2006 Mont Royal GV LX AWD
The 2003 GV received a thorough facelift in 2006 to make the styling a little more conventional to attract more conservative luxury buyers. That said, the full size luxury car still featured its suicide doors and the brand’s Franco-American styling used at the time.
Under the hood was a transverse mounted 5.0L V8 producing 300 hp and 330 lb-ft delivered to all four wheels through a 6-speed automatic and a new electronic differential to precisely calibrate power delivery when loss of traction is detected.
The updated version of the engine focused on economy for the comfort oriented models in the lineup but that did not make the GV a slow car. 0-100 km/h took 6.4s while still managing to return well over 30 MPG in highway driving (with a 25 MPG overall average economy). Also updated in the facelift was the hydropneumatic suspension, now featuring fully active sway bars to further improve comfort. All put together, owners could easily forget they were driving a large luxury car weighing nearly two tons. Even the full aluminium body and AHS chassis didn’t do much to offset the weight of the drivetrain and onboard equipment.
The interior still featured seating for four with seating for five optional (standard on lower trims) and all surfaces clad in sumptuous leather available in a variety of colours for buyers to choose from. Onboard technology was updated to the latest available at the time while the sunroof was still one of the largest in its class.
