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Chevrolet pulled a fast one on all of us by revealing the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. This is the same car spotted multiple times during prototype testing and was poised to be the sixth-generation Camaro Z/28. That wasn’t the case, as the Camaro team has different plans.
The Camaro ZL1 1LE ups the ante for track capability by borrowing heavily into what made the fifth-generation Camaro Z/28 so great. But, if you’re holding out for an all-new Z/28, the Camaro team may be saving the best for what’s yet to come.
Car and Driver has reported major changes are inbound for the sixth-generation Camaro Z/28 as the ZL1 1LE keeps the Camaro in a track prowess holding pattern. According to intel, General Motors is working on a naturally aspirated, 5.5-liter small block V8 that will push 700 hp. And that engine is supposedly being readied for the next Z/28 with an LT6 designation.
The new engine family is said to break away from the norm and use an aluminum block and head, dual overhead camshafts, four-valve combustion chambers, direct, but possibly in combination with port, fuel injection, titanium connecting rods, and a flat crankshaft. Sound good? You bet it does.
However, that’s not all. The report goes on to state a twin-turbo variant of this LT6 will also come to fruition and be dubbed the LT7. It’s likely this engine family is being developed in conjunction with the all-but-confirmed 6.2-liter LT5 DOHC V8, slated for the 2018 C7 Corvette ZR1. The LT6 and LT7 may also serve as the basis for the Chevrolet’s worst-kept secret: a mid-engine Corvette.
The racy Camaro we previously caught in camo testing at the Nürburgring and elsewhere finally rolled forth this past weekend at festivities surrounding the Daytona 500, where Kurt Busch spoiled Chevy’s day in a Ford Fusion fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing. Bow-tie fans will take solace in this 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE (pictured above and in the gallery), the latest and most potent volley in the eternal Camaro-Mustang-Challenger pony-car war. Combining fresh aerodynamic, suspension, wheel, tire, and weight-saving components with the existing ZL1’s 650-hp LT4 supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, a six-speed manual transmission, and Brembo brakes yields what chief engineer Al Oppenheiser touts as “the ultimate track-day Camaro,” capable of chopping lap times around General Motors’ 2.9-mile Milford Road Course by a whopping three seconds.
Doubling up with some of the most prestigious badges from the Camaro’s half-century heritage had us (and most observers) wondering, “Hey, Al, what about the Z/28?” As a reminder, the illustrious Z-car was born in 1967 as a homologation special supporting the Camaro’s Trans-Am road-racing exploits. For months we’ve speculated that the car which bowed at Daytona would revive the Z/28 nameplate after a couple years’ hiatus. We stand corrected. But do not count the Z/28 dead. To the contrary, Chevy is patiently saving its most vaunted muscle-car badge for the next bullet: a Camaro with 700 or more naturally aspirated horsepower and a chassis capable of spanking the other pony cars at the road course of their choosing. Getting there will take a few more months. It remains a distinct possibility that the Z/28 could use a 750-ish-hp version of the supercharged pushrod small-block V-8 slated for the 2018 C7 Corvette ZR1. But tantalizingly, as we speak, GM engine dynos already are revving the latest and what should be the greatest small-block V-8 ever conceived. Breaking cleanly from Ed Cole’s 1950s brilliance, the coming LT6 and LT7 designs finally will dispense with pushrods and two-valve combustion chambers.
We’re expecting this new engine family to combine aluminum block and head construction, dual overhead camshafts, four-valve combustion chambers, direct (possibly in combination with port) fuel injection, titanium connecting rods, and a flat crankshaft, with approximately 5.5 liters of displacement to produce the target power. Need we remind you that most of those specs also fit a bored-and-stroked Ferrari 458 Italia V-8? Peel your ears to hear Pavarotti serenading from heaven. The twin-turbo LT7 version will trade some of the exhaust aria for additional power, à la Ferrari 488GTB.
These engines eventually will power the Camaros and Corvettes of your dreams as well as the hottest Cadillacs in GM’s arsenal. We’re estimating the sequence could begin with a Z/28 for the 2019 model year and continue with the C8 Corvette Z06 shortly thereafter. Cadillac will join the fray on its own schedule to run with BMW Ms, Mercedes-AMGs, Porsche Panameras, and the like. You heard it here first.
For months we’ve watched Chevrolet trot out a pair of Camaro prototypes– both at home and abroad at the vaunted Nürburgring–one with a pedestal wing and one without. Sometimes they whined, other times they didn’t; “that has to be the Z/28” we all said.
Instead of doing what we thought, the bow-tie brand did what they wanted, debuting the surprise 2018 Camaro ZL1 1LE just ahead of Daytona 500 festivities last Friday in Florida. If the ZL1 is already absurd, than the ZL1 1LE is asinine, blurring the lines between what a race car is and what a street car could be. Camaro chief Al Oppenheiser calls it “the ultimate track-day Camaro,” and who’s going to disagree?
Maybe the Z/28, that’s who.
Big Z first hit the scene in the late ’60s as a trick way to homologate hopped up Camaros for Chevrolet’s Trans-Am road racing teams. After the on-track success of the fifth-gen Z/28 we all just assumed we were getting another one.
Well we are, just not when we wanted it.
The legendary Don Sherman reports the Z/28 is far from dead, Chevrolet is simply keeping it’s powder dry as it works to develop the most powerful naturally aspirated engine to ever grace the Camaro from the factory. Sherman alleges the Z/28 could use a new family of LT engines that will do away with tried-and-true pushrod, two-valve designs; he calls it the greatest small-block V8, like ever.
It’s expected the LT6 will show up with all-aluminum construction, four-valves per chamber, titanium con rods, dual overhead camshafts and a flat plane crank. Pegged for 5.5 liters of displacement, the LT6’s rap sheet looks like something stolen from the Ferrari factory. Like the 6.2-liter LT1, there will be a blown version of the LT6, except this time Chevy will trade the supercharger for twin-turbos and call it the LT7.
These engines are expected to proliferate with the next-generation of GM performance products, starting with the Camaro Z/28 in 2019. Following the Camaro, the Corvette should get one when the C8 eventually rolls around, along with the next generation of Cadillac V-cars.
Very exciting times ahead. I know that I'm the minority but I'm crossing my fingers for electric motors at the front. I'm sure the guys who don't want them will have no problem removing them and the batteries.
Like all GM Engines the main architecture of the engine will be used across a bunch of different platforms. The first thing they need to consider is meeting some pretty stringent fuel economy and emissions standards that are coming over the next 8 years. Those standards may not affect the Corvette or the Camaro as much as other GM higher production brands but the only way they can keep costs down for those two platforms is to share the designs across all platforms to get enough production volume to amortize design and manufacturing costs for the standard parts.
The trend is toward small displacement engines with forced induction to offset the small displacements when power is needed. With GTLM naturally aspirated engine sizes limited to 5.5L I suspect they would want to offer a street engine of the same displacement Vs the situation they have now where the street engine has a larger displacement. There is also the prospect of the displacement being dropped due to outside political pressures. Then the FI route with a 4.0L engine may be the better way to go as it would probably be closer to what they will need to offer for the street in 5 or 6 years.
There is no way GM will make an NA 700hp 5.5L. 0 chance. However, it could make that much with boost or it could make 600hp which is enough to make it an upgrade from the LS7.
Of all the rumors, the NA 6.2L DOHC is still my favorite. If it ever comes paired with a manual in any Corvette chassis it will be hard to resist.
To me these entire articles are just conjecture speculation and noise. Purposely disemminated to cause traffic to websites creating a buzz.
the Zora or whatever the ME vehicles (caddy and if they make a chevy) will have the high tech which will take years to trickle down to the rest of the line up. Just not cost effective.
the cam in block will be around for a number of years stillm they will have to change the infection system possibly adding a port system to it as the emissions regulations tighten (like ford is now doing for upcoming models) direct injection causing issues there. But cam in block I would bet will be produced by this company for another 7 to10 years.
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Last year, I heard that the future product development team was working on five future engines at the time. Yes, more engines are coming. But isn't that always the case?
As best I can tell all of the articles are just referencing the C&D Don Sherman article. So it's not like we've had multiple people suddenly reporting news of a Z/28 and new engines.
Has Don Sherman ever broken news before on future GM products that has turned out to be true? I don't know.
Yes, more engines are coming. But isn't that always the case?
Nope. It's never the case. What we have today is all we can possibly have because nothing ever gets optimized, re-engineered, or improved upon.
Oh, and product teams can architect, design, engineer, and validate a new power train within a scant few months. So certainly if we're hearing rumors about a new engine now, it means it'll be here tomorrow.
03-01-2017, 12:29 PM
Several new engines "Rumored" - LT5, LT6, LT7
