W-Body Mag... New Z34?!?!?!

[Heza]

I think GM went with the L67 as ttheir performance engine (the monte SS got it this year) simply because it was a more reliable powerplant. An awful lot of folks who buy performance cars are not enthusiasts, and when an engine has lots of maintinence issues that bring people back to the dealer bitching about their cars...well, that usually spells and end to that design before too many years of production. The 3.8 has been around in various forms for a lot of years and has proven itself to be a solid engine even in performance applications (Buick GNX...in a word, WOW!)...and now a supercharged version gives comparable performance without all the heat issues of a turbo.(and no lag)of course I wouldnt be surprised if we saw a DOHC+supercharged V6 of some kind in the near future...just for the sake of the same power with more fuel economy.

 

1) the Impala also got the L67 this year

2) the 3.4 DOHC is no mileage master even with the extra 12 valves

[GnatGoSplat]

It's not a poor design really, it's a pretty standard DOHC V6 design. Some of the problems are 60* specific (dist. oring) but most are typical of any DOHC V6.

 

It's not a poor design???

 

How many other DOHC's have a dummy camshaft or dist plug, or worse, both?

[MARK 91 Z34]

An awful lot of folks who buy performance cars are not enthusiasts

 

Nope, not at all

[GnatGoSplat]

yeah, and the alternator under the car.. thats ghey.

 

I don't like that either, but that actually is pretty typical of DOHC V engines.

[RenegadeZ]

Hey now wait a minute, the 3.4 is a nice engine, they were just did not take the time out to make sense of things. It produces great power & I agree it is a bitch to fix, thats where the know how comes into play!... The alternator thing does blow I have to change mine as we speak.