Thread: The Northstar

Note that the BMW M3 has a V8. Roger Smith is long gone so you can forget airy thought at the top leading to things like the 368 cid V8-6-4 or a 4.1 liter engine in a 5,000 pound car. I agree that Northstar has another generation in it to cover where the High Value V8 would have taken over. Some of the thinking that I was seeing in the High Value V8 was modular thinking, like the Ford Modular V6-V8 family where the same factory builds engines...

Another reason to prefer a V8 (or more) in a luxury car is the smoothness, both a lack of vibration and a soften the pulses of the exhaust noise. Back in the days of the V16, lots of makes had a V12, because they were easier to balance. Everything is built to a price and purpose, and the Northstar had many objectives when it debuted, and the primary one was to steal Lexus' thunder. The LS400 debuted in 1990 with a 250hp 4.0l DOHC V8 when...

I still think the 3.6L should be putting out around 330-335 hp btw. Based on the gains seen once a CAI and Sport exhaust system are added, Cadillac is not getting all the power out of this engine that they could. I suspect somewhere the CTS was 'specified' to need a 300 hp engine, and when Powertrain got to 300 they stopped worrying about more power and concentrated on noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH).

QUOTE (Bruce from Caddyinfo.com @ Nov 6 2009, 10:24 AM) I still think the 3.6L should be putting out around 330-335 hp btw. Based on the gains seen once a CAI and Sport exhaust system are added, Cadillac is not getting all the power out of this engine that they could. I suspect somewhere the CTS was 'specified' to need a 300 hp engine, and when Powertrain got to 300 they stopped worrying about more power and...

My 94 Concours Northstar went at 166,000 miles. I denied it for a long time but eventually had to accept it. (IMG: style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif ) (IMG: style_emoticons/default/connie_mini_wipetears.gif )

Many testers feel that the Cadillac V6 isn't as smooth as the competitors V6 engines, then they test the Northstar engine (IMG: style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif ) Personally I feel that a 90° V8 that can be fully counter balanced with respect to the 1:st AND 2:nd order of vibrations always will be superior to a V6 who in many cases need to be counter-balanced for a smooth run. Nothing wrong with the current V6 but a V8 should be...

QUOTE (Jan Olsson @ Nov 7 2009, 03:46 PM) Many testers feel that the Cadillac V6 isn't as smooth as the competitors V6 engines, then they test the Northstar engine (IMG: style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif ) Personally I feel that a 90° V8 that can be fully counter balanced with respect to the 1:st AND 2:nd order of vibrations always will be superior to a V6 who in many cases need to be counter-balanced for a smooth run....