have an 04 cv8 with the Linden S2, a few cai mods and now the WRC remap. The whole package absolutely transforms a standard Monaro. Just add some better brakes (APs
) and you have supercar performance!
Caspy - mine was showing 350bhp at the wheels at Abbey, tested at WRC (with an extra 7k miles from the Abbey test) showing 360 bhp, after the remap it's now 380 bhp with torque up to 362 ft/lbs
I have an 04 cv8 with the Linden S2, a few cai mods and now the WRC remap. The whole package absolutely transforms a standard Monaro. Just add some better brakes (APs
) and you have supercar performance! Caspy - mine was showing 350bhp at the wheels at Abbey, tested at WRC (with an extra 7k miles from the Abbey test) showing 360 bhp, after the remap it's now 380 bhp with torque up to 362 ft/lbs
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