Anybody else excited about this one? It will supposedly be in production before 2018 to keep up with emissions, and obamas law stating that every car will need 32+ mpg on the highway.

• General Motors said its next-generation small-block engines will feature direct fuel injection.
• GM says production of the Gen V small-blocks begins "in the near future."
• The Gen V family will be an all-new architecture, GM promises, but will retain the small-block family's hallowed 4.4-inch spacing between bore centers.

WIXOM, Michigan — At an event today to commemorate the construction of its 100-millionth small-block engine, General Motors announced that the next generation of its nearly 60-year-old engine family will feature direct-injection fueling. The company's skimpy-on-details release said direct injection will combine with a higher compression ratio and "other technologies" to enhance efficiency.


One GM engineering executive told Inside Line that although almost 80 percent of all engines manufactured in the world currently are four-cylinders, GM has no intention of abandoning the V8, even in the face of a 35.5-mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy requirement in 2017. He said the Gen V small-blocks are vital to GM's standing in the U.S.'s performance-car and pickup segments.
The industry is moving toward widespread fitment of direct injection, which generally improves fuel economy while also boosting low-rpm torque, so GM's announcement is no surprise — direct injection had for some time been rumored to be a central feature of the new-generation small-block engines.


What's more intriguing is what GM didn't say today: There are rumors a new "base" displacement for the Gen V small-block V8 will be 5.5 liters and there might be something special going on with the valvetrain. It's long been speculated that GM might have an engineering surprise up its sleeve to improve the relatively narrow degree of variable valve timing available from the small-block's single-cam, pushrod valvetrain — one feature that many argue holds back the engine's development potential.

Inside Line says: Direct injection surely will be an improvement for GM's time-honored small-block engine design. We'll have to wait for what other surprises are coming for its fifth-generation architecture.

 

They need to develop a good OHC 3v type head with VVT to make power and get economy.

 

Any time an auto manufacturer makes their vehicle more complex, it's a big money-maker for them, and additional headaches for the owner.

GM has re-tooled with help from the taxes we pay.
Who will help you re-tool?

Every time a regulated move like this is forced on an industry, look for unions and gov/EPA employees to reap the rewards. Look for the pricing of the products to jump up significantly (up-front AND maintenance).

Time will tell if the actual savings from fuel efficiency can justify the added costs of producing/buying a new design.

The changes aren't consumer driven, and the price of change is more than what most people are willing to spend. That's not a good recipe for business.

Personally I think this could very well accelerate the death-rattle that GM has been experiencing. - that is even with sweet gov loans and tax break incentives (the picking winners program).

Sorry. No I'm not excited.

 

Aside from the regulations and government BS. I'm excited for direct injection. No real downsides there. Just gob's of performance advantages that will surely negate the added costs in the eyes of the enthusiast.

 

so what? You don't like technology? Not all of us are stuck in the past where things were inefficient and simple, specifically designed for simple minded folk.

Computers and fuel injection are evolving, try and keep up with it.

 

Speaking of simple-minded, I never said that I didn't like technology in my post, and you seem to have completely missed the point of what i was saying.
Oh well.

 

Hmm. you were saying? Seems to me, you were pretty negative.