Monaro in the UK?

[Miraz]

Did anyone else notice the Monaro on the Vauxhall stand at the motorshow?

How many UK HSV owners actually read this board?

[sjc]

Yes I did, see previous thread re: HRT427. As for how many owners, not sure but gradually the word is spreading about this site amongst owners. Could be handy in the future as there doesn't seem to be an owners club.

[Miraz]

stumbled onto the other thread after I'd posted the message...oops

I run a 2000 VT II GTS-UK as my everyday transport, and tow vehicle for a Caterham.

If the weather is poor the tow car gets to play on the track too...www.miraz.com/Spa.WMV

[sjc]

Miraz,your Caterham sounds fantastic what sort of spec.is it?
Have you had the HSV from new and whaddya think?

[Miraz]

It's a relatively lowly 170bhp at the moment - the noise can be blamed on a set of throttle bodies and an airbox which produces a decent howl at the current redline of 7000 rpm - the winter upgrade should raise the redline to 9600 rpm at which point it will sound fantastic.

[linden]

We will have the first monaro in the uk for sale in 2 weeks, this car has 430bhp with sat nav, ap brakes e.t.c., this car will be the demonstrater.
We have already sold two of these cars.

We are now taking orders for more.....
any info e-mail [e-mail]

[Miraz]

Interested in seeing the demonstrator, but have to admit to being extremely reluctant to spend any money until Vauxhall reveal their plans for the Monaro - especially as their projected price seemed to around £35,000 less than the fully optioned up CAPA coupe that you are importing - the price difference would buy a lot of options....

[sjc]

Sshhhh!

[winterbourne]

just in case anyones interested the Monaro has been on the street here in NZ for a couple of months and old man Brock did a road rally in a standard-ish one last week.Went really well and had armfulls of opposite lock on at 90mph+.It sounded just awsome!
Just in the process of taking a Holden UTE 5.7V8 for a test drive.Same engine as the HSV SS.Should be good in a pick up truck,i hope.Six speed box too.

[Miraz]

ah - that would be the Targa NZ, if my plans for next year come together then I should be competing in the 2003 event...

[sjc]

Miraz is your HSV stock or have you had a few bits done?

[Miraz]

It's pretty much a stock car - I've made a few simple modifications recently.

Kenwood Nav system
Oil Cooler + Oil/Air Seperator to deal with Surge
Cold Air Intake
Additional Instrumentation - Oil temp/pressure

But nothing radical - just peace of mind stuff really, I'm tempted to improve the handling a little bit, but I'm in no hurry.

[eminence]

The Monaro sucks. The interior is shocking. Peter Brock went in the Targa Tasmania this year and the other car in the team went straight into a bank and smashed the car. They didn't sound different to any other Holden nor did they seem to go any better. The sports dash upgrade (from the other Commodores) in it involves one extra gauge and some red highlighting. Buy a real sports car not this hunk o junk. There are far better cars out there for the money.

[pawsmcgraw]

eminence said: The Monaro sucks. The interior is shocking. Peter Brock went in the Targa Tasmania this year and the other car in the team went straight into a bank and smashed the car. They didn't sound different to any other Holden nor did they seem to go any better. The sports dash upgrade (from the other Commodores) in it involves one extra gauge and some red highlighting. Buy a real sports car not this hunk o junk. There are far better cars out there for the money.

Well thats constructive!Try looking at it this way.In NZ the monaro is about 80k$,thats the same price as a BMW320i.What in the uk can you buy with a V8,coupe,that power and spec and that different?Just to get a standard vehicle that sounds like that in the uk is nearly impossible the south side of TVR and 45k£.Yeah,in Aus or NZ it may be common to see V8's all over the place but here in euro hatch land its a great refreshing change!Besides,could you imagine a TVR competing in the Tasmania Targa?err i think not and remember,Mr Schumacher has crashed a few times without it being the cars fault.I think "sucks" is rather harsh considering.

[sjc]

eminence said: The Monaro sucks. The interior is shocking. Peter Brock went in the Targa Tasmania this year and the other car in the team went straight into a bank and smashed the car. They didn't sound different to any other Holden nor did they seem to go any better. The sports dash upgrade (from the other Commodores) in it involves one extra gauge and some red highlighting. Buy a real sports car not this hunk o junk. There are far better cars out there for the money.

[pawsmcgraw]

sjc said:

eminence said: The Monaro sucks. The interior is shocking. Peter Brock went in the Targa Tasmania this year and the other car in the team went straight into a bank and smashed the car. They didn't sound different to any other Holden nor did they seem to go any better. The sports dash upgrade (from the other Commodores) in it involves one extra gauge and some red highlighting. Buy a real sports car not this hunk o junk. There are far better cars out there for the money.

[lawrence1]

Perhaps you might like to apply for a job with Holden?? And then you can do a better job of designing the car.

Perhaps you might like to also be the draghtsman, the CAD man, the pattern maker, run the test program, make the jigs for assembly, make the dies, assemble the cars, do the paper work and be the office GIRL as well??

Other motor manufacturers are every bit as good as Holden.

[Maca]

i haven't been home for a couple of years now and so have missed the launch of both the monaro and ford's latest offerings. i think the antipathy with which GMH is viewed by many is soundly based. (for those of you old enough to remember) both ford and GMH have enjoyed decades of market protection from the government who continued to apply crippling importation taxes on european cars. now, this wouldn't be a problem if both ford and GMH had used the time and lack of competition to produce some design or engineering masterpieces. unfortunately, year after year they wheeled out mediocre after mediocre model, push-rod after push-rod family sedan to a public who in general were none to demanding, and of course could not afford any better due to taxes (qv). now, of course the 'new' monaro may very well be a world class beater (and i sincerely hope it is) its just unfortunate it has to over-proove itself due to the company's lacklustre history.
Maca

[pawsmcgraw]

sounds almost journalistic,very good.i agree with you,GM are too good at producing vectra's.

[Maca]

where is everyone...(tumbleweeds roll by) ...wake up hsv forum!