How long before HSV get LS7?

[Thunder Kiss]

Unfortunately this motor will kill anything Ford has on offer at the moment. Should we be worried (look at the torque it puts out)?

• LS7 7.0-liter/427-cubic-inch Gen IV V-8 with lightweight reciprocating components
• 500 horsepower (373 kw) at6200 rpm
• 475 lb.-ft. of torque (657 Nm) at 4800 rpm
• 7000 rpm redline
• Titanium connecting rods and intake valves
• Dry-sump engine lubrication system
• Engine hand-built at GM’s new Performance Build Center


The following is an extract from a GM press release,

LS7 engine The all-new LS7 of the ’06 Z06 reintroduces the 427-cubic-inch engine to the Corvette lineup. Unlike the previous 427 engine, which was a big-block design, the new 7.0-liter LS7 is a small-block V-8 – the largest-displacement small-block ever produced by GM and a tribute to its 50 years as a performance icon.

With 500 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque, it also is the most powerful passenger car engine ever produced by Chevrolet and GM. The LS7 is easily identified under the hood by red engine covers with black lettering.

The LS7 shares the same basic Gen IV V-8 architecture as the Corvette’s 6.0-liter LS2, but the LS7 uses a different cylinder block casting with pressed-in steel cylinder liners to accommodate the engine’s wide, 104.8-mm-wide cylinder bores; the LS2 has 101.6-mm bores. And when compared to the LS2, the LS7 also has a different front cover, oil pan, exhaust manifolds and cylinder heads.

Internally, the LS7’s reciprocating components make use of racing-derived lightweight technology, including titanium connecting rods and intake valves, to help boost horsepower and rpm capability. The rpm fuel shut-off limit is 7000 rpm.

The LS7’s specifications include:
• Unique cylinder block casting with large, 104.8-mm bores and pressed-in cylinder liners
• Forged steel main bearing caps
• Forged steel crankshaft
• Titanium connecting rods with 101.6-mm stroke • Forged aluminum flat-top pistons
• 11.0:1 compression
• Dry-sump oiling system
• Camshaft with .591-inch lift
• Racing-derived CNC-ported aluminum cylinder heads with titanium intake valves and sodium-filled exhaust valves
• Titanium pushrods and valve springs
• Low-restriction air intake system
• Hydroformed exhaust headers with unique “quad flow” collector flanges.

“In many ways, the LS7 is a racing engine in a street car,” said Dave Muscaro, assistant chief engineer of small-block V-8 for passenger cars. “We’ve taken much of what we’ve learned over the years from the 7.0-liter C5-R racing program and instilled it here. There really has been nothing else like it offered in a GM production vehicle.”

One of the clearest examples of the LS7’s race-bred technology is its use of titanium connecting rods. They weigh just 480 grams apiece, almost 30 percent less than the rods in the LS2 V-8. Besides being lightweight, which enhances high-rpm performance and rpm range, titanium makes the rods extremely durable.

The LS7’s CNC-ported aluminum cylinder heads are all-new and designed to meet the high airflow demands of the engine’s 7.0-liter displacement, as it ingests approximately 100 cubic feet more air per minute than the Corvette’s 6.0-liter LS2 V-8 – an 18-percent increase in airflow. Consequently, a hydraulic roller camshaft with .591/.591-inch valve lift is used to allow plenty of air to circulate in and out of the engine.

To ensure optimal, uninterrupted airflow, the LS7’s heads have straight, tunnel-like intake runners. Very large by production-vehicle standards – even racing standards – they are designed to maintain fast airflow velocity, providing excellent torque at low rpm and exhilarating horsepower at high rpm.

The heads feature 70-cc combustion chambers which are fed by huge, 56-mm-diameter titanium intake valves. The lightweight titanium valves weigh 21grams less than the stainless steel valves used in the LS2, despite the valve head having 22 percent more area.

They are complemented by 41-mm sodium-filled exhaust valves, vs. 39.4-mm valves in the LS2. To accommodate the large valve face diameters, the heads’ valve seats are siamesed; and, taken from experience with the engines of C5-R racecars, the LS7’s valve angles are held at 12 degrees – versus 15 degrees for the LS2 – to enhance airflow through the ports.

All LS7 engines are assembled by hand at GM Powertrain’s new Performance Build Center in Wixom , Mich. The exacting standards to which they are built include deck-plate honing of the cylinders – a procedure normally associated with the building of racing engines and almost unheard of in a production-vehicle engine.

Dry sump oiling system The LS7 has a dry-sump oiling system designed to keep the engine fully lubricated during the high cornering loads the Corvette Z06 is capable of producing. An engine compartment-mounted 8-quart reservoir delivers oil at a constant pressure to a conventional-style oil pump pick-up at the bottom of the engine. The pressurized oil feed keeps the oil pick-up continually immersed in oil at cornering loads exceeding 1 g. Oil circulates through the engine and down to the oil pan, where it is sent back to the reservoir via a scavenge pump. The large-capacity reservoir, combined with a high efficiency air-to-oil cooler, provides necessary engine oil cooling under the demands of the engine’s power output. With the dry-sump system, oil is added to the engine via the reservoir tank – which includes the oil level dipstick.

The LS7’s dry-sump system was developed and tested on racetracks in the United States and Europe , including Germany ’s famed Nürburgring. And while common in racing cars, the Corvette Z06 is one of just a handful of production vehicles – and the only production Corvette – to ever incorporate such a high-performance oiling system.

The GTS might see this engine.

[DRU842]

Isn't this the engine used in the 427 Nations Cup Monaro?

[tickford2001]

Originally Posted by DRU842

Isn't this the engine used in the 427 Nations Cup Monaro?

that engine is a custom built engine for that car...nothing on that car has anything in common with anything thats available off the floor - ANYWHERE!

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by tickford2001

that engine is a custom built engine for that car...nothing on that car has anything in common with anything thats available off the floor - ANYWHERE!

The C5R engine is off the shelf - just a more expensive shelf!

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by DRU842

Isn't this the engine used in the 427 Nations Cup Monaro?

We’ve taken much of what we’ve learned over the years from the 7.0-liter C5-R racing program and instilled it here.

The C5-R is based on the Gen III - so this engine isn't the same as the NC Monaro engine - but it's probably the evolution of it.

[Steve]

Is the 6.2 litre being developed now going to be along similar lines to this one or is it going to be basically a truck engine?

[paul7v7]

very nice specs on the LS7. A monster engine. Wonder how big GM will let the displacement get on their engines. 7.0 is pretty big. Gotta sound good though.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by paul7v7

very nice specs on the LS7. A monster engine. Wonder how big GM will let the displacement get on their engines. 7.0 is pretty big. Gotta sound good though.

Dodge viper has an 8.4 litre, so still some way off getting the biggest of all.

[Steffo]

500hp 475ftlbs eh... time for the GT(40)'s 550hp 500ftlb 5.4... wink wink, nudge nudge

[Bossxr8]

This motor would make the GTS a very pricey car. It would push the price way past the 300kw versions if it did become available. Atleast $110 to $120k. No way a Commodore body could handle it, although maybe for VE.

[strife]

the thought is that is pretty much why they went the 7l with the Zo6 for homologation requriements of some sanctions for the c6r

[sbutler]

Oh dear, Ford will be in for an other spanking, I can feel it in my water.....

[bedflute]

Originally Posted by sbutler

Oh dear, Ford will be in for an other spanking, I can feel it in my water.....

lol i drive a baxr8 auto and go for the dockers,im used to a flogging

[tickford2001]

Originally Posted by sbutler

Oh dear, Ford will be in for an other spanking, I can feel it in my water.....

only got themselves to blame though...still sucks though! :

[galaxy xr8]

Now come on boy's, don't be affraid of this, sure it is very promissing and has the good's but that's just it, it is a real engine, look at the internal part's, the high compression, this motor is built for one thing in mind, and I'm sure there is a similar motor that could do the same in the Ford stable, even if Ford Aus need to do the internal modd's like what they did for the T-serries, but just imagine the fuel consumption of an engine this size and power, I don't see HSV or FPV offering such motor's in their vehicle's in the near future with the way thing's are going.

[Toolman]

We'll be fine... so long as we have HSV ETA pumping out the numbers ... :togo:

[RedHotGT]

Was thinking about the oldest THREAD MINE going on around here...
And the recovery of the miners in Chile.... and wondered how far back I could DIG to find something interesting and relevant...

Had a bit of a flick back thru the old posts... and found this GEM... on page 700-ish...

It seems that here around the forum... we were already onto the W427 plans... (even the power output was pretty much spot on!!)

So...

Retrospect... Any others around here we might have 'uncovered' before they were released????

[oranpark addict]

Haha. Excellent! Truly great dig. And I didn't even notice till I read the last comment

[Fev]

But will it meet emissions regulations?

[psychoticgroove]

hmmm and i was wondering why hasn't anyone mentioned the monstrosity that W427 was....
then i looked at the date lol

[kennyboy]

what changes would they have to make to a commodore to fit between the front wheels? Sounds like a radical chnge from current engines,

[Hulsty]

wow your up to speed!

[Kamshaaft]

Originally Posted by kennyboy

what changes would they have to make to a commodore to fit between the front wheels? Sounds like a radical chnge from current engines,

I believe the only real difference between the LS7 and LS1 or LS2 or LS3 externally is the dry sump.

[frd906]

What a thread mine

[Linkachu]

Holdens answer to everything lately... IF THEY MAKE THEIRS MORE FASTERA WE MAKE BIGGER MOTOR HURR.

Seriously a 6ltr is big enough then they went a 6.2ltr to battle a 5.4 putting out just as much.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by Linkachu

Holdens answer to everything lately... IF THEY MAKE THEIRS MORE FASTERA WE MAKE BIGGER MOTOR HURR.

Seriously a 6ltr is big enough then they went a 6.2ltr to battle a 5.4 putting out just as much.

There's more to an engine than the power it makes you know.

[buggo]

I wonder if they did release that into into VE HSVs what the Coyote's spec would look like today? Would they have upped the boost, have it making 350+Kw, put a charger on the 5.4 a few years ago, imported the GT40 boss over? mmmm

[Kamshaaft]

Oh and the LS7 is the next step up from the LS3 :O, or theres the LSA & LS9 (Both supercharged LS3s, one with a 1.4(?) litre blower & 550hp, and the other with a 2.2 litre blower(?) & 640hp.


I doubt very much that they'll keep putting in crazier engines though, traction is already becoming a problem and these higher end engines are hand built too.

[Iggypoppin']

Ha, Holden don't have the money to use ls7 in mass produced vehicles!