General Motors' Opel division in Europe designed a compact V6 engine with an odd 54° vee angle. It was an iron block/aluminum head DOHC design with 4 valves per cylinder. All 54° engines are assembled in Ellesmere, England.

This engine was used in the American versions of these models as well. The engine was reworked substantially between the 3.0 L L81 and 3.2 L LA3, but the bore centers and deck height were retained.

L81

The L81 was used longitudinally in the Cadillac Catera and transversely in the Saturn L-Series. Bore and stroke were 86 mm (3.38 in) × 85 mm (3.35 in), for 2962 cc (180.75 in³) displacement. with 10:1 compression, the engine produced up to 200 hp (149 kW) and 192 ft.lbf (260 Nm).

Saab's turbocharged version (the X30) produced 200 hp (149 kW) at 5000 RPM and 229 ft.lbf (310 Nm) at 2500-4000 RPM.

This engine was used in:

• 1994 Opel Omega
• 1996 Cadillac Catera
• 2000 Saturn L-Series
• 2002 Saturn VUE
• Saab 9-5

2.5

Saab used a 2.5 L version of this engine in the Saab 900 and Saab_9000 from 1994. It produced 170 hp and 167 ft.lbf. Saab produced the engine with special version of Saab_Direct_Ignition.

LA3

The 3.2 L LA3 is a complete redesign of the L81 exclusively for the Cadillac CTS. It had an iron block and used aluminum DOHC heads with fixed (non-variable) valve timing, and a variable intake. The bore was 87.5 mm and it had an 88 mm stroke. This was a 3175cc (194 in³) engine and produced 220 hp (164.1 kW) and 218 ft.lbf (296 Nm). Production started in July of 2001, but the engine was replaced by the new GM High Value engine starting in 2004.

This engine was used in:

• 2003-2004 Cadillac CTS