GM puts its new 2023 Corvette V8 on a different ‘plane’

Cadillac didn't invent the V8 engine, but GM's premium brand deserves credit for advancing that prime mover's cause over the past century. One of the most significant strides came in 1923 in response to GM Research Laboratories head Charles ‘Boss’ Kettering's challenge to his engineers: to rid Cadillac V8s of their inherent roughness. The result was Cadillac's 90-hp Type V-63 V8 built with crankshaft connecting-rod journals spaced at 90 degrees instead of the 180-degree intervals that were conventional for the time.

Although every V8 maker quickly followed suit to achieve similar gains in smoothness, that hasn't discouraged a few OEMs - including GM - from reconsidering 180-degree “flat-plane” cranks. The recently announced 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the newest wave in this technological tide (to hear the engine: https://youtu.be/8iQqi9s2Q2E).