The 400 HP L92 6.2L V8 will soon make its debut in the 2007 Cadillac Escalade, but details on this engine continue to seep out. Already known is that the engine will make use of variable valve timing (the first implementation of that technology on a mass-produced pushrod V8), and that it will also receive Displacement-on-Demand – the most powerful GM engine yet to utilize that feature. What hot-rodders will like, though, are the cylinder heads, which were designed using information learned from the LS7 development program.

Since they were designed to be shared with the smaller-bore LS2, they don’t make use of the absolute largest valves possible, but supposedly, modified versions of the heads can flow up to 350 CFM. It’s yet another example of technology trickling down at an incredibly fast rate – a few years ago, these heads would be at home on a circle-track car, and now they’re available under the head of a SUV. And if rumors are correct, they’ll make themselves at home under the hood of a pony car in a couple more years, making for a competitive effort in the horsepower war that will soon engulf that class.

[Source – GM High-Tech Performance, Feb. ’06 issue]