Have we just about peaked with factory HP?
 

We're at 580HP with the ZL1.

With the new LT1 at 450HP, I'm wondering if factory HP at GM has just about peaked. It's hard for me to imagine factory Camaros with 700HP, but I sure never thought I'd see something like 580HP either. Aren't CAFE ratings getting tighter soon? I'd think they'd have to back off a little at some point.

What's GM's peak?

Thanks,

Geno

If there were more Camaros sold then yes, it would affect GMs CAFE, however they are not, neither is the 'Vette selling in such numbers that it would affect it.

I personally think that the Camaro will simply lie a little behind the 'Vettes Top Dog when it comes to power.

So if the C7 <whatever they call the top model at the time> gets 700 or 750HP then I don't see why they wouldn't toss 600-650hp in the Camaro <whatever the top dog flavor of the month is> but I don't see them catching up or passing the 'Vette.

But that's only me.

And honestly, the Stang is at 662hp. Why don't you see a Camaro with 700? It's only 38 more than Ford are running right now.

// Stefan

The Mustang getting 662HP has to be driving the design team for Corvettes nuts. Hope something is in the works to make them top dog again.

I would think that if 450 HP is available NA and that the engine was designed with eventual forced induction in mind, 675 or better should be easily possible without incurring a huge hit against CAFE in a turbocharged version.

Over on the Ford side, I've already heard a rumor or two about Ecoboosted 5.0's (that are almost 450 in their NA trim), and I can't imagine Chevy not responding with something similar. Hopefully for the bowtie faithful they'll do a better job of setting their HP target this time . . .


Norm

I bet GM has people scratching their heads, they don't want to fall behind both the Viper and the Stang, which are the two main competitors of the Corvette and Camaro.

So the LT1 has 450hp, and people are questioning one of the vids if they're not already showing an FI engine, which makes perfect sense to be developing from the start.

Right now I'm hearing two words when it comes to "solving" MPG, pollution, etc : Hybrids and Turbos. When people say turbos they mean "with a smaller engine", however people that don't have a Clue(TM) just hear "turbos".

Turbos are a way easier solution to add to an engine than making it a hybrid. And I'm in no way saying one is better than the other or cannot complement each other, because they can.

And yes, while weird, I do see both the Corvette and Camaro eventually becoming hybrids. I bet people are working on it, but they need to get weight down and get some of the other issues of hybrids solved before I see higher performance vehicles becoming hybrids, just like there's a reason the 'Vette didn't get AFM when trucks did, they needed to get it working better. How much better is the LT1's AFM? We'll see I guess.

// Stefan

It's the Silverados, Sierras, Tahoes and Suburbans affecting this. Those are a GM staple!

Exactly :)

// Stefan

To the O.P.

HP numbers are for ricers. Look at the 50 Ft-lbs of TQ increase over the LS3 @2500 RPMs. That's what will whoop up on cars with higher PEAK HP numbers. GM Engineers are very smart :thumbsup:

That 450 HP is an "estimate." Common sense says it will be more than that. That's only about 72 HP/L, the same as the LS7. Look around at the HP/L numbers for other DI cars running 11+ CR and you'll see they are at least 10 HP/L higher. The motor is probably capable of 510-520 HP. They may detune it but that means a tune can release a lot of power.

I was looking at the TQ curve and I really like that change up to 4k. I mean it's equal to the LS7 there! at 11% smaller displacement.

// Stefan

I believe they were saying the LT5 (forced induction version of the DI v8 engine) will be more powerful than the ZL1's current engine.

@ meissen: Is that speculation or something GM said?

They posted preliminary TQ curves but I don't believe they've said anything about FI engines at all (apart from people analyzing that vid).

// Stefan

HP numbers are for ricers? That's a little strong. My sig will tell you I'm no ricer. But I agree with you about torque. In general, though, as HP increases, so does torque. HP is the number people look at. I suppose I could have asked have we peaked in torque. Maybe a better question should have been....

Will our cars get stronger?

That would just have made people think you were talking about structural rigidity or something :)

// Stefan