omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

I went along on a test drive today of an 05 SSR . (very pleased with it) Something that just blew me back was this factory gauge below the Radio and hvac controls. It literally claimed to be a "torque" gauge. I didn't notice it until I got out of the vehicle, but it was something I had never seen before. It is part of some auxillary gauge package.

Is this a gauge that i've just been oblivious too? How accurate is its measurement and how is it registered? Lastly, can something like that be adapted to thirdgens? Does anyone sell this gauge yet (I don't think i've ever seen one prior)

Porkchop sandwiches ?

83Firebird420

never heard of t before. but im curious.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

It is that second gauge.

firebirdjosh

iTrader: (1)

There's a gerbil behind the dash spinning that needle.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

At this point, i am inclined to believe you.

soulbounder

I think it's just some useless gauge that chevy put there. I want to say that the 04 model had some kind of pointless gallon per hour gauge or something. I know of nothing in the aftermarket that displays real time torque although it could be kind of cool.

Jgolden314

SSR's come with a 6 spd? I thought they were all A4?

There was one at the track here, only cracking low 16s, I thought they were supposed to be fast.

cooltc2004

iTrader: (4)

They have an OPTION to get the LS1.

85f-bird

the first model year they recieved a 300hp 5.3L LS1, the lil' iron blocked, aluminum head LS1 engine. Think now, they've got maybe a 385 hp version of the LS1 or something, because people were bitching that it was slow. Personally, i think they're to large that they look funny. IT looks like a hot rod in the pix, looks like a massive rounded truck in real life, and doens't get that whole "hot rod" appeal to me. But that's just me.

CaptPicardsZ28

I visited the local chevy dealer recently and there was a couple who were having their SSR serviced. It was the 525hp supercharged version.

Dizturbed One

the guy two houses down from me got one a couple months ago and has already put some ridiculously huge crate motor in it and swapped the motor from it into his Silverado daily driver...

I couldn't believe the money he must be going through, I wish I could afford a project like that.

1BadThirdgen

back on topic, what the in the heck is a torque gauge? Worthless crap by GM to keep SSR owners happy and provide the feeling of speed or what?

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

The 05 version (the one test driven) had an LS2... that engine is far from being anemic.

CaptPicardsZ28

I'm thinking that if you can read the torque on a dyno, why not thru a gauge in the car? Maybe I'm not thinking straight here cuz it's late but....I can't see GM putting in dummy gauges.

85f-bird

dummy guages aren't terribly uncommon, i think it was the caprice that had dummy guages for oil pressure. When the car was on, the guage read good, didn't move up and down w/ throttle response, cause it wasn't meant to actually give a representation of oil pressure. When the caprice came w/ the police package and when it was in impala form, it recieved the functioning guage.

least this was some info i once obtained...thought it was kinda dumb, but eh.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

I can assure you, they are not dummy gauges.

406TPI

iTrader: (1)

I wonder if the car...err, truck....whatever the hell it is...has some sort of strain gauge mounted in it to tell the torque of the motor. There are units out there, albeit, very expensive, that can be mounted on a vehicle, i.e. in the driveline, to read torque. More than likely GM has figured out a way to correspond readings the PCM is seeing to actual torque figures.

HamsterOnaMission

It is possible the torque curve (from a dyno tested engine) is programmed into the computer. and used as a source for the gauge reading at any given rpm???

It is also possible, (although not probable, as it would be ridiculously expensive, and too delicate for lifetime use on a vehicle) that a rotating piece of the drivetrain between the engine and the road (ie driveshaft, something in the tranny, etc) is instrumented with some kind of strain gauge set up.

Using material properties, torque could be calculated given the strains

MD88IROC

iTrader: (2)

Handy place to put it too. I'm sure someone is going to stick their foot to the wood and look at the floor to see how much torque it's making and wipe out.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

How about asking the dealer what it is?

swerve-driver

I am not sure, but the torque gauge input may come from something similar to this:

http://www.land-and-sea.com/rotary-s...shaft-dyno.htm


It's purpose? Just a diversion to keep the hapless schmuck owner preoccupied while GM picks their pocket. $40K for a bionic El Camino? They stopped producing Camaros for stuff like this? Wha?


S-D

deadbird

Something to make your ego swell when you point it out to your co-pilot to compensate for lackluster performance in other areas at the tune of $40k+

This gauge reminds me of the 'fuel economy' gauge that was put in some 80's GM cars to keep your foot off the gas for better gas economy.
It was nothing more then a crappy vacuum gauge that had 'gas economy' at the top and the range was 'good' to 'poor' (all paraphrased as I don't remember exactly how the gauge was laid out).
Same thing with the 'shift light on a standard tranny car... worthless crap.

Male ego stimulus... what (average) woman could give a flying f--- how much torque the p.o.s. has ?

Just my opinion though....

CaptPicardsZ28

Awww JEEEEZ!! Now you've offended women drivers. You cad!

406TPI

iTrader: (1)

Just an interesting side note to the "what the hell is the SSR anyways" discussion. I was at a dealer sponsored auction 2 weeks ago where a yellow 04 SSR with 3500 miles sold for $30K!! Talk about dropping value

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

From LS1 to LS2 ... that price drop is not surprising.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

The 05 model has the same LS variation as the vette,But with 390 H.P instead of 400 as in the vette.If i had the money Id still buy one.No matter what anyone thinks of it.Did you find out what that gauge is about?

WaaX

I know that skylines come with a screen that reads out a whole CRAP load of information, you can even see how many g's you are pulling and in what direction.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

No clue still.. went by the local hotrod shop, and they were suggesting that it might use some technology comparable to that in the GTech meters. Those can measure torque and whatnot with a hi degree of accuracy. That sounds logical.. but I am still more than curious. I think I will pop over to one of the SSR forums and find out WTF.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

blah blah blah.. you really can't satisfy anyone with these type of vehicles. History reminds us of this with the example of the "Chrysler Prowler".



Now this car may not appeal to everyone, but it was and still is a unique step away from the norm. The styling cues are a compliment to the hot rods of days past. First glance of this is a concept car that will never see the light of day. Ultimately its a very unique car, and it was/is produced yet again, not under the guise of mass production. Owners and enthusiasts have had a major complaint about this vehicle since its inception.... lack of power.

Make Plymouth
Model 2000 Prowler
Powertrain Layout Front Engine / RWD
Base Price $42,000
Configuration V6
Valvetrain SOHC, 4 valves / cylinder
Displacement 3518 cc / 214.7 cu in
Power 188.7 kw / 253.0 bhp @ 6400 rpm
Torque 345.7 nm / 255.0 ft lbs @ 3950 rpm
Bore 96.0 mm / 3.78 in
Stroke 81.0 mm / 3.19 in
Compression Ratio 10.0:1
BHP / Liter 71.92 bhp
Redline 6800 rpm

Those might be fair numbers for some, but at $42k, the car needs to come with a passenger preloaded with excuses on why the car does not perform as good as it looks. (Yet another car(s) that fell victim to this were the Dodge Stealth and 3000GT, both with ferrari styling.. but FWD, WTF?) Not only that, what options beside nitrous, are available to give this thing some go? (I am sure engine mod's exist, but I doubt you can pick them up in summit)

Step forward to today. We have the SSR. It falls in the same category as as a limited production vehicle. It's styling is equally unique..etc.etc.... But.. for this 45k vehicle, you got either an LS1 or LS2.
For this 45k, you can have a 6 spd...
For this 45k , you get a hard top convertible
For this 45k, you get more trunk room and overall space than 2 prowlers (a guestimate )
... etc..etc..
Ultimately, the failures of other specialty vehicles (thunderbird) were taken into consideration with this monster. More credit should be given to GM for putting in the work. I would more than sport this thing on friday nights, and everday to work, i'd give it some track time, and upgrade it with parts I could likely get out of summit.

Lastly (getting back on track), for 45k, I get a torque gauge that may do little more than validate my *** dyno's predictions.. but hey.. would you ever have expected something so cool to come from GM ?

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah.. son bitch is heavy.. cant have a hard top convertible truck and expect it to break the sound barrier stock. Thats the price you pay for such a convenience. That can be remedied with upgrades as well.. didn't someone here say something about a ridiculously huge motor being dropped into an SSR. Can't do that in a prowler..

BLACK ICE

Personally I hate the SSR GM dropped Camaro in favor of that thing. As far as the torque guage that is interesting did you find anything out on the SSR forums?

PhantomFE3

not to offend anyone but alot of people are mad that they stopped making the camaro, and yeah im not happy about it either but lets be honest, out of all the people who said that GM shouldve continued making the camaro, how many of those people wouldve actually bought a brand new camaro from a dealer in the past 3 years?

i could go on and on bitching about how GM never shouldve stopped production and how the camaro is a legend and organize a group and start a petition. but theres no way i could afford to buy a brand new camaro or a brand new anything for that matter, its gonna take at least 10 years from this day untill i can buy a brand new car from the dealer and actually afford to pay for it since im still a highschooler. and i think thats what alot of people are like, they want the camaro back but the wouldnt ever buy a brand new one

GTA4ME

CLOSED!

GTA4ME

Reopened, for now. Try to keep on the topic. It's ok to stray a little bit, but don't get too silly about it.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

Thank you for reopening the thread.

di11avou

iTrader: (1)

I have no idea how this gauge really works but this is my guess. The computer probably uses input sensors (TPS, MAP, MAF, etc.) to calculate engine torque. Kinda how it does to calculate engine load. Again this is just a guess.

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

well how do the Gtechs work?

This is what one guy on the SSR forums said.

http://www.ssrfanatic.com/forum/show...5547#post35547

He has a good point.. beside that, if this gauge was that useful, I would think that a C6 would come with one,.