My wife calls my 335i coupe the "little bitty car."

 

I would imagine that it is, next to your Silverado and Impala.

Anyway, I highly doubt that GM will be able to get Alpha down to 3 series size.

 

Not if they package protect for a V8!

I think GM needs to put their head down and design a I4/V6 RWD car.

The V8 enthusiasts will complain, but CAFE and the California CO2 rules are really forcing their hand. The resultant car will be much better aligned with worldwide demand too.

If they later want to modify it for a V8 at some cost, and they think they can cover those costs, that'd be great -- as long as the I4 and V6 models aren't carrying around a bunch of hardware and structure that only the V8 needs.

 

The 3 is package protected for a V8. And I still don't think Alpha will be that small.

A G37 sized coupe with a a Gen V smallblock would be sweet.

 

X2. The G35/37 have an ideal athletic stand and profile to them and I think would make the perfect size for a future Z28, V6 or V8. A proper 2+2 for young(-ish) people who don't need a trunk big enough for plywood and can still bend their knees.

 

I have a new theory. What if all this "Camaro is the only zeta" is just GM posturing to give them some leverage with the CAW in light of contract negotiations later this year?

 

Yeah I've read a similar post on another forum. Politics is never what it seems. The more I read on this topic, the less it makes sense to me.

I wait until the cards are played out.

 

That would be sweet given all GM smallblocks are compact and lightweight. A 4.8L wouldn't be much lighter than a 7.0L and would take up no less space, for example.

But from what I've read on 'Torana', I'm not sure whether the Torana/Alpha platform is designed to accommodate a V8 or whether the marketeers are aiming this as a 4/V6 only vehicle.

 

This isn't directed at you but I've read this often enough now to open my trap.

If the platform will take an I4 and a V6, it will take a V8. Think about it for a moment.

Fine you say, but what about the extra power? What would that do to the chassis? Good point, allow me to point to Corvette.

When the C5 chassis was being developed the power target was what? 345 hp? Heck, let's say 400 and assume they knew the ZO6 was coming way back in the early 90's.

So it was engineered for 400 hp. Remember the C6 is basically a carry over with a few tweaks. I know of no wholesale revisions (outside the aluminum version... getting to that next).

With the C6, the chassis was now expected to carry the 505 hp ZO6 but using aluminum which we all know is not stronger than steel. A few years later (today) that same basic chassis design from the early '90s (but now constructed from aluminum) is supporting more than 620 stinkin' hp (ZR1).


My points in all this:

1) If the platform can physically accommodate an I4 and a V6, it will take a V8.

2) If it can take a 300+ hp V6, it should be able to take a 400+ hp V8 with only an ounce of forethought and preparation.

 

If you're thinking because the I4 has it covered for length and the V6 has it covered for width, remember that most V6s are 60º and the smallblock V8 is 90º and thus possibly a bit wider (depending on how wide the DOHC hardware on the V6 is). V8s are also fractionally longer than I4s. And with a V8s greater overall cubic volume there's less room to stick other miscellaneous stuff like fluid containers, batteries, etc.

 

That's all it'll take.

V8 / Mallet Solstices anyone? While I wouldn't want to work on one, shoving the engine in there wasn't a big deal. And they were never AT ALL intended to carry a V8.

 

There's more going on than just posturing. The end result may not be good for Oshawa. What happens with the Camaro - I have no idea.

 

It's one thing for an aftermarket tuner to drop in a V8; it's quite different for an OEM. OEMs have to be more concerned about things like NHV, serviceability, heat management, durability, etc.

As to the ounce of forethought, when a vehicle is conceived one of the first things that has to be decided is what powertrains it's going to accept. That will drive all sorts of decisions on physical size, suspension layout, crush zones, and so on. The design will be optimized around all these factors and there won't be any more margin than necessary. It would be wasteful and inefficient to over-engineer the vehicle to accept a powertrain that no one is planning to put into it. That's why generally speaking it's not an easy task to stuff in a physically larger engine than the vehicle was originally designed for.

 

I'm aware of at least some of the compromises that would have to be made. Let me phrase it for you this way....

If most models of this platform are intended to take an I4 and a 300+ hp 60º V6, do you think it is impossible to package protect and build a 400 hp 90º V8 if it is considered at the start of design?

I don't think so. I think it is very much feasible. The engine isn't physically that much bigger or heavier or more powerful.

Don't like the Corvette or Mallet Solstice analogies? Look at the W bodies. I seriously doubt they were EVER intended to swallow a V8, yet look how surprisingly well that has worked out.

 

I suspect that a 60* DOHC 3.6 is wider than a 90* 6.2 smallblock V8. Just a thought...