Cadillac’s three DPi-V.R. prototype race cars that have been fighting through the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series have only been able to do what they do thanks to a robust, powerful 6.2-liter V8. The engine, based off of GM’s Generation-V production small-blocks, spins to the maximum-allowed speed of 7,600 rpm, making nearly 600 horsepower with no assistance from forced induction.
What’s even more impressive: since the start of the season, each Cadillac DPi-V.R. race car has changed engines just once, after the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Since Daytona, each engine has now covered 2,822 cumulative miles – more distance than a trip from New York City to Hollywood, California, Cadillac points out.
“As in the Cadillac CTS-V and Escalade, the Cadillac 6.2L V8 in the race car produces unrivaled, unfailing power and responsiveness,” says Cadillac’s Global Director of Product Strategy, Richard Brekus. “This season we exchanged engines only once for each car, each receiving a fresh engine after the Rolex 24 At Daytona. We disassembled the first engines and found no issues, problems or anomalies after the Rolex 24.
“The three cars have each run the engine we installed after the 24-hour race, taking the green flag on the first practice at Sebring, running and winning at Sebring, Long Beach, the Circuit of the Americas and Detroit with no major issues.”
To be clear, with Daytona, that’s each of the five races since the start of the 2017 series; Cadillac has won them all. The team has even claimed eleven of all fifteen podium spots out of those five races – an astonishing feat.
Here are some more interesting stats:
- Not a single engine has had its oil changed or its oil filter replaced from Sebring through the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.
- Through those four races, each engine experienced somewhere around 36,000 upshift and downshift events, and was run at wide-open-throttle for a total of more than thirteen hours.
- The engines have experienced g-forces as high as 3.5 g lateral during cornering, 3.5 g longitudinal under braking, and 2.0 g vertical from sudden elevation changes on track.
- Each Cadillac DPi-V.R. uses its 6.2L V8 engine as a semi-stressed member of the chassis, meaning that the motor contributes to some of the car’s structural rigidity, and is subjected to many of the same loads as the rest of the car.
Seven races remain in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, with Cadillac far and away at the fore for the manufacturers’ title. Still, Nissan and Mazda are two high-scoring teams that could threaten the DPi-V.R.’s dominance in the remaining rounds. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the rest of the series to see whether Cadillac comes out on top.
Comments
Well there are not really new engines as the Corvette GTDP cars they ran were using this basic engine. The bugs have long been worked out.
The engines are also restricted and are no where near their limits. If the woul remove the intake restrictions the rest of the field woul fair even worse.
Cadillac did this deal right by going with the proven engine and with a Dallara chassis. This made it work right from the start.
Now that they are established they can move to the Cadillac DOHC engine once it is ready for production to promote the new engine. This is a card right out of the JDN Audi racing book.
At that time I expect they may look to LeMans.
That’s one beauty of an engine? Independent throttle bodies look so good! Can Chevy put this engine in a Z07???
At this year’s 24 heures Le Mans, this car could have been on the podium.
The way the P1 cars dropped out it definitely would have been possible.
Top step!
Definitely would have won this year. The winner was hobbled and barely beat an Oreca-Gibson. All three Caddies would have finished in front of that Porsche.
The winning is kind of a given, knowing the parlous state of Mazda’s Speedsource team which they really need to fire after 4 years of pathetic unreliability and pit comedy. Also, Nissan is only just starting up, and Honda isn’t here yet.
However, the engineering reliability demonstration is AMAZING. This is something to be extremely proud of, GM. Those who know, know that Cadillac race cars would have whipped Porsche and Toyota at Le Mans this year.
these engines are built by NASCAR engine builder Earnhardt Childress racing .
I want to know what oil they are running.
most likely Lucas oil as that is what they run in NASCAR