Last week, GM Authority reported that the base model of the upcoming mid-engine Corvette C8, set to be called Stingray, will be powered by the 6.2-liter LT2 engine that will make around 500 horsepower. And now, less than a week before its unveiling, GM Authority has obtained new information about an upcoming GM twin-turbo engine, dubbed LT7, that is earmarked for a future high-performance variant of the Corvette C8, potentially the C8 Corvette Z06.
You may have seen these CAD images of the LT7 engine before, but there’s now some info to go along with the photos. So, GM will switch from blowers (superchargers) to snails (turbochargers) in its range-topping Corvette models. But don’t let the LT7 moniker mislead you: the engine portrayed in these GM CAD images is not based on GM’s fifth-generation Small Block / push-rod LT engine family, which includes the familiar LT1 (for the C7 Stingray), LT4 (for the C7 Z06), and LT5 (for the C7 ZR1). Instead, the LT7 is based on GM’s new Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) V8 engine architecture initially introduced by the 4.2L Twin-Turbo V8 LTA, otherwise known as Blackwing.
Don’t expect to see or even hear about this new Twin Turbo LT7 V8 engine during the Corvette C8 reveal next week, since that event will be dedicated to the base model mid-engine Corvette, aka the C8 Corvette Stingray. Instead, this here LT7 will go into what we expect to be the C8 Corvette Z06, which is at least another 16 months out, if not more.
Current information about the LT7 is sparse, but we have uncovered that it will have a larger displacement than the 4.2-liter Blackwing LTA. Sources tell us that the LT7 will make more than the 650 horsepower generated by the supercharged 6.2L LT4 V8 in the C7 Z06, and well more than the high-output version of the Blackwing LTA, which is rated at 550 horses and 627 pound-feet of torque. It’s currently unclear whether the LT7 will share the same block as the LTA, or if the two engines will only share the same overall engine design/configuration, and not size.
The CAD images also show that the turbochargers are not mounted in the ‘Hot V’ design of the Blackwing. Instead, they are placed on either side of the Vee, below the cylinder banks. As such, the twin throttle bodies, intake manifold, and entire induction system differ from those of the Blackwing. We’d imagine that the head design varies as well.

Cadillac 4.2L Twin Turbo V8 DOHC LTA Blackwing Engine
Another point of interest is the cooling setup. Since this powertrain is for a mid-engine car, it doesn’t have a conventional front-mounted intercooler. On top of that, the DOHC Blackwing architecture utilizes water-to-air charge cooling, making the overall packaging of the cooling system very different from anything else GM has shipped in the past. Then again, a mid-engine sports car is already entirely different than anything in GM’s current portfolio.
It’s worth noting that, when GM introduced the Blackwing V8 for the Cadillac CT6-V, originally called the CT6 V-Sport, the automaker made it a point in saying that the engine would be exclusive to Cadillac, through and through. But something seemed off; it didn’t make sense that today’s General Motors, an organization laser-focused on pinching pennies and optimizing its business in any way it can, would dedicate the colossal amounts of human, financial, and production resources to bring to market an engine on an entirely new engine architecture just to use it exclusively in a low volume product offering like the CT6-V, especially when that model might not even stick around in the near future.
As such, it would make sense that the engine architecture behind the Blackwing V8 – as opposed to the engine itself – would be utilized across other high-end, high-performance vehicles within the GM portfolio. A higher-output variant of the Blackwing for a future C8 Corvette Z06, in the form of the LT7, fits that bill perfectly.
It’s also worth noting that the 4.2L Twin-Turbo V8 Blackwing LTA is hand-assembled at the GM Bowling Green plant in Kentucky – the one and only home to the Corvette. Hence, the assembly line is almost begging for the addition of a more potent variant of the Blackwing V8 for a future, higher-output version of the C8 Corvette. Whether that model will be called Z06, or something else, is a story for another time.
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Comments
Why drop the hot-V design?? It’s got to have improved throttle response and low-end compared to moving the turbochargers further away from the exhaust ports and lengthening the plumbing between the compressor and throttle body. What’s the advantage here??
On a conventional side mounted turbo V8 the heads are also flipped around so the turbos are just as close to the exhaust ports. The hot V configuration was devised to package between the front wheels and suspension, where there is no room to mount turbos right off the exhaust ports on a conventional design.
Moving the turbos to the side allows for larger turbos and avoids the reliability issues caused by placing two hot turbos inside the V. As shown in the CAD images, the liquid air intercoolers are directly over the intake valves so the path from the compressor to the valves remains as short as possible.
Are you suggesting the (stillborn) 4.5 DuraMax and (current) 6.7 PowerStroke had/have hot-V designs for packaging constraints under the hoods of full-size trucks??
I have to respectfully disagree with your theory; the exhaust valve-to-turbine wheel distance is at least doubled when locating the turbo at the bottom of the block vs in a hot-V. Similarly, the charged air has to travel from the bottom of the block, over the heads, and back down into the V, versus from the V to the other side of the heads.
We’re probably only talking inches, but the magnitudes are on the order of 2.0 or greater, which I believe impacts drivability (on the street, not necessarily the track) significantly.
Yes, it’s for packaging considerations, even in full sized trucks because the wheels and suspension limit the width of the engine.
There is no other reason for the turbo to be mounted farther from the exhaust valves when side mounting versus a hot-v. Flip the heads around and the turbos don’t have to move even a millimeter, except for the wheels/suspension being in the way.
In a mid engine car the engine is placed in front of the rear wheels/suspension, so width isn’t as constrained. However, vertical height remains tight, not only because you want a low deck for practical reasons, but you also want the lowest center of gravity possible. You don’t want a narrow and tall hot v in such a car.
There actually is one performance advantage to the hot-V design, but it’s exquisitely expensive and so far only BMW has brought it to market. That is the cross-bank exhaust manifold. The firing pattern of a cross-plane crank V8 results in two consecutive exhaust pulses on each bank (instead of alternating between banks), and these uneven exhaust pulses are detrimental to exhaust scavenging and quick turbo spooling. But if each turbo is fed from four cylinders arranged not by bank but by alternating firing order, then scavenging improves and the turbos spool more efficiently. Doing so requires one cylinder from each bank to be combined with three on the opposite bank, thus the “cross bank” manifold term.
BMW gets higher output from their cross-bank hot V, but word is that the cross bank manifold was wickedly expensive to develop. Since the Corvette (and the Blackwing) are more budget oriented you can bet that GM will not introduce such a manifold anytime soon. GM also emphasizes engine life a bit more than BMW so that’s another reason we won’t see such a crazy manifold from them.
Trust me on this: you do NOT want to own a BMW hot V out of warranty.
“Twin-Turbo V8 LT7 Engine For C8 Corvette Z06 Leaks”
Awesome news! Can you possibly change the headline to not sound like the engine leaks?! 🙂
It did sound like that, indeed. Changed 🙂
You’re a busy guy. Get some sleep, and keep providing us with all of the
latest, greatest, and…questionable info “leaking” from GM!
I think most here appreciate it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t “click” and comment.
Great passion, and fun!
PS- I visit a lot of automotive sites/forums. I truly respect and appreciate the people here on
GM Authority. It’s one of the few places I visit that shows respect for other’s opinions. Yeah, there are thumbs down, and, disagreements. That’s to be expected. But, most here don’t result in childish verbal BS and personal attacks.
I commend and respect that?
Yep that car should have stayed a Cadillac.
O well a few years of the Cadillac Blackwing and I’m guessing off to the EV Cadillac which should be more powerful than this C8.
I wonder if anyone at GM has a long term plan or if it is just a continuous circle of a changing plan ?
If I had to guess, I think this is the main reason JdN is no longer at Cadillac.
I stated long ago when word of the DOHC V8 for Chevy was announced that the block would be based on the Cadillac block but with many changes.
As stated no hot V for the mid engine due to better cooling that would bring Chevy only heads. It would also have larger displacement. We may also get a flat crank if GM has solved the vibration issues.
This is the engine we saw the C8R testing.
While the basic block is going to be similar this is going to be a Chevy specific engine.
Well over 1 1/2 years ago, the 5.5 liter DOHC twin turbo was tested at between 750 to 850 HP. Let’s assume this LT7 is that engine of the Blackwing family. The non-turbo 5.5 DOHC liter has been used in the Caddy IMSA Sports racing car since the beginning of the 2018 race season, so the bugs have been worked out of the basic engine. From what has been suggested, the 2021 Camaro will use the 5.5 liter no-turbo engine as the standard V8. If GM designs it right, so that the owner can add the twin turbo and related parts after they buy the 2021 Camaro 5.5 liter, there will be a huge market for the factory parts. GM can steal all the breakfast, lunch and dinner from BMW and Mercedes AMG models if they do this right on various GM models with the various twin turbo models that put out more HP and torque than the German cars and even the one Japanese very high performance car.
Mark you are a little off in your facts. The IMSA Cadillac uses and has used the 6.2 liter Chevy engine. I saw it in person in the garage at Mid Ohio and it is what Cadillac list on their web site. It is still a LT based engine.
Note too thins new engine has been tested forveven more than 850 hp so far.
In fact Cadillac had stated the present Blackwing is not going to be used as the race engine. That may fall to the Chevy non hot V version.
The C8R has been testing this engine.
As for the Camaro there has been no mention of it going to the Camaro yet.
As for adding a TT to a Camaro after the fact is very unlikely. The need to change compression, computer and other internals would be a problem.
Just the LNF turbo alone shows what changes are needed in a modern Turbo engine to live a long life.
Right now the future of the Camaro is being decided. I suspect it may change in ways we have not considered.
To be honest that the block on this engine even based on the Blackwing it may be modified from the Cadillac version. Engines today can be like car platforms and produce various engines.
SCOTT. It’s 2019 and you are still living in the 2017 IMSA series. That was the last year that the 6.2 liter engine was used in the IMSA Caddy sports car. IMSA forced the Caddy teams to either carry more weight or make the engine smaller for the start of the 2018 season because the the Caddy was too fast for the other brands of cars in the same class. For all races in 2018 and 2019, the IMSA Caddy has used a non-turbo 5.5 liter DOHC engine. In the 2018 season, the cars with the new 5.5 liter engine were having some problems with running too hot. Please apologize by sending me the next winning Powerball lottery ticket.
Mark the engine is the 5.5 LT based cam in block engine it is not DOHC.
It is the same as the GTLM class Corvette engine. They just played with the stroke.
The last DOHC engine Cadillac raced was was the North Star.
I stood there in the garage and could clearly see the engine is not DOHC.
I will apologize when you are correct in what you post.
I missed on the liter size my bad but you totally missed it by 3 cams.
So, you are saying that just because the info re the 5.5 liter engine you posted about the IMSA Caddy DPi race cars is wrong, you don’t want to apologize? Scott, step up to the plate and be a man, if you are wrong, don’t tell me you want me to apologize first. Your mindset sounds so much like someone who would vote for a black witch for president.
The Camaro will be EOLed by ’21 or ’22 and all development on it has now ceased, so you can forget about any of these Corvette engines finding their way into a Camaro.
If GM does sell both an NA 5.5 V8 and a 5.5TT V8 then you can bet they will make it nearly impossible to upgrade the NA to the twin turbo version without buying a new car. That’s just good business strategy.
The Camaro is on hold not canceled. TBD at this point.
The reality is a GM does not make it impossible to upgrade to be difficult. The truth is they build the Turbo engines to higher standards to make them stronger and live under the boost.
Like the LNF Turbo 4. It got a stronger block, head and even sodium valves for added cooling. It also got stronger rods and forged crank. You can expect similar additions to any V8 turbo engine.
The strategy is to build a car where the engine live vs blowing up.
Buick tried to bolt on the Turbo to the 3.8 with few mods and most died by 35k miles. They went back and added upgraded parts and a water cooled turbo to do it right and that engine lived.
In turbo charging there are no short cuts to long term durability.
No, the Camaro7 is terminated. Doesn’t mean they won’t ressurect it at some future time, but as of now there is not a Camaro7 development team and there are no plans to form one. Not one person at GM is at work on a replacement for the Camaro6.
That stuff about the LNF Turbo 4, it sounds like you’re agreeing with me? I don’t know what engine that is, but maybe you mean the LF4 in the ATS-V? Not sure what you’re trying to say, other than that the turbo version of the engine is so different than the NA version that it’s essentially impossible to upgrade without spending more money and time than it would cost to simply upgrade to the car model with the engine you want.
How certain are you of there being no gen 7?
Who’s the marketing genius that missed the nod to the 50 year anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch by a mere 2 days?
The choice of a launch date seemed arbitrary, but setting it before the moon landing anniversary has a few advantages…
– guarantees that people’s (and the press’s) attention can be focused on two separate events.
– prevents any perception that GM was trying to ride the coattails of the anniversary celebration.
– in the immediate wake of announcing the car, still allows GM the opportunity for a commemorative tie-in, acknowledging the Corvette’s (specifically the new car!) connection as the car of choice for Apollo astronauts. I expect the obligatory social media campaign featuring both the C8 and astronaut-owned Corvette’s from the past.
Funny you say this NASA actually has used the Corvette to draw interest into the Apollo program.
They have been using the Corvettes of the astronauts in stories TV and displays to promote interest in the space program. They are displaying the cars in their museum. Yes the very cars they forbid the astronauts from receiving till Roger Ward stepped in with the $1 lease program.
Trust me the Mid Engine Vette will get plenty of exposure on its own. It is the automotive equivalent of a moon landing. We never thought it was possible but we are now there.
Those CAD images released ages ago and the rest of the article has no additional information than what has been speculated for just as long.
Also just because it’s also dohc doesn’t necessarily mean that GM will consider it a version of the blackwing. If it has a different block, head design with reversed intake and exhaust to not be hot v, induction system, and rotating assembly for different displacement, at that point is it still the same engine family? The only confirmed similarly at this point is dohc, but GM has many other dohc engines that are not considered the same architecture, so in my opinion that’s not enough. I’m not saying they WON’T be, just that we don’t really have enough information yet to say that, and from what we think we know, dohc and use of turbos seems to be about the only similarly.
Is an LS3 still and LS motor?
LS3 is a gen IV smallblock, and shares many things with other gen IV small blocks. However I would consider the Gen V LT1 to be a different architecture, the next generation, since the heads are totally different with intake and exhaust being in different positions (but still exh outside), direct injection, etc.
We don’t yet know if this engine will share more than being DOHC and having turbos with the Blackwing, it’s all in saying. It might or might not. We’ll see what GM says when they announce it, and if they consider it the same family or not.
Sorry for being negative, it was a decent summary of the current rumors, I was just expecting more “new” info with a bit more specifics.
You can bet in a couple years there’ll be a “Wide-Body” / “King of the Hill” version that will be the Zora everyone has been expecting.
Curious to see what will happen to the CT6-V and the V series lineup. Cadillac was originally going to call the CT6-V a V-Sport. This makes me think there is a hotter version coming for the CT6 as well, especially after Cadillac announced hotter versions of the CT5-V and CT4-V. I hope some of this C8 tech shows up on Cadillac as well.
What leaked? There’s not a single bit of new info in this article. It’s all repackaged from 2018 articles.
It would make no sense for gm to go to dohc motors their pushrod internal cam motors make more reliable power than any of the dohc motors on the market now people don’t buy Corvettes to sound like super cars revving 12k rpm people buy Corvettes to hear a true muscle car sound with super car handling. This article is a big hunk of lies I don’t believe it one bit. We will find out soon enough but I bet it still has an internal cam with pushrods and a blower like they’ve had in the past for the top of the line Corvette. And by the way gm has never completely changed up a motor and kept the same engine code going they would’ve named it something totally different. To completely get experimental and change the way they’ve been building their V8s in a brand new Corvette would be a bad move. If gm really wanted to go to a dohc V8 they would dedicate a tester car to have it not the wide selling Corvette. People are way too gullible these days.
1. GM used DOHC for the Corvette ZR1. 2. Also, I think most buyers would disagree that the Corvette is a muscle car. It was originated as a sports car and it has always been one. Such as, it is small, light, two seats, close to the road with a low center of gravity and good weight distribution. Contrast that with a muscle car which is a large (mid) size car with seating for 4+ passengers that just happens to have a larger than normal engine under the hood and (today) additional performance enhancements.
Yeah they did use an overhead cam motor 20-30 years ago I know that but strayed away from it for an internal cam motor and didn’t use that motor very long so that’s irrelevant and I never once said it was a muscle car… If you read my comment thoroughly I specifically said “true muscle car sound” I never stated that it was a muscle car simply because it’s not but the deep V8 exhaust note is what I was talking about.
That 5.7 liter overhead cam engine that GM used in the Corvette was not a GM engine. It was designed, engineered and built by Mercury Marine for boats. Of course GM had input and some testing done by themselves, but the engine was going to be such low volume that GM wanted to share the costs of bringing it to the market. Price out that engine bare block and see just how much more expensive it is than other aluminum GM blocks even today. GM makes tens of millions from being an engine supplier to various boat companies. Even Volvo puts there own name on the GM boat engines, among others. A twin turbo, higher torque engine, at lower RPM engine is perfect for boats that have huge drag until they get up on plane.
The DOHC engine was designed by Lotus Engineering that was owned by GM and production was farmed to Mercury.
Mercury had nothing to do with the design or engineering.
GM went to mercury as they could build short run aluminum engines at a lower cost as GM did not have the facility like they have now in KY that builds the ZR1 engine and Blackwing today.
The Volvo Penta Marine is a company that is more about taking engines from a number of MFGs not jus GM and adapts them to different marine out drives and boats. They use a number of MFGs including motorcycle engines like Yamaha.
They also make generator engines.
As usual Scott, you are wrong about Mercury Marine not being involved in the engineering or design. For decades, Mercuty Marine has made changes to the upper end such as cams, compression ratio and intake and exhaust systems of the GM engines, after extensive testing under load. I and you don’t know for a FACT, if Mercury Marine tested the engine then recommended any change to GM. You keep pretending that you know things for a fact, but on Sunday, you proved at least 5 times that you are just another troll.
You said Mercury Marine “designed, engineered and built” the LT5. They did not design or engineer the LT5; it has it’s roots in a DOHC V8 that Lotus was working on before they were even acquired by GM. MM just built it.
Zach this is not totally a marketing thing it is more about the future and emissions.
The whole reason 4 valve per cylinder has been used is they can much easier meet emissions standards.
The standards are only getting tougher and two valve engines are coming to the end of the line,
The DOHC cam and a Turbo with DI can not only meet emissions easier but also produce a torque curve flatter than the push rod engine ever could.
The only real negatives to the new engine is added weight, cost and packaging. But in a new car all three are accounted for.
The multi valve engine will move to the trucks to at some point.
GM has taken the two valve farther than anyone ever thought possible but even GM can go only so far.
I’m confident that gm will go longer with pushrod motors over dohc personally. They’ve figured them out and know what they’re doing with them which shows something as far as the emissions standards I understand completely what you’re saying but personally is see emissions standards as BS anyways just ways of making tax dollars and limiting what gear heads can do to up the performance of their vehicles doesn’t mean they will let up or make the standards go down they will only get stricter and harder to deal with. It may be the future but I don’t see it happening this year with gm. I could be completely wrong and look like a moron at the end of all of this but it’s just my speculation and I’m fine with being wrong it doesn’t bother me I’ll admit I was wrong all day. I do think gm should do more r&d into using turbos on their performance models because they are an easier way of meeting emissions standards and they are less paracitic to the motor itself compared to a super charger. A lot of people don’t realize the stress a supercharger puts on the crank and starvation of horsepower from the start because of the resistance it puts on the crank to build boost. Turbos are the way to go in my opinion but I also understand that there are other challenges with turbos such as placement and countless hours of r&d just as they did with L5P Duramax and the electronic variable vein turbo they worked with Borg Warner on. There’s always speculation on the new vehicles when we don’t have all the information on them that’s inevitable but I feel like some people and media outlets get way out of hand with these kinds of things. Who knows what the future holds but I’m not convinced yet.
They are not going to vanish next year but they will be more limited in half ton and cars.
3/4 ton and larger the regs are lighter so the cam in block will survive there longer.
Y’all do realize that Ford is moving to a clean-sheet design cam-in-block gas V8 for their base engine in the SuperDuty trucks later this year, don’t you? Not only is OHV not dead, they’re developing new ones.
Y’all do understand the Super Duty is a heavier truck like I stated above and is subject to lower regulations vs half ton? The cam in block May linger longer in the heavy trucks but not in cars or half ton trucks.
Different application. They want a reliable NA gasoline engine with massive low end torque for towing and hauling. NA DOHC excells at high rpms but is less responsive and produces less torque at low rpm.
Once you go with forced induction DOHC can produce low end torque and provide the other benefits of increased valve area, independent phasing of intake and exhaust valves, and even variable lift should GM decide to invest in its development.
GM’s definition of what constitutes different engine is very different from the average person. See statements by the engineers that the LF3 and LF4 were completely different engines. The only difference between the two was different turbos and titanium connecting rods. They are like Apple in that way; they use their own definitions for generally understood terms .
The LT7 will make about 650 hp which means one thing.. the C7 Corvette ZR1 with it’s LT5 750 hp supercharged 6.2L V8 will blow past the C8 Corvette Z06.
Well, the C7 ZR1 blows past the C7 Z06 already, so…
Yeah, jd65, can’t you tell from looking at the drawing that DOHC 32-valve, twin-turbocharged, liquid-to-air intercooled, unknown displacement LT7 makes about 100hp less than the 16-valve supercharged LT5??? And…things like area under the power curve, gross weight, weight distribution, transmission effectiveness/efficiency, chassis dynamics, tire compounds, etc. have nothing to do with actual performance.
Where’s a laughing-til-you-cry emoji when you need it??? Now watch me get more downvotes for stating more facts…
You might want to reread the comment I was replying to. The statement was a C7 ZR1 will beat a C8 Z06. I only stated the current ZR1 already beats a C7 Z06, due to, oh, I don’t know, a 100 hp deficit, you know like the C8 will have with the LT7. In other words, a ZR1 with 100+ hp over either a C7 or C8 Z06 should not have a single problem beating either one. Where’s a face palm emoji when you need one?
You forget that torque is more important to acceleration below 5000 RPM in a drag race than HP and a twin turbo engine will have a lot more torque than a single supercharged V8, all other things being equal. How about 30 to 40 HP more to push the old Corvette body through the air than the new C8. Also, the light weight of the new C8 gives another 50 to 70 HP advantage over the heavier older front engine Vette. You suggest a 100 HP advantage, it just went out the window.
I was agreeing with you. Hang on to your face palm emoji…
? gotchu fam
You don’t know how much torque the twin turbo LT7 will make at 3,000 when it is rushing to max RPM. You have forgotten the weight of the new C8 and also the aerodynamics of the new body. Facts are facts and will will see how big an advantage a twin turbo engine has over the existing supercharged engine. I’ll bet that it’s significant at lower RPM speeds, below 4,000 RPM. when going through the gears in a 0 to 100 mph or in a drag race, over the supercharged engine..
Why would they go through the trouble of designing a whole new DOHC TT only to match the LT4’s power? Hopefully the LT7 makes more than 650 hp.
C4 ZR-1: 405hp
C5 Z06: 405hp
C6 Z06: 505hp
C6 ZR1: 638hp
C7 Z06: 650hp
C7 ZR1: 755hp
I see distinct trends…”new” Z06 cars make about the same horsepower as the previous generation’s ZR1, and, “new” Z06 cars make about 100 or more horsepower more than the previous gen’s Z06. I would sooner expect this trend to continue than I would expect to see a “new” Z06 with “only” the same output as the previous generation – i.e. expect the LT7-powered C8 Z06 to be in the 750hp neighborhood. It’s a good neighborhood.
Great post for reference Richard, but……. For acceleration, torque beats HP every time. EG: If the new 2020 Corvette C8 with the optional future twin turbo engine, has more torque and possibly 50 HP less, the higher torque engine will beat the higher horse engine in a 0 to 60 or 0 to 100 MPH run. But, you are right about living in the right neighborhood. Remember the original big block Chev CanAm race cars, running the small block Chev engines down on the straight by having gobs of torque. By the way, the yellow Corvette Pratt & Miller race cars, use a LSX Bowtie high deck block with a long ( for a high RPM race car ) 4.5 inch stroke and the max bore of 4.2 inch, to give 498 cubes which is 8.2 liters. The cars run lower RPM in all sections of the tracks and the engines do not get stressed and finish more races.
C4 ZR-1: 405hp/385 ft lbs
C5 Z06: 405hp/400 ft lbs
C6 Z06: 505hp/475 ft lbs
C6 ZR1: 638hp/604 ft lbs
C7 Z06: 650hp/650 ft lbs
C7 ZR1: 755hp/715 ft lbs
Same basic trend…each successive Z06 produces more torque than the previous generation’s ZR1.
As an engineer, I fully grasp that torque produces acceleration, but it isn’t that simple. Your “slightly more torque and 50hp less” will be quicker theory doesn’t hold up in *most* applications. For example, Lingenfelter proved the more torque (+50) and less horsepower (-25) SuperRam on a LT1 was slightly (0.1 to 0.2 seconds) quicker with and automatic transmission, while the exact opposite was true with the manual transmission.
The bottom line, in THIS instance, is that we don’t have any idea how much chassis dynamics, weight distribution and the dual-clutch transmission will impact the performance of the C8 vs the C7 – and that’s before we consider things (like vehicle weight) that we can quantify numerically.
ASSUMING the LT7 will be about 5.5 liters, and the target boost is about 12psi – to generate about 750hp – expect the torque to be in the low- to mid-700’s…i.e. 735ish, AND, more importantly, a much flatter curve, probably peaking below 2,000 rpm, vs high-4,000’s with the current engines. If they trade (more) boost for (less) rpm, the torque output could easily cross the 800 ft lb threshold.
Whatever it turns out to be, you can bet the torque curve will be flat, and peak much earlier than LS9, LT4, and LT5 engines.
The video posted yesterday on Youtube, said that for the new 2020 C8 Vette, the optional third, high end engine will have an 80 HP electric boost motor, over and above the LT7 engine. This copies the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck from the 2018 and 2019 models which also has an e-boost or electric motor to give and extra 90 HP, over the engine it is hooked up with. The big advantage of an electric motor is that the torque starts at the low RPM, so the extra boost comes from a stop up to a cruise speed. This will save fuel as well as it takes the most amount of fuel to get from a stop up to a normal driving speed.
Why do you think it will make 650hp?
there is no sense to using a DOHC in the C- 8R because the racing assoc. limits the RPMs and HP. the DOHC engine will just add weight and raise the C of G. the DOHC engine will be for the ZO-8 version of the street C-8
The IMSA sparts car racing series are limited by cubic inches and weight of the car. That is why the various Caddy IMSA cars were forced to downsize the 6.2 liter engine used in the 2017 series and use a new design smaller cube DOHC 5.5 liter engine for the start of the 2018 race season. GM has put a lot of development money into the new DOHC engines and just by altering the bore or stroke or both, the 2021 light Duty 1500 pickup trucks could use a smaller V8, sized between the 4.2 liter Blackwing and the 5.5 liter version that has been race tested for the past two race seasons, just so they can get better gas mileage. How about a middle ground 4.4 to 5 liter DOHC V8 in the 2021 GM pickup trucks, with more torque and HP than the existing 5.3 Liter V8?
the cost of these DOHC TT engines has to be a lot more to produce than a normally asperated engine like the LS so why would GM put them in PU trucks where they are out to make the most profit ??
The cost is more but to meet future emissions there are getting to fewer options on the lighter trucks.
The light half tons have more restrictive numbers to meet in the future.
Show me the other 3 cams! The 5.5 has only but one cam.
The 5.5 is not a Blackwing .
Callaway, Banks, Leller, and my Mentor Hugh Macinnes, from the RotoMaster days, finally see their “ideas” in a Production American Car. Slow getting here . . . but WELL DONE !
Lou C in Aridzona
Sorry, Bob Keller . . . not Leller !
Cadillac can proclaim engine exclusivity all they want. As long as Chevy is the cash cow, and Caddy is bleeding red ink, Chevy will get what it needs for the Vette, period. They may make changes to avoid too much embarrassment for Caddy, but the are a GM division, and it’s a corporate call. If Caddy was pulling it’s own weight, it might be a different story. If Lamborghini and Aston Martin can share engines with the German Mother ships, so can Cadillac.
Oh baby! Wish this was the base engine detuned or sans turbos.
This engine will not be available for 3-4 years and it will not go into a Z06 since GM is dumping that moniker for the Grand sport or Grand Touring name and should produce closer to 800 -900 HP, but Gm is going to over price these cars and turn off a huge percentage of their buyers, and if you think you can go down in class to the Camaro forget it, GM is doing away with that car again to force you to try and buy an over priced Vette, hopefully by then they will see a huge drop in Vette sales and realize they have to lower the cost.
@jd65 at .02 of a second to 60mph and .04 of a second in 1/4 mile is not exactly blowing past a Z06 yes its faster but C’mon dude its obvious you’ve never driven either.
I own a C7, and I sell Vettes at a Chev dealer. Your 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are off by a magnitude of 10. It’s .3 (that’s the closest difference among multiple tests over different testing publications) in seconds difference to 60, not .02, and up to .6, not .04 in a 1/4. A tenth of a second is about a car length on a 1/4 mile, so even at .4 of a second, the lead car will have about 4 car lengths on the loser. That IS blowing past another car.
How do I get out of this WEBSITE ? I made one comment and have now received 30+ Comments. I checked the box that says DELETE on 5 different occasions . . . but this stuff just keeps coming. HELP !
You see that button in the emails you receive to modify your subscription settings? Hit that.
If you run into any issues, feel free to email me directly: alex.luft [at] motrolix [dot] com.
Paint some “white-out” on your screen. 🙂
Hit that button on 5 different Es. Nothing happens
I dont know if it’ll be in GM’s best interest to debut the BASE model. It’s going to be our first impression of the new ‘Vette. Their idea could steer people in the wrong direction. We’ve waited a long time to see this car.
I think the debut model should be well equipped. The Sting Ray has to really hold it’s own. First impressions are everything
Agree. Psychologically, first impressions are very, very important. But most car manufactures do this.
My take: The more advanced models take more development time. Also, it could be that they hit the market in a more affordable ( more buyers) version, then, build on even more anticipation.
Seems like a logical plan, but I’m with you on this. Bust out the best first, and leave no doubts. The rest will follow.
If they introduce the base model first then the Z models a few years later, there will be some proportion of buyers who buy both a base model and Z model. Release the Z model first and these buyers only buy the Z model.
This website has stated a few months ago, that the price difference of the 2020 Vette between the base engine on the new C8 Vette could be as much as double compared to the front engine Vette and a jump above that of another $20,000 for the very high output new design DOHC engine. This means about $150,000 for the higher output optional engine on the C8. We will have a better idea in less than 24 hours from now as GM will introduce the C8 on Monday July 15th. Notice that it is also Prime Day…..LOL.
The introduction will be the base Vette, cus’ that’s the only model ready for production. That said, most will be fully loaded with level 3 option package. The early adopters will pay greatly for the honor. There will very few low option C8s available for awhile. GM will have huge profits for the first year, and rightly so.
if the first corvettes are the top of the line with all the bells and whistles how does GM get the corvette owners to update. I bought 11 new ones and I got new corvette every 1 or 2 years to get the latest updates.
All the hot rodding tricks of getting more power, supercharging, tubo charging. overhead cams 4 valves per cylinders Nitrous Oxide, etc.. make impressive power increases, But I am still more impressed with a simple V-8 engine that is normally
aspirated , with push rods, and 2 valves per cylinder engine. That puts out a lot of power…To me, that is “honest” horsepower and torque, without all the complicated and expensive “trick” stuff to get the power
Disappointing. Since I autocross, I would have bought a supercharged version but I have no interest in turbos. I had that in my MR2 and hated the turbo lag, the lower durability because of the high rpm, and the cost of replacing them.
Depending on the car, you are right about lag, but reliability turbos has come a long way since the early turbos, with a life expectancy of 60k miles. Twin turbos and dual scroll have eased some of the most obnoxious low rpm characteristics. That said, there is a lot to be said for a V8.
NORMAN, Most lubricants are not up to the job of protecting the engines. What grade of oil did you use either petroleum based or synthetic base? For racing obviously, a thicker grade such as a 10W40 or a 15W50 race oil is the only grade that should be used, and only a full 100 percent synthetic. The thicker grades of oil run cooler and prevent that turbo shafts from scarring and protect the bearings much better in the turbos.
Mark. Mobil 1 synthetic 5-30.