Gen-V GM small-block gets direct injection; more power, better fuel economy
A new direct-injection fuel system will help GM’s Gen-V small-block engine deliver more power greater fuel efficiency compared with the current generation.
The fifth-generation small block is an all-new engine family that builds on the architectural and technology legacy of previous generations with greater efficiency, performance and refinement. 
The all-new direct-injection combustion system will work with a higher compression ratio and other technologies to enhance efficiency.
That means greater performance using less fuel than comparably sized Gen-IV engines.
“The Gen-V small block is an all-new, state-of-the-art engine family that will offer more efficiency and refinement than any other small block in its more than half-century of production,” said Jordan Lee, chief engineer.
“For customers, that will mean cars and trucks that deliver more while using less gas to do it.”
The Gen-V small block will go into production in the near future and is guaranteed to have 4.4-inch bore centers – the center-to-center distance between cylinders that has been part of the small-block’s architecture from its introduction 56 years ago.
General Motors is investing more than $1 billion in manufacturing facilities associated with producing Gen-V small-block engines, resulting in the creation or retention of 1,711 jobs.
GM announced the new direct-injection fuel system for the small block at the Performance Build Center, in Wixom, Mich., as the final fasteners on the 100-millionth production small-block engine – a 638-hp supercharged LS9 engine for the Corvette ZR1 – were tightened.
