Chad's Monte Carlo SS - Initial Runs

Purple Power: Chad's Monte Carlo SS

Download the G-Tech Pro data files (GTP files).
Download GTech PASS (GTP file viewer).

Initial Runs: 08/27/2004

Since Chad has recently resurrected his high-school Monte Carlo SS, we decided to take it for a spin on Friday at lunch and put it to the G-Tech test. My G-Tech Competition Pro is a small and easily used performance meter that we employed to find out how Chad's Monte was doing after its long rest. For the record, he has a 1986 Monte Carlo SS which the previous owner removed the180bhp 305 V-8 and plopped in a 400-odd cubic inch smallblock V-8 (the smallblock 400 engines saw duty in large cars and trucks). Along with some wide tires and a tougher tranny with shift kit, the Monte is definitely hard-edged, especially after Chad rebuilt and overbored it a bit. So hard-edged, in fact, that during the first calibration run the electric radiator cooling fans ingested their own wiring and stopped running -- but the monster radiator kept things reasonable even at an idle.

Acceleration:

So, we performed three acceleration runs and one power curve run. The first acceleration run turned into a smoking wheelspin-fest as Chad planted the pedal to the floor and spun the tires through mid-second gear. While giving impressive and smoky wheelspin (here is a picture re-enactment), the first run didn't provide a lot of acceleration off the line and netted a 15.5sec quarter mile at 96mph. It did, however, provide about fifty feet of rubber left on the road and a lot of grinning.

The second and third runs, however, were very consistent and fast: two 14.1second ETs with a trap speed of 98 and 99mph. The faster of the two runs had virtually no wheelspin except a bit at launch and at the 1st-2nd shift. In fact, they probably would have been identical except Chad lifted off the gas about a tenth-second before the quarter mile on the last run and cost himself 1mph on his trap speed.

Power:

So what did we learn about the Monte? Well, the power curve run wasn't as useful since we shut down the headlights which goobered the RPM detection. However, the acceleration runs yielded good information on the power and torque peaks: 194bhp @ 4450rpm, and 263lb-ft of torque @ 3350rpm. Now, both of those figures are rear-wheel road figures including aero drag. Roughly calculating about 20bhp of aero drag and a 18% driveline loss, the adjusted figures are about 260bhp and 310lb-ft of torque. Realistically both figures are probably low, since I'd estimate that the Monte has higher driveline losses than that, so 275-300bhp is very possible.

More Info:

For a quick comparison you can see my G35's best run against the Monte's best run. When comparing acceleration times, the Monte's wider tires, tons 'o torque, and shift kit give it a jump off the line. By about 90mph the G35 is catching up primarily due to its better aerodynamics (we had the windows down and T-tops off on the Monte!). At the quarter mile the G35 is catching up quickly and would pass the Monte shortly thereafter. This is due to the Monte's 3.73:1 final drive ratio, which given a rpm limit of 5000rpm means it has a 113mph top speed! I'd expect a nice bump once Chad gets a manual installed with an extra gear.

However, to be a fair comparison there are two inequalities:

My G35 run was with just myself onboard, and the Monte was running double with Chad and me. After removing myself as ballast from the equation, my calculations put his time at 13.8 seconds @ 101mph.
Chad deliberately shifted about 500rpm late for testing, which slowed down his times by a tenth or two.

So, with no other changes than a proper shift point and just himself in the car, I'd expect a 13.6 or 13.7. Given some tuning, tire pressure tweaking, etc. well a low-thirteen second run seems very attainable!