Atlas is a name for a family of modern inline

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common fea ...

s for

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

s from General Motors, used in the

GMT355 The Chevrolet Colorado, and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are series of compact and later mid-sized pickup trucks marketed by American automaker General Motors. They were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma com ...

and GMT360 platforms. The series debuted in 2002 with the Oldsmobile Bravada, and is also used in the Buick Rainier, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, the GMC Envoy and

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut ...

, the Hummer H3, Isuzu Ascender and i-370, and the Saab 9-7X. The engines use GM's Vortec name, and

Straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

Straight-5 The straight-five engine (also referred to as an inline-five engine; abbreviated I5 or L5) is a piston engine with five cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankshaft. Although less common than straight-four engines and straight-six e ...

, and

Straight-6 The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...

engines are all part of the same family, sharing the same manufacturing equipment, rods, pistons, valves, and other parts. They feature coil-on-plug ignition systems,

variable valve timing In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with varia ...

on the

exhaust Exhaust, exhaustive, or exhaustion may refer to: Law * Exhaustion of intellectual property rights, limits to intellectual property rights in patent and copyright law ** Exhaustion doctrine, in patent law ** Exhaustion doctrine under U.S. law, i ...

side, electronic throttle control, and a special oil pan with a pass-through for the

half shaft An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

s in

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

vehicles. The inclusion of VVT on the exhaust camshaft side allows the Atlas series to meet emissions standards without the use of EGR, simplifying the engine design and increasing power for a broad power curve. The LL8 shares 75% of its components with the LK5 and L52; while the LK5 and L52 share 89% of their components. The Atlas engines feature aluminum cylinder blocks and heads, with the cylinder bores featuring replaceable steel cylinder liners. The Atlas program began in 1995 along with the planning for GM's next-generation mid-size

SUVs A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definit ...

and

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

s. These vehicles were designed around the I6 engine. The I6 version was used in a

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pear ...

racing truck, winning its first race in a class that also included

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

s. Another I6-powered truck won the truck class at the

Pikes Peak International Hillclimb The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track measures and has over 156 turns, climbing from the st ...

. The Atlas engines were produced at the

Flint Engine South Flint Engine Operations (previously, Flint Engine South) is a General Motors automobile engine factory in Flint, Michigan. The plant opened in 2002 and is named to replace the Flint North engine plant. The plant produces the small four-cylinder GM ...

plant in Flint, Michigan, while the I4 and I5 versions were produced at the Tonawanda Engine plant in

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda (formally ''City of Tonawanda'') is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,130 at the 2010 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North To ...

, near Buffalo.

LL8 (Vortec 4200)

The LL8 (or Vortec 4200), is a

straight-6 The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...

gasoline engine produced from 2002 to 2009. It was the first Atlas engine, and was introduced in 2002 for the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, and Oldsmobile Bravada. The engine was also used in the Buick Rainier, Saab 9-7X, and Isuzu Ascender. It displaces , with a bore and stroke. It has four valves per cylinder, utilizes dual-overhead cams (

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion ch ...

) design, and features

on the exhaust cam, a first for GM inline engines. When introduced, this engine's power was at 6,000 rpm and torque was at 3,600 rpm. 2003 saw a slight bump in power to , while torque was unchanged. For 2006, power was increased to at 6,000 rpm and torque to ) at 4800 rpm with the addition of a MAF and a complete internal redesign of the engine; however, due to the new

SAE SAE or Sae may refer to: Science and technology : * Selective area epitaxy, local growth of epitaxial layer through a patterned dielectric mask deposited on a semiconductor substrate * Serious adverse event, in a clinical trial * Simultaneous Auth ...

rating procedures, ratings can vary slightly between years. The engine redline is 6,300 rpm. The LL8 was on the

Ward's 10 Best Engines 10 of the World's best engines is an annual list of the ten ''"''best''"'' automobile engines available in the U.S. market, that are selected by '' Ward's AutoWorld'' magazine. The list was started in 1994 for Model Year 1995, and has been drawn ev ...

list for 2002 through 2005 and was the basis for all the other Atlas engines. With the closure of the Moraine, Ohio, plant and the discontinuation of the GMT360 platform (Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, etc.), production of the LL8 also ended. Applications: * 2002–2009 GMC Envoy, ''Envoy XL'', and ''Envoy XUV'' * 2002–2009 Chevrolet TrailBlazer and ''TrailBlazer EXT'' * 2002–2004 Oldsmobile Bravada * 2004–2007 Buick Rainier * 2003–2008 Isuzu Ascender * 2005–2009 Saab 9-7X 4.2i

L52 (Vortec 3500)

The L52 (also called Vortec 3500), is a

straight-5 The straight-five engine (also referred to as an inline-five engine; abbreviated I5 or L5) is a piston engine with five cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankshaft. Although less common than straight-four engines and straight-six e ...

engine produced from 2004 through 2006. It displaces , with a bore and stroke. Dynoed at the

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, assu ...

it produces at 5,600 rpm and at 2,800 rpm. The engine redline is 6,300 rpm. Applications: * 2002 Bel Air concept * 2004–2006

Chevrolet Colorado The Chevrolet Colorado, and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are series of compact and later mid-sized pickup trucks marketed by American automaker General Motors. They were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma ...

and GMC Canyon * 2006 Isuzu i-350 * 2006 Hummer H3

LLR (Vortec 3700)

The LLR (also called Vortec 3700), is a

engine with dual balance shafts produced from 2007 through 2012. It displaces , courtesy of a larger bore while keeping the stroke. The LLR also corrected the head issue found in the ''L52''. It produces at 5,600 rpm and at 4,600 rpm. The engine redline is 6,300 rpm. This five-cylinder engine achieves better fuel economy and performance than the six-cylinder, but with more power and torque than the four-cylinder. Applications: * 2007–2012

and GMC Canyon * 2007–2010 Hummer H3 * 2007–2008 Isuzu i-370

LK5 (Vortec 2800)

The LK5 (also called the Vortec 2800) is a

straight-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

engine produced between 2004 and 2006, with a bore and stroke. It produces at 5,600 rpm and of torque at 2,800 rpm. The engine redline is 6,300 rpm. Applications: * 2004–2006

and GMC Canyon * 2004–2006 Isuzu i-280

LLV (Vortec 2900)

The LLV (also called Vortec 2900) is a

engine produced between 2007 and 2012, with a bore and a stroke. It replaced the LK5 and produced at 5,600 rpm and of torque at 2,800 rpm. The engine redline is 6,300 rpm. Applications: * 2007–2012

and GMC Canyon * 2007–2009

Isuzu i-290 The Chevrolet Colorado, and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are series of compact and later mid-sized pickup trucks marketed by American automaker General Motors. They were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma com ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gm Atlas Engine

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

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