sunsalem

JoesC5

I agree with you as far as the mid engine being a Cadillac(at least in the beginning) and the next generation Corvette remaining a front engine.

I doubt the Merc engine will be in a Corvette as it is based on the 7L LS7 short block., and people are not going to pay a huge amount of money just to have a one of a kind DOHC when a cheaper to build OHV engine can do the job on a base model front engine Corvette.

Plus a DOHC cam engine with the same 7L displacement can be designed in a smaller package with less weight than the reworked LS7 Merc.

I believe that if GM wants to put a DOHC V8 engine in the Corvette, then they can take the existing 3.6L V6 and enlarge it to a 4.8L V8 by adding two more cylinders and use larger twin turbo's for less money than the Merc engine. A reversal of when GM took the 5.7L V8 and removed two cylinders to make the 4.3L V6.

They could also dust off the blueprints of the 4.5L V8 DOHC TT diesel engine and throw in low compression pistons and redesign the heads to use a spark plug. That engine is already tooled up, so no money needs to be spent on a new transfer assembly line, etc. The 4.5L V8 is a 72 degree engine with a very compact CGI block as it was designed to fit in the same size box as the LS/LT engine.

Of course, the leaked GM document showed a 6.2L DOHC and NA, and not a huge 7L DOHC or a smaller TT DOHC V8, so we could both could be wrong.

1KULC7

I have to agree with your reasoning, however, we both know that GM does not base its performance on reasoning, its still the bean-counters who have the last say. The 4.5L VI DOHC TT diesel has the foundation is a great engine, however I really don't think GM will go for that engine, even if it is turbo. I think they will still go with forced induction and another version of the LT1. If I remember the 4.5 is not a bored or stroked HFV6. Because of how it is made, if you go turbo, wouldn't you have problems with cylinder sealing, as you would require to have larger spacing between cylinders, which is really not a reliable way to go for street use for the public. I might be wrong but I seem to recall that was an issue.

I think the MERC engine is in the running, as the tendency in the future is the smaller lighter engine using twin turbo....we shall see.

Rkreigh

love to see gm have the cajones to build a tt v8, its past due.

for a little dough, they could take the ecotec turbo lnf parts bin and use a newly designed LSX block for small displacement v8s, stuff in a forged crank and bazinga

you have a tt v8 with di and variable cams based on some pretty cheap parts. should be relatively easy to get to 800 + hp, you can get there with the 2.0 4 if you try a bit

dust off the old Indy v8, I seem to remember one of them hiding in the back of an old Zora prototype at the vette museum (looked pretty cool too!!)

ferrari and porsche and most manufacturers are going turbo and smaller displacement and doing just fine. the little mclaren 3.8 and now 4.0 v8 tt cranks out a very useable 700 hp in the latest encarnation,. and boat loads of torq.

and for gods sake put a decent tranny behind it. looks like the slush box will win in the future, but at least they are strong and put the power down. turbos love the load of a torq convertor on the auto tranny and it makes the big hp a bit more accessible.

hint hint gm, just do it

There is NO doubt that merc wants a bit too much for that engine over the counter. gm would need to negotiate a deal.

An affordable, high volume tt v8 is what gm needs in the stable how about plasma bore block or nikasil liners?

ford seems to be doing pretty well with that technology

gm is getting behind the curve imho with their v8 dohc program, time to step it up a notch

JoesC5

You don't need gobs of displacement or horsepower to make a top performer.

The Mercedes AMG GT R has a 4.0L TT V8 with 577 HP. It is a traditional front engine car. It did the Ring in 7:10; 9 seconds faster than the 6.2L supercharged V8 638 HP C6 ZR1, and it doesn't have a bunch of add on aero plastered all over it's slick body. It has an active aero pan under the front bumper that lowers at speed to suck the front of the car down, and it has a small fixed wing at the rear.

You don't need 800 horses to run the Ring in 7:10. Mercedes just proved that it could be done with ONLY 577 of them. It just requires some smart engineering.

Also, the 6.2L 650 horse RWD Camaro was only 3 seconds quicker(7:29) at the Ring than the 505 horse RWD 4 door sedan Alfa Romeo with a tiny 2.9L V6(and not 800 horsepower) with a minimum of active aero(and no add on aero plastered all over it's body) at 7:32.

Enough said.

sunsalem

EVERYONE interested in the subject should read this EXCELLENT analysis of Corvette's next gen engine:
http://www.autoblog.com/2017/05/05/2...d-speculation/

From the link:
"Chevy's LS3 stands a tidy 17.72 inches tall from the centerline of the crank to the top of the intake. Mercury Marine's DOHC, measures 17.1 inches from the crank centerline to the top of the throttle bodies. Of course, there are some differences in the intake systems that could account for the number spread, but the point remains that converting an LS motor from pushrod to DOHC does not add enough height to kill the project. Especially not when you're talking about an engine that could return 600 horsepower without forced induction."

I Bin Therbefor

IMO, GM will engineer all engines in house and has done so since the Katech days. However, this crate engine shows SOME of what can be done. Turbulent Jet Ignition missing and some F1 IC tricks.

DDSLT5

The LS7, LS9 and LT4 were/are built in house, because GM hated that McLellan went outside to develop and produce the LT5. GM will never have anyone else build their engines.