With the Vortec ASA 5700 engine, GM introduces fuel injection and electronic engine management to stock car racing. The V8 engine is rated at 430 horsepower at 6200 rpm and 430 lb-ft of torque at 4800 rpm. Except for a few modifications, the engine is similar to the production version found in the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, Opel Omega and Holden Commodore and Statesman.

In addition to its fuel efficiency, the Vortec engine packs a powerful punch as it produces more than one horsepower per cubic inch or roughly 75 horsepower per liter.

"Bringing our critically acclaimed small-block V8 engine, with many new technologies, to stock car racing is a win-win situation," said John Juriga, GM Powertrain total integration engineer for Gen-III small-block passenger car engines. "Fuel injection is only one example of where GM has taken a leadership role in the industry. GM brought fuel injection to the marine gasoline engine market a few years ago, and now we are introducing it at the race track.

"We get to learn about the engine's performance and durability under extreme race track conditions. And, the ASA gets an engine that's high-performance and a great value, and built to very tight specifications. Having the engine on the race track is like having it in a rolling laboratory at speed."

Compared to the production engine, the Vortec ASA 5700 has a unique camshaft, with higher lift and more overlap, as well as a modified valve spring. It also has a dry-sump oil system, with a different oil pan to compensate for constant left-turn driving during race conditions.

The engine also includes new rod bolts, with 25 percent greater fatigue strength, which will ultimately find their way into the production engine-just one example of improvements GM makes or will make to the production LS1 as a result of racing development.

The engine controller-the powertrain control module-is also the same as in the production engines. It's calibrated with different values, for fuel and spark, for example, to optimize race performance. The powertrain control module also has engine diagnostic capability. Key engine parameters and functions such as fuel rates, spark levels and critical fluid temperatures and pressures can be monitored.

According to Mark McPhail, GM Racing lead engineer on the Vortec ASA 5700, the engine offers more than just performance benefits.

"When work began on developing the new Vortec ASA 5700 powerplant, we not only increased the horsepower and torque capabilities but also made it cleaner burning and more fuel efficient," said McPhail. "The strides we have made in the combustion chamber design along with the advancement in engine electronics for the fuel management systems has resulted in lower emission levels. Cleaner burning engines also use less fuel, which not only helps protect the environment, but it also helps race teams make less fuel stops during competition. What we learn on the track is directly applied to our passenger car engines."

The Vortec engines will allow ASA teams to run more competitively, with a reliable, durable, high-performance engine at about one-third the cost of the previous, privately built V6 units. And, it will allow GM to evaluate one of its most prized engines in a demanding, high-load environment.

ASA ordered an initial 300 engines in 1999, which only took about three hours to get through the assembly line at GM's Romulus, Mich., engine plant. The engines are then shipped to Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) in Decater, Ind., where each engine is slightly modified, tested and sealed before they are shipped and assembled into the race cars.   - Autoworld.com

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