[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

TAG - I was just reminding you....yeah - that's it.
Technically - that's what they do right now. It could be argued that there are only two V8's in GM's shop. Anything that says "Chevy Small block" or (currently) "Gen IV small block" share the exact same block. like LS2, and LS3 - same block; but different innards, airflow options, and tune. Then you've got the Northstar V8s. which are DOHC V8's...those are apparently being killed off along with their replacement program.

"Just use one v8 for the trucks and one for the cars. If you want different horsepower for different models of cars, you can just tune the engines differently."

If you were to take a basic small block: LS-nothing. and just see how much you could tune it's computer (that's what I'm assuming you're saying)...you might have a threshold of, what...100hp if you're lucky? +50, and -50. Like I said - in basic 'shape'; Something like the L76 car engine, and LS3 share the exact same block. They just have different CR's, airflows, and minor tune.
And it could be argued that the engines in cars and trucks are even the same. Take L76 for example. The only distinguishing differences btw the truck version and the car version is an oil pan, and an intake manifold to allow the car engine to fit under the hood.
So - essencially - there's only one V8 GM modifies for most it's applications.
Well, 2. Cadillac gets exclusive rights to the Northstar.

That's spot-on.

The only thing to add to this is that modifying an engine goes the same way. You can take any motor and, for instance, create better airflow and carefully retune it to add horsepower. Regardless of what motor goes into the Camaro, you can always make it better, so people shouldn't worry so much about which motor GM will drop under the hood. All we need to know is that it will be competitive if not the best in its class and that if we want more we will certainly find ways to make it better.