Ford also has both the normally aspirated 5.0-liter Coyote V8 in the Mustang GT and supercharged engines in the Shelby GT500. The current 2013 GT500 powerplant has grown to 5.8-liters and 662 hp but a couple of years ago I wrote about the transition of the 5.4-liter from a cast-iron to an aluminum block after a chat with SVT chief engineer Jamal Hameedi.

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2011 Ford Shelby GT500 finally gets aluminum engine, loses 120 pounds
2011 Ford Shelby GT500 Ever since Ford introduced the modern Shelby GT500 four years ago, almost no one

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Eight months before I ever got to drive the Cadillac CTS-V, I got the low-down on its powerplant, the marvelous LSA V8. A close cousin of the LS9 in the Corvette ZR1, the LSA has since found a second home under the hood of the Camaro ZL1. For an engine that traces it's architectural roots back to the original small block that debuted in 1955, it's quite remarkable what engineers have been able to achieve with modern electronic control systems and fuel injection.

Long live the V8!

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Detroit 2008: 2009 LSA 6.2L supercharged V-8 in depth
We've now had a couple of weeks to digest the new 620+hp LS9 V8 in the Corvette ZR1, it's time to see what else the GM Powertrain team has up its sleeves.

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Back in 2008 when +Cadillac was launching the current generation CTS-V, they held the media drive at the then-newMonticello Motor Club in New York. As I was cleaning up some stuff on my hard drive I found the video that was shot in one of the cars that was set up with cameras and a microphone.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/02/first-drive-2009-cadillac-cts-v/

I captured a two lap stint on the track that gives you a pretty good idea of the layout of the 4-mile, 22-turn circuit. Paving of the circuit had only recently been completed and features like the kerbs were still missing at the time so we generally avoided pushing the cars to the limits in order to stay on the pavement. Nonetheless both the cars and the circuit were magnificent. The CTS-V remains one of my all-time favorites and If I had the financial wherewithal I'd probably be driving a Thunder Grey V-wagon with the satin graphite wheels, Recaro seats and a manual gearbox.

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Don't expect a battery revolution any time soon

Reshared post from +Green Car Reports

It's going to take about ten years for next-generation electric-car batteries to come according to the DoE.

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New-Generation Electric-Car Batteries Will Take 10 Years, DoE Lab Says
There's kind of a running joke within the electric car world that the next generation of batteries is just a decade away. And the next time you ask, it's still a decade away. Even a decade later. Well…

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