About Cadillac Northstar Engines
The Northstar engine was a 90-degree V-8 engine produced by General Motors for -- among others -- its Cadillac marque. Production of the Northstar engine ceased in 2010; in the foreseeable future, Cadillacs will be fitted either with V-6 engines or a Chevrolet V-8.
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Inspiration
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Before the 1980s, Cadillac’s luxury car competition had been effectively limited to the Ford Motor Co.’s storied Lincoln Continental and Town Car lines. Competitors from motoring’s Golden Age, such as Duesenberg and Packard, had long since left the field. Ill-fated attempts at technological advancement hit Cadillac hard through the late 1970s, and then -- with the advent of a more robust world market -- both domestic luxury-brand manufacturers were challenged by imports from Audi, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and the like. As these new competitors expanded into the United States, they did so with V-8 options that Cadillac needed to trump. Thus was born the Northstar.
Development
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Massively powerful sedan and Grand Tourer engines weren’t the only new problem America’s luxury car marques faced in the 1980s. Their competition came over the borders with uprated steering, traction control, anti-lock braking systems and adaptive suspension. Advanced technologies and space-age electronics -- including onboard computers -- allowed for self-diagnostic fault-finding and reporting technologies. All of these advancements had to be competed with, and what became known as the “Northstar package” was refined. The package included responses to all of the foregoing, plus a four-speed automatic transmission, disc brakes on all four wheels and speed-sensitive power steering.
The engine, though, remained the key factor. The Northstar was released in mid-1992 for the 1993 model year in the Allante, with a tuning package aimed at delivering responsive power; later detuned packages targeted less passionate drivers. Northstar was a dual overhead-cam transverse engine, designed to power front-wheel drive cars, and weighed in as a 278-cubic-inch -- 4,565-cubic-centimeter -- all-aluminum unit with cast iron cylinder liners and cast aluminum pistons. The aluminum construction gave the engine an enormous power-to-weight ratio advantage over most of its competitors. Thirty-two valves, hydraulic lifters with magnesium cam covers and sequential fuel injection were all standard. The motor went on to serve in all of Cadillac’s market leaders: the Eldorado, Seville and DeVille.
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Limp Home
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Cadillac offered one feature that was unique in the marketplace. Taking advantage of the Northstar’s prodigious lubrication oil capacity, the designers created an electronically managed system that would switch function from one bank of cylinders to the other in the event of a catastrophic loss of engine coolant. Burning fuel in only one bank allowed the other to air-cool, then the sides were reversed; the car could safely be driven approximately 100 miles with no coolant at all in the engine. The fail-safe feature was called “Limp Home” in the factory’s press material.
Evolution
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Adaptions and evolutions included a 245-cubic-inch V-8 variant powering the Oldsmobile Aurora and a V-6 -- which became unofficially but universally known as the Short Star -- developed first for that marque’s Intrigue. A V-12 version was planned for the Escalade in the late 2000s, but corporate average fuel economy mandates killed it on the drawing board.
In 1998, hydraulic engine mounts were installed to minimize noise and vibration transfer. Almost a decade after introduction, ignition components and valve gear were upgraded to improve fuel economy. In 2004, a supercharged 268-cubic-inch, 469 horsepower option for the STS-V was introduced. With an aftermarket supercharger, replacement cams and exhausts, work on the heads and the installation of forged pistons as well as other internal enhancements, that engine could produce around 525 horsepower. The 2004 model year also saw a substantial remodeling of the engine -- which, as noted, had been a transverse engine designed for front-wheel drive -- to power rear- and all-wheel drive designs of the new STS, SRX and XLR models.
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