5.5 liter LS5 Direct fuel injection for C7?

[Kevin]

You can bet with the EPA fuel mileage requirements the C7 will have a LS5 with direct injection

Fifth Generation Promises a Leaner and Meaner Small Block
New direct-injection combustion system to improve efficiency of Gen-V engines

WIXOM, Mich. – A new direct-injection fuel system will help GM’s Gen-V small-block engine deliver greater fuel efficiency compared with the current generation.

The fifth-generation small block is an all-new engine family that builds on the architectural and technology legacy of previous generations with greater efficiency, performance and refinement.

General Motors is investing more than $1 billion in manufacturing facilities associated with producing Gen-V small-block engines, resulting in the creation or retention of 1,711 jobs.

GM announced the new direct-injection fuel system for the small block at the Performance Build Center, in Wixom, Mich., as the final fasteners on the 100-millionth production small-block engine – a 638-hp supercharged LS9 engine for the Corvette ZR1 – were tightened.

The small block was introduced in 1955.

“Direct injection is a vital progression from conventional port fuel injection that enables an advanced, new level of engine management.

The precise control of combustion afforded from direct injection makes it almost entirely an engineering ‘win-win’ – you get enhanced power and torque in addition to better fuel efficiency,” said Bill Visnic, analyst and senior editor at Edmunds.com.

“The evolution to direct injection should be as significant for the next-generation small-block V-8 as perhaps any single engineering upgrade in this storied engine’s nearly 60-year history,” Visnic said.

In the fifth-generation small block, the all-new direct injection combustion system will work with a higher compression ratio and other technologies to enhance efficiency.

That means greater performance using less fuel than comparably sized Gen-IV engines.

“The Gen-V small block is an all-new, state-of-the-art engine family that will offer more efficiency and refinement than any other small block in its more than half-century of production,” said Jordan Lee, chief engineer.

“For customers, that will mean cars and trucks that deliver more while using less gas to do it.”

The Gen-V small block will go into production in the near future and is guaranteed to have 4.4-inch bore centers –

the center-to-center distance between cylinders that has been part of the small-block’s architecture from its introduction 56 years ago.

[FU]

Nice article. I really like that DFI fuel injector. Put that together with a super high pressure fuel rail. And horsepower economy and emissions will become abundant.

[mike100]

11.5 or 12:1 compression I bet.

[tomtom72]

That's for the post Kevin!

Maybe some one can answer this: why is it that it seems it took some makers longer than others to get to the direct injection party?

Is this a very complicated engineering problem with a lot of "protected" answers or is this just a matter of "oh well I guess we have to join the party and it's a cost issue. Just curious.

Tom

[mike100]

I suspect the complications of the high pressure injection pump are the bigger challenge as much as designing an injector that won't get clogged too easily.

On diesels, the DI stuff has been very expensive- even on 90's powerstrokes when they first came out. It took 10 years before early powerstrokes were easy and cheap to get parts for.

If you want to read about some poor engineering, google up 'HPFP failures VW TDI'. When the high pres fuel pump (mechanical) grinds itself to bits, fine metal shavings coat the entire fuel system including the fuel tank and it cost more than $7k (dealer price) to replace EVERYTHING in the car.