Take a Closer Look at the Corvette ZR1’s LS9 Engine
After the excitement and surprise of the General Motors (slightly early) reveal of the Corvette ZR1 yesterday, we thought we’d take a moment to reflect a bit on the most important part of the car, its engine.
The LS9 can more or less take the title of “Best Small-Block Chevy V-8
Comments
Michael F
Thank you, Winding Road, for the hi-res images!
boxerman
Finaly GM builds a super supercar. Now they just need to sort the crappy seats.
Jeb
I wonder how this engine will do in comparison to the LS7 in the test that Clarkson did on TG. From a dead start in 5th gear all the way to 175 before running out of runway, no shifting needed.
Dan
"GM fully expects the LS9 to be more powerful and more reliable..."
Does the LS7 have reliability issues?
detroit9000
I can't wait to see what Jeremy Clarkson makes up as a complaint about this. Objectively, and without bias toward things made outside of the UK, this promises to be one of the most influential pieces of machinery made for the road in a long time. This is like shelby cobra amazing.
And with a single cam shaft and a leaf spring! Ha! I love it! I want one!
chartguy
With the new CAFE regs (which will result in thousands of additional fatalities) signed into law now, this may be the high water mark for American engines. If I were a collector, I think this may be the 'vette to buy as an investment. We may never see it's ilk again.
Jonathan Fung
That's a sweet component exploded view pic.
Mena
@chartguy
Sports cars are a niche market and aren't made in enough quantities to have an impact on the CAFE average. Besides, the Corvette gets pretty good gas mileage considering what it is. A few techie bits like direct injection will bring it up a few mpg. I own a Solstice GXP and it has direct injection also I get 28 mpg on my commutes and that's with a lead foot. If I drive it like a grandma, I get 30 mpg easily.
Ducati Minor
"With the new CAFE regs (which will result in thousands of additional fatalities) signed into law now, this may be the high water mark for American engines."
Hate to give you more ammo:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22340556/
Ducati Minor
"With the new CAFE regs (which will result in thousands of additional fatalities) signed into law now, this may be the high water mark for American engines."
It could be. Sporty cars, such as the Mustang, do have an effect on and from CAFE. The Ford Mustang may not sell in the quantity it did forty-two years ago, but 160,000 annual units is hard to ignore.
According to the reports following the Camaro concept's intro, GM needed to be able to sell anywhere from ninety to one hundred thousand units per year to make money off of it. The Chevrolet Corvette routinely hits past thirty thousand. Even Porsche's 911 ranges from twenty to thirty thousand units per year nowadays, despite a starting cost over $70,000.
Mena
I agree. Cars like the Mustang and Camaro will be the hardest hit. Those MAY disappear but I doubt it. Maybe they'll have smaller displacement engines, direct injection, turbocharging or even something more exotic like the Mercedes DiesOtto. I think it can be done besides, they have 10+ years to figure it out (if they haven't already). One things for sure, they'll ALL cost more money.
RWDdominator
Thats cute
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[...] but we’re already looking forward to some possible aftermarket applications for the LS9 motor. Think about it - with over 620 horses on tap, what car couldn’t use the extra [...]
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MasterRanger
Another great engine for Ford to copy into a smaller, anemic version.
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