farmstar

i have been looking around the forum and i cant really seem to find the difference between these two motors, if somebody can point out the differences between these motors and the pros and cons of each that would be great,i plan on using one of these motors in my bmw swap

thanks in advance for the information

bryan

conan

iTrader: (5)

Pistons...

LQ4 has a dish piston @ 9.5:1 compression.

LQ9 has a flat top piston @ 10:1 compression.

The LQ4 is found in the mostly in the trucks and this is a more common engine to find. Cheaper too.
The LQ9 is from the Higher end Cadillac and Yukon's.

outkast6991

iTrader: (34)

And the later lq9's had a slightly stronger rod I believe

2000PewterT/A

They also had slightly different cams and depending on the years early LQ4s would not have coated pistons, later LQ4's and LQ9's had coated skirts.

farmstar

im guessing both of these motors are capable of producing 500 whp all motor without boosting. my goal for my swap is 475 whp and about the same for tq

oldmano2z

bought 2000 lq4: cast iron cathedral port heads , longer crank flange, it had flat tops though. lq9 I think is newer had aluminum cath port,not sure but I think the crank was same length as ls1.

garygnu

you will need ported heads and a good intake .you will need a good cam .

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Yes both motors are capable of 500 rwhp with enough compression and the the right HCI combo

BlackCowl

iTrader: (15)

Any way to tell the diffrence between the 2 motors if it's in the car?

conan

iTrader: (5)

Vin # from original vehicle will tell you what you have. If you don't have that info you have 2 options. #1 you'll need to pull the head off to see the pistons. #2 if you have access to a bore scope you could look into one of the spark plug holes to see the piston.

farmstar

im going to cross reference the vin when i get back in town, to make sure of the motor i will be getting, seems like either of these motors are a good option for what i am doing

farmer