I've had my Monte for about a month now and for whatever reason people think it is some kind of race car. It's reputation far exceeds it's performance. Now don't get me wrong I love my Monte and it has plenty of performance for me but it's no "sports car". Where does the rep come from - the looks, the NASCAR heritage?

 

Nascar mostly, a lot of people think im a nascar loving country bumpkin. I do like nascar but im not crazy over it. it's called a sports coupe really so a guess its a bit sporty

V8 helps with performance

 

It's a luxury coupe over anything else.

 

Good thread. I was actually thinking about this too... The 3.8 V6 is by no means a super-power engine (stock, that is) like the sports cars have. The monte definitely has enough power for my needs...and the look is just kinda awesome in my opinion. Not to mention the gas mileage...

 

The 06 - 07 SS w/ 5.3L now I would consider that a fast car. The 00 - 04 with NA 3.8 maybe "quick". Amazes me when people fist see the car they always ask "is it fast"? or "how fast have you gone in it"?

 

I've never gotten the how fast is it which is supring since guys in GTPs always get asked that around here and mine has the same motor plus supercharegd badges. I usually get the "damn thats a nice car" at gas stations. Funny part is its faster than the Iroc Z I use to have and everytime I was filling the Camaro with gas someone always mentioned how back in the day they had one when they were a kid n it was so fast...it had 180hp which is like having an LS Monte Carlo

 

Try driving a Nascar Edition

 

A nice looking coupe that somewhat resembles Nascar's. The front wheel drive is useful when you live around snow. It is one of the better looking front wheel drives for sure.

It is good for me because it's not too fast and everyone does not try to race me. Nor do I feel like I have to go fast like when I owned my Challenger or Mustang.

 

One thing alot of people forget when bashing the performance of the 3800. In 2004 when they supercharged it it had only 20 less hp and 22 less ft lbs torque. Mustang GT (v8) had 260 hp @5250rpm and 302 ft lbs torque @4000rpm, Supercharged Monte (v6) has 240 hp @5200rpm and 280 ft lbs torque @3600rpm.And the mustang gt was a v8. Our 3800s are very detuned so that means with exhaust work and a tune your running with mustang gts. A mild build on a supercharged 3800 and you are eating most cars. Just dont do it from a stop.

 

I would say the nascar heritage and the sporty look. Everybody also thinks they are rear wheel drive v8's too.

Overall I like the performance of my car, It feels pretty powerful and it's stock. I would like to see if a CAI and exhaust would pep it up a bit more.