Benjamin Russick

iTrader: (1)

Great info...might be worth picking up the mag. The TEA LS6s would be right at home on my cammed Z06...hmmmm.

Jason 98 TA

iTrader: (4)

I though it was a good article & it was really cool to see all the heads flowed on the same bench & the same day.

I would have like to see the PRC 237 heads pulled a few hundred more RPM. You can see they're the only heads that didn't back up on the flow bench & hadn't peaked when the dyno pulls were stopped. The test was very interesting, but didn't completely show the power potential of the PRC 237 heads...

Porting stock heads for $1340+the cost of castings puts it really close in price to most of these nice aftermarket casting cylinder heads. while $1340 sounds cheap it's actually not that much cheaper when you add in a good set of LS6 cores (typically $500 for used on ebay)

I also noticed some of the vendors shipped with chambers smaller than requested. While that doesn't make a lot of difference, it makes a few hp & that's what we're talking about in differences here....

Jason 98 TA

iTrader: (4)

I received the test set of heads back from Hot Rod already guys, if anyone is looking for a good deal on a slightly used set of PRC 237s give us a call. I'll make someone a pretty good deal.

Neumonic2002

The other thing that should be mentioned Jason is with a 243 casting people can re-use the stock rockers, that is not an option with some of the after market castings so in most cases your looking at a minimum of an additional $500 on top of the cost of the heads.

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

But that's not the case on ALL the aftermarket castings

1madss

iTrader: (10)

How was the 64cc chamber in the PRC237s achieved? Were they milled or was is some chamber work? Just curious as mine are the standard 68cc.

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

They were milled to what we were told would be the standard for the test.

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (6)

I understand that for the sake of an apples to apples comparison that using the same cam makes sense, but I can't help but wonder if the benefits of those LS3 heads were masked somewhat by the fact that they aren't going to perform at their best with the same cam that the cathedral style heads would.

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

Also the fact that not all of those cathedral heads were best off with that cam either...but I think they did a decent job of picking a grind that was decent for all of them.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

Oh, so each company was contacted and requested a specific head for testing? That's different than a blind comparison.

Before anyone jumps down my throat about sending or not sending ringers, get real. If a magazine contacts you and asks you to send one of your products for a comparison test, and you DON'T send a fully optimized, tested, optimum product, then you need your head examined.

That leads to the question of how much was done to get to the magazine level.

dkrowner

iTrader: (6)

the procomp heads did pretty good too,i didn't even know they made heads for the LS engine family.in the price is off the chain,all i've ever heard of them was in a mag when they used a set on a 496 bbc.has any used these on LS1TECh?

slt200mph

iTrader: (42)

Great article ... .... I got my issue of HRM Tuesday and have read the article at least 4 times now...seems like a pretty fair test of the different heads...thanks David for the interesting data to compare these heads...I can't wait to see the part two on the retangular port heads..Hot Rod is still the best auto mag on the market .... I have been reading it religiously for over 50 years...

Devils Mentor

iTrader: (20)

I would love to see a side by side by side comparison of my WCCH Stg 3 L92s with its rivals.

DM

Jason 98 TA

iTrader: (4)

Ringers are always a possibility with these tests. I'd look really close at all the heads, most are off cnc machines so they're most likely not crazy ringers... If there were hand finished heads I'd be really wondering if they're consistant with what they ship.

Did anyone notice if all the heads were cnc ported intakes? I'll checkout the pics closer Monday to see.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

I wasn't knocking that these were most likely fully optimized heads from all of the parties, as I think it's good to show full potential of what the heads can do.

Brian Tooley Racing

iTrader: (13)

I thought I would create a spreadsheet for the results, I should probably follow this up with one of avg coefficient of discharge based on valve diameter, flow and port volume. That would probably explain the results a little better, especially when you consider the heads with the smallest port volume (Procomp at 219cc) made the most HP and the some of the largest heads made the least (Dart 249cc and World 255cc)

I was surprised that the TFS 235 heads had the highest average torque and the highest average horsepower, but didn't have the highest peak torque or peak horsepower.

Something to note, the CNC program for the TEA LS6 heads is all new for 2010, it was in the works for a couple years.

I put the cost per horsepower gained, which made the most sense to me.

camz28arro

iTrader: (12)

Are all of the stage 243 heads new for 2010 or just the stage 2? Originally I was considering the AFR 230 v2 or 245 heads for a future 408ci but now I think saving $1000 with TEA ls6 heads would be better after this test. Would you say the stage 2.5/3 would do better or would the bigger valves and runners be less efficient for a 408ci but better suited for a 427ci and up.

Brian Tooley Racing

iTrader: (13)

It appears the heads used in the test were Stg 2.5 due to the 2.055" intake valves. The Stg 1/1.5/2 and 2.5 all use the same CNC program. The Stg 1 uses stock valves on both sides, the Stg 1.5 uses an aftermarket intake valve of 2.02"-2.04", the Stg 2 uses 2.04"/1.575", and the Stg 2.5 uses 2.055"/1.575" valves. If a guy has a set of 243 castings, it's hard to go wrong with the results delivered and the quality/consistency of the TEA production process.

The Stg 3 is bigger, and requires changing the seats on intake and exhaust for the 2.08"/1.60" valves, which adds considerable cost to the total price and is not where I would spend my money.

Something else to note about the TEA LS6 heads, back in 2004 ECS made 600 rwhp with the Stg 3 LS6 heads on a hyd roller cam 440 with a Fast intake. People called BS on it, but the car ran 138 mph in the 1/4 on motor, so the potential of these heads are there, but I wouldn't spend a ton of money on stock castings.

For a 427 the TFS 235's/245's with a proper port matched Fast 102 (which means the heads HAVE to be ground on) would be a good choice. The Mast LS3 heads with the same work on a Fast 102 would also be a good consideration.

For a 408, I would also consider the hp winners of this article, with proper cam timing the torque could be brought up, and proper port matching would probably help these heads as well.

kmracer

iTrader: (1)

nice to see you in these parts of town old man.

Neumonic2002

Thanks for putting that together Brian!