Thank you for this incredible repost.
The engine is 7L V8 and gets 30 MPG on the highway, it's just different way of making a powerful engine than that of ferrari or porsche, who choose the low liter, high rev, low torque route.
The LS7 has 475 lb-ft's of torque, while something like the modena has a 3.6L V8 that puts down 400 HP and only 275 lb-ft of torque.
There is nothing wrong with having a high L engine these days, it can be veiwed as the 'easy way out' and often times is, but the way the vette is engineered, as an incredible fast, budget sports car, that will fuck up 90% of whats coming out of europe.. it does its job very very well.
And yes the engine is very detuned, there may be reasons for this, such as gas mileage, or something along those lines.. but as i said in the thread i made, with a hotter cam, headers, intake, and exhaust, the LS7 will most likely put down well over 600 HP, and that kind of performance for under 65-75 grand, that is something to get excited about.