The Tahoe may be an all-new design for the 2021 model year, but some things never change at General Motors. Despite the independent rear suspension in the guise of a multi-link setup and coil springs, the engine bay still features a small-block V8.
L86 is how it’s called, and as opposed to the LT1 from the Camaro, this engine produces peak torque sooner in the rev range at the expense of horsepower. In total, you’re looking at 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet at the crankshaft. Indeed, these are the same ratings as the 6.2-liter option from the previous generation.
The question is, how much of that suck-squeeze-bang-blow gets down to the ground? Hennessey Performance Engineering is much obliged to report 369 rear-wheel horsepower and 397 pound-feet of torque, which is OK at first glance.
But HPE did identify a problem with the Tahoe. “New 2021 SUVs have locked ECUs” according to the Texas-based tuning company, “and thus cannot be modified beyond a cold air intake and cat-back exhaust system.” Given these circumstances, Hennessey “hopes that GM will consider working with SEMA and the aftermarket industry.”
HPE further highlights that “you’ll need to buy something else if you want to modify your new SUV,” which is a slap in the face of the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit. Adding insult to injury, the L86 engine isn’t on par with the EcoBoost V6 or the largest HEMI V8 engines that Ford and Dodge currently offer.
The engine control unit’s protection system extends to the LT2 of the all-new Corvette in Stingray flavor, the halo car of General Motors at the time of reporting. Because the electrical architecture of the mid-engine sports car from Kentucky is so hard to break into, tuners have had problems trying to gain access to the ECU in order to fine-tune the V8 in conjunction with a supercharger or a pair of snails.
Encryption is the culprit when it comes to the Global B wiring architecture in question, but lest we forget, no computer is unhackable.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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