My sentiments exactly. Like the poster above, I'd much prefer 500 N/A as a starting point.

From the pics of the concept, there an awful *LOT* of room under that hood - unlike the 3rd and especially 4th gens whose engine was crammed into the firewall with zero hood clearance. Changing a spark plug required a mechanic with special tools(exageration to make a point).

I see a lot of possibilities here - even headers and true dial exhaust looks to be a cinch with the new platform. One reason for trading my 4th gen SS for a Vette was how much better an aftermarket exhaust could work on the Vette. No more stupid 3inch y-pipe going into a single pipe, feeding into a muffler with two outputs. The 5th gen looks to be far more flexible in terms of aftermarket customization.

I wouldn't even want an LS7 if GM were to offer a factory supercharger upgrade to an already stout LS3. Supercharged and factory warrantied/guaranteed....can't beat that. No need to break into the engine for a cam swap or head swap. Dealers would love this, as it would be a good revenue source for their service and parts departments.

 

Designed to handle an excess of 500hp...VERY NICE. Say good bye to drivetrain upgrades such as tranny and differential. Say goodbye to suspension upgrades and stiffeners. That is good information and thanks for the source. This also tells me that we're not going to get a wuss IRS. To handle 500hp, that rear end is going to have to be fairly stout.

My theory goes to he11 if the small displacent V8 is not made available. That would leave, as I see it, only one option: A common block, such as the 6.2 litre shared between the two V8 platforms - one supercharged, the other N/A. That would seem to make more sense. Supply would come from the same place for both models. You want more power? GM simply adds an SC on top, installs larger injectors and gives the PCM a different program. I am in no way a production guru, but it seems to me that they could do this all on the same assembly line. Actually, I like this theory.

 

Modification potential is a function of a few things:

#1 - DISPLACEMENT. There, in one word, is why the Ford mod motors suck.

#2 - Factory support of the aftermarket. Most importantly, GM MUST NOT lock down the PCM, and must make certain information available to companies like Holley, Edelbrock, Katech, Dart, AFR, etc... And there, in 5 words is why the Hemi family is a second-rate hack job copy of the LSx's. They copied nearly everything... except for the PCM...

#3 - Construction and material selection. Before REALLY gutting a motor and swapping out slugs and rods and a crank, forced induction motors have natural advantages - they generally come with a super-tough reciprocating assembly, AND they generally have very flexible control architectures where the sensors are concerned. In the end, they're easier to mod.

 

I would like to remind everyone in the camp above that the vast majority of REALLY fast LSx cars are all forced induction.

 

No argument there. But I have to say....I don't really care much. I had this conversation with Doug Harden, in Detroit. If I buy 500 factory horses, I won't be too concerned about adding more.

 

Hey greg nate, are you saying if we put a S/C on it, we wont messup our warr? I think some dealers would have something to say about that. If I miss read,sorry.

 

I agree with that all the way and the reasons are if I have that kind of power it would be run only a very few times at the strip just to get some times and on the open road you can't begin to use it and also I don;t want to buy tires all time for a car I would drive every day. That being said if I get around 400 rwhp in a vert I will be very happy for a daily driver

 

Red already said that the Z/28 is gonna be the top model.

 

Ha ha, gotcha! Now name me a time in recent memory where GM designed a car w/ more strength and durability (at added cost to GM) than it needed . In the last cars, we all know the rear ends couldn't handle much more power, or certainly slicks for very long. Why? Because they were only designed to handle the factory designed powertrains. GM doesn't want to save you money on aftermarket mods, they want you to give the money to them!

This is all I can say, so if it's not enough to at least give you a hint that a 500hp motor is coming, just wait for the cars 2nd or 3rd year.

 

That's exactly what I am saying. Here's an example: Carr Chevrolet, Portland Oregon. Their parts department offers a Vortech supercharger setup for C5s and C6s. Full warranty. Last time I had my coupe in the shop, they were reparing a blown Z06 that had thrown a belt - under warranty. I was interested as well, but they wanted to charge too much. I could get it done myself through my own tuner for half the price...but that's another story.

Now the above example would depend on the dealership as an add-on. Not all dealerships will do this. However, suppose that GM offered a supercharger setup as an add on part - just like GM does now with the Chevy Cobalt. This would not void the factory warranty. Today, GM offers a stage I and II setup for Cobalts. Smaller blower pulleys and different PCM tuning.

There is a HUGE market for aftermarket performance, and GM wants a slice of the pie. I work in the industry, but on the IT side. GM is trying to get its fingers into that market as well by offering dealer management computer systems(DMS) to their GM dealerships. This is something that has traditionally not been in the area of GM's realm, but they are getting into it now, hoping for revenue from this non-traditional source.

 

That is VERY interseting!! What if I bought from 1 dealer, but installed s/c at another? (or myself)

 

No comment.

 

Okay, so now the 500hp V8 sounds plausible. But I am even more convinced now that it will not be the LS7. If they can get 500hp from a mass produced V8 with selling points such as DOD and Flex Fuel, then why drop a much more expensive LS7 into the top dog?

 

Interesting ideas guys... It definitely would be a cool step to include a supercharger in chevy's muscle.

Ah but what would you choose then if a forged N/A LS3 and a sc'ed one were available for the top two models? I guess styling and the price breakpoints for both would settle that question. However... what about getting the 'lowly' LS3 and slapping a turbo on it?

We are definitely in some fun times now... I can only hope that I'll be in the financial position in a few years to play along with you guys. That and insurance better not get their panties bunched up over this.

 

A factory N/A engine is seldom setup for boost to begin with, so saying that a factory N/A 500hp engine with aftermarket forced induction installed will have "Enourmous" gains is kind of subjective to the level of power. A blown motor is going to come from the factory built for boost (i.e. lower compression, stronger piston, heads that stay planted better to the block under boost, perhaps more of a boost friendly PCM programming, etc...) in the first place, and as such is going to take to boost modifications much better. You could always stick a Procharger on an LS7, and make great power, but if you wanted to you could replace the stock blower on the boost car with that same Procharger, and make more power, simply because the engine is going to be able to tolerate more boost (as long as the supercharger can handle the higher boost load).


That being said, whatever it takes for the top Camaro to stay on top is alright by me, but I would like to see a naturally aspirated motor in the top dog. Z284ever is right, a high compression, quick revving, naturally aspirated v8 does have a great crackle to it, and I have always liked how an NA engine's power curve is much more linear than most boosted cars.