The company had hinted at such an engine for its full-size pickups and SUVs.
This design would reportedly have been based on the 2.7 turbocharged four-cylinder.
GM’s goal for electrification means developing a new engine doesn’t make much sense.
General Motors might have abandoned its project for a new twin-turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engine which could have powered its trucks and large SUVs.
Almost exactly a year ago, rumours about this engine had surfaced saying that it would be part of the automaker’s Cylinder Set Strategy, which aims to reduce development costs by sharing components between many engines.
This means that this engine would have been based on the current 2.7L turbocharged four-cylinder engine available in the Silverado and Sierra pickups.
This project would have been very similar to the new Hurricane turbocharged inline-six from Stellantis and its power output would have even been almost identical to the high-output version of this engine which is currently used in the Jeep Grand Wagoneer L.
Indeed, the Jeep engine delivers 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque while the preliminary specifications for the GM unit announced “around” 500 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque.
This would have also made this engine more powerful than any of the current offerings in the GM truck lineup, including the flagship 6.2L V8, and every version of Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost V6.
Extracting this power from a six-cylinder engine could have also allowed lower fuel consumption figures than if the company had tuned a V8 to deliver the same output.
The most likely reason for this project’s cancellation is that, with the automaker’s goal of selling only electric vehicles starting in 2035, it doesn’t make much sense to invest millions or even billions of dollars in the development and production of an engine that would only be sold for about ten years.
In addition, General Motors already has two twin-turbocharged six-cylinder engines in production and it is working on a new generation of its small-block V8 to use in trucks and SUVs such as the Yukon and Tahoe.
Source: GM Authority
