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Tester
for one plant. as long as there is a vette, there will be big block.
and as for NASCAR, there is a loophole. if they stopped all cam-in block big blocks, NASCAR would allow them to make a brand new cam-in-block V8. anything goes.
NASCAR doesn’t run a big block. The engine displacement limitation in NASCAR is 357 CID, and they make them from small blocks.
Tester
ah yes, you are correct.
I always wondered what block Toyota powered Cup car’s use (that is, is there a production vehicle some form of the block was installed in?)
It is a cam-in small block V8. I saw one at the manufacturer’s car show last year. It looks nothing like any of the production V8’s Toyota currently uses. This one looked like a strangely re-configured small block Chevy engine, but had the unmistakable TRD valve covers. They had to meet NASCAR specs with this particular engine.
Corvettes haven’t run with big blocks in decades. Even the Z06 uses a small block. The newest high horsepower plant, the LS9 supercharged engine in the ZR1, is still on a small block platform, pushing out 621 Horsepower.
It is a sad day in history, The engine that has driven so much of America has ended production in the U.S… Will be outsourced, or gone?
The GM Big Blocks were nothing to get excited about… If there was ANY market for these things, an independent foundry would pick up the blueprints, the molds, the casting boxes and keep them in limited production if you had enough money. But lets face it, the sun has set on “Big Blocks” and “cam in block” engines period. The NASCAR “Funny Cars” that pose as “Stock Cars” are more and more entertaining an audience of gray-beards who are slowly losing interest watching MONEY race itself…The 427 Chevy started out as a school bus motor and that’s where it should have stayed…Everyone who wants a 455 Trans-Am Firebird already has one. And besides, they were slugs…
No, the Toyota engine was purpose built for Nascar.
I am not a fan of GM cars ( They don’t fit me ) but Corvette shows that you can make more power with less complexity and weight with a 2 valve pushrod engine and get better fuel mileage to boot. Not more power per liter but more power per weight and fuel consumed.
Numbers on a piece of paper are one thing, likewise satisfying magazine test drivers for whom “normal driving” occurs on test tracks…My '79 305 Malibu was a slug and got, at best 18 mpg. My 92 4.6 OHC V-8 Crown Vic gets 26 mpg and will blow the doors off that tired Malibu…The Vic has 160K miles on it…But I must admit, the latest GM small block pushrod V-8’s are indeed somewhat amazing… The Caddy CTS eats its German competition for lunch…
I think that this was the block Chevrolet announced for the 1958 model year. It displaced 348 cubic inches. It was increased to 396 cubic inches and then to something well over 400 cubic inches. What I find interesting is that the small block V-8 which started out in 1955 as 265 cubic inches then grew to 283 cubic inches, then 327 cubic inches, 350 cubic inchew and even 400 cubic inches. We had a 1974 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with the 400 cubic inch small block. I really never saw the need for this engine, although it may have seen some use in trucks.
It account for 3% of sales and GM is in the dumps. Good move.
The cost of progress,for a HD truck engine,it was great-Kevin
I would like to point out that the '79 305 was a disappointment because of the ‘de-tuning’ everyone was doing to get these engines to meet the emissions standards of the time. These were the ‘dark ages’ for muscle cars and their fans, between '74 and '86. I had a '78 Thunderbird with a big block 400 in it. It was so ‘de-tuned’, that the horsepower numbers were like 160 from the factory. This same engine configuration was getting 325 HP in '66.
Once the '90s started, the engineers had the balance figured out between emissions and power, and the real horsepower numbers started to climb again. The new pony car wars started back up with Camaro’s, Firebird’s, and Mustang’s. Ford and GM tried out a few muscle car sedans, like the Impala SS, Marauder, and the infamous Buick Grand National. The '09 Corvette Z06 manages 505 HP, meets emissions, and even gets decent gas mileage, not qualifying for the ‘gas guzzler’ tax.
Small Turbo Diesel engines will be the future for Light pickup trucks and vans.
“It account for 3% of sales…”
At most. I read the sentence to say that it was 3% of the Tonawanda plant’s production.
I wonder if GM will continue to produce big blocks sold only through the parts department? GM Performance Parts sells an awful lot of 502’s & 572’s over the counter. An excellent engine, practically bulletproof, and incredibly popular at every drag strip in the country.
The actual numbers sold are quite small…An independent foundry will pick up that business if the market is big enough. Kind of like the old 426 Chrysler Hemi. A brand new aluminum one can be built from 100% aftermarket parts…