Even I have trouble with this one

[Bob McElroy]

Actually, I believe the original ZR1 Corvette had a big-block Chevy
(454?) under the hood.  For those that aren't familiar, the original ZR1
Corvette was built back in the heyday of the musclecar, the late
60's/early 70's (off the top of my head, I don't recall the actual model
years for the original ZR1.)  As with most of those cool sounding names
(Z28, LE1, LT5, LS6, ZR1, LS1), they are Chevy's ordering code for the
specific equipment.

The more modern ZR1 used a Lotus-designed engine that was cast &
assembled by Mercury Marine (hmm, fiberglass body and an engine built by
a boat company;  was the ZR1 actually a "boat"?)  The LT5 engine had
dual cams per cylinder bank, 4 valves per cylinder, for a total of 32
valves.  To feed those 16 intake valves, it did indeed have 16 tuned
individual intake runners.  However, only 8 of the runners were
functional at lower engine speeds (again, I don't recall the actual
transition point, but I think it was between 2500 - 3500 RPM.)  This was
done to enhance low-end drivability without affecting top-end power.
>From what I have heard/read, the system did work pretty well, but it was
a VERY expensive way to get more power.

Bob McElroy

PS - The more I think about, the original ZR1 may actually have been a
small-block Chevy (350).  I think the big-block version was actually
called a ZR2.


-----Original Message-----
Aren't all the ZR-1 corvettes the overhead cam jobs?.  Aren't
all these the 16 injector dual runner intakes?.