Heres more info I stumbled upon.
Looks like it's going to be a great engine, and all of the states posted are estimates as of now. Nothing has been finalized as of yet in regards to power ratings or mpg. I want to see the actual figures under SAE ratings, I'm sure it will surprise a few, and I'm sure GM didn't reveal all of they're cards on this engine just yet. But time will tell. 8)
“If we didn’t care about fuel economy, the car could be a lot lighter,” said Tadge Juechter, Chief Engineer/Vehicle Line Director for the Corvette. Juechter was pointing out that the fuel-reducing technology on GM’s all-new Gen 5 LT1 V-8 that’s set to power the new 2014 Chevrolet Corvette adds mass but reduces consumption so much more that they are worth the mass investment.
The total dressed mass of the new LT1 engine is slightly higher than the previous version, due to its added technology. But the head and block received some wall thickness reductions to reduce mass and there’s some machining on the heads done strictly for mass reduction. The dry-sump engine will be optional on higher-performance Corvette variants. More street oriented ones get the wet sump.
We were there with Juechter, who’s been with GM for more than 30 years and is largely considered the father of the modern Corvette, and the rest of the LT1 team at the new engine’s unveiling. Below is a sampling from a Q&A session at the event with answers from Juechter and his LT1 team.
MT: Why no cam-in-cam phasing like the Viper uses?
LT1 Team: That would have made the engine significantly longer and heavier and the benefits did not outweigh the packaging downside.
MT: Why is this still a small block?
LT1 Team: The 4.4-inch bore spacing is a sacrosanct hallmark of the small block, as is the interchangeability of the cylinder heads (one head fits left or right banks). These are about the only specific attributes; the rest is just evolutionary architecture. It’s a small block because its predecessor was. Deck height, block length, crank-to-cam centerline distance are all the same as Gen 4 as are rod length and piston compression height. A huge amount of analysis went into eliminating structure-borne noises, so that the intake and exhaust noise tuning could be optimized to what customers expect, without resorting to acoustic pipes and so forth. And when the engine is running in V-4 mode, it’s at such low rpm, you really can’t hear it. The team won’t comment on active noise cancellation until the various products using the engine are rolled out [today’s discussion ended at the exhaust manifolds, no vehicle integration specifics are being shared].
MT: Will this engine be tunable with turbos and the like?
LT1 Team: GM does not build in a lot of extra mass just to provide headroom for future tuning. [The team deferred on the question of what it might take to get the fuel system to deliver enough extra juice to feed aftermarket turbos and so forth.]
MT: Why the cast iron exhaust manifold?
LT1 Team: The port shapes and manufacturing consistency were great for cast iron, and far less complex than previous assembled manifolds.
MT: What about recent concerns about intake-valve deposits on direct-injection engines?
LT1 Team: Deposits are caused by oil that either seeps by the intake valve systems or is ingested through the PCV system. The LT1’s improved air/oil separation is a key enabler in preventing these deposits. We’ve experienced no deposits in our development engines.
MT: What sort of fuel injector strategy is used?
LT1 Team: The injectors feature six holes, and they inject multiple squirts under cold-start conditions, but a single spray under normal conditions. The racing team tested direct injection and learned a lot of lessons. One was that their external pump was heavier and more complicated than the cam-lobe-powered system incorporated in the LT1. This IS the first overhead-valve engine to feature direct injection.
MT: What sort of future does the small block face?
LT1 Team: Obviously the investment in Tonawanda will require way more than the Corvette to fill, so the corporation is committed to the small block’s future, even in a 54-mpg world. Towing is tough to match with other solutions.
MT: Any Nurburgring times to share?
LT1 Team: No, we don’t develop there; we validate at the ‘Ring later in the program, which will be in the next few months."
__________________
Just think in about a decade or so i might be able to buy this engine for a swap into my GP!! 8)
