Vortec is a trademarked name for a line of

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

for

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s. The name first appeared in an advertisement for the 1985 model year 4.3 L V6 that used "vortex technology" to create a

vortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...

inside the

combustion chamber A combustion chamber is part of an internal combustion engine in which the air–fuel ratio, fuel/air mix is burned. For steam engines, the term has also been used for an extension of the Firebox (steam engine), firebox which is used to allow a mo ...

, creating a better air / fuel atomization.1985 advertisement
/ref> It has since been used on a wide range of engines. Modern Vortec engines are named for their approximate

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

in cubic centimeters. *I4 ** For the Vortec 2200, see General Motors 122 engine. ** For the Vortec 2800, see General Motors Atlas engine. ** For the Vortec 2900, see General Motors Atlas engine. *I5 ** For the Vortec 3500, see General Motors Atlas engine. ** For the Vortec 3700, see General Motors Atlas engine. *I6 ** For the Vortec 4200, see General Motors Atlas engine. *V6 ** For the Vortec 4300, see Chevrolet 90° V6 engine. *V8 ** For the Vortec 4800, see General Motors small-block engine. ** For the Vortec 5000, see

Chevrolet small-block engine (first- and second-generation) The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of Gasoline engine, gasoline-powered V8 engine, V8 automobile internal combustion engine, engines, produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors in two overlapping generations between 1954 and ...

. ** For the Vortec 5300, see General Motors small-block engine. ** For the Vortec 5700, see

. ** For the Vortec 6000, see General Motors small-block engine. ** For the Vortec 6200, see General Motors small-block engine. ** For the Vortec 7400, see

Chevrolet big-block engine The Chevrolet big-block engine is a series of Engine displacement, large-displacement, naturally-aspirated, 90°, overhead valve, Gasoline engine, gasoline-powered, V8 engines that was developed and have been produced by the Chevrolet Division of ...

. ** For the Vortec 8100, see

References

{{set index article, cars General Motors engines