Abandoned History: Cadillac's Northstar V8, Head Bolts and Gaskets Aplenty (Part IV)
After an extensive five-plus year development period fraught with engineering adversity, unfortunate focus group decisions, and delays via magnesium material mishaps, the Northstar V8 was ready for production. Paired with it were new associated systems and technology which the marketing team at GM trademarked as the Northstar System. Prior to the Northstar’s debut in the model year 1993 Allanté, it was time for a big marketing push. The Northstar System was all-encompassing!
Cadillac marketed the system with six major components: powertrain, speed-sensitive steering, traction control, ABS, short/long rear suspension, and a road-sensing suspension. Cadillac promised the Northstar System had adaptive technologies; the sort you’d expect from high-end imported luxury vehicles. The headliner of the system was of course the new V8, touted in an 11-minute marketing film posted here for your review.
Delayed development and production meant the supply of Northstar engines was restricted at launch. Though the engine was released in two variants, the high-performance L37 and the base tune LD8, the L37 was the primary version offered in 1993. L37 produced 295 horsepower and 290 lb-ft of torque at launch. Cadillac was eager to point out the power figure of the LD8, which was better than any of the V8 competition at the time.
In 1993 the L37 made its debut in the Allanté, as Cadillac wrapped up production of its failed competitor to the R129 Mercedes-Benz SL. Customers trickled into showrooms to look at the haughtily-priced cabriolet while Northstar production ramped, and the new engine spread quickly to select other models. It would take four full years for the 4.9-liter V8 to be phased out of the Cadillac lineup, replaced by the two initial Northstar variants.
Initially blessed by the LD8 Northstar of 1993 were the Eldorado ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe) and the Seville STS (Seville Touring Sedan). Cadillac was new at the acronym naming game, and it showed. Consider how the name of their top-flight coupe was quite literally Eldorado Eldorado Touring Coupe.
The base LD8 version of the Northstar did in fact appear in 1993, but was limited to one trim of one model. Producing a more modest 270 horsepower but a greater 300 lb-ft of torque, the LD8 was permanently considered the more relaxed version of the Northstar. In 1993 it was available only on the Seville SLS (Seville Luxury Sedan). At the time it was easy to tell an upmarket sports-oriented Northstar vehicle from a basic one: Base models wore a hood ornament, while anything with a T for Touring had its wreath and crest set within the grille.
1994 saw the LD8 Northstar spread into more models, and was the last year of the initial engine’s run before it was updated with more power (more on that another day). That year, the base model Eldorado ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe) gained the Northstar, and the engine made its way into a new trim of the DeVille called Concours. Like other Touring models, Concours DeVilles had their Cadillac emblem within the grille.
The Concours trim would exist as a basic luxury option (over 4.9 Sedan DeVille) for two years, and was a replacement for the previous C-body DeVille’s failed Touring Sedan trim. Afterward it morphed to become an even more sporty version and was equipped with the L37 Northstar instead. It was Concours which was later upgraded again in 2000 to become the DTS.
The other half of the powertrain was GM’s four-speed automatic, the 4T80E. A long overdue replacement for the THM440-T4 (Turbo-Hydramatic) four-speed of 1985, the new four-speed was developed with V8 front-wheel drive cars in mind. The electronically controlled transmission was designed specifically to work with the Northstar, and to handle its 300 or so maximum horsepower.
The road-sensing suspension of the Northstar System monitored driving conditions and made constant adjustments at each wheel individually. Developed by Delphi, it was marketed as CVRSS and was later renamed MagneRide. The suspension had soft and firm settings, which the Northstar’s brain would adjust as needed. Up to eight suspension adjustments could be made for each revolution of the wheel.
Steering was speed-sensitive, and marketed as Magnasteer. At lower speeds there was less effort required to turn the wheel, and the system increased steering weight accordingly with speed. The heavier steering at speed was intended to give the driver a greater sense of vehicle control. As the one-time owner of a 1993 pre-Northstar Cadillac, a sense of vehicle control was certainly amiss.
The short-long rear suspension design of the Northstar System was intended to maintain the ideal rear wheel geometry in any driving situation. The rear suspension featured an aluminum lower control arm to lower unsprung weight and aid in wheel control. Cadillac was keen to detail how such features were standard on any car with a Northstar.
Four-wheel ABS (by Bosch) with disc brakes were also standard equipment. The new traction control system helped maintain car control and coordinated operation of the ABS. Other safety features included standard dual front airbags across all Northstar vehicles.
As the DeVille was a six-passenger car with its front bench seat, a special airbag system was developed. A larger passenger airbag covered the middle seat occupant and filled the space between it and the standard-sized driver airbag. Marketing called it the “Airbank.” All Northstar-equipped Cadillac models were designed to meet future safety standards, and exceeded side impact safety requirements for the 1997 model year.
The Northstar made a big splash at its debut, and was heralded as a new beginning for the Cadillac brand. There was immediate critical acclaim across the board from every one of the glossy print magazines. We’ll pick up next time with accolades, engine updates for 1996, and the appearance of a small problem with the engine’s longevity.
[Images: YouTube, GM]
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Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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When the NorthStar happened, it was a part of GM's "rebuilding" of the Cadillac brand. Money to finance it was shuffled from Oldsmobile, which resulted in Olds having to only facelift its products, which BEGAN its slide down the mountain. Olds stagnated in product and appearances.
First time I looked at the GM Parts illustration of a NorthStar V-8, I was impressed AND immediately saw the many things that were expensive, costly to produce, and could have been done less expensively. I saw it as an expensive disaster getting ready to happen. Way too much over-kill for the typical Cadillac owner of the time.
Even so, there were a few areas where cost-cutting seemed to exist. The production gasket/seal between the main bearing plate and the block was not substantial enough to prevent seeps. At the time, about $1500.00 to fix.
In many ways, the NS engine was designed to make far more power than it did. I ran across an article on a man who was building kits to put the NS in Chevy S-10 pickups. With his home-built 4bbl intake and a 600cfm Holley 4bbl, suddenly . . . 400 horsepower resulted. Seems the low hood line resulted in manifolding compromises which decreased the production power levels.
GM was seeking to out-do its foreign competitors with the NS design and execution. In many ways they did, just that FEW people noticed.
It pains me to think how good GM could have been if its engineering department had been staffed with people with common sense and talent. Now the styling department is equally devoid of people with working eye sight and talent.