LS1 vs. LT1
All it takes for an LT1 to be side by side with an LS1 is..
LT's
O/R Y
Catback
CAI
Tune
Want to beat a stockish LS1? Add a nice lumpy cam.
Everyone makes fun of the LT1 but i thank edelbrock for coming out with some nice pieces for them. A friend of mine just went with a stockish rebuild for his 97 SS. Edelbrock LT4 heads, Edelbrock LT4 intake manifold, Custom sleeper cam, Shorties, Catted Y, 11.5:1 pistons.... End result was 378rwhp, 381rwtq.
H/C/I ls1 cars run with blot on 03/04 cobras..you know what it would take for an LT1 to run with a terminator?? A guy stated earlier that a friend of his with a 97 SS had Edelbrock LT4 heads, Edelbrock LT4 intake manifold, Custom sleeper cam, Shorties, Catted Y, 11.5:1 pistons.... End result was 378rwhp, 381rwtq...
LS1 cars can make those kind of numbers with a cam only car..don't need H/I or headers...i have seen ls1's with a lid/catback/cam make that kind of power all day long..
Last edited by thislswon; May 8, 2008 at 03:42 PM.
All it takes for an LT1 to be side by side with an LS1 is..
LT's
O/R Y
Catback
CAI
Tune
Want to beat a stockish LS1? Add a nice lumpy cam.
Everyone makes fun of the LT1 but i thank edelbrock for coming out with some nice pieces for them. A friend of mine just went with a stockish rebuild for his 97 SS. Edelbrock LT4 heads, Edelbrock LT4 intake manifold, Custom sleeper cam, Shorties, Catted Y, 11.5:1 pistons.... End result was 378rwhp, 381rwtq.
I had a bad-*** little Hot-Cammed 350 LT1 that I built in my Car before I sold it. It was quick, ran mid 12's with the Cam, Gears, and Bolt-ons on Street Tires. Everyone else I know has LS1's and all they had to do was a Cam, or even just Bolt-ons, and be right at my heels.
I decided to sell the LT1 I had and went looking for a LS1 to drop in and try that route, since everyone was having some really good luck with theirs. After catching some good deals on other parts, I said **** it and built my 402 LSX/L92 Stroker, then I built everything else as well to get into my Car.
I have no regrets..
I seriously think all the wrong info comes out in these threads by LS1 owners who "THINK" they know all about the LT1
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
but ls1 can sound nice as long as its not a ******* y pipe setup, then they either sound like boats or farm trucks, especially with the shitty exhausts most people bolt on
the ls1 cars look worlds better though for sure
I have owned both a cammed LT1 and a cammed LS1 both with numerous mods, LT1s make most of their torque at a lower RPM than the LS1 and sounds better but the LS1 has a broader power band. So to compare a car that runs mid to low 14s out of the factory(LT1) vs a car that runs mid to low 13s or in few cases high 12s(LS1) and it gets better gas mileage while doing so, its no question which is better EL ES ONE!
I used to be one of those guys who argued that the LT1 was just as good as or better than the LS1 until I bought a LS1 and started Moding it now I have a car thats capable of running high elevens n/a. So unless you have owned both an LT1 and an LS1 you really dont have a leg to stand on because if the LT1 was all that they would still be putting them in GM cars and trucks to this day
My LT1 was a 6M car, torque everywhere except past 5500 rpm, even with the basic bolt-ons it had it dynoed 278rwhp with the cutout open on stock manifolds. My LS1 now pulls hard too 6000 rpm until the automatic shifts....I love it....it's like the Enterprise hitting warp drive...it recently dynoed 284rwhp stock.
Mod-wise if you're gonna just stick to bolt-ons, the LS1 is a better car. But IMO when you crack into the longblock, the LT1 is just as nasty as any built LS1.
Reliability, my LT1 needed a waterpump, intake oil leak fixed, and 1 Opti at 150K miles. A/C also died at 140K miles. The LT1 is also a much harder engine to work on.....plug access is a joke and a lesson in knuckle shredding. I don't know about the reliability of my LS1 longterm, but so far so good, and just by looking at it I can tell access to the engine is much nicer. And going by my buddy's mostly stock '98 T/A with 110K miles, his has only needed a set of plugs, wires, and new O2's. So the LS1 may be less problematic.
But don't doubt for one bit that you will escape any of the other 4th gen F bod maladies by buying an LS1 car. Problems like power window motors, bubbling sail panels, blown Monsoon speakers, T/A cracked door panels, T/A headlight gears, cracked/warped dash, etc. My T/A has had a few of these show up already and it just broke 30K miles. Oh, while my LT1 always rumbled nicely, my LS1 has a bit of morning piston slap.
Last edited by ponchoV8; Jun 13, 2008 at 02:51 AM.







