Matt
05-06-2005, 10:35 PM
From Driveway to Race Track
It’s very common in racing for engines to be hand-built at individual team race shops and resemble almost nothing to its factory-supported counterpart. But the GM engines used in the upcoming Pontiac GTO.R race cars are almost identical to the ones found in the 2005 production GTO.
“The production engine is very durable; it’s proving to be very robust, even despite the high stress that results from racing use,” said Norman Peralta, engine project manager for Pontiac Grand American V-8s. “Everything inside the engine block is a production GM part except for the rod bolts. We’re allowed other modifications by Grand American, but testing thus far has shown us we may not even need to make any.”
The production cars share GM’s 6.0-liter LS2 engine with very few modifications to the race version. The race car’s engine sports custom-made exhaust manifolds and a dry-sump oil system to help lubricate the engine at high-speed cornering. The engine output for the GTO.R has been raised to a Grand American-mandated 450 horsepower from the road car’s 400, owing to the modified exhaust system and engine management mapping.
One GTO.R will debut at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on June 12 at Watkins Glen International, with a second car to begin racing at Daytona’s Paul Revere 250 on June 30. Announcements regarding the race team will be made soon.
It’s very common in racing for engines to be hand-built at individual team race shops and resemble almost nothing to its factory-supported counterpart. But the GM engines used in the upcoming Pontiac GTO.R race cars are almost identical to the ones found in the 2005 production GTO.
“The production engine is very durable; it’s proving to be very robust, even despite the high stress that results from racing use,” said Norman Peralta, engine project manager for Pontiac Grand American V-8s. “Everything inside the engine block is a production GM part except for the rod bolts. We’re allowed other modifications by Grand American, but testing thus far has shown us we may not even need to make any.”
The production cars share GM’s 6.0-liter LS2 engine with very few modifications to the race version. The race car’s engine sports custom-made exhaust manifolds and a dry-sump oil system to help lubricate the engine at high-speed cornering. The engine output for the GTO.R has been raised to a Grand American-mandated 450 horsepower from the road car’s 400, owing to the modified exhaust system and engine management mapping.
One GTO.R will debut at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on June 12 at Watkins Glen International, with a second car to begin racing at Daytona’s Paul Revere 250 on June 30. Announcements regarding the race team will be made soon.