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Article - Holden Monaro CV8
When Canberra based Rodney
Hoare first laid eyes on the new Holden Monaro coupe at the
2001 Sydney Motor Show he simply had to have one and the
following day ordered a Red Hot CV8 and took delivery on the
29th of December 2001.
"Ever since Holden showed the concept car, I wanted one, so
when the Sydney Motor Show came around it seemed like the
perfect opportunity for me to own one," Rod explained. "From
day one I was really happy with the car, but you know how it
goes, everything was fine until I caught the modification
bug."
The story, though, kicked off in the months preceding the
Monaro's launch, Rod thinking of what personalised plates he
should acquire. "For months I was trying to think of a plate
that would suit the car. I considered GAMEOVR at an early
stage as I felt it worked in well with Holden's advertising,
but presumed it would have been taken, so didn't attempt
going for it. Anyway, I couldn't think of anything else, so
I rang the Motor Registry office and they said it was
available and I was on their doorstep within ½ hour ordering
them. The luck of living in ACT and not having the
competition for plates that the larger States have I guess."
The first mechanical mod was a basic exhaust upgrade in the
form of HM Tri-y headers and cat back system. Slowly but
surely other bolts ons took place, Autotech Services from
Fyshwick donning the engine with an SS Induction throttle
body and LS1 engine covers, the management was upgraded to
include a Unichip piggyback computer, the trans topped with
a GNE short shifter and the diff upgraded with 3.9:1 ratio
crown wheel and pinion.
Turning to the undercarriage, Rod elected to stick with the
stock FE2 shocks while adding lowered springs and Whiteline
strut brace. At this point he elected to leave a brake
upgrade for another time.
A radical interior revision was also high on the agenda, Rod
opting to employ the expertise of KAM Motor Trimming from
Fyshwick in not only adding some unique cockpit
enhancements, but also adding to the aesthetics of the neat
boot install with a full compliment of leather.
Much of the stock interior trim has been retained, KAM
adding effect via custom leather door inserts, gearlever
boot, console lid, rear parcel shelf, and a centre strip in
the rear bench. A MOMO gear knob and VY SS Pedal Covers
completed the basics.
The audio system is to die for, as is a truly unique boot
install. Yep, together with Audiotech from Tuggeranong, the
pair devised a multimedia combination that not only delivers
awesome ear candy; earth shattering DVD performance is also
only a button press away. They chose Clarion's class leading
VRX925VD DVD/CD/MP3 player with integral 7-inch touch-screen
monitor to orchestrate the entire audio and visual goings
on. Boosting the front stage performance are Phoenix Gold
TANTRUM 6-inch splits with potent 6.5-inch Earthquake
speakers providing rear fill.
Having elected to stick with the stock interior speaker
locations, the ante was upped when turning to the boot and
creating a trick subwoofer enclosure situated in a
fabricated driver's side panel. Different! Sure is: Rather
than wasting much of the available space with a monster sub
enclosure, a fabricated panel and amp rack with Phoenix Gold
TANTRUM 500.4 and 400.4 amplifiers is mounted hard up
against the rear firewall. The smaller of the two units runs
the interior speakers, with the larger powering a 12-inch
Phoenix Gold subwoofer. A 7-inch flip down Clarion monitor,
two neon lights, StreetWires cabling, a boot floor fitted
with an engraved mirror (Monaro), and an Optima battery
completes the audiovisual excitement.
With a local Monaro drive day looming, Rod took the
opportunity of improving the exterior aesthetics by adding a
HBD boot spoiler and dropping the Munro over 19 x 8-inch ROH
Fury Shadow Chrome rims wrapped in 245/35/ZR19Bridgestone
S03 rubber.
"I had a great time at the Monaro day, but what really made
it was when I was taken for a spin in a Monaro owned by
Autotechnique's VCM Suite technician, Chris. I couldn't
believe the difference in power and was immediately on the
phone to Mario at Autotechnique to arrange for a full engine
package."
Within days Rod embarked on a road trip to Rowville in the
outer eastern suburb of Rowville where the car remained for
a couple of weeks while Mario and Chris weaved their magic.
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Before laying a spanner on the
car, Mario positioned it on his awesome DynoLogic chassis
dynamometer for a 'before' run and a relatively piddling 192
rear wheel kilowatts. You'd think that with extractors,
exhaust, throttle body and Unichip, a little more grunt
would have been forthcoming. But no, that's all the old girl
could manage.
Two weeks later Rod drove away with a staggering 277 rear
wheel kilowatts! The package required to achieve the extra
grunt is simple enough, with Mario fitting a complete head
and cam package.
To ensure the package worked as it should, Mario discarded
the HM headers and cat back system in favour of Difilippo 4
into 1 extractors and a complete 2½-inch dual cat high flow
system, the air box benefited from the inclusion of a K&N
filter, while a MAF-less HSV intake pipe allowed Mario and
Chris to fine tune the engine to absolute perfection. To the
tune of almost 350 flywheel kilowatts!
Knowing that the massive 44% power increase would take its
toll on the clutch, the factory item was discarded for a
vastly lighter steel flywheel and the latest 400kW rated
Spec dual friction clutch combo.
"The difference in the car is incredible, I mean I simply
can't believe how much faster and more responsive it is. In
fact I have nothing but praise for Mario and Chris.
Fantastic."
Proving the point, Rodney made his way down to Heathcote
Park Raceway for the 2004 LS1 Nationals where he competed
both on the track and in the dyno competition. In the latter
the car achieved 274 rear wheel kilowatts, while on the
track with standard road tyres and around 100kgs of stereo
equipment, Rodney's quarter mile debut resulted in a best
13.3 at a very strong 111mph.
The game at this stage isn't quite over though, with Rodney
planning on a brake upgrade! He's also looking at having a
sunroof fitted and of course intends getting in as many
miles as possible. And wouldn't you, I mean with so much
grunt in such a brilliant car, you simply couldn't keep me
out of it!
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