The production of the almighty supercharged LT4 Camaro engine has come to an end. The last supercharged power unit was built at the GM factory and is going to go into retirement with the muscle car.
Chevrolet is preparing the retirement of the Camaro and, with it, of the supercharged LT4 engine, which powered the most potent Camaro ever produced: the ZL1 and its track-focused sibling, the ZL1/1LE. For the C7 Corvette Z06, the first model to receive it, the engine generated 650 horsepower. Three Ferraris (the hybrid LaFerrari topping the ranking), the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 Spyder, and the Lamborghini Aventador were the only ones above it back in 2015.
Later on, it was tuned up to 668 horsepower for the Cadillac CT5 Blackwing, which came in the company of 659 lb-ft of torque. In 2023, the Escalade-V luxury SUV got even more: an astounding 682 horsepower (691 PS) and 653 lb-ft (885 Nm) of torque for a run from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in 4.4 seconds and a quarter mile in 12.74 seconds.
Afterwards, GM adapted the LT as a wet-sump lubrication engine. It came with a larger intercooler system, which eliminated the cooling issues that the Corvette was suffering from.
The V Series from Chevrolet, with the Cadillac CTS, CTS5 Blackwing, and Escalade included, were all powered by the LT4, and so were the Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06. But they will all have to give it up and come up with something different and, most likely, electrified.
Photo: Chevrolet
The last LT4 rolled off the assembly line at the GM Performance Build Center (PBC) in Wixom, Michigan. The 6.2-liter V8 will find room into the last 2024 ZL1 Camaro being produced. According to Motortrend, engine builder Billy Burke was the one who supervised the build of the last of Mohicans.
When it was introduced, the LT4 was the most potent production engine ever used in a GM model. Only the GM LT5 engine with 750 horsepower that set the very limited-run C7 ZR1 Corvette in motion turned out to be more powerful than the LT4.
The LT4 supercharged V8 steps off the stage with the Camaro, but will live on, for a short while, in the Cadillac Blackwing. While Dodge made plans of electrification for both the Charger and Challenger, with a Hurricane V6 in the lineup as well, and Ford announced that the Mustang would remain as it is, an ICE, Chevrolet only let everyone know that they will retire the Camaro. The days of the model are numbered. The final sixth-generation Camaros will come off the assembly line at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan in January 2024.
Yet the carmaker told back in March that it is not the final chapter for the nameplate. It remains to be seen what that is supposed to mean.
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