Next Corvette Will Be Powered by Small, High-Revving Turbo V-8

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D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
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http://autos.yahoo.com/news/next-corvette-will-be-powered-by-small--high-revving-turbo-v-8.html

GM has approved the use of a very European-style V-8 that will be only slightly larger than 3 liters in displacement. The engine will be an overhead-cam, rather than traditional overhead-valve design, using a dry sump oil system that’s particularly well suited to high-performance road courses rather than straight-line acceleration. The engine is expected to feature a narrow 80.5 mm bore and a long stroke, more like a Ferrari or Lamborghini powertrain than the approach used for traditional Motor City metal.

A very senior GM executive also confirmed that the new engine will be turbocharged, which will help yield a broad torque curve and maximum performance under a variety of driving conditions. The engine is expected to deliver in excess of 400 horsepower, which means a specific output in the range of 125 horsepower per liter. That’s the sort of number that would help the next-generation Vette stack up well against the likes of a Porsche 911 or Lamborghini Gallardo.

The engine is likely to be extremely high-revving, perhaps climbing to a near-Formula One-class 10,000 RPMs, suggested one source involved in the project.
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Yes, please.

And before people freak out:
Significantly, Corvette won’t abandon its more classic powertrain roots entirely. There will be several different types of engines offered for the C7, including a more classic, big-block OHV V-8 designed to appeal to traditionalists.
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Hmm, the mid-engine rumors persist:
Adopting a mid-engine layout, rather than the long-running front-engine design, is considered a strong possibility, though it would be a significant engineering shift for GM. Nonetheless, sources say that wouldn’t be entirely out of line, as the Corvette has often served as the technological test bed for the maker.
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Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with them doing some pretty drastic stuff with the Vette. They've already tried sorta a tier with the C6, maybe they're going to take that even further? Its working out very well for the Mustang, and the Camaro is set to follow suit (and is selling well too), so the Vette could move upmarket well. Performance and value are two of the main draws, but the ZR1 has proven they can go crazy with it too. I know plenty of people think it should be front-engined only, and maybe they can do front-mid or something with a compact engine.
 
ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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10,000 rpm is barely idle for an F1 engine. that's where indycar lives, though.
 
Atty

Atty

Golden Member
Aug 19, 2006
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Isn't the Z06 front-mid already? I've always thought the engine was placed further back in the chasis for a more front-mid engine designed. Maybe not perfectly mid engined (is that even possible with a 7.0L V8? So much displacement) but close enough to not be strictly front engined.

Anyway, these kind of rumors excite me. I'm not a 'Vette traditionalist, nor a real enthusiast about it, but I have always loved the sub $100k super car that you can service in your own garage and potentially even use as a DD too (C6 at least, maybe a Z06 with the Z07 suspension package?). Let's just hope it maintains its simplicity and relatively affordable price tag with this new direction.
 
Demo24

Demo24

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2004
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The engine will be an overhead-cam, rather than traditional overhead-valve design, ... The engine is expected to feature a narrow 80.5 mm bore and a long stroke,
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This is a somewhat old 'article' and it's clear whoever wrote it doesn't know what they are talking about. They likely just compiled some info and tried to make it sound fancy. The likelihood of it being right is questionable.

Lets take those 2 sentences I pulled out. First one...lol wut, it's clear it should be 'overhead cam' instead of 'pushrod'. Second one, long stroke is not typical of extremely high revving engines, its the opposite.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
923
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darkswordsman17 said:
No, the current ones still rev pretty high, I think they're limited to 18,000 RPM. They've announced that they'll cap it at 12,000RPM in 2013.
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They were approaching 20,000rpms in the last of the V10 era cars. So sad to see those go away...:'(
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
Yeah, WTF? Long stroke for Ferrari and Lambo?

I'll wait for another article to confirm.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
JulesMaximus said:
They were approaching 20,000rpms in the last of the V10 era cars. So sad to see those go away...:'(
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I'm not. They had to go that high because they weren't able to use boost, and they were handicapped by a pointlessly low displacement.
 
D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,441
5,841
146
Demo24 said:
This is a somewhat old 'article' and it's clear whoever wrote it doesn't know what they are talking about. They likely just compiled some info and tried to make it sound fancy. The likelihood of it being right is questionable.

Lets take those 2 sentences I pulled out. First one...lol wut, it's clear it should be 'overhead cam' instead of 'pushrod'. Second one, long stroke is not typical of extremely high revving engines, its the opposite.
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I'm not following what you're meaning. Pushrod would be overhead valve (which is a common term, often for abbreviation OHV).

That's true about many high revving engines, but its hardly true. The Gallardo's V10 is actually longer stroke than bore. Ferrari's V8s tend to be short stroke though. It could have just been a slip up (meant the opposite of what they wrote) too.

Plenty of the info has been rumored for a long time (mid engine, smaller displacement V8, turbos, etc), but this appears to be a bit more certain than in the past (giving approximate displacement, output, that it'll be turbo, and is supposed to be high-revving).
 
D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,441
5,841
146
LTC8K6 said:
What part of "new 4 cylinder F1 engines" did you not see?
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Eh, I was pointing out that current ones still rev high. Plus they've just said they want to change to that in the future, but we'll see. Right now, F1 engines still rev a lot higher.

MotF Bane said:
A single turbo on a tiny V8? :/
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I'd guess that it will have two turbos.

JulesMaximus said:
They were approaching 20,000rpms in the last of the V10 era cars. So sad to see those go away...:'(
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Yeah, I think they were starting to get to 22,000RPM late, which is part of what pushed them to change things, to try to restrict speeds more.
 
punjabiplaya

punjabiplaya

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,495
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nothing wrong with a single turbo if it's twin scroll or has variable vanes or something to account for lag
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
923
126
Howard said:
I'm not. They had to go that high because they weren't able to use boost, and they were handicapped by a pointlessly low displacement.
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I don't think they were handicapped that much. They were making close to 1000hp out of a naturally aspirated 3.0l V10. I think that's pretty impressive actually.
 
W

wirednuts

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2007
7,121
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im dissapointed theyre not making the fastest production series-hybrid on the planet.
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
JulesMaximus said:
I don't think they were handicapped that much. They were making close to 1000hp out of a naturally aspirated 3.0l V10. I think that's pretty impressive actually.
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It's a handicap because think of how much power they could be making out of 4, 5, 6...L.
 
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