Engineering Program
The unprecedented public reaction to the unveiling of the Coupé Design Study at the 1998 Sydney International Motor Show was indeed a great affirmation of the styling talents of the Holden design team. The company's subsequent decision to produce the Monaro was largely taken in order to capitalise on the excitement generated by the show car. What we then required was an engineering program that could transform this creative vision into reality.

The Monaro program also presented an opportunity to test Holden's mettle in terms of its capacity to design, engineer and manufacture a car in a very tight time frame. "Business as usual" would simply not deliver a car in the time available.

The Holden Monaro project represents a total investment of $60 million, consisting of $40 million for plant and tooling and $20 million for design and engineering. The design and engineering investment was halved by using the latest CAE techniques.

Traditionally, when we're developing a car, we build physical prototypes to test crash and durability performance before committing millions of dollars to production tooling. On the Monaro program we did all of the vehicle crash and durability development virtually. That is, all on computer. When we knew we had the design right, we went straight to production tooling. The final validation was completed using pre-production vehicles at our proving ground and on Australian roads.

The total time taken from styling freeze to start of production was just 22 months. In order to achieve such a rapid acceleration in the way we engineer a vehicle, we decided to run the operation as a 'skunk works'. In October 1999 we pulled together a dedicated team of 12 engineers and set up a separate engineering office. We also assembled a team of approximately 20 CAD designers. Our mission was clear: develop a 21st century Monaro using some of the most sophisticated computer aided development tools in the world. And do it radically faster than we have ever done a program before.

What followed for the Monaro engineering team was the busiest and most exciting two years of our careers. The challenges were considerable. For much of the program, we had no history to guide us. Fortunately there's a fantastic depth and breadth of experience within Holden, so we were able to tap into expert knowledge across a broad range of science and engineering disciplines, including a dedicated team of three manufacturing engineers at our plant in Elizabeth.

The Monaro was fully designed and validated virtually using Simultaneous Math Based Processes (SMBP). It is the first Holden in history to have been designed virtually, without the usual prototype phases and physical development.

The Monaro was fully developed using GM's UniGraphics package. All new components were designed as solid models, not surfaces, which were used traditionally. This represents the continuing march of design towards parameterised math models.

We were so confident in our virtual designs that we commenced cutting the major long lead tools even before we had completed all the design and analysis.

The acid test came last January when we commenced building the first car. On the 26 February this year, the first real Monaro was finished. We were so encouraged by the results that we ended up building all the remaining Monaros straight down the production line amidst our normal assembly operations. This is a first for a program of this magnitude.

Body Structure
In line with Holden's single platform strategy, the Monaro program utilised the Commodore architecture, sharing all sheet metal forward of the A pillar. Rearward of the A pillar there are 84 major new body components.

Major changes are as follows:

The aerodynamic drag coefficient (Cd) for the Monaro is 0.31.

From a structural point of view, the doors presented an interesting challenge. The increased length and mass of the Monaro doors required substantial changes to match VX door strength and stiffness. We designed a number of improvements using computer simulation. The hinge side reinforcement was changed to high-strength steel, the hinge flaps were extended to double the mounting area on the body and a gusset was added to increase torsional stiffness. The result is a door with 24 per cent reduced vertical deflection.

An intensive body structure analysis program included crashworthiness, durability, aerodynamics and noise and vibration development. Monaro's body bending stiffness is increased by 23 per cent over the VX sedan and torsional stiffness is increased by five per cent.

Safety Features
The Monaro has a comprehensive occupant safety system. This includes:

The safety performance of the Monaro and its efficient crash energy management characteristics were achieved using the latest computer simulation processes. The sensing system has been re-calibrated to ensure that the new body structure provides the same level of protection as VX. The side structure has been extensively developed to control the deformation profile in a crash to reduce the intrusion velocity and therefore the injury risk.

The rear structure has been developed to maintain controlled crush characteristics in rear impact collisions. Ultra high-strength steel reinforcements have been added to direct and absorb impact forces in a rear collision.

The new centre high-mounted stop lamp is an LED design for improved rear visibility, low energy and faster response time. The faster response time provides the additional safety benefit of alerting other drivers 0.2 of a second faster than a conventional lamp. This improves stopping distance by 4.7 metres at 100 km/h.

Seating
The Monaro offers genuine four-seater accommodation, with the following features:

The Monaro seats feature unique comfort contours and pads using dual hardness foam. They have been tuned specifically to match the car's suspension for optimum ride comfort.

A sophisticated microprocessor-controlled fold forward system has been developed which enables effortless access to the rear seat. The system is controlled by a seat mounted microprocessor which powers the seat to full forward when the lever on the top of the seat back is activated and the back is de-latched. The seat will then return to the original position when the seat back is re-latched.

The automated fold forward system also features an electronic occupant sensing mat which controls the activation of the system. The sensing mat ensures that the seat will not move forward if the lever is activated and the front seat is occupied, eliminating the potential for occupant crush. All automated seat movement can be cancelled by operating any of the side-mounted seat switches.

The full size Monaro rear seats have been specially designed for two occupants and feature unique contours that achieve similar comfort levels to the front seats.

The rear seat packaging has been developed to enable adults to ride in the rear with a comfortable amount of headroom and legroom, making the Monaro a true four-seater vehicle.

Powertrain
There are three powertrain combinations available on the Monaro. The CV6 model uses the 3.8 litre Supercharged V6 with 4-speed electronic control automatic, while the CV8 comes standard with Holden's 5.7 litre Gen III V8 and a choice of 4-speed electronic control automatic transmission or 6-speed manual transmission. Wide open throttle power and torque for both engines remain unchanged.

The CV6 achieves 7.6 L/100 km highway cycle and 12.5 L/100 km city cycle. The CV8 manual returns 7.4 L/100 km highway and 13.0 L/100 km city. The CV8 automatic returns 8.0 L/100 km highway and 13.0 L/100 km city.

As part of creating a unique character for the Monaro, we looked very closely not just at how the car looked and handled, but also how it sounded.

The V8 Monaro induction system has been re-designed to provide enhanced vehicle response and noise character during moderate to heavy throttle applications. The result is a subtle yet purposeful noise character that lets the driver know what the engine is doing.

Changes to the system from the current VXII V8 include:

Lighting
The Monaro has distinctive front and rear lamps. The front lamps include new generation quartz halogen H9 and H11 bulbs with more precise tolerances that improve lamp performance. High-Multi Focal Reflector (MFR) technology is used to complement the new generation of bulbs. The low beam lights use projector technology which throws a wide and even beam pattern. Safety is improved by reducing the glare to oncoming vehicles, especially in the wet.

The high beam uses the highest output bulbs to maintain high beam performance from a single bulb system.

Vehicle Dynamics
Even before we started developing the math models of the car, we knew precisely how we wanted it to feel from the driver's seat. Our goal was to create a vehicle that had a unique dynamic character by developing the chassis system to give the best possible handling without significantly compromising ride comfort. Sports luxury was what we wanted to achieve.

Suspension and steering systems have been comprehensively revised. Our development program resulted in:

The front struts were completely re-tuned to maximise cornering tractability, predictability and cornering linearity whilst optimising body motion control and ride comfort. Monaro's rear dampers incorporate the same changes.

The internal changes to the steering gear included slowing the ratio by 13 per cent whilst recalibrating the steering gear valve and increasing torsion bar stiffness by 14 per cent. This resulted in improved straight line stability, steering precision, steering response and cornering predictability.

For the CV8 model, we chose 18" wheels combined with wide, low profile tyres to give the Monaro precise steering response and predictability combined with maximum cornering tractability. In order to achieve the balance between precision and comfort, we worked with our Bridgestone counterparts to modify the internal construction of the tyre. The result is a tyre that gives exceptional grip and precision, combined with good comfort characteristics.

For the CV6 we chose to use the 17" VX SS sedan wheel and tyre combination.

The structural rigidity of the coupé body and inherent stability of its lowered stance provided a solid foundation for the suspension and steering engineering development. The outcome is a vehicle with a unique dynamic character and excellent performance over the full range of Australian roads.

The Monaro ride and handling package provides improved straight line stability, steering precision, steering response, cornering linearity, driver feedback, body motion control, neutral cornering balance and ride comfort.

In conclusion, Monaro rides and handles with luxury sports car poise and assurance. It's a vehicle we're all intensely proud of — one that well and truly justifies the excitement that was generated by the original coupé design concept.

The Monaro program introduced us to a whole new era in product development techniques that enabled our engineering team to complete this project in record time.