2008 engine upgrade
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,566
Likes: 6
From: Land of 10,000 taxes
2008 engine upgrade
Here is what my tour guide for my museum delivery told me:
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
Pro
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 649
Likes: 0
Here is what my tour guide for my museum delivery told me:
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
Lose, not loose.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,566
Likes: 6
From: Land of 10,000 taxes
museum guide, he worked at the plant for a number of years and retired, he seemed to know everyone there
he offered the information on Z06 engine while giving the factory tour, I then specifically asked him about base, maybe he just hasn't heard anything about it.
like others have said, we'll know for sure in April
he offered the information on Z06 engine while giving the factory tour, I then specifically asked him about base, maybe he just hasn't heard anything about it.
like others have said, we'll know for sure in April
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
We already know about the 650 hp. There's a whole section of the forum devoted to it and the price tag will be in the neighborhood of $100K. Sounds like he didn't know quite as much as you thought if he didn't know anything about the base C6 for 2008.
CF Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,313
Likes: 25
From: Tucson Arizona
Here is what my tour guide for my museum delivery told me:
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
There will be two levels of Z06, 505 HP, and 650HP
When I asked him about base he said there was no engine upgrade, now I know he may not know for sure but this guy was extremely knowledgeable about everything else. It makes sense to me, my impression of the factory is that quality and reliability is extremely important, if not #1. They want the Vette, and all GM cars to loose the notion that they are inferior to Japanese & European cars in that regard. Ultimately they want to make money. It would make sense for GM to boost the Z06 to keep it the performance king and concentrate on reliability and quality for base. Sure they will upgrade base over time, but it doesn’t need to be the performance king, that is Z06’s job.
Yes, IMO GM wants to re-take the hp crown from Dodge which just released it's re-worked 600 hp/576 ft-lb tq Viper. Although Corvette will have to do it with a SC'd engine versus the naturally-aspirated Viper, Corvette will likely catch-up to and surpass the Viper in rated hp.
I don't know if there's any extra emphasis on "reliability and quality" for the base model because this is something GM does in due-course anyway. My 2005 C6 has been extremely reliable and trouble-free but that's not to say there isn't room for improvement.
The rumor is there will be a minor increase in hp with the new engine in the 2008 C6. This small hp increase will purportedly come with the new Displacement on Demand engine (which IMO should not be in a high performance Corvette).
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 29,113
Likes: 2,194
From: Big Bend Country, TX
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15- '16-'17-‘18-‘19-'20-'21
NCM Lifetime Member
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,514
Likes: 235
From: Currently somewhere in IL,IN,KY,TN,MO,AR,MS,AL, or FL
Except the intent of DOD is improvement in fuel economy. Shutting off cylinders won't increase HP. It WOULD allow you to increase HP in some other way and then get back to better MPG while cruising. In any case, it doesn't belong in a performance car. GM tried it in the 80s and it was a total failure. They THINK they can make it work this time by better computer control of the engine. Blipping the throttle and such to match torque when changing cylinders. But how much can you gain? It takes a fixed amount of energy to move the air out of the way at speed. That translates into a fixed minimum amount of fuel. So now the question is, do you burn all that fuel in 4 cylinders or 8? If you are burning it efficiently to begin with it's hard to believe you can get more than a couple percent improvement in efficiency by burning it in 1 mass rather than 2. And the throttle blipping in stop and go traffic can't possibly be worth it. I must be missing something.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,194
Likes: 7
From: Euless Texas
DOD has been around for a few years now and is operating w/out incident. If you had actually driven a car w/ DOD, you would know that it doesnt engage in stop and go traffic. I've said it before, but for the sake of those who haven't been present for the other DOD threads, it only comes on in cruise, and VERY light throttle conditions, or when slowing down from speed. If you're going more than about 65-70, it won't be on at all. If you're in stop and go traffic, it doesn't come on. In my real world experience with it, it mostly comes on when I'm slowing down from highway speed (on the brakes), or when coasting down a hill w/ my foot off the gas. It's just not as intrusive as some of you make it out to be. And if you don't like it, edit it out w/ a programmer or laptop. It's really that simple.
That said, I'm not sure the Corvette will have it.
Last edited by Vettin08; Mar 19, 2007 at 10:40 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,324
Likes: 0
From: MN
The museum guide doesn't really know all that much.
The Z06 will, eventually, be offered in the "Blue Devil," "Sting Ray," or whatever else they are calling it this week, format w/ a s/c engine making north of 650 h.p. It will cost 6 figures, count on that. You can get that kind of performance right now out of the LS2 with s/c, and it won't cost 6 figures to do it.
The "base" C6 is supposed to get the new LS3, with a massive 2-5 h.p. gain! IMO, why fix the LS2 when it ain't broke? We all know that GM, in screwing around with a new powerplant, will simply have "issue" for a few years while they work it all out. By then, the C7 will be available, which would be a perfect time to rethink things (and, hopefully, give them time to properly test an engine replacement).
Happy Vette-ing, All!
The Z06 will, eventually, be offered in the "Blue Devil," "Sting Ray," or whatever else they are calling it this week, format w/ a s/c engine making north of 650 h.p. It will cost 6 figures, count on that. You can get that kind of performance right now out of the LS2 with s/c, and it won't cost 6 figures to do it.
The "base" C6 is supposed to get the new LS3, with a massive 2-5 h.p. gain! IMO, why fix the LS2 when it ain't broke? We all know that GM, in screwing around with a new powerplant, will simply have "issue" for a few years while they work it all out. By then, the C7 will be available, which would be a perfect time to rethink things (and, hopefully, give them time to properly test an engine replacement).
Happy Vette-ing, All!
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 20,054
Likes: 44
From: Swansea IL
If the C6 ever get's DOD or whatever they will call it, the first question I'll want answered is how easily if at all can this engine be modded. Will we be able to install a new cam in this motor, fuel injectors etc? It's taken almost 3 years for the tuners to figure out some of the idiosyncrasies of the LS2 like TM.
The small increase in HP may come at the expense of future modding.
Tom
The small increase in HP may come at the expense of future modding.
Tom
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,514
Likes: 235
From: Currently somewhere in IL,IN,KY,TN,MO,AR,MS,AL, or FL
If the C6 ever get's DOD or whatever they will call it, the first question I'll want answered is how easily if at all can this engine be modded. Will we be able to install a new cam in this motor, fuel injectors etc? It's taken almost 3 years for the tuners to figure out some of the idiosyncrasies of the LS2 like TM.
The small increase in HP may come at the expense of future modding.
Tom
The small increase in HP may come at the expense of future modding.
Tom
