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Chevy Corvette (LS3) seen at the Spirit of Monticello Festival, in downtown Monticello, Indiana, July 31st 2011.
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The General Motors Zeta Platform was both the crowning achievement of GM’s Australian division – Holden, but also its swansong. Developed here, and sold as the VE-VF Commodore range, Zeta was to have underpinned a majority of GM’s premium and large models globally for all divisions.
Unfortunately, the GM bankruptcy of 2008 ruined all of that. The only other Zeta-derived production car was the Chevrolet Camaro.
The VE-VF though, was successful in Australia, the Commodore deriving sedan wagon, LWB and Utility versions.
The SS trim again noted the high-performance variants, which used the Chevrolet Gen4 pushrod V8 engine in 6.0 L capacity, producing 270 kW and 530 Nm. SS variants are identified by dual-dual exhaust outlets in the rear bumper.
In June 2013, the VE was replaced by a moderately restyled VF generation. As part of a 2015 VF II update, the SS migrated to the LS3 version of the Gen 4 V8. This saw a capacity increase to 6.2L, with power increasing to 304 kW and torque to 570 Nm.
2015 also saw the introduction of a special edition available on wagon and Ute, named ‘Sandman’ in reference to a similar stylistic trim pack available on the 1970s on the Kingswood full-size Holdens.
Doug Fehan tells stories and takes questions, including mine about the new, pre-production, 5.5L LS3-based engine that continues to cause other teams to question the unfair advantage GM has (despite no other team adhering to the new ACO rules, while Corvette has).
For those that don't know, the LS3 is the lowest-end, naturally aspirated 6.2L Corvette engine in production. The new, pre-production, hastily designed, racing 2010 Corvette C6.R GT2 takes the LS3 -- but it has been shrunk to 5.5L to meet new ACO requirements in GT2. Originally the ACO allowed Corvette to run a 6.0L version of the naturally aspirated 7.0L LS7 engine from the Z06 in the partial GT2 class Corvette ran in '09, but that caused competitor outcry. No other production car vendor in any LeMans class (now that Aston-Martin is no longer in GT) can produce a naturally aspirated engine that competes with even Corvette's lowest-end, production LS3 (let alone the LS7, which was designed alongside the production Z06). Again,tThe pre-production 5.5L was a rush job, developed only in months, to meet the new ACO requirements. Unfortunately, no direct gasoline injection has been added -- unlike prior designs and allowed by ACO -- because other teams, in the economic downturn -- have not developed them.
Several production GM performance engines, including those in the Camaro and newer Corvette prototypes, have the direct gasoline injection design, increasing fuel efficiency 10-15%. Even without it, Corvette is already the most fuel efficient sports car in the world. In GT2, less pits were killing the competition with it -- so GM agreed to take it out).
Doug Fehan talks at length about this in many videos over on www.corvetteblogger.com.
The one where I ask about the 5.5L is in this one (my question is at 7:58 -- Doug actually talked about it longer than when this video ends):
www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfm/2010/3/25/VIDEO-Doug-Fe...
And some others from '09 Petite LeMans and earlier '10 Sebring interviews here:
www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfm/2009/9/28/VIDEO-Corvett...
www.corvetteblogger.com/index.cfm/2010/3/20/VIDEO-Intervi...
A LOVE STORY - A Mistinguett and Bill Fayne Production - The Starbright Theatre - Summerlin, 1/12/14. Starring Tara Palsha - Anne Martinez - George De Mott and Bill Fayne, Musical Director
13 November 2024; Rosanne Kincaid-Smith, COO, Northern Data Group; left, and Alexander Kaufman, Senior Reporter, HuffPost; on AI Summit Stage during day two of Web Summit 2024 at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Lukas Schulze/Web Summit via Sportsfile