According to Motor Trend, America’s favorite plastic sports car will be getting a bit of an update. Unnamed sources inside General Motors->ke1024 say that the new Corvette will be getting a brand-new engine.

Thankfully, the new motor isn’t a V6, so don’t worry Corvette->ke1280 fans, GM hasn’t sold out quite yet. The trademark V8 will still reside under the Kentucky born sports car's hood, but it won’t be the normal 6.2 or 7.0-liter.

The new motor will be the first application of GM’s next-gen small block family and we would expect it to have direct-injection, E85 capability, and a few other tweaks.

All of these new updates should help the Vette become more powerful and more fuel efficient, not to mention a bit cleaner. Motor Trend is reporting that the new motor will be 5.5-liters and will put out 440 horsepower. Though the engine will be a bit smaller, it will have 10 more horsepower than the current car.

We can hardly wait to see the new Corvette, but don’t expect to see anything on the C7 until 2012 at the earliest.

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