Chevrolet’s latest V8 is only 10.35l

The automotive world is electrifying and downsizing all internal combustion engines, but someone at Chevrolet doesn’t know how to read hashtags or internet search keywords.

From the company that is promising a battery-powered Hummer bakkie, comes an enormous new crate engine option.

If you own a vehicle with an engine bay too large for its current engine and want to address the issue, the ZZ632/1000 V8 is your solution.

Chevrolet will now sell you this 10.35-litre naturally-aspirated V8 from early next year, at a yet undisclosed price.

That core displacement number of 10.35-litres is difficult to comprehend. The engine construction materials and technology are very traditional, too. The only thing aluminium is its forged pistons and cylinder heads.

For an engine of this size, you can’t risk the temperature warping of an aluminium block. That’s why Chevrolet opted for a cast-iron ZZ632/1000 block, bedding a steel crankshaft. The high-volume intake manifold is a custom CNC machined part.

Chevrolet isn’t telling us what the new engine weighs, but they are keen to share its power numbers. You are essentially getting Bugatti Veyron power, with the 10.35-litre V8 making 749 kW and 1 188 Nm of torque.

You might think that with such huge internals and overall engine capacity, that this V8 would have quite a low engine speed ceiling, But you’d be wrong.

Chevrolet engineers have worked at making the ZZ632/1000 V8 very responsive, with a generous powerband. Precisely the characteristics that anyone interested in a large-capacity naturally-aspirated V8 would desire.

The 749 kW peak power number occurs at 6 600 rpm, with the engine rated to spin all the way through to 7 000 rpm.

Gearbox specifications to link all that power to the wheels is another detail that Chevrolet has not divulged. Yet.

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