How Much HP Does A C6 Corvette With A LS7 Engine Have & Why Were They Discontinued?

For years, Chevrolet has kept the Corvette on the cutting edge of publicly available performance innovation. The C6 Corvette was no exception. Introduced in 2005, with its new 6.0-liter LS2 producing 400 horsepower, a 50 horsepower gain over the outgoing C5 Corvette. A year later, Chevrolet brought back the Z06 option for the 2006 Corvette after discontinuing it with the end of the C5 Corvette production.

Chevrolet first offered the Z06 option for the 1963 Corvette as a Special Equipment Package that included a host of race-ready upgrades, such as a fuel-injected 360-horsepower L84 V8, oversized brakes, and improved suspension components. Forty-three years later, the 2006 Corvette Z06 still provided the same level of cutting-edge race-ready technology.

The 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 not only featured a six-speed manual transmission and an aluminum frame instead of the standard Corvette's steel version, it also debuted with the all-new 427 cubic inch LS7, arguably one of the best engines ever made.

The 7.0-liter LS7 developed for the 2006 C6 Corvette Z06 produced 505 horsepower, a number that MotorTrend calls "pretty conservative," and 470 lb-ft of torque. Even with the conservative rating, its 505 horsepower made the 2006 Z06 the most powerful Corvette up to that point. The LS7 remained in the Chevrolet engine lineup until 2015, last seeing service in 2014-2015 Camaro Z/28s, 2013 Corvettes, and most recently as a crate engine through Chevrolet's performance catalog.

Chevrolet's Gen IV LS7 V8 small block uses a cast aluminum block with cylinder bores 104.8 mm (4.125 inches) in diameter and a typical small block Chevrolet V8 center spacing of 111.76 mm (4.40 inches). The cast aluminum cylinder heads contain two valves per cylinder operated via hydraulic roller lifters and pushrods. The cylinder heads' combustion chamber, combined with the piston design, delivers an 11.0:1 compression ratio. The completed engine assembly weighs 206 kg (454 pounds). 

Chevrolet discontinued the naturally aspirated LS7's use in the Corvette after 2013 and the Camaro after the 2015 model year. This move was most likely to make room in the engine lineup for the forthcoming LT4, a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 with upwards of 650 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque set to debut in the 2015 Corvette Z06.

While losing the production LS7, an engine near and dear to the hearts of 427 cubic inch V8 fans, was bad enough, the Chevrolet Performance Catalog no longer lists the LS7 or the related LS427/570 crate engine for sale, according to MotorTrend. The discontinuance of the crate engines came as a surprise to loyal fans, without fanfare or an announcement from Chevrolet. Instead, the news spread across social media until outlets like MotorTrend began investigating in early 2022. The slow sales rate after 16 years of LS7 availability is the most likely reason for its disappearance.