Partially NFB....LS4

[95TransAm]

I was over at my buddy's house yesterday, and he has the new hot rod, so i figured i'd check it out for a bit. There were two articles on the same page that caught my eye.

1. I know, we've all heard it before and seen the possible ideas, but it was for the next f-body. The article wasn't long, but it did have a picture...and OMG was this thing horrible...i mean just awful. 4 doors first of all , and it didn't even look good for a 4 door car! Like i said the article was small with only 1 picture so no details are available, but let's just pray that the legacy of our beloved F-Bods don't get disgraced with this thing that may possibly come out.

2. I'm almost 100% positive that it said in '06 and not in '07, but the Grand Prix is going to have an option....the LS4 V8 package. If i remember correctly, 300 hp 320 tq, and pushing it's way down 1,320 feet of pavement in 14 flat. I sure would like to see gm give an 8 cylinder package to a "sport sedan", i definitely would start to gain more respect for gm if this happens. The article was short, but from what it said, this isn't a concept or anything, this is actually happening. The title even was something along the lines of "GM adds a new addition to the stunning LS series of motors".

Let's hope that this is so, it would be nice to see this type of change for future cars. I just hope though that if and when the F-Body platform returns, that i comes back roaring with a vengence rather than being a 4 door econobox.

I was just wondering if any of you guys have heard about this LS4, or any numbers on it. I don't remember it being discussed on the boards, and the LS4 didn't come up in the search feature as well.

[TraceZ]

PONTIAC – General Motors’ new Gen IV 5300 5.3L V-8 (LS4) engine debuts in the 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, making it the first V-8 offered in a Grand Prix since 1987. It also marks the first time since the small-block was introduced 50 years ago that it has been offered in a front-wheel-drive car.

Engineered specifically for front-drive layouts, the 5300 V-8 is estimated to produce 290 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque. It incorporates Displacement on Demand technology (DOD), which helps the vehicle realize fuel economy gains of up to 12 percent per the EPA federal fuel economy test procedures. It does this by seamlessly alternating between eight- and four-cylinder operation.

When matched with the inherent smoothness and torque of the V-8 configuration, the 5300 V-8 delivers strong performance – 90 percent of torque is available between 1500 rpm and 5200 rpm – and surprising economy. It’s a combination most competitors’ V-6 offerings can’t match.

“Over 50 years, the small-block V-8 has proven itself more adaptable than anyone could have imagined,” said Dave Muscaro, assistant chief engineer of small-block V-8 for passenger cars. “The small-block family has a tradition dating back to 1955 in which an excellent design makes possible the additions of new technology. The Displacement on Demand-capable 5300 V-8 is a fine example of that tradition.”

Family ties

The all-aluminum 5300 V-8 is the third displacement offering of the Gen IV small-block, which was introduced in the 2005 Chevrolet SSR, GTO and Corvette, as well as several 2005 GM SUVs. The 5300 V-8 shares a common architecture with these other versions, including a deep-skirt block, six-bolt cross-bolted main bearing caps, and structural oil pan, but is modified to accommodate the “east-west” mounting position of the Grand Prix’s front-wheel-drive chassis.

To fit the “sideways” positioning in the Grand Prix, several changes were made to shorten the engine’s overall length. The crankshaft was shortened by 13 mm – 3 mm at the rear and 10 mm at the front – and the entire accessory drive system was designed to reduce space. The water pump and all other accessories, including the power steering pump, are driven on a single-belt drive system – the longest drive system in a GM vehicle.

Engineers devised an elongated water pump manifold, which features a remote-mounted pump that feeds the stock Gen IV coolant passages via the unique manifold. The design allowed the drive system to be mounted closer to the engine block. Because of the 5300 V-8’s relatively low inertia, which can be up to 50 percent less at the crankshaft damper than a 6.0L V-8, a hydraulic belt tensioner was used instead of a conventional rotary tensioner.

Unique position

The sideways position of the 5300 V-8 required revisions to the lubrication system. Engineers tested 5300 V-8 equipped test vehicles on racetracks, subjecting them to high-load turns that guided the development of special oil pan baffles that ensure lubrication during cornering. In addition, because Gen IV engines don’t have a block-mounted oil filter – it’s located on the oil pan – the 5300 V-8’s filter offers easy access.

The GM Oil Life System oil-change indicator system is standard, which can reduce the frequency of oil changes during the engine’s operating life. With the system, the engine control module (ECM) records cumulative data on a number of variables, including engine rpm, temperature, load or rpm variance and length of operation at any given load and temperature. Using this information, the system calculates oil degradation and recommends an oil change when the oil is near the end of its useful life – in other words, when an oil change is actually needed.

Other 5300 V-8 features include:

Lightweight, three-piece friction-welded composite intake manifold
Aluminum high-flow cylinder heads similar to 6.0L V-8 (LS2)
Aluminum engine block with cross-bolted main bearing caps
Full-floating pistons
Electronic throttle control integrated with a new engine controller
10.0:1 compression ratio for fuel-efficient performance
Unique camshaft designed for DOD technology
GM Oil Life System to minimize required oil changes
Because of the front-drive layout, the 5300 V-8’s exhaust manifold routing includes two manifolds joined by a single crossover pipe, which connect to a single underbody catalytic converter. The crossover pipe allows the use of a single oxygen sensor, unlike north/south V-8 applications that have two oxygen sensors.

Displacement on Demand technology

GM’s Displacement on Demand technology debuted in 2005 GM extended midsize SUVs equipped with the Vortec 5.3L V-8 (LH6) engine. With the 5300 V-8 (LS4), DOD technology enables fuel economy gains of up to 12 percent in certain driving conditions by reducing the number of cylinders engaged in the combustion process. A sophisticated, next-generation engine controller determines when to deactivate cylinders, allowing the engine to maintain vehicle speed in lighter-load conditions such as highway cruising. When the cylinders are deactivated, the engine effectively operates as a V-4, with alternate cylinders on each cylinder bank disabled. The engine returns to V-8 mode the instant the controller determines the vehicle speed or load requires additional power. The process is seamless and virtually imperceptible.

“There’s nothing like the satisfying feel of a V-8 engine and the 5300 V-8 provides a level of performance rarely available in competitors’ vehicles,” said Muscaro. “But when all eight cylinders aren’t required to maintain performance, DOD technology effectively turns the engine into a more efficient V-4.”

[95TransAm]

Ah yes, i do remember that 90% of the power was between 1,500 and 5,200 from that article. Well, you obviously have your facts down, looks like i was out in the dark for a while on this one! Thanks for the info. I know i could have looked through a search engine, but why do that when the most car intelligent people are right here on this board

Looks like a lot of unique innovations are going in to this new grand prix and the LS4, pretty dern interesting

[Injuneer]

You were looking at the Feb 2005 issue of Hot Rod magazine.

"The Next F-Body?" showed a Holden TT36 concept car, featuring a twin-turbo V6 (375HP) fitted to a fairly ugly 4-door sedan body, on an extended GM Kappa platform. Maybe best described as an unfortunate offspring of the mating of a Cadillac CTS and a last-generation Neon...... ughhhhhh! They indicated that the rumors of an LS-series engine was fueling the idea that this was the future F-Body..... but it all sounded pretty shakey to me.

[Injuneer]

Link to Torana TT36:

Torana TT36

[95TransAm]

You were looking at the Feb 2005 issue of Hot Rod magazine.

"The Next F-Body?" showed a Holden TT36 concept car, featuring a twin-turbo V6 (375HP) fitted to a fairly ugly 4-door sedan body, on an extended GM Kappa platform. Maybe best described as an unfortunate offspring of the mating of a Cadillac CTS and a last-generation Neon...... ughhhhhh! They indicated that the rumors of an LS-series engine was fueling the idea that this was the future F-Body..... but it all sounded pretty shakey to me.

That was it!!!!! I'm not gonna lie, i was extremely tired when i read it and for some reason i was having major brain farts last night I was trying for the life of me to remember what i actually read, and was trying all morning to find more info on it.

When i think sports car, i think sleek, fast, hugs the road, 2 doors....sexy to sum it up. I can respect the power that may be put in to some newer "sporty" cars, but i cannot accept some of these designs. When i park my car and as I'm walking away and I'm looking at my car, i want to get that gitty feeling that i get knowing that i actually own that car! I could have a neon that runs 11's and just tears it up, but still wouldn't get that feeling. I sure hope you're right that it sounds shakey, i couldn't imagine anything that looked like that ever being considered an F-Body.

[95TransAm]

Link to Torana TT36:

Torana TT36

That's it. I mean i've seen worse looking cars, but that's the last thing in my mind when i think "F-Body".

[azkkn]

That's it. I mean i've seen worse looking cars, but that's the last thing in my mind when i think "F-Body".

OH MAN it looks like a freeeeking volvo

[azkkn]

OH MAN it looks like a freeeeking volvo

better yet, if they make that with a camaro badge, i will sell my camaro and never drive a chevy again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fastTa]

Here I partially fixed the Torana!

[RocKin1967]

better yet, if they make that with a camaro badge, i will sell my camaro and never drive a chevy again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

im with you on that dude...wtf, thats sad. i dont care how much power that thing is making.......it sux

[TraceZ]

Here is Kevin's partially fixed car with 2 doors.

[fastTa]

Holy bandwidth Tracy!! How about image optimization. Looks better as a two door though.

[TraceZ]

Holy bandwidth Tracy!! How about image optimization. Looks better as a two door though.

What is image optimization? I'm not very good with photoshop yet, so I need help fine-tuning stuff.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Don't forget that the Impala and Monte Carlo are getting the LS4 as well. I think the stats said 303 HP and 320 ft-lbs.

I wouldn't worry about the Torana's styling that much. Remember it's on basicly the same platform as the concept nomad and the solsitice, but it doesn't look anything like those cars. From what I've read and seen the closest image of a future Camaro was one that was posted on Chears and Gears last summer.