General Motors to Keep the V8

The automotive world will not surrender to the tree huggers, and that’s quite a relief. The Americans will not abandon their tradition, as GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said they will keep producing the GM V8. Fiat and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne said the Hemi V8 will not be killed and Ford presented its new Coyote V8, says goauto.com.au.

As it is only natural, GM’s V8 will suffer some upgrades, according to Mr Lutz: “The V8 is going to have to undergo a substantial transformation and it is going to need new timing technology. A lot of things have to happen with the small block.”

GM has introduced its small block back in 1955 and ever since the V8 has been constantly upgraded. Such history could not be denied, despite the economical climate, CO2 emissions or fuel consumption.

“The small block has always been like grandfather’s axe – you know where it has been in the family for 100 years and sometimes you change the blade and sometimes you change the handle,” Lutz said. “Because you never change the blade and the handle at the same time it is still grandfather’s axe, even though the blade and the handle have probably been changed about six times so far. It is the same old small block, but if you go back in history there is nothing the same.”

“There is plenty of potential to make V8s more fuel efficient. For instance direct injection as opposed to indirect injection, cylinder shut-down (for the LS versions) – there is still quite a bit of technology left that can be deployed in V8 engines to make them more fuel efficient,” Lutz added.