So I got my issue of GMHTP the other day, with details on the 2010 Camaro. A little time is spent on the 60 v6... Aluminum block & heads, direct injection, 6 speed manual or auto, meant for rwd, and 304 hp.
Sounds great, especially as there are going to be tons of these base engines in wrecked Camaros in the junk yards in 5 years. People will say "its just a base model" and sell it for cheap like they do now. Looks like a nice powerful, relatively easy, and fairly affordable swap down the road.
Should pretty much drop in place of our existing engines, correct? Just have to make sure to get the ECM, fuel pump and everything else to complete the swap.

And no, I'm not thinking of doing this. Just more discussion on an interesting possibility.

 

Playing around with direct injection should be interesting. I have a feeling that the aftermarket may pass over the 3.6 due to the relative novelty of direct injection in the US for the time being. We probably won't see alot of aftermarket development until it becomes more common (aside from engine swaps). Seeing what these will be swapped into will be interesting.

 

I dig the V6 for sure, i was looking at an '10 this last wednesday, and it was pretty fast, and got 30 mpg! Thats basically the same motor the CTS has correct? The new CTS i do mean...

 

Sure is. I think what we'll start seeing soon is more and more development into the diesel market, like what's in mercedes new suv. The line between diesel and gasoline design principals is starting to fade with direct injection.

 

Direct injection is going to be the way that all motors go, probably by 2015 or so we are going to see a majority of gasoline engines with Direct injection and electronic throttle, equipped with ONLY automatic transmissions. The reason for this is better fuel control with direct injection, and less pumping losses with the electronic throttle. When these 2 technologies are combined, we are getting incredible amounts of power out of smaller engines and VERY low emissions. A lot of the direct injection cars reach A/F ratios of 20:1 during cruise now, with very little pinging because of the density of the fuel charge. This is no novelty. It's the way technology is going.

This is going to be a huge ordeal to swap this engine/ecm package into a 3rd gen simply because of the tech involved. You are going to have to update not only the engine, but the trans and fuel tank too. For the amount of work that it's going to take, I think it'll still be better to swap in a well built early LS motor than to deal with all the fab it''l take to get this motor in for only 300hp.

 

Some, like diesels, don't use throttles. And some run at nearly -65:1- for very short perods. By novel I mean new, not a fad.

 

larger version of the saab 2.8 and it is a awesome engine but it is just another step in technology to make repairs dealer specific.

 

right, ONLY 300. that sucks about automatics being the only available trans, but maybe it'll make the dual clutch transmissions more popular and a better option, since its kinda like an automatic anyway.

 

What I meant by that comment is that the technology on this engine has it right at it's maximum power potential, and if you're going to spend the time and money on this kind of labor/parts/money intensive swap, you might as well get a well built LS-series motor and get 5-600hp. 300hp is a hell of a lot out of a 3.6L engine, but to really do the swap right and have it drivable, it's not even close to worth the effort that you're going to put into it.

Don't get me wrong, i love my 6-er and don't ver plan on buying an 8, but this is the reality that many bench-racers can't seem to face.

Automatics are the way to go since they are getting much better on efficiency, you NEVER miss a shift, and with automatic throttle control, you're going to start getting a lot more usable power while using less fuel. I am sad to see the manual trans start to go away in the passenger car too, that's why I am looking into buying a new car now, that's going to last me the next 8-10 years, while I still enoy driving the stick-shift. "Get 'em before they're gone" as the phrase is.

 

I have to agree. As expensive as they'll be for the first 5-6 years they're available from wreckers the $$$/power definately isn't worth it. It'll be a while before it'll be financially justifiable. FYI, the 3.6 is already out in most of gm's current crossover suv's like the acadia and a couple cars. I think we'll see alot more cvt trans poping up as well.

 

I think the automatic is definitely a better choice as far as straight line acceleration, but usually there are turns in life. automatic will never replace stick shift entirely because of the simple fact that it doesn't know what you want to do. it only knows things like how much throttle you're giving it. sure you may say that GM is moving away from manual transmissions, but look where thinking like that has got them. apparently people don't want a fun car they can drive on a daily basis. just a daily driver. no fun. someone forgot to tell mitsubishi, toyota, nissan, honda, ect that people don't think driving can be fun anymore. it's a very frustrating topic. I feel that GM is going the complete opposite direction of where I'd like them to go.

 

The industry as a whole is moving away from manuals. That's what you get when you have bean counters in charge. If it doesn't sell then it doesn't get made. Japanese companies sell sporty econoboxes because they think people want them, and the money shows it. GM makes (well, used to make) behemoth suv's because they think people want them. And that's what the money showed them untill the bottom fell out. Now GM needs to figure out what people will buy -and quick. Now's a golden opportunity for the market to tell them what we want... with our wallet. If you, like most enthusiasts, want to save the manual go buy one.

 

sadly enough though, many GM vehicles are only automatic. the duramax diesel trucks have been damn near impossible to find as a manual.(as of 2002) the family cars like the impala and malibu aren't available with it. about the only cars that do have it is the saturn sky and cobalt. I really hope they're listening hard to those buyers who would pick an manual import over an auto GM. and maybe they should think about putting some smaller rims on the new camaro, the SS has 20" rims!