Ruthless Pursuit of Power: 2008 Edition: Our In-Depth Look at the 2008 Corvette LS3

[Rob]

Ruthless Pursuit of Power: 2008 Edition: Our In-Depth Look at the 2008 Corvette LS3 Engine

© 2007 by Hib Halverson
No use without permission, All Rights Reserved

I turned left on I-65-north on-ramp, then buried the gas.

First: exhilaration

In seconds, I was near the top of third gear, watching traffic fly backwards when I lifted. This twenty-oh-eight, six-speed–new LS3 under the hood and optional "NPP" exhaust out back–was a freakin' rocket ship.

Then: despair.

I realized that now, my '04 Z06, good old "3Balls39", can't even keep up with a base C6. The new engine–6.2-liters, 436hp@5900 rpm–makes the standard Corvette about half-a-tenth quicker than the most aggressive Vette of just 48 months ago.

"This sucks!" I blurted.

The GM guy with me almost got a word out.

"Dude!" I cut him off. "The motor's awesome! What sucks is that it took you guys only four years to make a base car quicker than my 110-lbs. lighter C5Z."

Hib Halverson takes an in-depth look at the 2008 Corvette's LS3 engine and interviews John Rydzewski, Assistant Chief Engineer for Small-Block Passenger Car Engines, Design Responsibility Engineer (DRE) for Small-Block Cylinder Heads, Lou Oniga, and GMPT's Executive Director for Engine Engineering, Sam Winegarden.

Check it out!

http://corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/c6/2008/ls3_page1.html

 

[dbarton291]

I'm not normally one to do cheerleader replies, but that is one interesting article.

 

[fvette05]

So much for protecting key corporate information! Why would any company print this much about what appears to be major technical advancements/advantages?:confused

 

[Hib Halverson]

So much for protecting key corporate information! Why would any company print this much about what appears to be major technical advancements/advantages?:confused

What would be the point in not going public?

You don't think that the first thing other manufacturers of large-displacement, high-performance engines did was buy a Vette then pull the motor and take it apart for inspection to see what GM did?

Well....duh.

It's what "benchmarking" is.

You can bet that Ford and Chrysler have already torn down LS3s and know everything that's in my article.

 

[fvette05]

It's a great article and very well done. I just wouldn't have expected to see GM talk this freely and in this level of detail about it, complete with excellent and very detailed photos. When you consider how closely they protect other information it just is a bit surprising, thats all. My guess would have been that they would just let Ford and Chrysler figure all that out themselves. On the other hand, it's a great marketing piece also because now I want an '08 even more! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hib Halverson]

It's a great article and very well done. I just wouldn't have expected to see GM talk this freely and in this level of detail about it, complete with excellent and very detailed photos. When you consider how closely they protect other information it just is a bit surprising, thats all. My guess would have been that they would just let Ford and Chrysler figure all that out themselves. On the other hand, it's a great marketing piece also because now I want an '08 even more! Thanks for sharing!

I don't understand where this idea that GM won't talk freely comes from.

I've been doing material like this since 1996 with GM's help. See the following articles:

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/specs/c6/2005/sequel5.html
(posted in 2005)
http://www.idavette.net/hib/02ls6/index.htm
(posted in 2002)
http://www.idavette.net/hib/ls6/INDEX.HTM
(posted in 2001)
http://www.idavette.net/hib/ls1c.html
posted in 1998)

 

[fvette05]

Since they like to talk with you, would you please ask them if they are going to make a Z06 or ZR-1 convertible soon?

 

[JBsC5]

this is a great article.

Some of the guys want to know what an LS3 motor weighs..

Anybody know?

 

[Hib Halverson]

Since they like to talk with you, would you please ask them if they are going to make a Z06 or ZR-1 convertible soon?

From the factory?
Not gonna happen...ever.

 

[JBsC5]

Since they like to talk with you, would you please ask them if they are going to make a Z06 or ZR-1 convertible soon?

I hate to say this but the 2008 C6 Z51 convertible is so capable..I dont really see it happening..

Believe it or not....creating a convertible out of a supercar often happens when sales start to stall..

I don't see that happening to the ZR1 anytime soon.. (stalled sales might happen to the Z06 as the ZR1 releases but even then it should be a temporary sales dip/some are saying the Z06 will evolve/some say its a swan song...)

Anybody wonder if the Z06 will continue with the 525/550hp 6.2 liter supercharged v8...?

 

[Warp 10]

It makes my eye water!

First, Hib's article is great!

Second, GM will not cut the top off their best performing cars and sell them to the public for two reasons; the TSB and corporate liability issues.

Being an old f(elllow), I can think back to the automobile engineering technology of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. There is a logic and linear progression in body and chassis development even as we are still saddled with waiting for next year’s car models to hit the dealerships. Boy! I was always waiting for the latest and greatest from Detroit. Some of the cars were great for their time, and some could be instantly be relegated to the Yugo used car lot. (That is as close as I can think of for Car Hell)

With engine and drive train technology, it hasn't been a straight year to year progression at all. I saw my cars getting faster and faster, mostly with bigger engines, in the 50s, 60s and the early 70s. Then it was living with lower compression and the dreaded catalytic converter, which was viewed as a performance killer.

Through the dark years of the 70s, 80s and early 90s, the only way to satisfy the need for speed was on the track or be an outlaw. I can remember building 2 trucks during those periods that would outperform 95% of the autos on the road.

The GM engineers’ sure stepped it up by the time we got to the 21st century!

What I wouldn't have given to have my Zs back in the 70s. It is incredible where combustion science is today. I thought that I knew where the point of diminishing returns was in head design. After reading the preceding articles and this one in particular, I can start wondering what we will be driving in the next decade.

Right now, in my opinion, we have better technology in our cars than NASA has in its shuttle fleet.

[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Warp 10 Always[/FONT]