Spy photos: 2009 Chevrolet Corvette SS engine revealed
It doesn't look like much, but the engine in this 2009 Corvette SS test mule could be the most powerful production V8 ever built by Chevrolet. Photographed by a Lufthansa shipping clerk in Michigan before the car was air freighted to Germany for testing, these spy photos appear to confirm some of the rumors that have been swirling around this new top-of-the-line Corvette for months.
Compared to the 7.0-liter LS7 V8 used in the current Z06, this engine's most obvious upgrade is the giant intercooler sitting on top. Built by Behr, a German company that has supplied intercoolers to the likes of Ferrari and Jaguar over the years, this intercooler looks as though it's mounted on top of the supercharger. Not the easiest way to arrange things, but with so little room under the hood the engineers at GM had few options. Even with the compact arrangement, the hood on this prototype is still cut out to make room for all the extra hardware.
Other changes include the relocation of the alternator to the passenger side and moving the power steering pump up higher. The main air intake is still front and center, although now it must arch over the radiator before making the plunge back down to the concealed blower mounted in the galley between the cylinders.
Although the rest of the car is a chopped up Z06, the engine itself isn't a blown LS7. Instead, GM is expected to use the all-aluminum 6.2-liter V8 currently found in the Cadillac Escalade. With more room between the cylinder walls than the LS7, the 6.2 is better suited to the extreme stresses associated with a supercharged engine. The 6.2 makes over 400 horsepower in standard trim, so breaking the 600 horsepower mark with the help of a blower shouldn't be a problem.
Clearly these wheels aren't ready for prime time, but those ceramic brake discs should handle serious track duty just fine.
It looks as though the exhaust tips house internal butterfly valves which would allow the engineers, and hopefully owners, to adjust just how much of the car's supercharged roar makes its way into the ears of awe struck bystanders.
Not much changes on the inside apparently, but that's what we would expect from a test mule. With a price tag approaching $100K, the Chevrolet Corvette SS is likely to get cosmetic changes inside and out to set it apart from standard Corvettes. Needless to say, for that kind of dough we want more than cheesy two-tone leather seats.
Look for the debut of the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette SS at next year's Detroit auto show with production beginning by the summer of 2008.
- Permalink | Comments (27)
- Posted by: Ed Hellwig February 22, 2007, 12:13 AM
- Categories: Chevrolet, Coupes, Future Vehicles, Spy Photos
This is a nice new engine for a car that is already perfect.
The 6.2 liter v8 is a good idea becsuse it has vvt v(ariable valve timing) Which should help the engine a lot.
I thought that when it was in zo6 tirm for the corvette you couldn't go any further. I guess I was wrong.
Cool! This thing's gonna be awesome. Too bad that I'll never own one. The regular vette's already at the limit of what I'll ever afford (and not practical for me to own right now), never mind a Z06 or this wild beastie. But I'll be sure to oggle it with my eyes popping out of my head any time I see someone else driving one. :D
I wonder if the mis-matched seats will make production. :o)
I'm surprised the test mule is such a wreck, but this car should be awesome. Look for Nurburgring spy shots any day now...
I wonder if that shipping clerk will have to kiss his job good-bye!
No surprise the mule is a little beat up. My stint at GM engineering involved a number of vehicle prototypes that were rough around the edges.
I suppose the next huge change for the Corvette is a good AWD system (RWD biased, of course) ? Might as well make good use of the ever increasing horsepower !
I can only imagine that the shipping clerk no longer has a job... but if he was smart i'm sure he got a pretty penny for the photos. Let's just hope GM doesn't not have the slightest clue who this person is ;o)
This is the stuff dreams are made of.
I've got one year until this thing goes on sale, plenty of time to formulate a bank robbery.
Now that is true american muscle!
Hello beastie! :D
Well I guess this is the answer to the 600hp Viper. What I dont understand is why GM chose a supercharged V8 instead of a hyped up version of the current 7.0 liter?
At the current output of 505 it shouldnt be that hard to coax out another 100+ horses as well as say.....20-30lbft of torque with 7.0 liters. What I really want to see is the car put all that power and torque down drama free and efficiently as Corvettes arent known for their rear end composure over mid corner road irregularities. Looks promising but a bit unessessary.
I agree, why go through all the trouble to fit the intercooler and move around components for the supercharger, when you already have the 7.0L engine. They can't tweak the Z06 engine to crank out more power?? Oh yeah its GM, probably not. ;)
Could this engine possibly make it's way back to where it came from, possibly as a V-Series Escalade? You know, just to compete with the Cayenne Turbo and ML63 et. al.
Err just one of many problems with a V-Series escalade is that it is still on a Chevy truck platform with a solid axle so it is not going to turn. I don't see someting like that competing with any of the European super SUVs.
Hi!
Hello.
We'd like to ship a couple of Vette's to Germany.
Okay, standard or overnight?
Uh, overnight.
Great! Would you like me to bubble wrap them?
Nah, there already beat up a bit.
Cool. Would you like to insure them for shipping?
Hmm. That's a good idea. Let's say um, um I dunno 200 grand?
Super.
Thanks!
Welcome. Have a great night!
You as well.
Click-click-click flash-flash click-click
Yeah, like GM brass would just drop off a couple of test Vettes and walk away so any punk clerck can do what he pleases.
GM took these themselves, with so much bad press out there about them, someone's gotta put the word out to the investors and the public.
All that I hear is "click, click, scroll, double-click, type, type," which, of course, is Kirk Kerkorian on E-Trade feverishly trying to re-purchase his sold GM shares in anticipation of this thing putting up some serious dukes against the M6, Sl55/65/63 (if Affalterbach is making a 63 for the SL), the F430, DB9, et al. In fact, this car will crush them all in a straight line, as the current Z06 already does that. Let's just hope that rear axle hop and oversteer can be quelled somewhat by a concoction of electronic nannies that will save a lot of over-eager drivers' lives. Maybe I should start practicing on a car with some real muscle and give my '02 A4 3.0 and '06 GLI a rest....
jjl330:
Lingenfelter offers a 616 bhp naturally aspirated package for the LS7 including installation and tuning, plus 3yr warranty, for $5,295.00 here:
http://lingenfelter.com/pacc6_ZO6camintake.htm
(con'td) of course they also offer their famous twin turbo package, now making 1,038 rwhp with the same 3yr warranty .. hmm.. that's like 1200+ bhp :D
http://lingenfelter.com/LingenfelterMovies.htm
why make a new name for this vette? call it the All-New 2009 Chevrolet Corevette Z06 and leave the current Z06 the SS. They cant drop the current model because of its price/performance. And to me and others, Z06 is much more powerful than SS. Am I wrong?
This can be described as the jackpot in classifed cars leaks for 2007. who ever took these THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! we knew there was a blue devil rumored and this confirms it. i love what i see on these mules and i hope GM makes this car production ready. Even though mere mortals won't be able to buy this car we can still eyeball this awesome car
bmwrulz - No way! Those Monte Carlo SS's were fast! j/k
Actually, the Z-version of the Camaro was positioned under the SS Camaro. The Z34 was positioned below the SS badge. I think it's proper for an SS Corvette to take the lead from a Z06.
jimveta - Yeah, I don't see where this car fits in the lineup. The Lingenfelters were always the equivalent to the Hennesseys. I can't imagine what a Venom Viper would produce now. I suppose Lingenfelter will just have to up the ante further.
I have a hard time believing this will be priced below $100K. The LFs run $154K, and they're less powerful than this.
Also, is there really such a huge market for semi-megabuck sportscars? If some rich guy wants American muscle, I imagine he'll get a Saleen.
Yes, the employee lost his job, but no, he did not get jailed - see http://www.thegmsource.com for all the latest.
jsmilesrmhs:
No, no Chevy small block (6.2 included) has VVT yet. They are pushrod engines.
And currently, yes, the Z06 is the top of the line. This car, probably to be called the SS, will debut at NAIAS next year as a 2009 model.
GM is using the 6.2L, as the thicker cylinder walls will make it more robust to deal with forced induction.
sandcountry:
Cadillac already has the 4.4L supercharged Northstar (XLR-v, STS-v)
hondacura4 and jjl330:
It's interesting that you two came to opposite conclusions. The Chevy small block has been around since 1955 (and there's always been at least one available in the Corvette) and GM has continued to tweak more and more power out of it. I see no reason for the trend to stop. I'll be looking for a new naturally aspirated version to debut in the C7 'Vette.
AWESOME! I can't wait for the 600 hp Viper vs. Corvette SS comparison.
p1h3r1e3d13- I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you said:
"No, no Chevy small block (6.2 included) has VVT yet. They are pushrod engines."
You're right that these engines are pushrod engines, but wrong about the VVT statement with Chevrolet. So far as I know Chevrolet isn't using the 6.2 for anything just *yet*. But both GM's 6.0L *pushrod* and the 6.2L *pushrod* (currently installed in some Cadillacs and GMCs) have VVT. The 6.0L is available in most of the GMT900 Chevrolets (check out the Suburban, Avalanche, and Silverado pages at Chevrolet.com for info on this engine).
VVT is no longer limited to OHC engines. ;-)
GM cannot simply just create more power out of the LS7 and keep it a street car. As with the Lenginfelter option for the cam low end power is considerably sacrificed and they cant do that for a street engine hence super charging. Yes, if Gm wanted they could make an 800-900 hp tweaked LS7 but how high would the stall be on it and how would you ever expect to street it??? On N/A engines to get more power you have to change the cam and sacrifice streetability especially with how tuned GM already has the engine. Sure with tons of research and developement they could get more power but as with any company is the more power they get with the investment worth it or could they do it with a smaller or same investment with another engine and create more power. Cost efficiency.
Also GM along with American cars have been known for their power and speed not handling so to compare an american super car to a european super car is unreal. The american ones could win in the straights all day but the corners are a different story. Look at the new mustang supposed to be coming out the decreased engine size and added twin turbos. Car makers need to limit engine sizes while increasing horsepower because we are seeing the market recap to the sixties with big engines and high horsepower and like then the gas prices will kill the rage and no on wants an 8 liter super car that gets 4 miles to the gallon.
Also to say the Z06 sounds more powerful shows no respect to GM's past. The first SS ever created was a Corvette so what other way to truly bring the car back into trim by producing the SS although there was no offical Corvette SS's were production models because of its racing lineage but still the SS came and was derived originally from a Corvette and the SS has alwasy been the premier high horsepower package besides the few special packages like copo and some outside packages like lingenfelter or baldwin motion.
I think they should bring back the ZR-1 name. Those were awesome vettes and zr-1 actually means something. Chevy has over used the ss name. I mean and ss hhr in a year and others that super sport should never be related to. but if you bring back the zr-1 some people might have mixed emotions of that name. just my opinon.
Personally, I can go along with dmax22 somewhat. GM has used SS an awful lot. And he is correct that some of my fellow ZR-1 drivers would object, not to mention the time GM called a truck ZR2.
I believe the 1st time the ZR was used on Corvettes was 1970 and it was more a suspension designation.The higher power motor was demanded, whether small block or big block. The ZR1 had the LT-1 motor while the ZR2 was a big block. Then In the 90's I think it designated more of a package, The LT-5 motor along with some body and wheel changes. Not so much just a suspension change as in the 70's. I am subject to being wrong about all this but if that is in general correct then the ZR prefix makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe ZR-2 just to distinguish from the C4's and since the cubic displacement is closer to the 70's C3 ZR2 / big block rather than the 90"s ZR-1 / LT5 might just keep everybody happy?
'
I'll keep my 07 z06. GM has overused the SS moniker. I also like the '427' corvette nostalgic relationship.Installing a blower is like, we give up. We can't get more power without cheating. If that's all they have to offer for an extra 20 or 30 grand I'll pass. You were always able to throw an after market blower on any of the previous vettes and make more power for a lot less than Chevy is asking. If it were just power we were looking for just buy an older, low mileage vette and throw a blower on it. My buddy's business does it every single day. 650 h.p. is average for 12 grand. BIG DEAL.