I was reading the new Autoweek - article on the New ZR1 - Chevrolet Corvette Asst Chief engineer Tadge Jechter is quoted as saying "100 bhp/liter is about the max for a reliable supercharged engine fit for everyday use". The ZR1 is 6.2L supercharged V-8 - and Jechter suggests 620 hp will be the production car's rating.

Hmmm...the SRT-6 is a supercharged 3.2L V-6 and has 330 hp (103 hp/liter) or 349 hp (109 hp/liter) depending on the Chrysler or MB published numbers. Is Jechter correct, are we "un-reliable" - on the fringe or reliability, better built/engineered, or close enough to the 100 hp/liter that its irrelevant?

 

I also remember way back with the 4 cam corvette came out, GM had to detune the engines because the motor was making so much torque that they where snapping crankshafts. so I'll let you decide how reliable the chevy motors are when you start bumping up the power output. They designed thier engines around the production v8s used in every day cars and trucks, they where never purposly designed for flat out perfomance, even though they can produce big hp numbers, my question is what lasts longer?

German motors are designed to run flat out for longer periods of time, that's why they have an Autobahn.

 

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...zr1_first_look

I would like to see the zr1 go against a viper with the same budjet, or a boosted porsche, no wonder they're talking smack it's a supercharged zr1. big deal...


"Will it all work? The ZR1 is undergoing GM's full battery of passenger-car durability tests as well as its motorsport torture regimen (250 miles of autocrossing and a 24-hour endurance race), so it should hold up fine. The hardware and numbers sound impressive and we're rooting for the home team, but can a car with a front weight bias really smoke a GT3 or F430 Scuderia around the 'Ring? And if it does, will the well-heeled queue up to buy one?"

 

Chevy motors are very reliable when you start bumping up power when compared to some of the other manufacturers out there. A v6 3.8l (that's found in everything from base camaro's, minivan's to buicks) can even in its NA fit handle 21psi on stock bottom end (buick grand national technology). There are several guys running in the 13's with boosted 13psi+ production 3.8's for dd. A stock v6 with a wet nitrous kit, upgraded fuel pump (stock injectors) and timing can run 12's (and its been done).

LS1's especially can handle huge ammounts of increases, effectively making them 9/10 sec cars with a stronger rear end (the stock 10 bolt is a weak point in anything over about 400rwp) and been done many times over.

The corvette is a whole another platform of its own and doesn't revolve around any other "every day" specifications. There are technologies taken from it, such as the LS2 put in the GTO and the Cadillac CTS-V (who's suspension was by the way designed on the autobahn) but its main purpose is to be a production street racecar, which it undoubtedly succeeds at.

It seems pretty illogical to base one's belief of the reliability of chevrolet engines on a single model issue more than 30 years ago I also don't recall these snapping crankshafts but i'd be happy to look into that if you let me know which year/model corvette you're talking about. As far as I know detuning was taken on Chevy's part after drastic anti-pollution measures were taken by the US administration and there was a need to comply to the standards with the current engine platform at hand.

 

the whole german mfg. mindset has forever been to build cars that last, and that is a relatively new philosophy for the american mfg's..(and maybe still just talk) Until recently the americans changed models almost every year while the german models lasted decades- so which lasts longer?

back when I was into 911's I will never forget a mechanic who had just switched from some american brand to porsche factory training, telling me the most amazing thing he instantly saw was the quality of individual components in all german cars, from simple things like hose clamps up to gauges and everything in between- put a sack full of high quality parts next to a sack of average quality parts and..well..

finally as someone who just got a zo6, in just a week you realize that the amount of power it has is almost worthless on the street (but I am still grinning) and the ZR1 (I'm guessing the first 2000 average about $175k each) which is even more power is like-- where can this go? What I give credit to chevy for is that they are building them to be street driven cars and the pricing (once reality sinks in) makes the germans look as foolish as ... the amieeJ fund thread...hmmm, maybe not quite that stupid.

 

The "FIRST" ZR-1 is set to be auctioned at Barrett-Jackson in a couple weeks.

 

I read this article also and realized that OUR SRT6 is close to max HP for a streetable car!
But if you drive any car US or German at flat out pedal to the floor at the Drag strip you'll probably blow it sooner than a most Normal driving.
I like the extra power of the SRT6 but don't feel I have to drive it like every mile is a Dragstrip race. Hence I'm not into more power just a great feel in normal street conditions.