Cadillac has reiterated its stance that the twin-turbocharged 4.2-liter LTA V8 engine from the CT6-V will not find its way into the Corvette C8 or any other vehicle that does not have a Cadillac badge.
Speaking to Road & Track, Cadillac brand boss Steve Carlisle explained the twin-turbo V8 was developed in-house by Cadillac and that it would remain exclusive to the luxury brand. The first time he was asked if the car would find its way into anything else under the GM brand umbrella, Carlisle said “over my dead body.”
“When it comes to powertrains and propulsion, that’s a heart and soul kind of thing. It’s the DNA of a car,” Carlisle told R&T. “From a Cadillac perspective, there are certain things that need to be exclusive to Cadillac.”
The Corvette C8 will receive a twin-turbocharged DOHC V8, but it won’t be called the LTA. Instead, it will be called the LT7, as we exclusively reported earlier this year. Compared to the LTA, the LT7 will have a larger cylinder displacement and, of course, more power. Our sources indicate it will have more than 650 horsepower on tap, making it more powerful than the supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 in the C7 Corvette Z06.
Another major difference between the LT7 and the LTA is the placement of the turbochargers. Whereas the LTA uses a ‘hot-vee’ design that places the turbochargers within the cylinder banks, the LT7 has its turbos mounted on either side, below the cylinder banks.
So while the overall, DOHC V8 engine architecture of the LTA and LT7 will be the same, there are many differences between these motors that tailor each to a specific purpose and give it a unique character. This approach allows GM to continue sharing parts between its brands while keeping Cadillac engines in their own, neatly polished corner.
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Comments
“Over my dead body”
Uhhh, I would watch out for Mary… she always finds a way to get what she wants…
Yes and she’s probably the best CEO GM ever had and has been a huge supporter of the C8.
Keep it up Mary.
To be fair, is that not the purpose of the CEO of any entity?
The misogyny on this site is rampant and sickening…
Steve Carlisle is a blow hard. He can be canned and replaced at any moment. He is merely a cog in the GM movement. He doesn’t have final say in anything. Who do you think foot the research money for the blackwing engine. It’s a GM venture originated by Cadillac but sponsored by GM. So Steve Carlisle likes to think he’s the final say but he isn’t.
An forced induction engine will be introduced in future C8 Corvettes and it will most likely follow the form of the LT4 or LT5 which uses a supercharger and given the report of the Hennessey Performance HPE 1200 featuring a 1,200 horsepower supercharged 6.2L V8, Cadillac’s Blackwing V8 is not needed in the C8 Corvette.
How are you supposed to get excited to buy the engine when it is 100 horsepower less than the LT4? What’s the point? The emperor has no clothes. Cadillac please. No one is interested or excited about your stupid Blackwing.
You are that “No one”. Most of us Cadillac fans are reading this and very interested.
This is a far more sophisticated and refined engine than the LT4. Horsepower alone doesn’t tell us anything about the quality of an engine. The LT4 is a Chevy engine, and for sports cars, it’s a great inexpensive engine. But what goes in a budget supercar is not necessarily good in a luxury application.
Everyone take a deep breath and you will not be disappointed either at Cadillac or Corvette when it comes to more power.
Like Cadillac has any credibility left with all the indecisiveness over the last couple months.
Carlisle is a walking disaster. He just doesn’t have any vision nor any understanding of how to run a luxury company. The failure of GM to retain JDN over Mark Ruess’ ego was a huge mistake.
Can you do better? I seriously doubt you can!
Your comment here is meaningless. I can’t throw a football as well as the worst quarterback in the NFL, but I still know a bad quarterback when I see one.
So the TT 4.2 liter V8 FROM THE CT6-V won’t end up in the C8. That’s a pretty specific description, though. A 4.5 liter version of it would be OK. Or a version of it that’s not a Hot V wouldn’t be “from the CT6-V. Heck, just changing the labels on it would make it “not from the CT6-V.”
The statement is so specific as to be meaningless. GM didn’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing a TT V8 to use it in one model that is only going to be sold in minuscule quantities. OF COURSE versions of that engine are going to show up elsewhere. Cadillac may be bad at business, but GM isn’t.
So it’s not going in the Corvette. According to rumors the more powerful CT5 will be powered by the 6.2 and the CT6 is not long for this world. My question is what the heck is it going in? Is it going to be DOA like so many other GM great ideas?
I would agree that it is totally nonsensical to continue using Chevrolet V-8 engines in Cadillac’s at this point. Cadillac now has three exclusive engines: the 3.0TT (in two states of tune), the 3.6TT that sat in the ATS-V, the Black Wing, (two states of tune) and, temporarily, any way, the 2.0T in the XT4 and XT5, which also will appear in the CT4 and CT5.
It makes no sense to build what apparently is a highly refined and sophisticated engine like the bald wing and not use it.
For the CT5-V Blackwing, I don’t know understand why they just wouldn’t use a super charged version of the Blackwing. I am as perplexed by that as anyone else.
Autocorrect made me say “bald wing.” LOL. Blackwing, of course.
Why do car journalists keep reporting this fact, confirmed both by GM and Cadillac repeatedly, over and over and over again, and each time pretending it’s new news? They’ve said this since 2016 when JDN first publicly talked about this engine. Why are y’all pretending it is new news? It’s not.
What reason should we have to believe that there is any reason to keep asking this? How many time do both GM and Cadillac’s leadership have to say it before you accept it as fact?
And, further Cadillac and GM have also told you that it doesn’t share parts with any other GM engine. What part of Cadillac exclusive are you all not understanding? Or are your memories that bad that you need to be told this over and over and over and over again?
It’s really annoying.
And no, I am not telling you you have to accept everything a corporation says about their products, but without evidence to the contrary, there is no reason to keep reporting the same exact information.
And, by the way, your source is of course the same source that was used the first three dozens times this was reported in the automotive press. So, you are not breaking any new ground here.
Many believe its inevitable the “old GM” will rear its ugly head and tell Steve “The 4.2L is going into the XYZ, if you don’t like it submit your letter of resignation by close of business”…
“When it comes to powertrains and propulsion, that’s a heart and soul kind of thing. It’s the DNA of a car,” Carlisle told R&T. “From a Cadillac perspective, there are certain things that need to be exclusive to Cadillac.”
Ok, Steve. Besides this engine, that’s currently only being offered in a car that may well be discontinued here in the US, can you look at your products-and with a straight face-back up the above quote?
Please go be a manager at a Dollar store. You don’t have a clue about your own products.
Talk is cheap, and lies and denial will eventually have you withering on the vine.
Just buy a ZL1 and go for a drive, you won’t want a Cad let alone a Corvette , problem solved, you’re welcome.
I wager I would still want a ZR1 or C8.
Ok I have and still want the others.
Just not the C8, price on Camaro 2018 ZL1 versus same year vette not justified. Camaro is more fun ! Not to say I dislike C7 I think is a great car not for the money.
So the Cadillac gets a modern tech engine and the C8 still uses push rod engines,
Like the GM pick up trucks.
Corvette engines have always been based on pick-up truck engines just like the previous and current 600K Ford GT which has a 100% identical engine block as the F-150 3.5 Ecoboost.
Move the turbos outside of the “V” – you can say, technically it’s not the same engine.
I disagree, only thing being different is turbo placement? Same engine; now if you mess with the displacement or use different turbos I’d say that’s a different engine…