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Way back in 2023, before we “canceled” EVs, General Motors announced it was working on a new generation of small-block V8s. After a couple of years of hype-building, we finally got our first taste of GM’s updated engine family with the announcement of the 2027 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport, equipped with the new 6.7-liter, 535-horsepower LS6.
You may have already done the math, but 6.7 liters translates to 409 cubic inches. While the small-block LS6 has virtually nothing in common with the big-block 409 of yore, that doesn’t make it any less apt to trigger your inner Brian Wilson (RIP). And if you’re a sucker for V8 throwbacks, GM’s giving you two more displacements to geek out over: 350 and 400.
That’s right, the 5.7-liter small-block truck motor is back. It’ll make its debut in the 2027 Silverado half-ton, supplanting the old 5.3-liter L83 V8. Likewise, the new 400 (yep; 6.6-liter, not 6.7) will supersede the 6.2-liter L87. As is tradition, both are based on a common design (“same block; bigger holes,” as a GM engineer once put it). Chevy says the 6.6-liter V8 will be the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 in the half-ton segment.
Just don’t ask Chevy to put a number on that quite yet. Apparently, things are still cooking.
Chevy
“We pushed these engines through an extensive testing and validation process to make sure they deliver the durability, capability and dependability Silverado customers expect,” Silverado Chief Engineer Mark Dickens said in a press release. “From tough towing scenarios to the daily demands our customers put on their trucks, these next-generation V8s were engineered and proven to perform in the real world.”
Admittedly, the whole thing reads a bit “vintage oil crisis,” but today’s V8s are both more powerful and significantly more fuel-efficient than the old lumps of the ’70s and ’80s that bore the same names (so to speak). And remember, these were under development well before the government’s about-face on emissions and fuel efficiency targets. I certainly doubt you’ll hear anybody at GM complain about the timing.
With the addition of these new V8s to the lineup, GM is expanding production of its new V8 to its Tonawanda, New York, and St. Catharines, Ontario, facilities. The new LS6 is already being assembled in Flint, Michigan.
We’ll learn more about the new 5.7- and 6.6-liter V8s closer to the 2027 Silverado’s on-sale date later this year.
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Byron is an editor at The Drive with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories.
