Photo: General Motors
2017 will be the final year of the Chevrolet SS. As a reminder of its greatness, General Motors is rumored to bid farewell to the SS by shoehorning the hell-bent for leather LSA V8 under the hood.
This yet-to-be-confirmed intel comes courtesy of our friends at GM Authority, who have “heard mumblings from sources inside the Elizabeth assembly, responsible for building the VF Holden Commodore Series II and our Chevrolet SS.” I don’t mean to be Mr. Smarty Pants, but the order guide for the 2017 MY doesn’t mention anything at all about the supercharged V8 powerplant.
For 2017, the Chevrolet SS listed in the order guide is the bearer of codename 1EK69. Compared to the outgoing four-door sport sedan with Australian origins and the heart of a sixth-generation Corvette, the final model year ups the ante with two new features. Unsurprisingly, those features come in the form of two points jobs (Orange Blast and Nightfall Gray Metallic).
As far as deletions are concerned, Chevrolet killed off three exterior paint finishes: Some Like It Hot Red Metallic, Mystic Green Metallic, and Jungle Green Metallic. If we do a search through the RPO codes, the only engine that shows up is the 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 from the C6 Corvette. From where I stand, the LSA-powered Chevrolet SS will most likely not happen.
I am aware that Holden offers the LSA V8 in the maddest HSV models of them all, but bear in mind that the Aussie manufacturer did its own engineering work to integrate the supercharged powerplant into the Zeta vehicle architecture. What’s more, General Motors knows that it doesn’t make any sense at all to spend a helluva lot of money on the research & development for the final model year of a low-volume nameplate.
So there you have it, folks. If you want the almighty LSA V8 under the hood of your Chevrolet SS, you'd better buy the crate motor variant ($14,006) of the supercharged unit, then do the engine swap yourself.
For 2017, the Chevrolet SS listed in the order guide is the bearer of codename 1EK69. Compared to the outgoing four-door sport sedan with Australian origins and the heart of a sixth-generation Corvette, the final model year ups the ante with two new features. Unsurprisingly, those features come in the form of two points jobs (Orange Blast and Nightfall Gray Metallic).
As far as deletions are concerned, Chevrolet killed off three exterior paint finishes: Some Like It Hot Red Metallic, Mystic Green Metallic, and Jungle Green Metallic. If we do a search through the RPO codes, the only engine that shows up is the 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 from the C6 Corvette. From where I stand, the LSA-powered Chevrolet SS will most likely not happen.
I am aware that Holden offers the LSA V8 in the maddest HSV models of them all, but bear in mind that the Aussie manufacturer did its own engineering work to integrate the supercharged powerplant into the Zeta vehicle architecture. What’s more, General Motors knows that it doesn’t make any sense at all to spend a helluva lot of money on the research & development for the final model year of a low-volume nameplate.
So there you have it, folks. If you want the almighty LSA V8 under the hood of your Chevrolet SS, you'd better buy the crate motor variant ($14,006) of the supercharged unit, then do the engine swap yourself.
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