GM invests £36m to safeguard V8 production
General Motors invests in the future of its biggest engines as Europe downsizes
General Motors has invested $46.7 (£36m) into two production sites for its V8 motors, increasing the maximum possible output for its 5.3- and 6.2-litre engines and making those of us across the pond evermore jealous. GM’s Spring Hill facility in Tennessee takes the lion’s share of investment with $40m headed its way, with the remaining cash going to its Tonawanda site in New York state. The latter is already home to production of the small-block 6.2 LT2 that provides Chevrolet’s C8 Corvette with 495hp, but is expected to produce higher-powered variants later on as well.
While the vast majority of this latest investment will benefit GM’s higher volume 5.3, which goes into pick-ups and SUVs such as the Chevy Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, the future of GM’s line-up of 6.2s looks equally safe. Tonawanda has received ongoing injections of cash to fund its expansion, suggesting V8s of both capacities will remain on the engine line up of GM’s brands for years to come. Suffice it to say, it provides a stark contrast to the situation in Europe.
Only last week, BMW’s R&D boss revealed that the brand’s V8 and V12 engines were likely to be replaced by inline sixes due to tightening emissions limits in China. While AMG is set to swap V8 for hybrid four-cylinder hardware in its next 63 generation for similar reasons. Porsche has gone further with the development of pure electric versions of its future Cayman and Boxster models, while the Macan is to be EV only. It leaves GM’s approach looking comparably antiquated, but that won’t stop us feeling a pang of envy.
Arguably, those to benefit most from GM’s investments are the workforce. Michael Youngs, Spring Hill plant director, said: “This investment further solidifies GM’s commitment to our team and jobs for our community,” before adding that “when [GM’s] products are in high demand by customers, this team is ready” to step up to the plate. Here’s to hoping that some of the additional V8 supply finds itself aboard ships on their way to Blighty – even if only in crate form for a few plucky shed projects.
. . . "Chevy managed to mount it 25 mm lower than in the C7"
. . . "reducing tailpipe emissions by a whopping 25 percent."
. . . "the dry sump system is capable of maintaining oil pressure at sustained lateral acceleration on track up to 1.25 g"
. . . "the small-block team is the same group that developed the new naturally aspirated 5.5-liter DOHC flat-plane V-8 powering the C8.R race car."
A:
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/11/11/2020-chevy-cor...
B:
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/...
7 million for an engine factory, what is that? are they refreshing the lawn?
Well ford have just launched a new V8 for the bigger work truck type pickups its a low revving 7.3 high torque push rod engine
I would guess Ferrari would waste more money working out how about 10 feet of timing belt is going operate 50% more valves than is really necessary than was spent on the whole ford engine .. not daft these Yanks are they !! keep it simple and add extra cubes or a supercharger, and while the Fast fiat is in the shop for days racking up a horrendous service bill after about 5000 miles the Vette or Hellcat owner stops at Quik lube for a oil change and is back on the road ... God bless America ...
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