Ported LT1 Throttle Body by Mamo Motorsports: OEM Improved
Direct-replacement GM part gives your Gen V LT1-based Camaro or Corvette generous airflow and extra grunt.
Chevrolet’s pursuit of performance is one of the few, immutable forces in the automotive world, and the sixth-gen Camaro SS is a testament to that. Yet despite all the excellence the LT1 offers, there is one, really annoying problem that makes daily driving a sixth-gen Camaro SS feel incomplete—that dreaded “dead spot” in the throttle.
And while there are devices out there that control the throttle position sensor (TPS) that can “fix” this issue, Anthony Mamo, founder of SoCal’s Mamo Motorsports, has a simpler, safer method: use a ported, OEM-spec throttle body you just slap on and drive off.
Think Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. Only without the all the campy, subliminal informericials.
Ported OEM 87mm Throttle Body V2
Mamo sent us a unit to evaluate, and (naturally) I was chosen to install it on my own 2018 Red Hot Camaro SS. The throttle body, now in its second iteration, completely eliminates the delay and significantly increases responsiveness, especially at lower RPMs. Best of all, it adds horsepower and torque without a tune since it is essentially an OEM GM part.
Based in Valencia, California, Mamo Motorsports’ work is widely-recognized on both LS1Tech and our sister site, Corvette Forum. He specializes in engine building, porting (cylinder heads, throttle bodies), camshaft design and valve train design.
‘The LT1 feels like a refreshed version of itself with this mod, as evidenced by my frequent, gas-obliterating pulls on the asphalt.’
They claim a 100 CFM increase over the V1, and while we don’t have one for comparison, you can visibly see the physical differences between the factory TB and Mamo’s. He’s shaven down the inner lip within the opening by quite a bit, as well as the center shaft of the butterfly valve. Regardless of how much airflow is at this point of entry, the car’s reaction time is improved. And that’s even with the woefully-restrictive CARB airbox.
Tip-in & WOT
The throttle mapping on the Gen V LT1 is well-plotted with each driving mode, and Mamo’s TB reacts well with all of them. The tip-in, by-and-large, feels incredibly linear from start to finish. My Camaro SS definitely feels snappier, regardless of whether it is from a dig or a roll.
Of course, I can’t keep typing to you about how good something is and not show you. As you can see in the video below, the LT1 feels like a refreshed version of itself with this mod, as evidenced by my frequent, gas-obliterating pulls on the asphalt. And I have some earnest efforts at trying to lower my previous 4.7-second 0-60 run.
Unfortunately, and strangely, I ran the same exact 4.7 on my 0-60 run, multiple times, back-to-back.
Still, a ‘Throttled’ Experience on the LT1
Of all the top American automakers, Chevrolet and (and even Dodge) still use pushrod valvetrains today, and there is a very good reason for that. However, Bow Tie is always ahead of the curve with its 16-valve small-blocks. And the Generation V LS family (LT1, LT2, LT4, LT5) is the automaker’s most technologically-advanced catalog to date: incredible oil scavenging, active fuel management (AFM), variable valve timing (VVT), etc. In fact, it was the first in the world to marry pushrod platform with the more fuel efficient direct-injection (DI) technology.
Alas, the only issue I run into is the 8L90 transmission briefly scrambling around for gears and thus hampering acceleration. Of course, you can easily remedy this by throwing it into manual mode but then you lose out on automatic, lightning-quick shifts. Nevertheless, this is all permanently fixable via a transmission tune.
Final Verdict
Put simply, Mamo Motorsports’ Ported OEM TB gives your LT1 small-block both performance gains and a nearly literal “breath of fresh air” without even messing around with the ECU. You can always tune your car for 100 percent optimization, but the point is that you don’t have to if you don’t want to. And that’s a level of freedom I can personally get behind.
All you need is 30 mins, a couple of tools, and a weekend to go out there and tear the asphalt up.
Photos & Video by LS1Tech Editor Derin Richardson
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