In case it wasn’t glaringly obvious, the auto industry is changing, and it’s changing fast. That includes GM, which is making moves to fully transition its light-duty vehicle lineup to all-electric powertrains by the 2035 timeframe. And although GM hasn’t abandoned internal combustion outright, The General’s ICE offerings are definitely trending towards smaller displacement and forced induction. No surprise then that the naturally aspirated GM V6 engine is very nearly dead.
As it stands, GM will offer just five vehicles with the GM 3.6L V6 engine for the 2024 model year, down from 10 vehicles for the 2021 model year, and 17 for the 2016 model year. The five vehicles set to offer the GM 3.6L V6 engine for the 2024 model year include the Buick Enclave (LFY), Cadillac XT5 (LGX), Cadillac XT6 (LGX), ICE-based Chevy Blazer (LGX), and Chevy Camaro (LGX).
Meanwhile, just two vehicles will offer the GM 4.3L V6 for the 2024 model year, down from four offered for the 2021 model year. The two vehicles set to offer the GM 4.3L V6 for the 2024 model year include the Chevy Express (LV1) and GMC Savana (LV1) vans.
Looking ahead, the naturally aspirated GM V6 engine will become even more of a rarity for the 2025 model year, with just two vehicles expected to offer the 3.6L configuration. By the 2025 model year, GM’s three-row crossover will all cradle the turbocharged 2.5L I4 LK0 gasoline engine, while the sixth-gen Chevy Camaro and North-American Cadillac XT5 will both hit retirement.
Check out the tables below for more information on the availability of the naturally aspirated GM V6 engine:
| 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buick Enclave | LLT | LFY | LFY | LFY | - |
| Buick LaCrosse | LFX | LGX | LGX | - | - |
| Buick Regal | - | LGX | - | - | - |
| Cadillac ATS | LFX | LGX | - | - | - |
| Cadillac CT6 | LGX | LGX | - | - | - |
| Cadillac CTS | LGX | LGX | - | - | - |
| Cadillac XTS | LFX | LFX | - | - | - |
| Cadillac SRX | LFX | - | - | - | - |
| Cadillac XT5 | - | LGX | LGX | LGX | - |
| Cadillac XT6 | - | - | LGX | LGX | LGX |
| Chevrolet Blazer | - | - | LGX | LGX | LGX |
| Chevrolet Camaro | LGX | LGX | LGX | LGX | - |
| Chevrolet Caprice PPV | LFX | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Colorado | LFX | LGZ | LGZ | - | - |
| Chevrolet Equinox | LFX | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Impala | LFX | LFX | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Impala PPV | LFX | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet Traverse | LLT | LFY | LFY | - | - |
| GMC Acadia | LLT | LGX | LGX | - | - |
| GMC Canyon | LFX | LGZ | LGZ | - | - |
| GMC Terrain | LFX | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 17 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| 2016 | 2018 | 2021 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Express | - | LV1 | LV1 | LV1 | LV1 |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | LV3 | LV3 | LV3 | - | - |
| GMC Savana | - | LV1 | LV1 | LV1 | LV1 |
| GMC Sierra 1500 | LV3 | LV3 | LV3 | - | - |
| Total | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Although GM is clearly moving towards all-electric vehicles, the automaker isn’t giving up on ICE vehicles quite yet. According to comments made by GM President Mark Reuss last November, the profits from GM’s ICE offerings “are literally funding [GM’s] future.”
“Our ICE vehicle portfolio is in incredibly high demand, and helping us generate record profits to invest in an all-electric future,” Reuss said. “I want to point out that to sustain and build that demand, we are refreshing key ICE vehicles as we transition.”
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Comments
Unless a suitable 4-cylinder turbo is available, this is a bad move for Cadillacs and certain Buicks. An Enclave with the Traverse’s new 4T would be laughable.
The 2.7T in the Colorado and Silverado… 310hp 430lbft
Even the 2.5 in the Traverse is going to offer a very very flat torque curve
Just wait until buyers unfamiliar with Turbos begin having to expensively replace them since there is no cool-down/slow-down protection built in. Loss of oil pressure at shut-down will COKE the little oil remaining on the HOT Turbo’s shaft bearings and destroy the shaft. Waiting to begin hearing the complaints that will only grow with time. Wondering if the head gaskets will survive increased forced induction pressures for very long ? Time will tell ! We were planning on buying the new, 2024, larger Acadia but after learning the somewhat underpowered 3.6L V6 will be unavailable canceled that idea.
Today’s turbo engines are not like the turbo engines from the 1980’s that needed to have their turbos rebuilt every 30,000 miles. As long as owners follow all maintenance guidelines there is no reason to believe that a modern turbo engine will be any less reliable than a naturally aspirated engine. GM has been using turbo engines in the Equinox/Terrain for 5-6 years now and there aren’t any widespread issues with those engines (excluding the short-lived turbo diesel, which is a whole other animal).
The issues are going to come in with owners that regularly abuse their engines (frequently run them hard) and then ignore routine maintenance. In that case, those owners kind of deserve to have issues and quite frankly would have issues with any engine if they ignore maintenance. GM isn’t going to build an engine that won’t at least go 5yrs/60K miles trouble-free, especially considering they are now selling millions of vehicles annually with turbocharged engines. And at that point, with proper ongoing, post warranty maintenance, the engine should easily get to 100K+ miles before experiencing normal mileage related issues that come with any high mileage engine.
remember a lot of us grew up with 350’s, 4.3’s and strait 6’s, and those engines you could drain the oil out, run them like hell for 10K, top the oil back off with the wrong grade and sell it and the next owner would still get another 100K out of it. Were spoiled on maintenance and reliability. Theres a reason we find European and asian cars to be junk.
Bought a 2013 Chevy Cruz new with the 1.4 turbo engine. Now has 148,000 miles with no serious problems, just regular maintenance. Has been a great car, great mpg.Because of this I am planning to buy a new Colorado or Canyon.
So the head gasket will be fine as the compression ratio os dropped from 11.5 on the V6 to 10 on the turbo 4. Hurts the economy a little, but saves the heads. The turbo should last 150-200K. Expect to replace it when buying it new, but unlike the ford ecoturd, its not a V6 with 2 turbos on the bottom of the engine that requires taking off the cab to replace. In the GM engines they are integrated into the exhaust manifold so its as easy as replacing the exhaust manifold in your college car. Real question is how does the rings and bottom end hold up in the car? GM test 2.7 engine shows almost no wear, but they ran it through the wringer for a little over a year and didnt have to deal with extreme heat fluctuations/humidity/long periods with no operation that all take their toll.
I had the same Thought about the new Acadia but will definitely not take it because of the engine change
Engine by Isuzu. My friend owns that engine in new Silverado been in shop at least three times a year. The Colorado is a isuzu d max truck. Chevy or gmc has never built a small truck. S 10s are a Isuzu pup. I wish the 78 square body would rebound. Those were all chevy
you obviously have not drive the new turbo 4’s. I have 2.0T in my Terrain Denali and towed two wave runners for 5 hours with not a single issue or problem getting up to speed. It didn’t strain and average 19mpg. These new 4 cylinders are built tough. The 2.7t is build just like a diesel. No real reason to make 6 cylinder with the performance you can get out a force induction engines. These cylinders are helping with the manufactures pass emmisions so its just going to happen. Nobody seems to having many issues with them in the 2.7 in the Silverado so its seems to be a good engine.
Do you realize Lexus, BMW, Mercedes are using turbo 4’s and they charge more than buick or cadillac does. Most won’t be able to tell a difference except they will have more power than the 3.6 had and very little turbo lag.
Is the 2.0T a “new turbo 4”? It’s pretty ancient barring minor changes. The ones I drove in 2017 or so were not impressive.
if you have to turbo an engine to get it to perform minimally, then it is not enough engine. not only do turbos, even new ones, go bad, they also put undue strain on the engine which is already struggling. no turbos, no 4 cylinders unless you are buying a clown car or truck.
LFX is a great engine version as long as you manage the carbon build up which people dont bother to… for some reason GM refuses to acknowledge its a thing on DI engines. audi/vw has had it as part of their service since the 2000s with the first FSI engines… GM… naaaah dont worry bout it! just wait till it grenades.. much like they do with DOD lifters etc.
if we dont talk about it, it isnt a problem right?
GM has very little issues with the build up on its engines, especially if your are doing regular oil changes and using a good synthetic oil.
ALL VW’s have issues and bad issues and none are covered by warranty. Nobody I know had a single issue with carbon build on GM or Ford direct injection engines.
what are you saying? i open these engines up a lot. i know what goes on on the intake valves. i know 6.2L that have self destructed due to build up (yes at a lot of miles but without that issue the engine would have went on for another decade).
you dont know what? have many intakes have you popped off? heads? how many lifters have you replaced? top end rebuilds? spun bearings? how many scorned camshaft lobes have you seen? “i dont know”
you are a denier of extremely well known issues. the issue is the same as with audi, except one actually admits it, the other pretends it doesn’t exist.
thanks for playing tho
Uhhh, heads up…..oil changes have nothing, zero to do with Carbon build-up on intake valves. You must not know very many people or they lie to you.
Joe, you must work for GM. Those of us who have actually owned and driven trucks with these engines, can attest to the DOD lifters dropping. I have had 3 6.2L and a 6.0L explode on me. I still have one at the dealership that has been there for over two years waiting for parts after dropping the lifters.
DI, and vary little carbon on the vavles. Carbon buildup is 99% from oil vapors coming from the crankcase ventilation. GM has superb ventilation that keeps the oil down low. Research oil catch cans. Hemis are notorious at spewing oil into the intake, but are port injected, which keeps the valves clean, and the oil is burned in the cylinders. Euro cars have cheap ventilation and expect you to do the work of keeping your engine clean. The GM engines have almost no problems at all with this except with the cheapest of oil.
The end of the GM v6 is just the “high feature 6” is end of life, just like the original LS engines. The V6 might come back if a new generation engine prefers a V6 layout. Currently, it must be noted, the 3.6 weights as much as the 5.3V8, costs more to make and maintain, and provides only a slight economy boost. Its main advantage is its short and fits well in a transverse mounted engine bay. Todays wide cars and crossovers can fit a cheaper, lighter 4 just fine.
absolutely false. why are you people typing flat out lies. PCV is the same system across every engine ever. GM throws in oil like anything else. in 8k miles the valves are baked and crusty as it gets. go look. want to see what happens at 60k? can you even find the valves? i mean i can tell you cant since you have never seen one but keep telling me about the magical gm DI that defies the laws of operation! its a gm thing, we wouldnt understand i know. even though ive been dealing with this DI DOD garbage since 2014….
even with dirty and clean side separators (which you must run if you want these to last) it will still throw oil in there and will need manual cleaning at some point down the road.
Bud, i dont have to flush the valves every 8K, so im not drinking what your pouring. PCV has little to do with oil separation, but the size length and intake junction of rhe tubing from it does! GM has very-very few reported issues with DI, and ive actually heard less issues with their DI engines that their SFI engines in general. Ford actually reports more issues with their dual injection, as does toyota, likley due to the fact that Toyota for once made an engine that isnt 20 years old in design, and the ford engines have just gotten complicated.
LFX? You sure about that? You’re about 10 years off.
The new GM large displacement 4 cylinder/turbo engines are engineered as direct injected turbo engines from the start – direct injected related carbon build-up elimination is designed in via blow-by reduction and air-fuel force tunnelling for cylinder drying. In addition, look into the PCV system… i’m not sure anyone’s is as thorough. That, and AFM is also engineered in with mechanical cam-shifting versus hydraulic others use. These are high-tech engines, not some afterthought conversions.
Good luck. Take your next bailout from China.
Cost of electricity in nyc is going up another 66% after a recent 18% hike . You can keep your ev gm . No one is going to be able to afford to drive in Ny
A Trifecta tuned 3.6L is a beast.
On the NA 3.6 it only adds like 5hp through the revs and only gets maybe +20hp way up at 6000rpm. Biggest benefit would be the TCM calibration, but I wouldn’t call it a beast by any stretch
The electrical generation capacity in the US cannot support an electric vehicle fleet. A 100% electric passenger vehicle fleet would require an ADDITIONAL generation capacity of 160% of what’s currently available. Plus the necessary infrastructure to distribute it. It. Ain’t. Happening.
This has been debated by actual industry leaders and most of the agree that EVs, particularly as they gradually enter the market, will not have a major impact to our grid.
The typical trouble areas (CA, TX) are about the only problem prone areas that will continue to have issues, with or without EV.
160%? Yeah. No.
You can “yeah…no” your way to oblivion, but it doesn’t change the facts. If you look at the number of miles driven annually by passenger vehicles and multiply those number of miles by the average watt-hours required to propel a battery powered vehicle one mile, it will produce a value that depicts the total electricity required, annually, to power a fully-electric passenger vehicle fleet in the US. That value is 160% of the current generation capacity in the US. It doesn’t matter if they gradually enter the fleet or all at once – once the objective of a fully-electric fleet is achieved, it will require 160% of current generation capacity to feed it. There’s a fairly linear equation you can use to determine intermediate levels of electric vehicle penetration. It’s simply not a sustainable concept.
It will only be sustainable if we stop being scared of nuclear. Solar and Wind are not going to do it with out Oil and Natural Gas. Now if they come up with Solid state batteries that can charge in 10 minutes, then that is a game changer.
Solar is good for homes and business but not to supply the grid with enough power for electricity for electric vehicles.
A lot might change in 5-10 years and ICE might have a longer life than people realize now.
Well, and then double the amount of power lines and towers, unless we plan on melting them.
lol a “fully electric” fleet is still at least two decades away. There will be plenty of used ICE cars on the market en masse until 2045, if not beyond.
Our electric grid at its core might be old, but it is constantly expanding and new technologies getting rolled out. We also have a major government investment to modernize our grid.
What a shortsighted statement. EVs aren’t going to break the grid in any real world scenario.
We’re not growing our generation or distribution capacity, we’re shrinking it. The “green” alternatives aren’t making up for the coal plants being shut down.
You can argue the details all day, but the fact remains the US does not have the generation capacity to support an all electric vehicle fleet, nor is it making any meaningful progress towards growing that capacity.
Ten years from right now, President AOC will be well into her second term. There is a possibility that something drastic takes place, such as a prohibition on the production, import, and usage of gasoline except for off-road or commercial usages.
All of the GM V6 engines have descended in some form or fashion from the GM “Fireball” V6 of 1962. The best was without a doubt the 3800 V6. These were and are excellent engines that will survive for many years past the eventual discontinuation of the series. We will see these powering various vehicles for likely another 50+ years. Still moving Americans from place to place. Great job GM!!!
I agree that the 3800 was an awesome V-6 engine, along with the 3.1 and the 3.4 and of course the 4.3 which is nearly indestructible! I’m sorry to see them go.
I had a 2000 Impala with the 3800 V6 . this was a great car and a great engine! Durable, efficient and and the right amount of power for the car.
Yes, a family member had a 3800 in a big Buick and it consistently got 30 mpg on the highway in that large heavy car.
GM’s latest sensation is the supercharged and-turbo-charged, one cylinder yo-yo engine that runs on nuclear fuel. This newest power plant is small enough to be hidden in the A-pillar. GM announced this revolutionary engine of the future last week during lunch hour and said they have already produced 5,000,000,000 of them for immediate installation into past vehicles. This revolutionary break through motor will soon be an option fort he new Super Car models designed to appear on Sunday. The Ice Queen Mary Berra was the first test driver assigned to the project. Berra reported “the new engine runs good” and “we have lots of them in case one breaks.” Film at eleven!
All GDI engines have blow by and a combination of an oil catch can,synthetic oil and BG products at proper maintenance levels will keep it in check.I have a 2017 Camaro SS(6.2),2019 Silverado Trail Boss(5.3) and a 2014 Impala LT(3.6) and all have catch cans which are at least half full when I change the oil. My 2 V8’s also have and AFM disabler and I don’t have any issues.Hemi engines as well as GM V8’s occasionally have lifter failures due to carbon buildup,usually the culprit is the VLOM(valve lifter oil manifold) which squirts oil to idle cylinders during AFM but if it gets clogged it will starve a lifter and damage starts there.It can also malfunction and over oil and cause corrosion in the piston rings.This information is available if you search it and I stand by it due to experience.It seems that the auto manufacturers must have figured that Hp&mpg’s up was a fair trade off to blow by but the lack of fuel sprayed on the valves slowly chokes an engine.Sorry Shell/Chevron with your way more expensive fuel prices just isn’t doing the job that you advertise since your gimmick additives don’t touch the valves,sorry a bit of soap boxing there.Ford went a different direction with the turbo V6 and it seems to work fine except in very hot weather like where I live in AZ,those engines cook here.
2013+ AFM doesnt have lifter failure. That was predominantly a pre 2012 issue due to lack of sludge protection for the liftere. There was no reason to dissable either your engines, and you actually will increase ring and cam wear with AFM disabled as the engine runs less efficiently, and dilute your oil more. Hemis are more likely to chew lifters than fail, and thats because their cams are too agressive trying to keep their power numbers compeditive. Any deviation in the oil viscosity, and you mar, scare and eat cams and lifters.
I’m gonna retire and do my pickups utilizing the Elizabeth’s fantastic city buses routes. Can’t afford a new Escalade V anyway. Let alone a wimpy V6
I’m sure everyone will love the new .05 liter engines with 900lbs of boost that self grenade at 2,000 miles beyond the warranty expiration……
Before long, the vehicles will be powered with old bike gas engines. Except in California of course.
LOL, I’m getting ready to replace my 1985 Wheel Horse garden tractor. The original single cylinder K-series air-cooled Kohler engine still runs good, I wonder if it has a future in a Bidum era car? We could fit it with a turbo and electronic ignition and…………..
Guess I’ll be keeping my XTS and wife’s Impala.
I ordered my new 2023 Cadillac XT5 Premium Sport last year and received it in April this year. I sold my 2018 Cadillac XT5 Luxury in showroom condition with 40K miles to my daughter for a low family price and she loves it! My wife drives a 2016 Cadillac ELR Premium we ordered new. Prior to the above mentioned Cadillacs we each owned Cadillac CTS Premium sedans and lived them! My wife loves her ELR and will keep it and replace the battery when needed. All of our Cadillacs are serviced at Cadillac dealerships. My new 2023 Cadillac XT5 Premium Sport is averaging 20 mpg and the direct injection V6 has great acceleration with its 310 hp. I have been a GM vehicle owner all my life and haven’t had any issues with any of my vehicles. I have owned four Chevrolets, two Pontiac GTOs, four Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Broughams and an Oldsmobile Aurora. That all have been serviced by the selling dealership and have performed flawlessly. My two cents…
It is almost beyond the lunatic fringe to hear the president of GM bragging that the high demand for ICE’s is helping them dig the EV grave the company is heading for. REST IN PEACE!
GM is going to be out of business by the time they make a bunch of electric cars that no one wants. They have abandoned their best engines and turboed everything. Theses engines will not last 10 years. I will not buy a turboed tiny engine. NO THANK YOU GM. Lost all the fanboys.