So I'm a few steps further in my search for a new Monte Carlo to buy. And I am 90% confident I will be buying another Monte Carlo, not a Camaro or 3800 Pontiac. The cars I'm looking at are the L67 supercharged 3800's in the '04 and '05 Monte's. Now, I was very used to the feel of my L36 in my '03 SS along with its 3.23 gearing. I understand the L67 is much faster, but has 2.93 gearing.

Can anyone explain to me if there are any substantial differences in the acceleration and driving between the L36 and L67? I only ask because I will be buying this L67 Monte from hundreds of miles away, and I will not be test driving it. I understand it would be best if I did, but given my situation it is very very difficult to fly/drive 800 miles to pick up a car, so I'll be having it shipped.

Just let me know any differences, advantageous or non-advantageous between the L36 and L67. For example, fuel economy, off the line acceleration, rolling acceleration, handling between an '03 SS and the '04 SS, and anything else that differs. Thank you.

 

gl with your search.

supercharged montes come with the lag, untill the boost kicks in then youll be impressed. ive driven a anniversary edition GP, and i would assume its the same. although i felt kinda gay driving a purplish car, it felt nice.

if you dont mind me asking, whats your situation? i understand you dont have a car, but dang the insurance didnt even get you a rent a car?

i personally would never, buy a car w/o test driving it, unless your buying it off someone with a lot of reciepts, and some sort of warranty.

 

you would have to start buying 93 octane gas, which is more expensive, but im pretty sure its not going to hurt your mileage.

the suspension should all be the same too, plus or minus the mileage and location where it was driven/mantained.

from what i understand, suspension parts all compinsate for each other, so once one goes bad it puts more stress on the others.

 

My situation is this. April 10th, (last weekend) my 2003 Monte Carlo SS was involved in an accident, not my fault, the other driver blew a red light when I was turning on a green arrow. My Monte is totaled, I'm still waiting for insurance to come through with the money, and if they give me what my car is worth according to NADA, it should be right around $10,500, then I have to pay off my $6,400 loan I still have on the '03 Monte. Well I loved that car a lot, and I really really love Monte Carlos in general, so I'm looking to get a new car quickly, but smartly.

The insurance company did provide a rental, but they said it was only good for 4 days until they have someone determine the amount of damage done to my vehicle, it's a long story, but I returned the rental today, I hated it, it was a Kia Spectra.

My 2003 Monte Carlo SS, I took a great risk when buying it. Bought the car within 45 minutes, because another buyer was dropping by later that day to buy it. I bought it with 54,500 miles on it and without test driving it, I felt nervous, felt like it was a bad idea, but it was only $9,500, and I never regretted it. It came with a 60 day warranty.

I'm hoping to buy a 2004 or 2005 SS with fewer than 45,000 miles, and a similar or better warranty, I'll be having the car shipped. I understand it's not a great idea to buy the car without a test drive, but I have a certain amount of trust placed in a good dealership, Chevrolet's quality of vehicle, and of course the Monte Carlo itself, so I trust it will be in good condition.

 

I remember my '03 SS had lag between 40MPH and 50MPH, where it would increase in speed slowly, but it wouldn't jerk you back in your seat if you stomped in. Whereas anywhere from 0-37MPH and 50-70MPH it would jerk you back in your seat, rather touchy actually for a N/A V6. I just hope the L67 will deliver at least that much, and more.

 

umm cool

its funny to me how people deal with situations, due to the way situations worked out in the past. "the past is a strong influence on the future"

GL it seams like a good deal to me. when i was lookig at cars i test drove a 2004 white s/c ss monte. they wanted 14 and didnt seem like they wanted to drop the price. i belive it had around 45,000 on it. the guy told me to slow down on the test so i really couldnt see how everything cruised.

so my point is that if your getting a similar one for 9,500 thats great. when i was looking i really wanted the last gen made. hindsight is 20/20, and i kick myself in the butt for not going with that car. i know if i put more time into it i could have got them to drop the price a bit.

i just got sold on the lower miles{17} and color{black} and leather of my car. the miles really doesnt matter and really if a car is past 30 it should have had a lot of mantainence done to it already. does the guy have a book of reciepts??? i know i have a whole folder of all the stuff ive got or had fixed. i think when you go to sell it shows a pride of ownership, and some peace of mind for the buyer.

 

Umm, yes- definitely. 40 horsepower and 60 torque. Even with the steeper gearing, its still a good bit quicker. Easily 1 second faster in the 1/4 mile.

Yikes- even from a dealer, that would scare me with any used car.

I can't tell you how a 03 SS compares to an 04 SS- but I can tell you I've had a 99 GP GTP with the L67 and I have owned two Impala's (an 00 and an 03)- both LS's with the L36.

The L67 will be faster across the board, rolling- from a stop, etc. It makes more power and torque at every rpm than an L36 at WOT.

However, it does seem to feel a little bit slower around town- it has lower compression, and longer gearing- so when you're out of boost, it doesn't feel as responsive and peppy. The second you get into the throttle enough for the bypass valve to close- you jump up a lot of power. So its kinda nice having the best of both worlds- you get the nice easy cruiser with great gas mileage (I actually got a little better gas mileage on my gtp than either impala)- that still rips when you want it to.

To the OP- I don't want you to think in terms of 'lag'. Its not like a turbo, you're not waiting for it to start making boost- the SC is spinning full speed all the time, you just need to press the throttle hard enough to close the bypass valve. So there is a slight delay between the time you hit it, and the time it goes to full boost- but we're talking a fraction of a second- the bypass valve reacts very quickly.

 

It's a 2004 Monte Carlo supercharged with 19,000 miles, barely used, almost brand new. It's $14,500, think I'm going to buy it. Thank you for outlining the differences between the two motors, I was hoping Bumpin would bump in on this thread and give me the whole low-down on this question, now I feel well informed.

 

I can tell you from my Monte with 104k on it stock there was a delay/lag. I would put the pedal to the floor and said 1 then I heard the tranny downsift then I said 2 and felt the car making boost. But after the aftermarket pcm it was a different world. No more counting I hit the gas and she went. To be honest, in stock format I was not to impressed with the L67. But with afew simple mods that engine has really came to live. I am well pleased with that car now.

 

Its obviously always going to be worse from a roll too because if you nail it in 4th with the converter locked up- you're waiting for it to downshift, unlock the converter, and engage the boost bypass. Sounds like your pcm helped speed up the trans changes to minimize the lag there.

That's mostly transmission tuning though- and even the L67 has its dead spots in the powerband at certain gear/rpm ranges- especially once you get into 3rd at WOT.

Out of the hole, you don't have to deal with that. Its not like the small time it takes to close the valve is a big deal then either- because with that much torque going through FWD on street tires, you're not going to dead hook from a WOT launch anyways- so you have to roll into it anyways.