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LS Fest

tarafied1

tarafied1

Well-Known Member
Yes, I went to LS Fest. It's a big gathering at the local track. They drag race and have Formula Drift competition. It's also where my son's class displayed the car they are building. He is taking an automotive course and they are sponsored by Holley, in fact the car was donated by Holley along with tons of go fast EFI stuff. Anyway, there were Ford there (with LS motors...)
0D83A164-E8B2-401A-8D86-440E55C986AF.JPG 257F662C-2E5B-47BD-9E15-4DD67B5B3A14.JPG 40BE6405-0CAB-4191-83C8-38C43757FCDA.JPG 65BB7BE1-7BEB-4EF8-B8AC-3BD0F459B94B.JPG 74604EBE-494B-421A-ACB4-72F8C72DC67C.JPG
 
LS swaps are for those that can't! Takes nothing to make an LS run, not impressed.
 
kb3 said:
LS swaps are for those that can't! Takes nothing to make an LS run, not impressed.
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the car my son's school program built has a 7 liter LS they assembled. It made 587.9 HP @ 5500/598.4 torque to the rear wheels naturally aspirated on Holley's chassis dyno. It made over 700HP with a 100 shot a nitrous. My 429 probably doesn't make 500hp at the flywheel... So yeah, anyone can make an LS run. I see why they are so popular. Full size crew cab GM pickups were running in the 12's in the quarter yesterday. There were four door Cadilac CTSV's running in the 10's. There was an S10 Blazer with twin turbos that made 1500 hp on the dyno! Now don't get me wrong, I bleed ford Blue, but the LS motor is the Chrysler Hemi of our day. King of the Hill. After building a 4.6 four cam with my older son, that might make a little over 300hp NA I can see why LS swaps are popular. Is stupid easy to make big HP with very little effort and money. Not so easy and NOT cheap to do it with a Ford. But there is the challenge right!?! It does take some skill and effort to make a Ford run.
 
OK, I'll admit stupidity on the LS design. Enlighten me. What is so earth shatteringly different than say a Coyote? Obviously they can be had in large cube variety. Is that the biggest thing?
 
Horseplay said:
OK, I'll admit stupidity on the LS design. Enlighten me. What is so earth shatteringly different than say a Coyote? Obviously they can be had in large cube variety. Is that the biggest thing?
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I have the LS1 in my Vette that gives sophisticated power- it isn't noisy, and doesn't lope. It doesn't have huge CIs; the LS1 has 346CI, but some versions of the LS go up to 427. A stock LS7 will produce 505hp, and the supercharged LS9 gives 638hp from the factory.
This is from Hot Rodders Forum:
-all aluminum
-6 bolt mains
-better oiling systems
-improved power peak
-higher redline, especially LS7, it has been tested to 8000rpm, but doesn’t make power after about 7000
Distributorless, coil-near-plug ignition system
The LS engine will make the same power as the old SBC but will do it with a lot less cam. Comparisons show the LS engine will make the same power and do it with 4 or 5 more in hg of idle vacuum.
The big thing is technology. The computer-aided casting design is so much stronger. A completely stock LS1 bottom end is very capable of giving 100k or more reliability at 600 hp. That same level of reliability in a traditional SBC is more like the 350-400hp mark at best. 200k is normal for an LS in a C5 Vette.
The heads use a very different type of intake port that flows much more without sacrificing velocity and therefore torque and drivability. The quality of head flow is what makes such excellent power.
They also not only use those wonderful 6-bolt mains, but they incorporate a stiff cast aluminum oil pan that further stiffens the crankcase.
 
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Horseplay said:
OK, I'll admit stupidity on the LS design. Enlighten me. What is so earth shatteringly different than say a Coyote? Obviously they can be had in large cube variety. Is that the biggest thing?
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Just a new fangled SBC. Still a pushrod motor and miles behind the Coyote in my book. Easy to create horsepower and readily available. The coil packs on the valve covers really take away from the looks in my book.
 
kb3 said:
Just a new fangled SBC. Still a pushrod motor and miles behind the Coyote in my book. Easy to create horsepower and readily available. The coil packs on the valve covers really take away from the looks in my book.
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That's what I thought. Push rod engine. Maybe this design doesn't require such wide engine bays (huge heads)making it more swap friendly?
 
Horseplay said:
That's what I thought. Push rod engine. Maybe this design doesn't require such wide engine bays (huge heads)making it more swap friendly?
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Yes it's not nearly as complicated as a multi cam engine or as wide. Push rod engines are old tech but they work. Again, after building a four can Ford, that is physically huge but still a small engine and very very expensive to build I can see why the LS is a popular choice. Sure a Coyote is high tech but with that it's severely limited to what is available from the aftermarket and that make them expensive to build. Plus they are limited in cubes. And you know the saying, "there is no substitute for cubic inches"
My son and I pick on each other about my old school big block and his all aluminum four cam 4.6. I do like the four cam engine but my big block will make more HP and torque NA than him with a blower. And I have to have aftermarket heads to make close to the power a factory head LS can make.
I'm still a Ford guy but I respect the LS. Call what you want but it is a well engineered engine.
Now my goal is to just make my 67 faster than the car a bunch of students threw together on the cheap!


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Actually the ls platform shares more in common with the 351w than the sbc. It's where ford was going with small blocks before the shifted to overhead cams.


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I've heard the LS was more like a Ford than the old SBC. I also like to see people blow the doors off LS powered cars with underdog motor combos.
I myself am hoping to build my big block to have a enough power to shame a few LS cars!
 
I was watching one of the many car shows on TV and the host commented that LS motors are ugly! Hard to argue!!
 
kb3 said:
I was watching one of the many car shows on TV and the host commented that LS motors are ugly! Hard to argue!!
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yeah, the LS and the 4.6 SOHC are pretty ugly. Most modern cars have big covers over the engine. The Coyote and the 4.6 DOHC however, are impressive to look at.
 
I would love to see these VC's made available. I'd do a Coyote swap just to make it look like this
XFI-Roadster-2.jpg
 
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