The Northstar engines employed four valves per cylinder. This made the valve motion quicker, ergo faster throttle response, and more power. In this configuration, the camshafts are moved from the engine block to the cylinder head, controlling the valve from above. Northstar engines rectified this issue by shifting to an Over Head Cam design. An Over Head Valve engine was not capable of reaching higher revs. For more power, gasoline engines needed to rev higher. This proved to be ineffective as modern cars demanded more power. In the old OHV engines, pushrods and rocker arms were used to control the valve motion. Northstar engines did away with the old Over Head Valve configuration. These V8 engines were inherently balanced, and offered a smoother drive, compared to an inline engine. The Northstar V8 had the same configuration and the angle between the banks was 90 degrees.
Each of these banks will be placed on a crankshaft at an angle from each other, forming a V. In a V8 engine, for example, each of the two cylinder banks will have 4 cylinders placed in line. In a V-engine, the cylinders are arranged in cylinder banks, angled against each other on a common crankshaft. The first Northstar engine was a 4.6-liter V8 unit. The original Northstar engine was a V8 that came with a displacement of 4.6-liters (4,565 cc). The Northstar engine was an engineering feat that was quite impressive as an idea. The existing OHV engines were also plagued with reliability issues, which also would not have helped the cause. Their aging Over Head Valve (OHV) engines was on their deathbed and would not have lasted the fight. This was, on paper, a very good decision. With Oldsmobile’s R&D facility, GM started building a sophisticated engine that would stand its ground against the modern rival units. It took almost a decade for GM to imagine, design, engineer, market and roll out this mill.
With European makers already in the game and Japanese manufacturers like Lexus cooking up a revolutionary recipe like the LS400, GM had to act. With banks filling up and people flaunting goldies, the luxury car market was about to blow up.
General Motors started scribbling on the drawing board for this engine in the ’80s. But as it munched years, its intricate construction morphed into a convoluted puzzle for the mechanics. In its initial years, it was considered to be engineering on the bleeding edge. The Northstar engines were quite complicated for their time. Mostly revered for its applications in many Cadillacs, the Northstar engine is considered the most complex GM engine ever.
Northstar engines were performance engines developed and manufactured by General Motors in the ’90s. On sale for two decades, the Northstar engine has mustered a reputation for itself. If you have not heard of this term, a dive into the history of GM’s Northstar engine should help.
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