Thats good I wasn't implying they were bad. Just going back and forth with jdiddyws6.

 

The patriot stage 1's?

 

You're still looking at a 600 dollar difference, that could be the difference between a cam and no cam. There's no doubt tea puts out a great product, but for a budget build the prc's do pretty good.

 

I'm still not seeing the $600 difference unless you are comparing stage 1 ls6 heads from prc ?? Either way its a moot point just get the best that you can afford and works with what you want.

 

Nope Texas Speed Stage One LS6's

 

TEA Stage 2 ls6's $1745.00 With new GM 799 cores While supplies last.
PRC Stage 2.5 5.3 $1,134.99

$610 dollar difference

Just for comparisons sake
PRC Stage 2.5 LS6 heads $1,424.99

Seems like most choose the 5.3 heads over the ls6 for the midrange grunt.

 

So, what is it exactly that makes the Patriots fall short? I mean, why arent the flow numbers up to par when they have similar sized runners?

 

Porting program

 

In a nutshell, you want a cylinder head to flow more cfm's at the lower Lifts.

Patriot performance LS6 has
.200 lift 140
.300 202
.400 246
.500 280
.600 304


Now TSP LS6 stage 2.5 has
.200 147
.300 209
.400 258
.500 294
.600 316

Now look at the difference in flow TSP has
.200 7cfm more
.300 7cfm more
.400 12cfm more
.500 14cfm more
.600 12cfm more

Now it may not look like much, but this means that when your valve is opened at .400" it is flowing more air with the TSP heads than the patriots. From what I have read, Its better to have the flow numbers good from the .300 to .400 lift on up. Bottom line, You dont want a head that just flows good numbers at .500 and .600 lift unless its a dragster.

 

Ah I thought we were comparing two ls6 heads not 5.3 vs ls6 (between the two brands).

Looking up at the 5.3 TEA heads the 1.5 package is about $370 more but the exhaust side flow #s are substantially better. It all depends on if those #s are worth the difference.

 

^ Ya I understand how head flow works with power output and all that. I meant, what physical characteristics of the Patriots put them at the disadvantage? Port shape, chamber shape, what?

 

Just what Jdiddyws6 said. "Porting Program"

Why does TEA flow different numbers than TSP?
Why does Trick Flow flow different numbers than AFR's or Darts or ETP?

...porting program

 

So basicaly to end the dispute, we would need to know the dollar amount that the op has to spend on heads. Based on price and budget these would be my choices.

$2000 budget:
-TEA stage 2 ls6'
-TEA TFS 220's
-PRC stage 3 Ls6's

$1500 budget:
-PRC stage 2.5 ls6

$1400 and under:
-PRC stage 1 ls6
-any 5.3s you can get.

The reason i rate 5.3s so low is because many people(local/ls1.tech) have complained that they are not satisfied with the numbers they have put down with them. And race after race that i have witnessed or run in have seen 5.3s in 2nd place.AKA first looser. Myself personaly i would rather go "donkey dick" cam and 241s then go mid size cam and 5.3s but thats just me..

 

GMHT builds an LS1 with the TSP LS6 stage 1 heads....
http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...ech/index.html

 

LS1 with TSP LS6 stage 1 heads, MS4 cam, stock intake and TB. Made 525 horse power at 6,500 with 462 lb-ft of torque at 5,200. Not to bad.

And then with a FAST 90/90 made 544 horse power at 5,600, while peak torque came out to 472.8 ft-lbs

 

Remember too that all these different heads are tested on different flow-benches that yield different results. This is why I took flow numbers with a grain of salt and looked more for dyno charts and customer satisfaction when making my choice.

 

462rwhp sounds about right for that combo