Questions Questions Questions - Monaro stuff

[Dan_the_man]

Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum, I did ask a few questions about the Holden badges and I'm happy that they are available to replace the Vauxhall ones...

..anyway I'm on the verge of ordering a basic Monaro CV8, and I liked the test drive but it was very quiet, not exactly what a V8 should sound like. So I rang Linden and discussed their first two tuning options and they even said that the work they do to the cars will be warranted as normal by Vauxhall, so that's good news.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has had the Linden stage1 or stage2 upgrades and how loud are they, I'm used to a decatted Subaru STi which really rumbles, and makes you seek out tunnels to break the sound barrier through !! So I'm not really after a quiet system if you can see where I'm coming from, I see there are some nice parts from CAPA.com.au, has anyone imported these and done any upgrades themselves ?

Finally are the Linden exhausts twin pipes down the entire car as in this pic and can the cats be removed ?


Sorry for the questions, I'm just thinking that the CV8 with a few pounds spent in the right places can out muscle the VXR (Don't get me wrong I love the VXR but it costs a hell of a lot more than the CV8). I'm hoping that I can make it as quick as my old Impreza but gain a bit of uniqueness with it, after all every baseball capped boy racer has a scooby/evo now.

[Dan_The_Man]

The Sureflow system does sound a lot nicer than the OEM pipe, is that a close sounding match to the Linden (CAPA) system ?
I think Jagsy's sounds a bit like a neighbour killer after the mod, the before sound seems OK though.
I thought in this day and age that all performance exhausts were stainless, obviously not....

[Dan_The_Man]

Jagsy I can't wait to hear the second opinion.

Another serious question, these engines look like they are begging to run NOS, just a small shot should keep it reliable, has anyone on this forum tried it ?

[Dan_The_Man]

Well guys I have done the deed, paid a deposit for a Blue Monaro, eta 3 weeks.

I did test drive a V8 Rover but it was pretty uninspiring, then they tried to bamboozle me with what options I wanted wheras the Holden has all options included bar cig lighters/mud flaps.

So - Mark at Linden I'll be on the phone shortly

[Dan_The_Man]

doh - double post - must be too excited

>> Edited by Dan_The_Man on Saturday 5th June 17:10

[Dan_The_Man]

Well its nearly ready for collection and I have already spoken to Mark @ Linden and booked it in for a stage2 upgrade in about a week's time.

Watch this space for the full low down on how a Monaro should drive and sound like

god the excitement is killing me

[Dan_The_Man]

I can't sleep tonight, my new baby is visiting Lindens for the next few days for their stage2 upgrade.

I visited Paul UKHSV on Sunday (thanks for the badges mate) and hence my Monaro is now officially badged a Holden. He took me for a spin in his beast and it sounded fantastic, it will be nice to get a comparison with the CAPA systems....

[Dan_the_man]

Mark offered to dyno it for me but once I mentioned it's only got 200 miles on the clock and really should be run in properly before we test it we decided not to.

I have a local rolling road in Aldershot (SAS) and Power Engineering are also fairly close so I'll do it myself shortly - maybe we should organise a RR day ?

He's also making up a pair of decat pipes and we swapped the airbox for a HSV one which seems to have smoother curves and twin air holes - every little helps. Am picking it up tomorrow so watch this space, also checked out the ultima that I'm sure he said was ready for a 6.2 lump - very nice !!

>> Edited by Dan_the_man on Friday 2nd July 11:11