Ilmor 396 Engine Sweeping ARCA Series This Year

Ilmor 396 engines ready to run at the track. ARCA photo

ARCA officials recently marked the one-year anniversary of the announcement to allow a spec engine package built and maintained by Ilmor Engineering. Of the 31 cars entered for the August 1 race at Pocono Raceway, 18 had the optional Ilmor 396 V8 while the others utilized legacy or “built” engines. After the first 13 races, the Ilmor engine has won every race and taken the pole nine times.

“From a performance level, everything has been really good,” says Donnie Richeson, crew chief for Ken Schrader Racing. “We haven’t had any trouble. They’ve been good to work with. It’s probably been a smoother transition that anybody believed, especially with something totally new. I think it’s great. It’s the best thing this series has done in years.”

The Ilmor 396 in and out of the racecar.

EngineLabs offered an in-depth look at the Ilmor 396 engine after it made its public debut last year at the PRI Show. The engine was first spotted on the track during a test session at Daytona later that month. Original plans called for the engine to make its race debut in March of this year, but team owners, along with ARCA and Ilmor Engineering, worked together to move up the first use of the engine to the Lucas Oil 200 at Daytona in mid-February.

The 396ci purpose-built engine is based on GM’s iron-block LSX platform and will deliver a minimum 700 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque running at 7500 rpm. The engine is fuel-injected with a Holley HP ECU controlling the fuel injection and ignition systems. Cost for each engine is $35,000 with rebuilds ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. Key components include Callies 3.600-inch crankshaft, Diamond 4.186-inch pistons, Crane camshaft, Dailey dry-sump and cylinder heads from Mast Motorsports.

The MV8 engines are offered in 5.7L, 6.0L, 6.2L and 7.4L variants, each based upon GM Marine engines. All MV8 engines utilize Ilmor-developed parts and systems and are available in both fresh water and salt water Ocean Performance Series.

“It’s been a blessing. Just economically, it’s half of what we spent last year,” says Richeson. “It’s truly been good for everybody from that perspective. And that’s just in the first year.”

In other news from Ilmor, the marine division just built and delivered its 10,000th engine. A 6.0-liter MV8 was the lucky bullet. Ilmor Marine, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ilmor Engineering, Inc., and has operated in a state-of-the-art 50,000-square-foot engine assembly and test facility since July 2010.

“Today is the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of effort on our recreational marine engine series, which began well before our first MV8 was built in 2010,” says Paul Ray, president of Ilmor Engineering. “Reaching the 10,000th MV8 engine is entirely thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our engineering, production and support teams, who have collectively made Ilmor a significant player in the marine industry.”