Congratulations as pretty cool stuff!!
Order banks not open yet. Itās MacMulkin motors; they are taking reservations and adding to the waitlist.
Answer is a resounding yes. I was doing Competitor Intel for GM, including the Corvette team. By the time my team told the Corvette team and the Powertrain engineers that GT350 was getting FTC, they were already working on the 5.5L. This was 2013 or 14.
The thing is, GM had the issues with the oil filters spinning off before the first Voodos hit the streets. This is because, as Iāve mentioned, GM started development on the 5.5L before my team confirmed for them that GT350 was getting FPC. The target at the start of Gemini (thatās the engine project name) development was Ferrari 458, not Voodoo. GM typically begins engine development before vehicle development because it takes longer to develop a clean sheet of paper engine. The Powertrain guys had a rough idea of what Tadge needed in a midship placed engine and started the work with Ferrari 458 as a target.Thanks to Ewheels and s2ms for posting those great reads, with a lot of nice insights
Interesting (and somewhat expected) that GM also had issues with oil filters vibrating off prototype engines during development. I wonder how much GM kept tabs on some of the same issues Ford was dealing with on the Voodoo, and having all those lessons factored in. Because it seems that the oil filters spinning off caught them off guard - 'Juechter even said that early prototypes were so violent, oil filters were spinning off during testing. "It was like there were ghosts in the machine..." '
Also will be interesting to see if GM uses a canister-style filter on this LT6 engine as well.
One of my first ābig boyā jobs at GM was taking that engine out of production. Mercury Marine was the assembler. Period. GM and Lotus did all the engineering work. I was at Stillwater watching the last engines come off the line. I had contracted an engine remanufacturer to acquire the last engines coming off the line to be packaged up and stored to accommodate future warranty replacements and so I was there to see it happen.Oh really ???
Thanks for that clarification
(I actually didn't catch your previous posts) which seems to line up and make sense with much of ther other info that's been released in the 5.5.
I think itās the other way around. I think it is UDUD because Ford chose to not go with dual throttle bodies. Why they made that choice I donāt know, but assume they have their reasons. The Ferrari 458 was already out there with dual plenum / throttle body and UDDU before Voodoo appeared. That was GMās target for 5.5L development. When I was at GM, the Corvette team bought two 458s. One for driving, one for disassembly / benchmarking. The drivetrain was boxed and shipped to the Powertrain team in Pontiac. I spent a lot of time pouring over the disassembled engine before Voodoo ever hit the street.
Without taking into consideration any time for R&D of Ford's 5.2L FPC engine and the subsequent launch of their 50th Anniversary Shelby GT350/R's which was in July, 2015 are you telling us that GM and Chevrolet may have come up with the idea of developing and engineering a FPC engine for their 2023 Z06 Corvette prior to Ford coming up with that same idea for their 2015 GT350/R?
I am telling you that GM came up with the idea of an FPC V8 engine for the mid engine C8 independently and long before Fordās use of an FPC V8 for GT350 became common knowledge. Keep in mind if you will, that C7 was originally intended to be mid-engine before GM had to deal with bankruptcy. It would have launched in 2012 or 13, but bankruptcy delayed the vehicle and forced investment reduction that pushed the mid-engine clean sheet of paper approach back a generation, even though the development work had already started.
It didnāt. The engine has been ready for a couple years. A lot of the timing was thrown off because of the bankruptcy. Development of the car stopped and transitioned back to front engine for the 2014 C7 launch. But the engine development didnāt have to stop. It slowed down, but it didnāt stop. Then the engine went into Motorsports. C8.R. Been there for about two championship years. It theoretically could have been in the vehicle at launch, but thatās not the way Corvette launches vehicles. Base (Stingray) first, then Z06, then Grand Sport (or E-Ray if they stick with that stupid name), then ZR1 and/or Zora.
Believe what you want. Iāve actually been a part of this board (officially) for a couple years. Unofficially for much longer. Iām here because I like Mustangs and have actually owned more Mustangs than Corvettes and Camaros combined over my many years at GM. But as far as C8 and 5.5L development, I was there through it all (until I retired inā17) so I do know of what I speak. To be honest, the Corvette team was very much not interested in what my team brought to them regarding Mustang. Camaro team? Very interested. Corvette team? āGood to knowā¦now about that Ferrari?ā The Powertrain team, like my own, operated across both teams, so they were at least interested in Voodoo, but not nearly to the level that they were into the Ferrari V8.I find it interesting that after Ford and the Flat Rock Assembly Plant had already produced some ~24,200 GT350/R's over 6 model years (2015 - 2020) we have someone from GM coming onto this Shelby GT350 Mustang Forum and stating that GM had possibly initiated this FPC initiative before Ford did even though it is going to take Chevrolet some 9 years to actually provide a FPC powered vehicle that will finally be available for sale to the general public.
Nope. Just transmissions. And even then, there was never full disclosure between the two companies. Ford had no idea GM was working on a heavy duty version for ZL1 that would launch before everything else.Then again maybe there was some collaboration between Ford and GM at about the same time way back in 2013 that very few individuals are aware of?
An FTC is a typo. Or Federal Trade Commission. Pick yer poison
Interesting and good to hear from someone who was there at GM and a Mustang guy too. The maybe bigger picture here is that both Ford and GM looked at the successful and enviable, certainly from an engineering point of view, Ferrari 458, to improve their own V8 programs in their top performance cars.