Bye-Bye to GM’s V-8s

[Scotsman]

Muscle cars without V8's is like pancakes with no syrup; can be done but it just isn't the same. I don't see ditching V8's as "giving customers what they want" per say, sure we all want fuel efficent cars, but it's just doesn't make sense to make muscle cars with no option of an 8 cylinder engine. If cellulosic ethanol takes off maybe then this will cease to be a concern and everthing will be alright. At the same time the Europeans have manged to squeeze every last ounce and then some out of four and six bangers while giving you big power and superior performance, but the European philosiphy for engineering powerful engines seems vastly different from the American appraoch.

[stovt001]

Guys calm down. All this is saying is that GM won't be making new V8 families. They'll have one corporate one, the LS series. Since fewer and fewer applications will get V8s, it doesn't make sense to engineer LSs, Northstars, etc. V8s aren't disappearing any time soon, but they will be rarer. Also I wouldn't expect to see as many updates (for example, you may not see a transition to the LS4, or whatever the next base V8 is, from the LS3 as quickly as they transitioned from the LS2 to the LS3), but I think there will still be V8 applications for years to come. No worries.

Oh, and with that said, if they could put a TC'd DI 3.6L V6 making mid to high 300s hp and torque as the top engine in the upcoming Alpha cars, I'd be very interested.

[Scotsman]

Originally Posted by stovt001

Guys calm down. All this is saying is that GM won't be making new V8 families. They'll have one corporate one, the LS series. Since fewer and fewer applications will get V8s, it doesn't make sense to engineer LSs, Northstars, etc. V8s aren't disappearing any time soon, but they will be rarer. Also I wouldn't expect to see as many updates (for example, you may not see a transition to the LS4, or whatever the next base V8 is, from the LS3 as quickly as they transitioned from the LS2 to the LS3), but I think there will still be V8 applications for years to come. No worries.

Aha, now I remember the discussion.

At the same time these dense journalists completely misinterpreted Lutz. They're making it sound as if the V8 will become extinct within two generations, which simply isn't the case. News mixed with controversy sells magazines.