Transverse V8

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Jul 7, 2014
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Winnipeg MB CA
Our daughter-in-law's uncle gave me a tour of his Chev Monte Carlo. Not sure of the year, but it's from the last generation, with the swoopy styling.

I was quite surprised to see a 5.3 litre V8 mounted transversely. 😳

I should have asked, but then presumed the car was FWD.

Did anyone else ever do that?

Thanks!
 
Caddy. And they were nice driving cars too for the period. At a time before GM forgot how to to make cars with CAR-ness ... Soul.

Millennials just don't know how.

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There were some Rainman Ray videos a month or so ago where he was replacing the steering rack and some coolant plumbing on a 5.3L front wheel drive Pontiac. It didn't look like fun, but he makes it look easy.
 
GM did that in 2008ish with a few of the 4 door sedans also. Impala SS, Grand Prix GXP, even the Buick lacrosse Super. Pretty cool they even did it since I imagine not a bunch of Buick owners were begging for a V8.
 
GM did that in 2008ish with a few of the 4 door sedans also. Impala SS, Grand Prix GXP, even the Buick lacrosse Super. Pretty cool they even did it since I imagine not a bunch of Buick owners were begging for a V8.
Go back even farther....Seville in the 90s.
 
Caddy. And they were nice driving cars too for the period. At a time before GM forgot how to to make cars with CAR-ness ... Soul.

Millennials just don't know how.

In the years since, Cadillac started making cars with manual transmissions, RWD, and a string of 400+ HP V8s, including supercharged and hot-V twin-turbo engines.

But the malaise-era, 200ish HP FWD Cadillac on a platform shared with Buick and Oldsmobile is the one with soul?

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To the topic: Cadillac was the flag-bearer for FWD V8s, using the layout almost exclusively from the mid-80s to well into the 2000s. Starting in the mid-80s with the GM-corporate C-body, E-body, and K-body, which was available with the 4100, 4500, and 4900 single cam engine, all of which were hot garbage. Eventually, a move to the 4.6L DOHC Northstar came, which was also hot garbage (to start, at least). Then they went to the G-body, which again had a 4.6L Northstar in Cadillacs, but pretty much all the kinks had been worked out by this point. The Allente was in there at some point too, with a FWD V8 in 4100, 4900, and Northstar, depending on year.
 
Another V8 FWD domestic car was the Taurus SHO from 1996 through 1999. It was a third-generation Taurus with a Yamaha/Cosworth helped 3.4L V8. They sounded good and had decent power for the day. They were neat little things. Paired to an AX4N transmission.

I always liked this dyne video of one.

 
I had a 1995 Cadillac Seville STS with a transverse mounted Northstar V8. Surprisingly very little torque steer, 300 HP great looking/driving car with plenty of power for the mid nineties. The rear bank never got new plugs while I owned it! Too bad it was overall a mechanical/electrical :poop: ! Sold it soon after the warranty expired.
 
Those were a pretty odd car. They had glass transmissions though. And not much faster than a V6 Camry.
 
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