F-Body Europe

Good grief, I can't believe how little information there is out there on the V6. OK, this '99 V6 I'm looking at has some awful Goodyear 215's on some narrow chrome alloys. I assume it's governed. To what? Can it be removed? Given the choice between a practically new 3.8 and a 40k LT1 TA, which would you choose. The insurance difference is 200 quid. Bear in mind, it's for my gf who is more interested in how it looks but still punts a car along at scary velocities. Has anyone ever regretted buying the 3.8? Thanx.

Most likely to 197km/h ... Tony offered to remove the governor from mine before, but hasn't yet ... anyway, repeating myself, do not push the car with the stock suspension - handling it near 200k is pretty d@mn hard ... wouldn't want to drive it the possible 240 with it ... also, make sure you have Z-rated tires on when running those speeds ...

Regret - not really, it's a nice car, and with taxes as high as they are here in Germany, and the Camaro only running some 7k's per year, it's a nice cruising car ... not for racing, but that's what I mess around with the '79 ... Of course, if I were in the states, I probably wouldn't hesitate getting a Z or T/A ...

Hey Garry, thanks for that. I imagine we'd fit a Bistein kit if it gets too scary. You'll also be pleased to know that you have indirectly helped in persuading my gf to get it - She has a dog so I e-mailed her some pics of your dog in your Camaro as that was one of her reservations. Glad your dog was smiling though!

Hi:

About the governor, I'm not sure there is one on our european Camaros.
My 99 V6 technical data (from my Chevrolet dealer) gives 201 km/h for the V6 (but I'm french and french 3.8L V6 puts only 193 HP).
It's possible speed is limited only by axle ratio and resistance of air. On my car, it's a 3.08 axle I think, and top speed is reached at about 3800 rpm

To get higher top speed, I would first reduce axle ratio, to have the engine run at higher rpm.

Hope it helps.

My car has about 1000rpms left in 5th when I hit the governor ...

My car runs (according to the speedo) up to 220+...
thats where the needle stops ... but rpms are still climbing.
I´m pretty sure I have no governor

All the V6's in camaros have speed limiters . This due to mainly to the type of tires that came on the car from the factory. The speed limiter will cut in somewhere around or between 108mph- 115mph.
3.8L V6's can have their speed limiter removed with a hypertech programmer.

3.4L used to have a hypertech programmer ,but due to lack of performance parts and interest , this programmer has been discontinued.

The first owner of the car was GM Service GmbH in Rüsselsheim, perhaps they removed it. Or the first european models came without it.

According to my Fahrzeugbrief the official top speed is 207kmh,
and thats TÃœV-tested
(And I´m only allowed to use 215/60R16 94 H tires
... good for up to 210kmh.)
Thats 129mph - a bit too high for a governor, I think.

Hm ... Tony wanted to remove the governor on mine, I have Z-rated tires on mine (up to 270) ... didn't get to it yet ... I have a good 1000rpms left till redline when the governor cuts the fuel off ...