The option might be on the expensive side, but there is definitely something to be said for building your own engine, especially when it’s a big thumping V8.
GM is currently in the process of performing some major upgrades to its facilities all over the country, and one of the big ones will be to move its Performance Build Center from Michigan to Bowling Green, Kentucky, home to the Corvette assembly plant. The Performance Build Center will allow GM to offer a new option to its customers. For about $5,000, C7 customers can travel to the plant, build their own engine (with the help of a GM technician, of course), and then watch it being installed. This actually isn’t a completely new option, it’s something GM has offered to Corvette buyers since 2010. But with the engine plant being in a completely different state than the car’s assembly plant, the option to watch the engine being installed is new.
The idea does sound pretty cool, even if the price (which doesn’t including travel or lodging expenses) does seem a tad high. But it must be a popular enough option if GM continues to keep it around. The new facility won’t be up and running until spring of 2014, and since production of the new ‘Vette is scheduled to begin in August, this obviously won’t be the only engine plant. It’s already been announced that one of the engines being offered in the C7 will be the 450-horsepower LT1 V8, and as Auto Week reports, this will be built in Buffalo, New York. Which exact engine or engines will be built in Bowling Green remains a mystery, but it’s safe to assume die-hard enthusiast won’t want to pass up on opportunity to lend a helping hand.
Source : digitaltrends[dot]com
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