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Is the engine used at Le Mans today one of the engines that will be available in the Mid Engine Corvette? One of the announcers said it was a 5.5 Liter.
Is the engine used at Le Mans today one of the engines that will be available in the Mid Engine Corvette? One of the announcers said it was a 5.5 Liter.
Regulations limit engine displacement, 5.5L is the maximum allowable size for N/A engines.
No. That’s purely a racing motor designed to be the best N/A V8 allowed under GTLM/GTE rules. I believe that’s where Car and Driver’s 5.5L rumor originated.
ZERV stated that there will be two twin-turbo DOHC V8s, one being a 4.6L and the other a 5.4L. The LT1 will also be used. The big unknown is what will replace the LT1. ZERV said that the LT1 will be replaced at some point by a naturally aspirated DOHC V8, but didn’t specify the displacement. If I had to guess, I’d say that it’s a 5.4L.
The engine used in the Corvette race team cars is actually a derivative of the LS engine. So not only is it not the future engine, it isn't even based on the current one, but rather the prior one.
The engine that I saw at Daytona on a stand is barely recognizable as an LS based engine. It has a very large carbon fiber plenum and intake runners, externally mounted oil pumps for the dry sump system, etc. The FIA requires that there be a restrictor plate behind the throttle bodies to limit power. I would be really curious as to how much power it could produce unrestricted.
Another slight comment I heard today from one of the announcers. One of the Corvettes was passing some other cars and leading the Ford and one guy said "I'm going to miss this with the change coming". He was talking about the Corvettes but that was it.
Another slight comment I heard today from one of the announcers. One of the Corvettes was passing some other cars and leading the Ford and one guy said "I'm going to miss this with the change coming". He was talking about the Corvettes but that was it.
I just heard some back and forth between commentators about the sound of the Corvette V8 (it's hard to fill 24 hours of airtime, I guess) and one guy says he would miss it if it were gone, and the other says he could take it or leave it. Then there was Denise McCluggage (sp?) who described the Corvette as having a "brown sound."
Another slight comment I heard today from one of the announcers. One of the Corvettes was passing some other cars and leading the Ford and one guy said "I'm going to miss this with the change coming". He was talking about the Corvettes but that was it.
It's a C6 Z06 7L LS7 engine that has new cylinder liners, with a smaller bore, and a new crankshaft with a shorter stroke, to get it down to 5.5L. The heads are modified LS7 heads with direct injection.
A long time ago when amateur racers started racing the C1s track announcers would make the following statement as the Corvettes pulled onto the track: "Now its time to shake the dew off the Lillies". Most everybody likes the sound of Chevy Power.
