4 Ways The Chevrolet Corvette Z06’s NA V8 Engine Ticks

Chevrolet recently unveiled the 2023 Corvette Z06 sports car on October 26, the first mid-engined ‘Vette to wear the ‘Z06’ badge. It debuts a new 5.5-litre LT6 V8 petrol engine that makes 670PS and 623 Nm -- the most powerful naturally aspirated (NA) V8 engine ever for a production car. In fact, it has a smaller displacement than the mid-engine Corvette Stingray’s supercharged 6.2-litre V8. So how does it make 175PS more power? Here’s what makes the Z06 ‘Vette tick: 

It revs higher 

General Motors’ 5.5-litre LT6 petrol engine makes its peak power at 8,400rpm, and it revs all the way to 8,600rpm. Meanwhile, the Stingray’s 6.2-litre LT2 V8 redlines at 6,500rpm, similar to most regular cars on our roads. Higher revs help the comparatively smaller-displacement LT6 V8 engine draw more air into the combustion chamber. It comes courtesy of a short-stroke length and lighter internal components such as the new forged flat-plane crankshaft. 

Pumps more air 

 

The more air an engine pumps, the higher power it produces. Each cylinder in the new LT6 V8 has a 111mm bore, about 7mm wider than the 6.2-litre LT2 engine. Fun fact, that’s 1.5 times wider than the cylinder bore in a Maruti Suzuki Swift K12 petrol engine, and the LT6 has twice the number of cylinders to boot. The wide cylinder bore allows the piston to pump air at higher rpms without the need of forced induction. 

Uses lightweight components   

The heaviest single component of any car engine is the cylinder block. It’s made of lightweight aluminium in the 5.5-litre LT6 V8, similar to many other modern cars. All eight pistons are forged aluminium, and the connecting rods that attach them to the crankshaft are made of titanium. The crankshaft itself has a lower rotating mass owing to the shorter stroke length. With its flat-plane design and forged metal construction, it’s tough enough for the job, yet as light as possible. 

It’s a racing engine

According to Chevrolet, the LT6 engine has racing heritage, as a version of it has powered the C8.R track car. This racecar has raced at Laguna Seca and taken on the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance. The LT6 is hand-built at the Bowling Green assembly plant in Kentucky, and there’s a plaque over each car’s intake with the signature of the technician who assembled the engine. 

 

So, that’s how the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 makes even more power with a smaller, more exciting engine. We’ve always been fans of the hulking V8-engined American sportscar, but the new LT6 engine shows us that the Z06 isn’t just a straight-line performer. It’s honed for the racetrack, and its high-adrenaline engine screams and sputters. As internal combustion engines enter their final decade of production, the GM 5.5-litre LT6 is a well-deserved final roar.