I have a question for you LS guys. How come a stock 4.6 in a GT can only handle 400-450hp, but a stock LS1 can handle 600+? Are the internals forged? I am seriously thinking about letting the wife have my GT and getting a 00-02 TA. And how come a freaking airbox lid is a mod for a LS1? Someone please give me some advice. What should I do and or think? I grew up on a farm in Alabama, and we had Ford everything. Dump truck, tractor, I mean everything, so I grew up a Ford guy, and I still love Ford, but LS's are freakin awesome...

 

yeah not much comparison stock for stock

i'm on stang 6, and had a lt1 TA....pretty nice for a bone stock car

but inside i'm all ford...(all mustang really, not too much ford ambition other than that)

 

Ls1's have a higher compression (10.25:1) a 6 bolt main, more cubes and better flowing heads than a 4.6. In stock form they don't handle boost (too much compression) all that well but love nitrous.

 

One word sums up the main reason they can handle more hp.. "Displacement".

 

In the new issue of GM High-Tech Performance the cover story is about a Camaro SS putting 800HP to the ground with the stock Crank/Displacement.
Here is a nice description of the LS1 engine along with a list of engine materials:

Click Here

 

The LS1 is simply a great engine for hot rodding. It is very light (pushrods have some advantages and one of them is avoiding all the weight of OHC heads) and the engine is quite low with a good center of gravity. The stock heads breath nicely and take to porting extremely well. The engine has no oil circulation or cooling vices like some other engines around. You can stroke it 1/2 inch without any machining of the block and the engine will take cams with lifts up to 700 thousands without breaking anything or needing special machining (although I would not go over .550 without installing aftermarket shaft mounted rocker arms). It can rev to 6500 stock and 7250+ with aftermarket parts. Vices or problems? The deck height on the heads is marginal (AFR and other aftermarket heads fix this), there is no completely satisfactory heavy duty oil pump available, and the engine is very tempermental about combustion chamber shape and piston top spacing, so special care is needed there.
Headers, cam, and catback exhaust alone with get an LS1 to about 370 RWHP, add good aftermarket heads and you have about 425 RWHP and a very broad torque curve.

My experience is that the limit for durable HP on the LS1, 2, and 6 with stock internals is about 500 RWHP, at least if you use that HP. I had one come apart at about 550 RWHP during a drag. We were abusing it and pushing our luck and we knew it - can't blame the engine. The LS7 (427) in the new ZO6 is a different matter. I imagine it is good to 650 RWHP.

Earlier (98-2004) LS1s do take Supercharging well enough, as they have only around 10.5 compression and can run about 7-8 lbs, at which they put down around 520 RWHP with intercoolers and 8 lbs. 2005 and onward LS2s with their 11+ compression take it less well but people still run 4-5 pounds no problem and some run. The stock engines can take 125-150 NOS dry systems well - within the bandwidth of the stock computer although it sure pays to retune.

 

LS1 is very expensive to build compared to 5.0 Ford.
5.0 Ford is basically a design from 1962. LS1 was designed in the early90's.
Everybody knows more about engine design now than they 40+ years ago when the SBF was first built.
Maybe comparing a 351W with some aftermarket parts could be a fair comparsion to the LS1....

Wait, this is a Ford board, why are we even talking about GM stuff??

 

maybe cause the guy wants to know about more than one type of engine?

 

ls1's suck



only because chevy thought of it first.

 

No sh-t, go to a chevy board if you want chevy, it's a free country.........