2004 Monte Carlo SS Supercharged

[04monteintimidator]

Alright the car is comming up on one year in my ownership, i've had it since May 16th 2005, and i figured id give a review on it, and i promise to be as unbiased as i possibly can.

I received the car with 5002 miles on it, now it has 13287.

Ill address the miscellaneous problems first. Every now and then i do here a random rattling of something, most of the time i figure out its just one of my CD cases rattling aorund in the glove box, but occassionally it is something else, tho it seems to go away after a while. Also the sunroof occassionally cracks, not as in the glass cracks, it just makes a loud crack noise, its either something falling ontop of it or something else i dont know.

As far as performance, it does have the 4 speed auto and its not god awful but its not the best thing in the world either. First gear is great, nice loud rich exhaust note along with lots and lots of pull, second gear is good but theres some kind of weird gap between first and second and its kind of bothersome, 3rd and 4th are fine, not great but not bad just regular... the only thing i dont like that much is in 4th gear towards the top you can feel the engine running out of breath, of course your going considerably fast at this point, but still. Another thing thats strange with the transmission is when im accelerating hard off of a roll, such as comming out of a toll booth, there is a considerable delay in the time when i step on the gas and when the car roars foward, it does create quite the impressive effect in the cockpit as you can somehow feel the power building before it takes off, but it still shouldnt do that or at least i dont think so...

The engine is AWESOME it has such good power in the low rpm and smooth consistent power until the towards the top end in 4th... it just feels so amazing when you step on the gas and feel all that power throwing you forward, its impossible to describe unless you experience it, although im sure those of you with GTOs, Firebirds Camaros etc get a better feeling out of your car, this is still quite the experience.

Now to address one of the two things everyone hates about this car... front. wheel. drive. yes, the engine is mounted transversely, yes the transmission is connected to the front axle, yes if i do a burnout the smoke comes out of the front wheel wells. BIG DEAL. so its not a huge hulking V8 strapped to a rock crusher transmission delivering tire melting power to the rear wheels, but it does its job and it does its job well, and unlike the huge RWD V8... i can drive it in the snow and not have to take every corner at 5 miles an hour for fear of a spin out... front wheel drive is not that bad, no im not saying its better as far as performance is concerned, i know RWD is the better option, but that doesnt mean FWD is terrible, this car delivers plenty of power to the wheels and those wheels deliver it right to the ground

handling is great, honestly ive never had a problem with corners no matter how sharp and no matter what speed i took them at, i remember once i took a 180 near hairpin turn at 45, and went into a bit of a powerslide, but had control the whole time, im never afraid that this car is going to do something i dont expect it to... it gives you this feeling of total and complete control and is surprisingly agile for a big heavy car... i can remember one time where i was going down a narrow street at 35ish and was all of a sudden confronted by another car headed towards me at 40+ mph... i reacted and the car reacted right with me... quickly diving to the side and then back into the road with minimal effort from me... its very springy on the suspension which i believe are coil overs all around... ill have to check that later... the suspension lets you know your in a sports car... stiff, very responsive, very very enjoyable ride

Sure its a love it or hate it design, sure its FWD and some people hate it just because of that, sure its a V6 and not a V8 and doesnt have manual transmission, but if you like power, if you love to hear the roar of a big fire-breathing engine, and if you love a ride in an agile, sporty car, you should give a monte carlo a look... its quite the head turner on the streets and gets alot of smiles from pedestrians when they see this big monster from detroit rumbling down the street

[Drew Dowdell]

To me, the supercharged Monte Carlo is kinda like a Riveria lite..... and that's not a bad thing.

[04monteintimidator]

thank you... finally someone who doesnt hate it just because its FWD and styled a bit out of the box

[Drew Dowdell]

Heh, in my household I have RWD, FWD, and 4WD. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the top cars in my "dream car" list is a '66 Toronado. So I obivously can't hate FWD.

[loki]

i have a 99 ls (3.1l), shift points seem to be 40, 80, estimating 120 and if it could for the red line- top out at 160. curious what the ss's shift speeds are and cruising speed/rpm? at about 75 mine's turning about 2.4k -2.5k

around my town i can get 19-20 mpg taking it easy(always less than 3k, more like <2.4k, you keep track of that?

having that kind of power is great to catch your friends of guard with i bet

edit spelling

Edited April 18, 2006 by loki

[04monteintimidator]

well loki i get 19-20 mpg overall average...

as far as shifting points mine are probably the same as yours... i believe we have the same transmission... plus 40,80,120 sounds right

cruising speed/rpm is absurd... it always blows my mind how i can cruise at 70 at 1900... even tho im used to it now im still impressed by that and when my friends are in the car they always gawk at the tach when im crusing around 70 because it stays below 2k...

and yeah... catching my friends off gaurd is what i do... my friends 05 330i for instance... that was the funniest reaction ive gotten because he was so confident he would win but i had a solid 7 lengths at 60... the poor poor child haha

[76ChevyTrucker]

I have to agree with you on this one Monte. I've got an 01 Impala LS 9C1 with the non-supercharged 3.8 and its a hoss. I always have power when I need it and for a four-door family sedan I can toss it into a corner at any speed and feel safe and confident that its going to stay with me. I've roasted a couple of people in Beemers before too, with three other people in the car and about 100-lbs of tools in the trunk (I carry the toolbox for those just in case situations, although they rarely happen). Its just a good solid ride and since they're platform mates, I believe and can vouch for everything you say.

[BB_454]

I love mine, and other than the CD player and a little bit of a clucking sound in the steering its been nothing but great for me. I honeslty think the Monte is one of the beeter cars built and I drive all sorts of cars every day. I always go back to mine with a smile ever since 2002.