Now that we're into a fuel economy discussion, the real question is how are you all calculating your numbers? I calculate by hand each time I fuel up - miles on the last tank/gallons I just fueled. The highest I have ever gotten was 25.2 MPG... that tank was on a trip to 2015 Monte Nat'ls and was est. 80% highway, mostly on cruise control at the speed limit. Unless you're keeping track of miles/tank and are calculating by hand when fueling up, it's not going to be accurate and the DIC is not a reliable source for an accurate number.

Pretty decent write up.

I agree about the seats, they're mostly flat and don't provide much lateral grab. I don't know about the cloth seats but the leather propels you out of the seat like a water slide.

Unless the car is lowered, there's significant body roll. I can say the car feels more planted and easier to control when lowered.

And launches are a learned trick with these. I have super high performance summer tires and even they can't handle a complete "pedal to the floor" from a stop. It's a more gradual pedal push until you're moving a little bit.

 

I love the Caprice. If there were any possibility of getting one with an intact front bumper, it would be an aspirational car for me.

What, exactly, is "weird" about the 6th gen?

 

When the 6th generation hit the streets in 1999, my 1st thought was "they have really gone far to make it look different from the Impala!" I could also see hints of earlier Montes in the taillights and swoopy sides, but with the strange headlights and droopy front end I couldn’t help but be happier I had a 1998 that looked like a Lumina, just a normal car. Then in 2003 my 98 started having issues, and I impulsively traded it in for an 03, despite my misgivings about the looks. If Pontiac had still been making a 2 door Grand Prix I would have bought that instead.
By the way, which Caprice are you referring to, the recent ones that were all cop cars?

 

The tough part with the Caprice cop cars is they seem to all be pretty beat, at least the ones around here. I did look at them briefly when my GP got totalled as the prices were pretty reasonable, but the few I looked at had all kinds of aesthetic issues. I hear the detective models tend to be in better shape, but I didn't come across any.

I also dunno if I'd call a mid 90s Impala SS a "fast" v8. Sure it's nostalgic being a huge rwd v8, but in all honesty, the car is an absolute turd by modern standards. The stock ones I've seen run at the track here seem to be around mid 15s. My wife's daily driver SUV would give them a decent run, lol.

 

I periodically check by hand, maybe a couple times a year unless I'm doing something different that I want to track (like a one time road trip or a new route to work or something). As I drive almost the exact same route every day, I don't bother calculating every time as it really doesn't change much.

​​​​​​Generally though, I haven't seen any huge discrepancy from the DIC though. As long as the computer and injectors haven't been screwed with, it should be relatively accurate.

 

Back in that era we were used to big sedans that went 0 to 60 in 11 seconds, give or take. Quarter mile times under 17 seconds were rare. That was considered good actually. When Chevy started offering the LT1 V8 in the Caprice line, that was a huge deal! Suddenly the Caprice was flat-out fast. Even now hearing that they ran mid-15s straight from the factory sounds really fast to me!

 

If you periodically check by hand and know the trends of your car, that's respectable. And my Monte's DIC is pretty damn accurate, I will agree with you on that - the most accurate car I've had when it comes to that. Although I can't say the same for my 2013 Malibu. That thing is typically off and can be way off, like several MPGs off (always reads higher). Same thing when I owned my 2011 Cruze.

 

I guess I just didn't understand your previous post. You mentioned you would probably just get the v6 in a new monte, but if someone wanted a fast V8 to check out the mid 90s Impala. The thing is a new monte/impala/GP with the ls4 would destroy a 90s Impala.

Don't get me wrong though, I do love those cars. I learned to drive in a 92 caprice, so I'd love to own a mid 90s Impala partially for the nostalgia of that platform in a 'cooler' looking version.

 

I just prefer the old-school low tech small block V8 with the rear drive layout. Those were the best!
Yeah, the LS4 cars of 2006-era were fast as hell. But didn't they have cylinder deactivation and a lot of torque steer under hard acceleration?

 

​​​​​​So what you really meant was, you hated the front end of the 6th gen. So do I. That's why I own a 7th gen. As you can tell from the screen name, I also owned a 5th gen. While it was undeniably the best looking Lumina ever made, it really was about as much a Monte as the Fox body was a Mustang.

And yes I mean the most recent Caprice, thus my comment about the front bumper being ruined with those cowcatchers. Still better than the new Avalon....