page_title: Northstar engine series
section_title: L47
hierarchical_section_title: Northstar engine series / Northstar series / L47
caption_attribution_description: Photo taken July 15, 2006. en:User:JohnMcClane is the owner of the vehicle and releases the photo into public domain.
context_page_description: The Northstar engine was a family of high-performance 90° V engines produced by General Motors between 1993 and 2011. Regarded as GM's most technically complex engine, the original double overhead cam, four valve per cylinder, aluminum block/aluminum head V8 design was developed by Oldsmobile R&D, but is most associated with Cadillac's Northstar series.
  Displacing 4.6 L; 278.6 cu in in its basic form, the direct family line transitioned to longitudinal and 4.4 L; 266.7 cu in supercharged versions. Variants were used at Oldsmobile, as well as in several top-end 2000s Pontiacs and Buicks.
  The related Northstar System was Cadillac's trademarked name for a package of performance features introduced in mid-1992 that coupled the 4T80E transmission, a 100,000 mile service interval, road sensing suspension, variable power steering, and 4-wheel disc brakes to the Division's high-output and high-torque Northstar engines.
  GM ceased production of the Northstar in 2011. The final cars to receive it, the Cadillac DTS, Buick Lucerne, and Cadillac STS, rolled off the line in 2011.
context_section_description: The L47 Aurora engine was a special V8 designed for the Oldsmobile Aurora, based on the Northstar engine, used during the 1995-1999 and 2001-2003 model years. It is a DOHC 4.0 L; 243.8 cu in (3,995 cc) V8 which produced 250 hp (186 kW) and 260 lb⋅ft (353 N⋅m) of torque. The bore and stroke was 87 mm × 84 mm (3.43 in × 3.31 in). The L47 had a 10.3:1 compression ratio and used premium fuel.
  Although most of the Northstar's features, including the coolant loss system, remained intact, the decreased bore increased weight unacceptably. To reduce it, Oldsmobile used a one-piece glass-filled thermoplastic intake manifold and simplified AC Rochester sequential fuel injection. A new die-cast structural aluminum oil pan incorporated baffling to reduce oil starvation in hard driving. A starter interlock prevented the starter from engaging if the quiet L47 was already running.
  An early version or prototype of this engine was used in the 2nd generation Oldsmobile Aerotech. A highly modified 650 hp (485 kW) version of this engine was used by General Motors racing division initially for IMSA sports car competition in an Oldsmobile Aurora GTS-1 and Riley&Scott LMP prototypes in 1995, Indy Racing League competition starting in 1997, then was later used in the Cadillac Northstar LMP program in 2000. Both engines retained the 4.0 L displacement, but the Northstar LMP version was twin-turbocharged. The Aurora was also used in the Shelby Series 1 car.
  The Aurora engine was introduced in 1994 for the 1995 model year, and General Motors has not used this engine since the retirement of Oldsmobile in 2004.
caption: An L47 inside an Aurora's engine bay
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix A340", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix A340    Ver1.19", "Image DateTime": "2006:07:15 18:57:52", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "254", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1254", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9854", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/280", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:07:15 18:57:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:07:15 18:57:52", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "81/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "309/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "57/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2272", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1704", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1106", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4255", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4255", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}