INDIANAPOLIS – When the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible sets the pace for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 this Sunday, it will showcase a top built to last a lifetime, operate worry-free and maintain the appearance of its Coupe sibling.

To assure long-term durability, the convertible top underwent extensive testing during development, being opened and closed more than 22,500 times – three times more than would be expected in a typical 10 years of use. Some of those cycles were performed in extreme conditions; temperatures ranging from minus-22° F to 170° F and humidity of up to 95 percent.

“This past winter we even had our engineers driving 80 of these convertibles back and forth to work every day here in Michigan,” said Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “They had to open and close the top five times each day no matter what the weather was like.”

Every Camaro Convertible undergoes a water test as it completes assembly in Oshawa, Ontario. In addition, vehicles are randomly chosen to undergo an eight-minute water test at the assembly facility in Oshawa and at an identical facility at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. More than 7,200 gallons of water are hurled at the car in a hurricane-like downpour at a pace of 900 gallons per minute.  Read more and watch the video!

New cylinder head design combines key parts into single aluminum casting

PONTIAC, Mich. – In auto production, more power, better fuel economy and fewer emissions rarely appear together. But the 2012 Camaro 3.6L direct injection V6 engine achieves all three by combining the exhaust manifold with the cylinder head into a single aluminum casting.

Each integrated exhaust manifold cylinder head – a V6 has two — replaces a cast iron exhaust manifold, six bolts, a gasket and a heat shield and three bolts. By eliminating this joint, the potential for a gasket failure is eliminated. And the change reduces engine weight by 13 lbs. or 6 kg per engine. Reducing mass helps improve fuel economy and the 2012 Camaro 2LS model is EPA estimated at 30 mpg highway. Read more!

Take a behind-the-scenes look at how the GT2 engine is built for the ALMS Chevrolet Corvette. Read more!

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Dodge has prepared an extreme, drag strip-orientated incarnation of the 2011 Challenger.

Dubbed the Challenger Drag Pak, the vehicle drops its 6.1-liter V8 engine in order to use the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10 powerplant, which is mated to a drag racing two-speed automatic transmission. The power is sent to the road via a solid rear axle and a set of special tires. The racer can be ordered in Stock Eliminator or Super Stock versions.

Many systems and parts that added weight to the vehicle have been removed. We are talking about the HVAC system, the windshield wiper assembly, the rear seats, the power steering and the underbody heat shields.

The vehicle has been fitted with special parts such as polycarbonate door windows, lightweight racing seats that are six-point harness-ready, custom drag-race only front brakes, manual rack and pinion steering and others.

Mopar (the Chrysler Group’s parts division) will only build 70 units of the car, each one set to retail for a price of $85,512. Read more!

According to a recent report by MotorAuthority, Ford is not planning a Turbo Mustang for now. We understand the tendency of this muscle car automaker – after all it has recently unveiled two other sophisticated powerplants for the 2011 model. The first is the 305-hp 3.7-liter V6 and the second is the new 412-hp 5.0-liter V8. Actually, the turbocharged engine makes an almost equal amount of torque, and because it is still a V6, there’s a notable weight savings over a V8 engine.

If we take a look at the past, we’ll see that in the 1980s, Ford produced a turbocharged model called the SVO. It used a 4-cylinder – with the lighter engine helping the car beat the old 5.0 in some tests.

Heads up, guys! The automaker has confirmed that the EcoBoost V6 will arrive in the F-150 later this year as a 2011 model.

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Ford Motor Company’s recent introduction of their twin-turbo 3.5L V6 has brought the industry limelight to high tech, forced induction V6 powertrains. Rumors of General Motors joining in on the turbocharged V6 arena have been around for several years now, however GMI has confirmed that The General really will be joining Ford in the high tech turbo bandwagon.

According to GM engineering sources, GM is currently working on a twin-turbo 3.0L V6. Development on the new engine is so far along that it has a RPO code of “LF3.” The naturally aspirated 3.0L debuted in several 2010 products with direct injection and has the code “LF1.”

GMI was not able to obtain projected power ratings on the new engine, however output is very application specific under new SAE testing rules. Sources did say to expect the engine to rival Ford’s EcoBoost 3.5L.