Photo Credits: Keith Cornett

For years it’s been easy to upsell Chevy truck customers on the 6.2L V8 by telling them its “the Corvette engine.” On Tuesday the Bow Tie Brand made that halo car to workhorse connection a little fuzzier when it unveiled the next generation Silverado 1500.

While the trucks themselves represent a much-needed upgrade for GM’s bread and butter vehicles, around here, we’re more interested in the Corvette relatives under the hood. The 2027 Corvette Stingray and Grand Sport are an even bigger deal than anyone is giving them credit for.

The pair of updated C8 Corvettes were chosen to usher in a new generation of Chevrolet’s Small-Block V8 for just the sixth time since the legendary powerplant debuted in 1955 – to put the infrequency of that occasion into perspective, there’s been 13 presidents and eight popes over the same span.

Photo Credit: Chevrolet

The ‘Vette’s first take on the new generation has been dubbed LS6 and it’s lays claim to the second-largest displacement of any “small” block ever with a monster 6.7 liters (409 cubes). It peaks with a naturally aspirated cross-plane Chevy record of 535 HP and makes more torque than any free-breathing production V8 in history with a staggering 520 lb-ft. The fifth-gen Silverado gives us a peek at the rest of the founding members of the new family of bent 8s with two distinct options to go along with the carryover “TurboMax” four-cylinder and 3.0L straight-six Duramax diesel.

While the old V8 Silverado was available in 5.3L and 6.2L flavors, the new engines will grow across the board with the standard motor resurrecting the storied 350 cubic inch 5.7L displacement. The top-of-the-line motor checks in just shy of the ‘Vette’s LS6 at 6.6L, reviving yet another GM staple; the 400 ci V8. Final numbers haven’t been released yet, but Chevy is claiming more power than any other NA V8 in the segment which should land the new 6.6 somewhere between Ram’s 470-horse 6.4 Hemi and the ‘Vette’s total of 535, with an even 500 as the likely target, putting it well ahead of both the big Hemi and Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost V6 that in its high output Raptor tune, makes 450 HP.

Back on the GM Performance front, it’ll be interesting to see if the impending Seventh Gen Camaro SS receives LS6 power as we guessed, or if, like the LT2, the ‘Vette eight will remain mid-engine only and the Camaro will instead get a go-fast version of the 6.6. Either way, it’ll fill the manual transmission hole in our hearts and we’ll be whole again. Another exciting possibility revolves around the new 5.7L architecture.

The last engine to earn the LS6 nomenclature was the C5 Z06’s 5.7, which remains the most powerful traditional 350 GM ever let loose on the world at 405 HP. We’d love to see a sub-SS base V8 Camaro (or maybe the Buick that’ll share the Cam’s newly updated Alpha platform) bring V8 goodness to the masses through a smaller, mass-produced engine and the 5.7 could fit the bill nicely. Using the LS6 as a baseline for what GM can do with modern technology and building techniques, a hotted-up 5.7 could blow the C5’s legendary motor out of the water with up to 457 ponies.

With the base engines now out in the open, we can also start looking forward to the arrival of the heavy artillery. Whether the Camaro SS gets a 6.6 or 6.7, the following model year should see a ZL1 and it’s Cadillac Blackwing platform mate with a supercharged version making well over 700 HP that will also hopefully find its way into the Silverado – GM has sat out of the trophy truck battle for too long! It’s all very exciting to think about and while the C8 is already there, the rest of GM’s offerings look poised to follow along into the next golden age of Detroit performance!

Source:
CarandDriver.com

Related:
[VIDEO] Hear the New LS6 from a Quad Center Exhaust 2027 Corvette Stingray
First Fuel Economy Ratings for the 2027 Corvette’s LS6 V8 Are Out
[VIDEO] Take a Closer Look at Chevy’s 2027 Corvette Grand Sport Cutaway and LS6 Engine Displays

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