New Owner Engine Mod advice

[stu vxr]

The problem for me with changing the engine in any car is you lose the originality of the car with regard to engine number etc, surely it can't be worth swapping a LS3 in with the small gains versus going charged? I may be wrong.

Roger Keys was correct with bang for buck statement for sure, did an excellent job on mine.

[selym]

stu vxr said:

The problem for me with changing the engine in any car is you lose the originality of the car with regard to engine number etc, surely it can't be worth swapping a LS3 in with the small gains versus going charged? I may be wrong.

Roger Keys was correct with bang for buck statement for sure, did an excellent job on mine.

I wouldn't change the engine, unless there was a requirement to in any case.

[maccavvy]

I have a cv8 with 420 fly up.

I have headers, a decat , stainless exhaust rear section is custom made, ripshifter ,later larger intake pipe MAF and 2 hole airbox mod and a remap. No need to go internal. The best bang for buck was the shorter ratio diff. That livened it up a treat

[anonymous-user]

I’d be looking for a 122hh intercooled supercharger. It will give you about 540hp at the flywheel from memory but finding one will be very difficult as most of us finished modding our cars many years ago. Fitting an LS3 will be a pain in the arse so you don’t have that many options.

[jameshsv]

Be very careful before you start modding as it can become very expensive.Decide what end result you want otherwise sell and buy something already modded as it will work out cheaper in the long run

[vxr2010]

The bhp question , you loose around 100 bhp in the box diff etc , so 325 at the wheels is around 425 at the crank , i am more than happy with mine and i’m not at this time looking to do any more , i know there are more powerful cars out there but with the power i have it works very well ,plus the big boot is the best sounding car and is stil like an old school v8 , i prefer it as a driveing expierience to my newer maloo , mpg on a long run being sensible is just under 35 , and a very good mod is the 3.9 diff it has a big positive effect on the car and is more significant than a remap or other n/a mods

[fred bloggs]

vxr2010 said:

The bhp question , you loose around 100 bhp in the box diff etc , so 325 at the wheels is around 425 at the crank

Had it on a dyno ? usually its a % from wheels to crank.

[vxr2010]

yes , they say somewhere between 20 to 25 percent , so for me around 100 bhp loss , seems high , adding to that how many dynos are the same , standard car is 330bhp or so on a cv8 , mod gives it around 100 bhp and i end up back to original power but at least it’s at the wheels this time , i am pretty trusting of the SRR one , i wonder what my fsti is based on per cent wise loss , due to it being 4 wheel drive ?

[mfp4073]

The drive train losses on a Monaro are huge.
A few years ago Roger Keys of Monkfish was remapping my car, straightaway he said I would lose about 100HP through the transmission and put down 325HP at the wheels.
A month or so later I had my car on a dyno and carried out three power runs. It turned out Roger was right on the money.....as usual....

[vxr2010]

On a rwd the loss is around 20 ish per cent , front wheel drive losses less , 4 wheel drive loses the most , autos are worse than a manual for loss , the monaro loss is fairly normal , the benefit with a monaro you tend to start with more power than most cars in the first place , a monaro or vxr8 is a fairly quick car but some as in more modern cars are faster that’s just life lol , still a great car to drive any way

[selym]

vxr2010 said:

On a rwd the loss is around 20 ish per cent , front wheel drive losses less , 4 wheel drive loses the most , autos are worse than a manual for loss , the monaro loss is fairly normal , the benefit with a monaro you tend to start with more power than most cars in the first place , a monaro or vxr8 is a fairly quick car but some as in more modern cars are faster that’s just life lol , still a great car to drive any way

Where is the romance in a highly strung, passionless 4-pot banger any way? I'd rather have a slower, more boat like car with a bit about it.

[mfp4073]

Guy's don't get too strung out out transmission losses, and mega HP dyno read outs. These cars will still do 0-60 in 5 seconds and top out in the region of 160-170 mph!!!!!!! or you can save your driving license and cruise all day effortlessly and listen to that lovely V8 soundtrack.
When you think about it in today's world it's not bad going really.

[selym]

mfp4073 said:

Guy's don't get too strung out out transmission losses, and mega HP dyno read outs. These cars will still do 0-60 in 5 seconds and top out in the region of 160-170 mph!!!!!!! or you can save your driving license and cruise all day effortlessly and listen to that lovely V8 soundtrack.
When you think about it in today's world it's not bad going really.

Not bad for old tech!

[fred bloggs]

Found this. Its US but figures seem to be realistic.

http://www.ls1howto.com/content/dynos/

really good info for which mods are effective.

I recently added proflow 1&7/8 headers to my cammed ls1 and didnt pick up at the top, but gained a lot under the curve.

[stu vxr]

Love this thread, if only you could have a go with each mod before you decide which is best.

Trouble is you can't and it's all speculative especially if your staying NA.

I have had a Lifetime of modding Cars one way or another and spent thousands, like many others in the process it has always ended in disappointment, perhaps because I have listened to tuners plus possibly I don't know enough about tunning.

The only time I haven't been disappointed is when I went supercharged having said that from what people have said on various site's I expected to be the fastest thing on the road.

I think anyone now thinking of modding a Monaro should go and test drive one of each first or as many as they can, not easy I know, but this will avoid disappointment.

Edited by stu vxr on Saturday 19th January 06:37

[jameshsv]

Chilli Sauce Pete said:

Hi,I had a cv8 with LS1,Harrop 112 supercharger,wortec exhaust but no cam,540 fwhp ,400 rwhp,mot ok,hope this help's

And then you purchased a car with a proper supercharger lol

[jameshsv]

fred bloggs said:

Found this. Its US but figures seem to be realistic.

http://www.ls1howto.com/content/dynos/

really good info for which mods are effective.

I recently added proflow 1&7/8 headers to my cammed ls1 and didnt pick up at the top, but gained a lot under the curve.

The heads on a LS1 are very restrictive

[jameshsv]

CV8revver said:

Thanks both, I'll plan a trip with the girlfriend later in the year :L
After that I'll get a remap and see where I'm at horsepower wise.
Fun times ahead!

or you could buy my car for 12k and have all the performance parts you will ever need

[CV8revver]

jameshsv said:

r you could buy my car for 12k and have all the performance parts you will ever need

Hahaha tempting but I only just got mine! What year monaro do you have and what mods?

[Chilli Sauce Pete]

Hi James,had the remap done,bigger injectors,now 65lb FAST high precision,running 12 psi boost,over 700 BHP at Fly Wheel,goes like s--t
of a Shovel now,grin factor 10