Nobody saw this coming: while everyone else chases turbos and hybrids, Chevrolet went the other way. The base Corvette V8's displacement grew from 6.2 to 6.7 liters, and output jumped to 535 hp. And it kept a genuinely odd fuel-saving trick along the way. The new LS6 can shut down half its cylinders — at a gentle cruise, the 2027 Corvette Stingray effectively runs as a four-cylinder car.
The LS6 uses Active Fuel Management. It deactivates a fixed set of four cylinders during light-load driving, then fires all eight back up the moment you press the accelerator. Chevrolet deliberately skipped the more sophisticated Dynamic Fuel Management, used on some other GM V8s, which can vary the number of active cylinders far more flexibly.
The engine itself is a serious step up from the outgoing LT2. The naturally aspirated LS6 makes 535 hp and 705 Nm, runs a 13.0:1 compression ratio, and combines direct and port injection. Chevrolet calls it the most powerful standard engine in Corvette history. No turbo, no hybrid assist — just more displacement and smarter electronics.
Engineers admit the bigger displacement came without sacrificing fuel economy or emissions, thanks to the new fuel system, high compression, and electronic controls. The gains are substantial even without forced induction. The outgoing 6.2-liter LT2 topped out at 495 hp with the performance exhaust, so the new LS6 is roughly 8% more powerful — almost exactly matching the 8% bump in displacement. Coincidence? Probably not.
The base Stingray has also cracked 200 mph — about 322 km/h — for the first time. Cylinder deactivation itself isn't new to Corvette: AFM already featured on the previous LT1 and LT2 V8s. What's new is that Chevrolet kept things comparatively simple even with the sixth-generation Small Block, rather than complicating matters with DFM.
Earlier, Tarantas.news reported that after the Spark EUV, Captiva EV and Captiva PHEV, GM is preparing Chevrolet's next move out of China. The automaker hasn't named the exact model yet, but an announcement looks close, judging by a statement from GM South America's head.
