The New Corvette Engine: More Efficient Power!
Well, GM officially announced that the next generation Corvette, the C7, will be among the first vehicles to utilize its new small block V8 engine. The newest engine in the family line of Chevy LS engines, GM put $890 Million in to its development, and came out with a fantastic piece of manufacturing. The next-gen LS will feature aluminum blocks and heads (for weight-saving and improved structural integrity), direct injection, and a new combustion system. With these features, the new engine will come in as a 5.5L 440-Horsepower V8. The current Corvette engine (the LS3) is a 6.2L 435-Horsepower V8. What this means is that the customer will see a drop in engine displacement, but a rise in power, meaning that GM has developed an extremely efficient piece of machine!
Of course, this engine wont change too drastically in other ways. They will maintain their traditional overhead valve layout, which is what allows them to be manufactured with so much power at such an affordable price. It also allows a great deal of compactness in the engine design itself, something which the next LS will certainly capitalize on even further with its lower displacement, lighter-weight build, and push towards higher fuel efficiency. GM says that they're already running test mules of the engine in Detroit to fine-tune it as best as possible. In all, I like the sound of this new engine, as it seems to be a more well designed machine, which will run in a much more efficient manner! Good work GM!
Corvette Assembly Plant to Remain Open Through Summer
It is standard for GM to shut down various plants during July for maintenance, cleaning, and equipment upgrades. While this is standard though, every year a few plants remain active to keep up with vehicle demands, and this year (for the first time in a few years) the Bowling Green Corvette Plant made that list. This is great news for GM and the Corvette brand, as it shows that while even though a number of Corvettes sit on lots at the moment and sales have dipped in recent years the demand for the Corvette still remains very high. The Grand Sport and ZR1 popularity certainly have something to do with this too. This news is also great for the Bowling Green employees I'm sure, as they've faced cutbacks and lay-offs over the last few years, and I'm fairly certain that the extra work is a welcome sight. So, good for those men and women and good for GM and Corvette, an absolute win-win here!
Corvette ATAK Review
A friend of mine on one of the major Corvette forums on the internet was able to get his hands on the new Corvette ATAK Exhaust system already. Borla had some testers out amongst friends and clients, and he found himself in possession of one of the C5 Z06 ATAK exhausts. He removed his Borla Stinger and installed the ATAK on his Z06 and had this to say about it:
"Wow! This was an absolute, obvious, upgrade over my Stinger, and you know I loved my Stinger too. From outside the vehicle, this exhaust is just as loud, and sounds more powerful. The little popping and gurgling you would get from the Stinger is now replaced with a steady, powerful, gut-shaking crescendo! Inside the vehicle, there's even less noise though. I don't know how they did it, but Borla really succeeded in improving on what was already their best exhaust, in so many ways. So, more aggressive, powerful, and intimidating from the outside and more refined, enjoyable, and respectable from the inside: what more could I have asked for? I recommend you get your hands on one of these as soon as you can. You wont be sorry you did."
From a senior forum member, who is well-respected for being very avid in his Corvette love, I'd say this is pretty good praise.He says he'll have videos of the ATAK vs. his Stinger up on Youtube in the next week or two (once he's allowed to, from Borla). Anyways, based on all the praise the Camaro ATAK system got, and the good news I'm hearing about this ATAK now, I'm going to go ahead and order mine today, since Borla will apparently be shipping them out in 2 weeks time or so. Hopefully, that means in 2 weeks time I can be sharing my own ATAK success story and video with you guys, instead of just some other person's clip.
Corvette ATAK Exhaust Is Officially Released
I spoke about this a few weeks back, but it is now 100% official. Corvette lovers out there (And I know there are a lot of us) can now have the hottest, newest, coolest, and best sounding exhaust being made (supposedly). The ATAK Exhaust by Borla has been a pretty big deal since its release, and has been selling at numbers well above what Borla can produce. The reviews coming in on the system have been consistently very great too. I haven't heard one on a Corvette yet, but I'll definitely be buying one for mine and letting you guys know about it. For now, check out the Borla #140357 and #140358 that have both been released, and look out for more ATAK systems in the near future.